Nubuwwat & Khilafat Prophethood & its Successorship — Page 58
N UBUWWAT AND K HIL A FAT 58 same nature as Mirz a Sahib; were they all Prophets by way of reflection? The terms zill i and bur u z i are terms of the orders of Sufi ’ism, not of the order of the A ñ biy a’. Has there been any Nab i who called himself a zill i or bur u z i N ab i ? Did any Nab i add such qualifications to his nubuwwat ? Did any Nab i draw a distinction between A ñ biy a’ on the basis of concepts like permanent, non-permanent, partial, dependent, law-bearing, non-law-bearing, defective or perfect prophethood? The terms zill i and bur u z i , are terms of Sufi ’ism. The distinction between law-bearing A ñ biy a’ has also been only made by these people. There is no mention of it in Qur’ a n, h ad i th , or in previous scriptures. In brief, the denial of khil a fat on the part of the Ahmadiyyah Anjuman-e-Ish a ‘at-e-Islam ended up in their denial of nubu- wwat. The words zill i and bur u z i , which the Promised Messiah as had used to describe the high status granted to him, were used by the Ahmadiyyah Anjuman-e-Ish a ‘at-e-Islam to deny his nubuwwat. As a matter of fact, by using these terms, the Promised Messiah as does not deny his claim of nubuwwat. Rather they indicate its high status, because the real nubuwwat is that of the Holy Prophet sa ; all other prophethoods and spiri- tual stages are a reflection of the light of Muhammad sa. The ultimate cause of the creation of the universe is the holy personage of the Holy Prophet sa. According to the h ad i th , “The first thing that was created was my light,” the light of Mu h am- mad sa was the first to be created. All other prophethoods and spiritual stages of perfection were created afterwards. However, until the time that the Holy Prophet sa himself appeared and the complete and perfect teaching was revealed in the Holy Qur’ a n, no Nab i could become a complete and perfect reflection of the