Chapter 4 Verse 70
“And whoso obeys Allah and this Messenger of His shall be among those on whom Allah has bestowed His blessings, namely, the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the Righteous. And excellent companions are these.” (Chapter 4 Verse 70)
This verse states four spiritual rewards for the servants of Muhammad(Saw). You can only attain these ranks by following Muhammad(Saw). This shows the greatness of Muhammad(saw).
By believing in his messengers you can only attain these spiritual ranks but by accepting Muhammad(Saw) you can attain so much more. Allah states:
“And those who believe in Allah and His Messengers and they are the Truthful and the Witnesses in the sight of their Lord, they will have their reward and their light. But as for those who disbelieve and reject Our Signs, these are the inmates of Hell.” (Chapter 57 Verse 20)
Non Ahmadis try to claim that this means along with rather then among them. This makes no sense. They would have some say if the word Ma’a was used alone, but Allah has also used the word Min which means among or from. Because Allah has used Min, Allah has emphasized that people who do Follow Nabi(saw) can attain these four spiritual ranks. This does not mean they would be in the company and if that was the case then the use of both words Ma’a and min would be useless and redundant while Allah is perfect.
Now if we accept the interpretation of the Non Ahmadi’s for this verse it would mean:
Those who obey Allah and His Messenger would be in the company of the Prophets but not Prophets themselves. They would be in the company of the Truthful but not truthful themselves. They would be in the company of the Martyrs but not Martyrs themselves. They would be in the company of the
Righteous but not righteous themselves.’
No sincere Muslim can accept this translation. This would mean that no Khalifa attained any of these statuses nor were any of them martyrs, God forbid. If a Non Ahmadi says that prophethood cannot be attained then he has to accept that for all other ranks since the same arabic is used and its all put together for a reason.
“Except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and are sincere in their obedience to Allah. These are among the believers. And Allah will soon bestow a great reward upon the believers.” (Chapter 4 Verse 147)
Allah here gives four grades or spiritual ranks also now if Non Ahmadi logic is used to interpret this it means we can not attain any of this rather only be among the believers.
Secondly non Ahmadis try saying this will be in the hereafter however this can easily be refuted if attention is given to the Arabic grammar which is used called Jumla Ismiyyah which means it cannot refer to a time period which is only for the future.
Allah states that he is All knowing, wise in chapter 4 verse 27 which is the same grammar of Arabic:
Allah desires to make clear to you, and guide you to, the paths of those before you, and to turn to you in mercy. And Allah is All- Knowing, Wise.(Chapter 4 Verse 27)
Now it would be incorrect to say Allah is not all knowing and wise and will be only in the future God forbid.
Chapter 48 verse 29 states Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah same grammar is used. This does not mean Nabi(saw) will be a messenger in the future and wasn’t one in his advent nauzobilla:
“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And those who are with him are hard against the disbelievers, tender among themselves. Thou seest them bowing and prostrating themselves in Prayer, seeking grace from Allah and His pleasure. Their mark is upon their faces, being the traces of prostrations. This is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel is like unto a seed-produce that sends forth its sprout, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and stands firm on its stem, delighting the sowers — that He may cause the disbelievers to burn with rage at the sight of them. Allah has promised, unto those of them who believe and do good works, forgiveness and a great reward.” (Chapter 48 Verse 30)
The non Ahmadi interpretation makes a mockery of the Quran.
If this verse was for the hereafter Allah would have simply stated: And whoso obeys Allah and this Messenger of His, in the future,he shall be in the company of those upon whom Allah has bestowed His blessings, namely, the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs and the Righteous.And excellent companions are these.’
The non Ahmadis also state that the Muslims can receive all of these blessings but not of prophethood. This would not make sense as Allah has put them all in the same category which shows either all ranks are attainable or all are not. Allah has stated:
You are the best people raised for the good of mankind; you enjoin what is good and forbid evil and believe in Allah. And if the People of the Book had believed, it would have surely been better for them. Some of them are believers, but most of them are disobedient.(Chapter 3 Verse 111)
How can the ummah who Allah has called the best of mankind, not be able to attain any of these blessings? The past ummahs had people of all of these ranks and they were blessed with prophets. If we cannot become one rank from the above verse, then it means we cannot be any of the following ranks which means this ummah would only have horrible people. Either all ranks are open or none are, as the Arabic is the same for all ranks. Either the door is open for all ranks or it is closed.
Another important point to notice is that this verse does not include the word paradise or the day of judgement, and one cannot claim it refers to those without a solid argument. Many Muslims have not been able to see the Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw) and all Muslims have a wish to see the Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw). If this was about the day of judgement, it would say whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, they would be with the Holy Prophet Muhammad(Saw) on the day of judgement. If this ayah was about Paradise, and Allah has told us that we would be with the Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw), the other ranks do not matter and do not need to be there. When the most largest rank or reward is mentioned, then the smaller rewards do not need to be mentioned as this is against common sense and fasahato bilagat.
If we are introducing someone, and we state that he has passed his M.A degree, we would not need to introduce his qualities which are less important, like passing high school. If this ayah referred to meeting prophets in the hereafter, then the other ranks would be there for no reason.
As Ahmadi Muslims we do not deny that ma’a can mean among too but there is a reason that in this verse it cannot mean among referring to the hereafter for many reasons.Firstly its a great insult to the Nabi(Saw) to believe no Muslim can attain any of these ranks, secondly its an insult to Nabi(saw) himself that no one can be a prophet from following him but many prophets came under Moses(as) and other prophets and thirdly min is used with ma’a for a reason. Fourthly it is under jumlah Ismiyyah which means present tense which shows all these ranks are open.
It is important to explain the word ma’a when it comes to this verse in depth. Ahmadi Muslims and Non Ahmadi Muslims differ on this ayah. We state that it means being “among” or “from within” the groups which are mentioned. The context of this ayah itself shows us that the word ma’a would have to mean among here. The non Ahmadis try to state that it means in the company of, but not among them. Imam Raghib has the most famous dictionary written in regards to the Qur’an and he states:
(مع) یقتضی الاجتماع امّا فی المكان: نحو: ھما معاً فی الدار، او
فی الزمان ۔ نحو: وُلِد معاً، او فی المعنَی كالمتضایفین نحو: الاخ
والاب، فان احدھما صار اخاً للآخَرِ فی حالِ ما صارَ الاخرُ اخاہُ؛
و امّا فی الشّرف الرُّتْبَةِ ۔ نحو: ھما معاً فی العُلُوِّ
فی الزمان ۔ نحو: وُلِد معاً، او فی المعنَی كالمتضایفین نحو: الاخ
والاب، فان احدھما صار اخاً للآخَرِ فی حالِ ما صارَ الاخرُ اخاہُ؛
و امّا فی الشّرف الرُّتْبَةِ ۔ نحو: ھما معاً فی العُلُوِّ
“The word Ma‘a requires the mutual gathering of
something. [This can be in four ways]: (i) the gathering of two people at a single place, i.e., they were together in a single house; (ii) or in the same
era, i.e., he was born in the same era as someone else; (iii) or in a mutual relationship, i.e., a brother or a father, for verily, one of the two is a brother to the other in a state when the other is also his brother [and in this manner they are both gathered in a single state (i.e., a state of brotherhood)], iv) or in honour and rank, i.e., they were both equivalent in greatness.”
All meanings are correct, but it always depends on the context of the ayah and what the ayah is saying for the word ma’a to be understood. There are many verses of the Holy Qur’an which show that ma’a is used as a synonym for min(among) or fi(in or among). For example Allah has stated:
“Our Lord, we have heard a Crier calling us unto faith, ‘Believe ye in your Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord, forgive us, therefore, our errors and remove from us our evils, and in death number us with the righteous.(Chapter 3 Verse 194)
In this prayer we use the same word of ma’a. It is clear that Allah is telling us that O Allah when we die, grant us a spiritual station amongst those people who were righteous rather then make us die in the company of the righteous. Allah also states:
O ye who believe! fear Allah as He should be feared; and let not death overtake you except when you are in a state of submission.(Chapter 3 Verse 103)
We are asking Allah that He grants us a death of when we are in a state of submission and on the right path. Imam Raghib has beautifully explained this word in his famous dictionary of the Qur’an named Mufridatul-Qur’an stating:
“The verse Faktubna ma‘ash-shahidin means, O Allah! make us from among their ranks [i.e., of those who bear witness].This verse alludes
to the words of Allah (in another verse of the Holy Qur’an): Fa’ula’ika ma‘alladhina an‘amallahu ‘alaihim…”
Imam Raghib has clearly showed us that in this verse, we are asking Allah to make us from among the ranks of those who bear witness.
In Surah Fatiha every single prayer, we ask Allah:
Guide us in the right path —The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thyblessings, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray(Chapter 1 Verses 6-7)
We are asking for the blessings of Allah which are mentioned in Chapter 4 Verse 70 every single day. How can it be stated that prophethood is closed if we ask for this blessing everyday? Indeed prophethood is open for this ummah as it is the greatest ummah, but only to a true lover of Muhammad(saw) as Ahmad(as) was.