Malfuzat – Volume II — Page 158
158 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ful). Is this not the same person who became the first Caliph of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? Is he not the same man who rendered the magnificent service to Islam of stopping in its tracks the danger- ous epidemic of apostasy? Alright, put everything else to one side. Just tell me this: what need was there for Abu Bakr ra to take a stand at the pulpit in the first place? Then, do tell me, keeping righteousness in consideration, when Hazrat Abu Bakr ra recited the verse: 1 ُ رَسُوْلٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُل مُحَمَّدٌ اِلَّا مَا (And Muhammad is only a Messenger. Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him), did he do so to present a perfectly sound argument or would he present such a flawed argu- ment that even a child could say that anyone who believes that Jesus as was among the dead turns into a disbeliever? Alas! In harbouring hostility and enmity towards me, my opponents have not only forsaken the Quran; in fact, their animosity towards me has taken them to the extent that they have practically, for all intents and purposes, issued a verdict of disbelief against the entire community of the companions and have looked down upon the argument derived by Hazrat Abu Bakr ra in this context. The Consensus of the Companions on the Death of Jesus as The whole of the Holy Quran is on our side. Thirty verses particularly testify to the death of the Messiah, on whom be peace. The night of the Mi’raj, the speech by Abu Bakr Siddiq ra and the consensus of the companions all testify to this fact. Those people who oppose us and say that I have gone against the consensus (ijma) are liars. The consensus is not in their favour at all. Firstly, ‘consensus’ can only be limited to the companions, and as I have just mentioned, the consensus of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was on the death of the Messiah as. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal rh states that any claim of a consensus after the companions is false, but notwithstanding this fact, there are many others who are against our opponents and support my point of view. The Mutazilites do not believe that the Messiah as was lifted into the heaven alive. The Sufis believe that the coming of the Messiah will be in the form of a spiritual manifestation (buruz). Then, it is narrated: َ وَقَال َ مَالِک ٌ مَات That is to say, Imam Malik rh believes in the death of Jesus as. Furthermore, Ibni 1 Aal-e-Imran, 3:145