Reaction of the Muslim Ummah to Mirza’s claim

 

The claims and assertions of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadyani as explained earlier intended to strike at the very roots of the Muslim belief structure in many vital spheres: interpretations of the Quran and Hadith; wahi (divine revelation); jihad (holy war); raising alive of Jesus Christ to heaven by God and his predicted future descent to earth; and above all Mirza’s blatant violation of the concept of finality of the prophet-hood of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) which is the cornerstone of the edifice of Muslim belief. What was more, Mirza’s character, life-style, social dealings, the vulgar and intemperate languages used by him in reference to some of the most eminent an respected Muslim personalities, his volte-faces concerning many of his claims and pronouncements the absurdity of those claims, and similar other factors all these helped preclude his being accepted even as an honourable ordinary person, what to speak of being considered worthy of the high station of prophet-hood.

Contrary to unanimous Muslim beliefs based on the Quran and the Sunnah, Mirza had declared, inter alia, that: (a) the door to wahi (divine revelation) was permanently open, and that on that basis he himself was an apostle of Allah; (b) only his own interpretations of the Holy Book were the correct ones, and all others were wrong; (c) God had given him the choice to accept or reject whatever he wished out of the current collection of the Prophet’s ahadith; and (d) anyone who did not pledge allegiance to him was outside the pale of Islam.

For all these reasons, the Muslims naturally found it impossible to accept Mirza’s ludicrous claim to prophet-hood. Since Mirza’s claims had started initially in a low key, and had gradually become more and more daring, it took the students and scholars of religion some time before they could grasp the real gravity of the threat which Mirza’s writings, pronouncements, and doings posed to the solidarity of the Islamic Ummah. Inevitably, however, the time came when Muslim ulama and intellectuals were compelled to take serious notice of the activities of this 19th / 20th century impostor, and to launch a unanimous crusade against his heretical creed. Through sustained writings and speeches, they exposed the sinister designs underlying the Qadyani movement with such force and vigour as to render it largely ineffective.

Hazrat Pir Meher Ali Shah (R.A) was in the vanguard of this combined struggle of the ulama of India against Qadianism. He was indeed amongst the first to grasp its real evil motives, publicly denounce those motives, and warn other Muslims against them.