Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 42
42 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Prophecies Contain Metaphors There are two kinds of people in the time of the Prophets, peace be upon them. Firstly, there are those who take metaphors in the literal sense and seek to turn literal expressions into metaphors. This group of people remains deprived of the ability to recognise the Prophets. However, there is another group, who by the grace of Allah Almighty and through His succour are able to reach the deeper reality. These people understand metaphors as metaphors and literal expressions for what they are. When the Messiah appeared the Jews stated, on the basis of what they read in the book of Malachi, that the sign for the advent of the Messiah was that Elijah must descend from heaven. When they posed this question to the Messiah, peace be upon him, although he accepted that the prophecy was true, his own verdict on the matter was that John as was the awaited Elijah. On hearing this statement, the Jews went to John as —who was completely unaware of the discussion that had taken place—and asked him whether he was Elijah as , but naturally he rejected this notion. As a result, the Jews grew even more in their opposition. They remained ignorant of the true, deeper reality and put all their emphasis on the apparent word and as a result, they rejected a true Prophet of God Almighty. In fact, not only did they reject him, they strived to disgrace him in every way possible and ultimately in the estimation of God Almighty they became an accursed people who incurred His wrath. Now reflect on the fact that if the prophecy regarding the coming of Elijah as is true but his appearance in the form of a spiritual manifestation through John as is deemed false, those Muslims who oppose me ought to tell us that in view of the prophecy recorded in the book of Prophet Malachi as , what proof is there to sup - port the prophethood of Jesus as ? Certainly, there would be nothing to establish his prophethood. The second difficulty that arises is that when Jesus as was known for raising people from the dead, why could he not have brought Elijah as back to life? This proves two other points as well. Firstly, it is not the custom and way of Allah the Exalted to return the dead to this world and revive them. Secondly, this also demonstrates that the Messiah did not bring anyone back from the dead. So contemplate deeply! If the coming of Elijah was not meant to be in the form of a spiritual manifestation, the prophethood of the Messiah cannot be established. Moreover, this will also be a cause for objection against Islam and the Holy Quran.