Re: What do Ahmedi's call mainstream muslims?
are you saying sunnis understanding of finality of prophethood is correct because the above false claimants of prophets were killed ?
There are three ways of looking at it.
1) these claimants were not ordered by Muhammad PBUH to be killed. Not a single one. Infact, one of the above claimants ( I think Aswad al-Ansi ) claimed to be a prophet in Muhammad PBUH lifetime, and instead of Holy Prophet PBUH showing anger, I believe I read somewhere that Holy Prophet PBUH personally went to Him and asked if He has claimed to be a prophet, upon his affirmation, Muhammad PBUH asked Him to provide him with evidence proving that Gabriel comes to him just as he comes to Him pbuh. Look at His approach. Despite being a true prophet of Allah, he pbuh did not blindly say, he cant be prophet, since i'm the last prophet, but rather going up to him and asking him for evidence. He later did toba and took back his claim. Muselmah was killed not because of his claim of prophethood, but rather refusing to pay zakaat and creating army against Muslims and therefore openly announcing war against Holy Prophet PBUH. Kindly look into history books.
2) This is the true way of Allah. Allah says in Quran that if even Muhammad PBUH had lied on my name, I would have destroyed his mission (paraphrasing it). Islam has a living Allah, and he is always right in what He says. How then can one think that a true prophet of Allah will be getting same kind of treatment from Allah as the false claimant of prophethood? It's not possible. Therefore, Allah deals with people of such false claims. It is not in our hands to deal with whose right and whose not. They were killed, and hence Allah's word stand corrected.
If someone claims to be a prophet. One of two is correct : either he is saying the truth or he's completely lying.
In case of a true claim >> Allah promises in Quran that in the end Him and His prophet will be victorious
In case of false claim >> Allah will destroy him as well as his mission. His mission will not grow and his followers will leave him.
Let me explain further if I may.
If someone claims to be a prophet. One of the following is true : either Allah knows about his claim, OR he does not know about it at all. If we say Allah did not know about it, we are openly denying his attribute of 'all knowing'. This leaves us with last option of Him having knowledge of his claim. Then there are 2 possibilities : either Allah will keep his promise and destroy him and his mission and that will be the end of him OR Allah helps him in every step of the way, his mission starts to progress, his followers starts to increase, and Allah is His helper as well as the jamaat that He establishes.
Now, how is it that a 'fake prophet' is getting the same treatment by Allah ( Allah helping him at every step, his followers keeps growing in number, gets more opposition etc ) vs. the 'true prophet' whose treatment by Allah is exactly the same. Allah nauzubillah do not lie. Allah will destroy a fake claimant and will help the true claimant.
One cannot help but to think and ponder upon it and is forced to believe that Allah NEVER let a false claimant be victorious just like a true prophet. Allah does not like anyone saying lies on His name, and therefore deals with them HIMSELF. But WHY is it that Allah's mercy has always been with who you call to be a 'false claimant' ? Why is Allah doing such a thing ?
3: One other way of looking at it is that they claimed an independent prophethood against the Holy Prophet PBUH's prophethood, which is automatically a lie and shouldnt be taken seriously, as now the only prophethood that one can achieve is through mere Holy prophet pbuh's footsteps. Every other door of prophethood has now come to an end. No christian, hindu,jew or vice versa will ever see the face of prophet in their ummah. This fountain of prophethood can only be achieved through complete obedience of our Master Holy Prophet PBUH.
I hope this answers your question.
Peace Mr.Popat
Interesting!!! Let's break down your response in just the first paragraph.
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1) these claimants were not ordered by Muhammad PBUH to be killed. Not a single one. Infact, one of the above claimants ( I think Aswad al-Ansi ) claimed to be a prophet in Muhammad PBUH lifetime, and instead of Holy Prophet PBUH showing anger, I believe I read somewhere that Holy Prophet PBUH personally went to Him and asked if He has claimed to be a prophet, upon his affirmation, Muhammad PBUH asked Him to provide him with evidence proving that Gabriel comes to him just as he comes to Him pbuh. Look at His approach. Despite being a true prophet of Allah, he pbuh did not blindly say, he cant be prophet, since i'm the last prophet, but rather going up to him and asking him for evidence. He later did toba and took back his claim. Muselmah was killed not because of his claim of prophethood, but rather refusing to pay zakaat and creating army against Muslims and therefore openly announcing war against Holy Prophet PBUH. Kindly look into history books.
Firstly there are specific statements by RasoolAllah (SAW) saying "There is no prophet after me**"And I asked if the early claimants were not liars and finality was not the issue for you to explain why they were killed - you said in response Sayyiduna Muhammad (SAW) did not order them to be killed. So by saying this are you saying
a) RasoolAllah (SAW) didn't take them to be liars?
b) The Sahabah (RA) who did order them to be killed were at fault because RasoolAllah (SAW) did not order it so? c) And if they were only killed for not paying zakat then is that not even more reason to kill the false claimant?
d) And if they were true claimants and the Sahabah (RA) should have been careful for new prophets coming - surely if the claimant was true then his not paying zakat is justified as his new prophecy would abrogate previous rulings and hence they should not have been killed at all - because they could have been true prophets ...
When RasoolAllah (SAW) confronted the other claimants - did he (SAW) do so on the grounds that they could have been true? Or to intellectually refute and destroy their influence? He (SAW) also never entertained them for being prophets yet you say otherwise.
The thing I'm trying to get to is not what you have explained tainted with falsehoods ... I'm looking at the mindset of the Salaf regarding new claimants - they were strict about not letting any NEW prophet come ... yet they believed in the return of Isa (AS) our interpretation of finality is compatible with how they "THE SALAF" understood it ... which is different to yours.
We have a legacy and tradition that is broken by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ... All prophets came from a family line as well ... is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad even from that line? No ... he is not. Also it is categorical that the Salaf understood the return of Isa (AS) to be literally him - (AS) the son of Maryam (AS) as is the belief of Christians since before Islam.