Is Ilham Inspiration or is it Revelation? | Full Explanation
Hadhrat Musleh Maud States:
The Misconception of Earlier Scholars in Understanding Ilham
The fundamental point is that earlier scholars had significant misconceptions in understanding the meaning of Ilham, and on this basis, they continued to define Ilham as ‘dar dil andakhtan’ (something cast into the heart) – they say that whatever is cast into the heart is called Ilham. However, Ilham and Wahi (revelation) are the same thing, and there is no difference between them whatsoever. This was merely a terminology adopted by the Sufis, who began calling the divine word that descended upon them ‘Ilham’ so that people would not fall into any controversy – otherwise, there is no difference between Ilham and Wahi.
The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) has also used the word Ilham in several places but has simultaneously stated that he calls this word Ilham only because the Sufis have established this terminology and it has become common among people. Otherwise, he does not believe that Ilham is one thing and Wahi another. What people call Ilham is the same thing that is called Wahi.
Thus, Ilham is a terminology that Sufis established regarding verbal divine speech, otherwise in the Holy Quran, the word Wahi is used everywhere. The word Ilham is used only once, and that too not in the meaning of revelation but in the sense of natural inclination, as Allah states: ‘And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness’ (Al-Shams: 9). Here Allah has inspired mankind regarding evil and good. Now this doesn’t mean external inspiration but rather the word is used in the sense of natural inclination. It should be remembered that there is a difference between subjugation and inclination.
Inclination is voluntary, but subjugation is not voluntary – rather, whatever line something is placed upon, it is compelled to remain on that line and cannot deviate from it even slightly. For example, a bee cannot choose to stop making honey, but humans have the choice to either adopt righteousness or proceed on the path of evil.
Thus, the word Ilham as used by lexicographers has not been used in the Quran in the meaning they have assigned to it, nor has the word Ilham been used in the verse in the meaning that Sufis interpret. This word was invented by Sufis in later times for verbal revelation. However, the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him) has clarified regarding this that whatever word descends upon him from Allah is indeed Wahi, but since the word Ilham is common among people regarding this, he also calls it Ilham – otherwise Ilham and Wahi are synonymous terms with no difference between them. (Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Ruhani Khazain Vol. 1, page 244)”
https://new.alislam.org/library/books/quran-urdu-tafseer-e-kabeer-14?option=options&page=56
Promised Messiah AS states:
“The meaning of the word is not being applied based on its literal (linguistic) definition, but rather according to the convention (ʿurf) of the Islamic scholars. For it has long been the custom of scholars that they always refer to revelation—whether it is the revelation of prophethood (wahy risālat) or divine communication (wahy iʿlām) sent to another believer—as ‘ilham’ (inspiration). Only a person who has a particular bias against accepting the truth would be unaware of this scholarly convention. Otherwise, out of the hundreds of Qur’anic commentaries and thousands of religious books, not a single one can be produced in which this usage (of ilham as equivalent to wahy) has been rejected. In fact, many fabricators (of false claims) have used the word ‘wahy’ to mean ‘ilham’. This same usage is also found in many Hadiths, of which the Maulvi Sahib is not unaware. Then it is unclear from where or from whom Maulvi Sahib has heard that the meaning of ‘ilham’ in religious texts must be restricted only to what is found in the books of lexicon. While the vast majority of scholars (sawād-e-aʿzam) agree on using ‘ilham’ as a synonym for ‘wahy’, and even the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) himself used it in this way.”
https://archive.org/details/RuhaniKhazainVol01/page/n269/mode/2up