Need for Reformers After the Perfection of Faith — Essence of Islam Vol. 3
Introduction
In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 3), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Need for Reformers After the Perfection of Faith, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 5: Prophethood in Islam
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Frequent Converse With God—the Only Claim of the Promised Messiah | Next: Need of the Company of the Righteous »
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That is: ‘We sent many Messengers before thee, some of whom We have mentioned to thee and some We have not so mentioned.’
But God made no such arrangement for the Muslims and withheld from them the mercy and grace He had bestowed upon the people of Mosesas! It is obvious that, with the passage of time, previous miracles and wonders became mere tales. Succeeding generations, finding themselves bereft of all such wonders, begin to entertain doubts about miracles and extraordinary happenings. Having the example of thousands of Prophets of Israel before them, the Muslims would be disheartened and, considering themselves unfortunate, would either envy the children of Israel or would consider the history of Israel also a chain of imaginary tales. It is idle to assert that, as there have been thousands of Prophets and many miracles have been shown in the past, the Muslims were in no need of extraordinary events and wonders and blessings and that is why God Almighty held everything of that kind back from the Muslims. This is the kind of thing that is asserted by those who have no regard for the faith. Man is very weak and always needs strengthening of faith. In this respect no help can be derived from selfconceived arguments. It is necessary to realize afresh that God exists. False belief, which is not effective in restraining a person from misconduct, may however continue to exist as a matter of speculation and form. It should be remembered that the perfection of faith doesProphethood in Islam 155 not dispense with the need of safeguarding it. For instance, if a person builds a house, sets all its rooms in order and fills all the needs relating to its structure, and, after a long time, dust settles on it in because of rains and dust storms, and its beauty is covered up; if, at such a time, a person who inherits this house wishes to undertake its cleaning and whitewashing, would this not be the height of folly to stop him from doing so for the reason that the house had been completed long ago? These people do not reflect that the completion of a structure is one thing and its seasonal cleaning is quite another. It should be remembered that reformers do not add anything to or subtract anything from the faith. They restore to the hearts that which had been lost. To assert that it is not necessary to believe in reformers is disobedience of a Divine command. He has directed:
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمۡ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَٰتِ لَيَسۡتَخۡلِفَنَّهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ كَمَا ٱسۡتَخۡلَفَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِهِمۡ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمۡ دِينَهُمُ ٱلَّذِي ٱرۡتَضَىٰ لَهُمۡ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ خَوۡفِهِمۡ أَمۡنٗا ۚ يَعۡبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشۡرِكُونَ بِي شَيۡـٔٗا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعۡدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُوْلَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡفَٰسِقُونَ
“Allah has promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in exchange security and peace after their fear: They will worship Me, and they will not associate anything with Me. Then whoso is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious.” (Surah Al-Nur, 24:56)
‘Whoever rejects the Khulafa’, after they have been sent, is indeed from amongst the sinners.’
To summarise, it was necessary that after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) reformers should have appeared among the Muslims at times of disorder and trials, who should have been entrusted with one of the functions of the Prophets, namely that they should call men to the true faith and remove all innovations and exhibit the truth of the faith from every point of view with the help of heavenly light and invite people to truth, love and piety by the force of their example. The reasons for this are: Firstly, reason affirms that matters relating to God andthe hereafter are very fine and imperceptible. One has to believe in the unseen and the supernatural. No one has ever seen God Almighty or observed heaven and hell, or met the angels. What is more, Divine commandments are opposed to the desires of the ego and restrain from that in which the ego delights. Therefore it is necessary that either the Prophets of God, who bring the law and the Book and possess spiritual power, should live long and continue to bless their followers in each century with their company, and should train them under their own graceful supervision and convey to them the blessing, light and spiritual comprehension which they had done in the early part of their ministry. Or, if that should not be possible, then their spiritual heirs, who are equipped with their high qualities and can set forth the verities and insights comprised in the Divine Book under the guidance of revelation, and can illustrate in practice that which is related to the past and can lead a seeker after truth to certainty, must continue to appear in times of trouble and trials so that man who is afflicted with doubt and forgetfulness should not be deprived of the true grace of the Prophets.
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3]
It is obvious that when the time of a Prophet comes to an end, and those who have witnessed his blessings pass away, their experiences become tales in the eyes of the people of the next generation. The moral qualities of the Prophet, his worship, his steadfastness, his devotion, Divine support, extraordinary events, and miracles which testified to his Prophethood and the truth of his claim becomes fictional in the estimation of subsequent generations. Therefore, the freshness of the faith and the eagerness of obedience that are the characteristics of those who are favoured with the company of the Prophet Prophethood in Islam 157 are not found in those who come after them. It is clear that the kind of sincerity and devotion with which the companions of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sacrificed their wealth, lives, and honour in the cause of Islam were not to be found even among the second century Muslims, let alone Muslims of subsequent centuries. Why was this so? It was because the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, had beheld the countenance of the true one, whose love for Allah was so spontaneously testified even by the disbelieving Quraish. These people, observing his daily supplications, his loving prostrations, his condition of complete obedience, the bright signs of perfect love and devotion on his countenance, and the rain of Divine light on his face, were compelled to affirm: ‘Muhammad has fallen in love with his Lord.’
The companions not only observed the devotion, love and sincerity which surged up in the heart of our lord and master Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) like a raging ocean, they also observed God Almighty’s love for him, in the guise of extraordinary support and help. Then they realized that God exists and their hearts testified that He stood by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) They had witnessed so many Divine wonders and so many heavenly signs that they were left in no doubt about the existence of a Supreme Being Who is God, Who controls everything and for Whom nothing is impossible. That is why they exhibited such devotion and made such sacrifices as are not possible for anyone until all his doubts have been resolved. They realized that to win His pleasure it was necessary to accept Islam and to obey the Holy Prophetsa with complete sincerity. After this absolute certainty, the kind of obedience they exhibited and the feats they performed and the manner in which they laid down their lives at the feet of their Holy Preceptor, were matters which were not possible for anyone who had not witnessed what the companions had witnessed.
Such high qualities cannot be developed and salvation cannot be truly achieved without such means. It is, therefore, necessary that the Beneficent God Who has invited everyone to salvation should make a similar arrangement in every century so that His creatures should not fail in any age to attain the stage of absolute certainty.
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 154]
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 5: Prophethood in Islam
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Frequent Converse With God—the Only Claim of the Promised Messiah | Next: Need of the Company of the Righteous »