Nubuwwat & Khilafat Prophethood & its Successorship — Page 67
Belief of the Promised Messiah 67 Ghalat i k a Iz a lah, R uhani Khaz a ’in , vol. 18, p. 207). Similarly Almighty Allah revealed to him the following, as a saying of the earth, “O Nab i of God, I had not recognised you. ” ( H aq i qat-ul- Wa hi , R uhani Khaz a ’in , vol. 22, p. 100). Similarly Allah addressed him as a Nab i in the revelation, “O Nab i of God, feed the wayfarer and the hungry. ” Similarly he was called a Nab i in the revelation, “A Nab i came to the world, but the world accepted him not. ” In brief, over a period of twenty-three years, Allah the Most High addressed him as Nab i , Ras u l and Mursal. During the last ten years of his life these words appeared with greater frequency. III Belief of the Promised Messiah as When the Promised Messiah as received the honour of converse with God, and was repeatedly addressed as a Nab i , a Ras u l and a Mursal , he was inclined to interpret these terms in light of the prevailing belief and terminology which had gained common acceptance among the Muslims over the period of one thousand years. He regarded the words Nab i , Ras u l and Mursal , which had been revealed to him, as equivalents of Mu h addath , because the Muslims at that time commonly defined a Nab i is one who: 1) brings a complete new shar i ‘ah , or abrogates a previous shar i ‘ah ; 2) is not the follower of a previous Nab i , but acquires an independent status on his own merit.