Chapter 7 -
Ahmadism
Islam has experienced
different branches over the centuries - Shiahs, Sunnis, Sufism, etc. - one of
these is also Ahmadism that very much resembles traditional Islam. The Ahmadists also believe
that Allah is the only God and Muhammad is his prophet. The Ahmadists pray with
their faces turned towards Mecca, give alms, make pilgrimages to Mecca, and
fast during the month of Ramada.
Actually, Ahmadism differs from traditional Islam only in two
things:
1. Firstly, traditional Islam
believes that Jesus did not die on the cross but rose directly to Heaven,
whereas Ahmadism teaches that Jesus was crucified but He only fainted on the cross.
Later, when Jesus was freed from the cross, they believe that He went to India
where He preached until his death at the age of 120.
2. The second difference is
that traditional Islam believes that the Prophet Muhammad was the greatest of
all prophets and the gift of prophecy came to an end in him but the perfect
belief of the Ahmadists includes that they acknowledge Mirza Gulam as their
Messiah leader. Gulam Ahmad is regarded as the promised Messiah in Ahmadism,
who also fulfilled the signs of the second coming of Christ.
1. THE theory OF Fainting and preaching in India
If we first study the
Ahmadist view saying that Jesus only fainted on the cross and then went to
India to preach, we can see great defects. Those are, among other things, the
following:
Against the Koran. Firstly, the
theory goes against the Koran. The Koran, which also the Ahmadists regard as
their holy book, does not mention anything about Jesus fainting on the cross or
Him later preaching n India. Instead, it mentions that He was taken directly to
Heaven (3:55 and 4:158) but nothing about Him going to India to preach. If he
was in Heaven, He could not have been preaching in India.
Against the words of Jesus. As we noted
earlier, Jesus prophesied His own crucifixion and resurrection. He prophesied
them and also said that He would give His life as a ransom for people (Matt
20:28: Even as the Son of man
came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom
for many.). Therefore, if the theory of fainting was true, He
would have lied or made a mistake about His future.
The books of history. As we noted
before, history books have information about the crucifixion of Jesus and His
life in Israel. These references to His life and crucifixion are found in many
sources but none of the sources mention anything about Him preaching in India.
This is very curious because the time He worked in Israel was only 3.5 years
but Gulam Ahmad claimed that Jesus preached for 80-90 years in India.
The lost sheep of the
house of Israel. One point that speaks against Jesus being in India is
that He said to have come to look for the lost sheep of Israel (Matt 15:24: But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel.). Jesus' mission was to
preach and live only in Israel, not anywhere else, even though He later gave
the Great Commission to His disciples to go into all the world (Matt 28:19,20
and Mark 16:15,18).
Conflicting information about
Gulam Ahmad. Gulam Ahmad, who claimed that Jesus preached in India and died there,
offered contradictory teachings himself about the time and place of Jesus'
death. The next quote describes this very well. The author was formerly an
Ahmadist:
He did so and I took out a list of questions that I had with me
and wrote, "Gulam Ahmad taught that Christ died in Kashmir and his grave is
there."
- Well then, Ahmed, we
Muslims believe that our prophets can't make mistakes but Gulam Ahmad has made
mistakes in this. Take a look at this.
I took a pen and wrote again;
1. After having avoided the
death on the cross, Jesus went to Kashmir and lived there for eighty years, and
died at the age of 120 in Srinagar. But according to one earlier book by Gulam
Ahmad, Azala-Auham, Jesus died in Palestine (p. 473).
2. In Tabligh-Risalet, in
part 8, His age is mentioned as 125.
3. In Tazkira
Al-Shahadateen, it is said that Isa, the son of Mary, lived for 120 years
after His crucifixion.
Mirza Gulam Ahmad has written all of these three, and they are
all different. Which should we believe; that God remembered wrong or that Gulam
Ahmad did? There is something even more interesting, Ahmed. Jesus preached in
Judea, Jerusalem, and Samaria only for three and a half years and did miracles
in these places. The books of history are full of information about this. These
places have lots of proof of His life and activity there also nowadays. But
don't you think it's odd that even though He is assumed to have lived in these
parts of the world for 80 to 120 years and preached here during that time, no-one
believes it? The researches prove that the grave that was claimed to be His in
Kashmir is actually the grave of prince Yuz Asef! What do you think about all
this, Ahmed? Did He preach after His crucifixion? That all is very strange.
(12)
2. Did
Gulam Ahmad fulfill THE SIGNS of THE second coming of Christ?
The second special feature in
Ahmadism is that Gulam Ahmad fulfilled the signs of the second coming of
Jesus and that he was the promised Messiah.
However, if we look at this theory, we can see that it cannot be
true either. According to the Bible, when Jesus arrives for the second time, He
will establish a thousand year kingdom on the Earth - Gulam Ahmad who lived
mainly in the 1800s, certainly did not do that. The Bible also says that He will
come in all His glory so that all eyes will see Him - the following Bible
verses refer to this. This cannot be said about Gulam Ahmad, who acted in a
very small area and is quite unknown to most people in the world:
- (Matt 25:31-32) When the Son of
man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:
- (Matt 24:26-30) Why if they shall
say to you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the
secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the
lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the
coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wherever
the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers
of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
- (Rev 1:7) Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see
him, and they also which pierced him:
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
