The Riots of 1953 — Page 56
56 an embellishment of the other prophets just as a ring is an embellishment for a person. If it is read with kasr, lexicans say that even then it will have the same meaning. It will also mean the person who brings a thing to finality. In that sense it would mean that Khatim-un-nabiyyin is the last of the prophets. In the latter case, the word a nabiyyin would mean prophets with shara’, in other words tashrieenabi. Q. In what sense was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib a nabi? A. I have already answered this question. He was a nabi because Allah described him so in wahis. Q. Will persons of the spiritual status of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib appear in future? A. This is a possibility but it cannot be said whether Allah would or would not send any more such persons. Q. Can a woman be a nabi? A. The ahadis say that a woman cannot be a nabi. Q. Did any women in your juma‘at lay claim to that status? A. Not to my knowledge. Q. Is jahanum eternal? A. No. Q. Is Jahannum an animal or a moving thing or a ficed place? A. Jahanum is merely a spiritual phenomenon. Q. Ghazali has described jahannum as if it were an animal. Is it correct? A. It appears that this word was used in a figurative sense. Q. Some critics of Islam have remarked that Islam as understood by an ordinary theologian perpetuates intellectual slavery inas- much as it sends honest dissidents, however, honest, to eternal hell? A. In my opinion Islam is the only religion which does not consider hell to be eternal.