Testimony of the Holy Quran — Page 15
HADRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMADAS 15 their practice, searched for and provided the traditional isnād [chains of narrators] of this well-established saying and supported it with riwāyāt [reports] that were sahih, marfū', and muttașil, and which are found abundantly in their books. Besides, there seems to be no plausible reason for why, if-God forbid-it were a fabrication, the Muslims had any need for it, why they came to a consensus about it, and what compelled them to fabri- cate all this? On the other hand, we also see that there are many such ahādīth as contain the prophecy that in the Latter Days, the ulema of this ummah will resemble the Jews, and become devoid of integrity, fear of God, and inner purity, and at that time the religion of the cross will have gained ascendancy in the world and the authority and rule of the Christian religion will have spread nearly all over the world. The fact that all these prophecies have undoubtedly been fulfilled in this age proves the authenticity of these ahādīth even more clearly. Indeed, in this age, these 'ulema' of ours have become like the Jews and the dominion and the rule of the Christians has spread in the world today in a manner without any precedent in history. Since one part of this prophecy has been fulfilled so clearly and manifestly, why should the authenticity of the other part be called into ques- tion. Every sane person agrees that even if a hadith is ahad and has not been widely acknowledged but contains a prophecy that is fully or partly fulfilled at its appointed time, there remains no doubt about the authenticity of such a hadith. For example, the hadith recorded in Şahih al-Bukhārī and Şahih al-Muslim that a fire will break out in the Hejaz is undoubtedly among the ahād. But after the passing of nearly 600 years, this prophecy was