Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Has anyone read books of the ‘Promised Messiah’ ‘Hazrat’ Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ‘as’???

The reason I put ‘quotes’ is because some of you may believe him to be the PM and some may not, I don’t want to offend either of you.

So my question is, whether Ahmadi or not, can someone please give me an unbiased opinion about his writings? The reason is because I have heard from many different sources that his teachings were for the betterment of Islam in general and many Muslims in those times held him and his writings in high regard. I also heard that somewhere down the line, something went awry and people forsook him.

Don’t start cursing him and saying all these bad things, because trust me, I have heard them before. I’m sure whether you believe he was a prophet, a reformer, neither or a wretched man, theres nothing I have not heard before. I just want to know if his teachings as a whole hold any benefit for mankind or if its just a waste of time.. I have read some of his smaller books translated into english, which I thought were excellent and held many points of wisdom, but the longer ones in Urdu, I have not and cannot read..

So please, if someone could enlighten me it would be greatly appreciated..

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Mirza sahab must be a wise man. His wisdom is not in question. The fact that he claimed to be prophet is the matter of conflict.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

So there should be no problem in reading his books and acting upon his teachings?

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Reading is one thing, acting upon is a totally different thing. Unless you have a solid knowledge about your own basic faith, it will be very hard for you to tell the conflicting messages that you may come across in a book of different school of thought. Unknowingly, if you started to follow a conflicting messages, it will take you away from your core faith.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

I appreciate your decency in expressing your thoughts. :)

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

Peace wheresmycookie

I am wondering why you are asking if anybody has read his books, yet by asking such a question, surely you would have read some of his books yourself. Which have you read? From them, the knowledge you like and find acceptable go with it, the material you don't agree with, don't go with it. Check everything against the various books on similar subjects and always look for references. Original work is important to look at for references - so they explain where they get their information from.

A scholar such as Imam Al-Ghazali would have produced much works that is generally inaccessible for the wider masses, but himself would have explained the basis of his studies. It is often too easy to take material and not state where it has come from. Wahi - you will find is unique - because it has perfect style and structure and no human would have reproduced it either prior to or after the revelation. So there may be instances in the above person's books where material has been taken or borrowed without leaving a reference behind ... giving the impression that it is original material, you need to be vigilant with this too. Such material you can accept as true, but to then say that it has come from such and such a person might not be true.

I would say there is a mixture of things that you can find in the said person's books. I have the book called Tadhkira. I have also read an article that gives an introduction about Islam - which is quite good, but it seems from the narration to be original, but I have read similar things before in the works of other scholars. I expected to see references to those scholars in the works I read, but I didn't see any. If you find a truth and wisdom in any book - do not necessarily conclude it was that author's own original conclusion.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

you better ask an aalim about any questions that you may have. here, we can give you ONLY basic info.

Qadiani's believe him to be the prophet while main stream Muslims believe that Prophet MoHammad [saws] was the LAST prophet and NO other prophet will come till qayaamat and consider that those who believe in another prophet are commiting KUFR and, as a result, Pakistan have declared them to be non-Muslims.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

wheresmycookie, please do mention the names of the books you have read for other members here. Also, I highly recommend you read 'the philosophy of the teachings of Islam'

Like He said : wo khazaain jo hazaaroN saal se madfoon thay // ab main deta hoon agar koi mile umeedvaar

His writings are an ocean of knowledge and are the true teachings of Islam.

PS: I appreciate people here being decent on this matter :)

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

I have read 'Philosophy of teachings of Islam', a few lectures, started reading 'Brahin e Ahmadiyyat', and a few other pamphlets/booklets etc...

The reason I am asking is because a lot of people seem to find fault with his writing, but I have yet to find anything even the least bit objectionable, on the contrary, I have found many profound points of wisdom..

But some people say later in his life he became a little crazy started writing a bunch of baseless things??? I cant find these things, and I want to know if anyone else has?? And if not, then what problem does anyone have fully accepting his teacihngs? They seem to be divinely inspired..

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

There have been many great writers who wrote books on Islam and its teachings and they were all great works. But with the books of Hz Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), one thing needs to keep in mind is that He has said countless times that GOD has told me this.. God has told me that. I've received such and such revelations. Paragraphs after paragraphs of the revelations He used to receive. This matter is not just on His knowledge of Islam, but is a matter on Allah's name. He has said that the wisdom that you read in His books is from Allah almighty. Now, thats quite a big statement to make. Allah says by giving Muhammad PBUH's example that even if He had lied, Allah would have given Him punishment as well. It's not easy and no one is stupid enough to just stand up and start writing stuff and says its from Allah. No one has any reason to invite the wrath of Allah. So, when you read one book and then you read the book of Hz Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), keep in mind that the person claims to have been receiving revelations from Allah and He was the one guiding Him to write what He wrote.

If you keep reading His books with clear and neutral mind, you will find there is nothing that He wrote which is against Islam. Even the claims He made, he has given references from Quran and ahadith to prove His point.

Best of luck!

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

KKF,

The main difference between Ahmadi muslims and so-called main stream

muslims is NOT khatm-e-nabuwat or another prophet after prophet

muhammad (pbuh). This issue has been propagated and amplified to gain

populariy. You may not believe me but it is true that Ahmadis have firm

faith in Khatme-e-nabuwat and actually their belief in this far more

solid. What is Khatm-e-nabuwat? if it is true that no prophet can come

after the holy prophet (pbuh) then non-ahmadis defy their own

definition of the Last prophet and then try to hang on to some weird

and childish explanation. They also believe that Isa (as) will come. On

asking, they say well Isa (as) came first and was given nabuwat prior

to prophet Muhammad(pbuh) so his coming doesn't affect the status of

finality of prophethood. if we say but still it means prophet is needed

in this world, they say well he will come as an ummati of the holy

prophet (pbuh) (that is what we say). We say Quran says that Jesus(as)

was subjected to torah and gospel and not Quran, how can he be an

ummati of the holy prophet (pbuh)... He was prophet unto bani-israel if

he comes and with a new mission the seal of khatm-e-nabuwat is surely

broken.

Let me tell you briefly what is ahmadi belief of khatm-e-nabuwat

the holy prophet (pbuh) has been called Khataman-nabiyeen. It means

after his coming, a seal of closure has been placed on all other

prophethoods. All other prophets and messengers were for a limited time

and limited nations but Islam in its final form is for all times to

come and for all nations. After prophet muhammad (pbuh), we only need

to follow his teachings and example. The holy prophet (pbuh) has been

compared to Moses (as) and after 14 centuries or so Isa (as) came to

this world and came to fullfill the law (Mosai Shariat). Now in the

same fashion, as per prophecies, a reformer was needed who has been

given the title of Isa ibn mariam from within the ummah. He has been

called prophet of Allah in sahih muslim and that there is no prophet

between the holy prophet and Isa ibn-e-mariam.

1) Isa ibn mariam (as) would be an ummati of the holy prophet (pbuh)
2) No new book like Gospel is needed after Quran
3) No new shariah is needed. no addition and deletion
4) He will be mere a shadow of the holy prophet (pbuh) to revive the same teachings in later days.

Since he will be a follower (ummati) so as per non-ahmadi doctrine, seal of khatm-e-nabuwat is not broken

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

Why not start sharing snap shots from his books.

Let others read his gems as well.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

so who was Mirza Ghulam Ahmed (as per Ahmadis)? Imam Mahdi?

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

Like any other man made thinggy few beta versions and some updates.

started as musleh, then mujadid, then mehdi then masih moaood then baroozi nabi then better then prophet naudobillah.(and accoridng to one ilham had some intercourse with god- naql uffar kuffar nabashad)(and i can prove all these:) )

Last few version crashed thou as they were not compatible with islams operating system.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

I don't think this thread will run its course. I will admit that I have not read his books, but what I have heard is that he called himself mehdi, maseeh and ummati nabi. I am sure he would have justifications for all these titles.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

I would like to present the first example of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's work ... "Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam".

After declaring that all material would be taken from the Qur'an he then proceeds to explain three states of man as requested. Physical that he proceeds to call animal state ... Named after the inclination to evil "nafs e ammara", the moral state he ties with the "nufs e lawwama" or the self-reproving soul and the spiritual state as requested he ties to the "nufs e mutmainna" or satisfied soul.

My contentions with this assessment is that despite there being some deduction involved these deductions were not stated ... For example ... Nufs e ammara means evil soul ... But physical state is not necessary evil ... Animal? - yes ... But an animal desire is fitra, it is neither evil nor good. It is however selfish, but it is not excessive. So if there was a reason beyond the linguistic meaning of the term that equates physical states with nufs e ammara that would not be present in the Qur'an and would require interpretation.

Further the other two states mentioned are also similar ... To be satisfied is not necessarily spiritual and to be self-reproving is not necessarily the whole extent to being moral.

The grouping of nufs ammara, lawwama, and mutmainna are also attributed to scholars in the the past ... Ibn sina, ibn rushd, Imam al ghazali, and several other states could also be mentioned ... Some scholars have taken the states of the soul to 7 different levels.

I was looking for evidence that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has acknowledged scholars of the past who arrived at these formulas first ... Or at least if he arrived at these ideas independently they do not resound a level of profundity that makes him stand out as any more intelligent or inspired than the scholars we all know about. Rather as stated may be due to another aspect of erroneous translation that the three states requested are not really equivalent to the three states given in reply.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

If you go to his link:

Ma’rifah: The Soul in Islam

You will see how nafs e ammara is called “the commanding soul” which is a combination of nufs e haywaniyya, animal soul, and nufs e iblisiyya, “the satanic soul” … So animal nature is distinct from satanic/evil nature although both combined form nufs e ammara.

also above mutmain state radi, mardi and then the kamil states are said to exist.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

I haven't. To be honest, as he's claimed to be a prophet, I openly reject him and I wouldn't go near any of his teachings anyway.

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

Captain Blatant :hehe:

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Re: Has anyone read the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?

Lads, no need to advertise any teaching. However you can continue to discuss things in a civil manner rather than derailing the thread. I will let the thread stay for now but will lock it should any of you derails it intentionally or unintentionally