Claim of Divinity

Claim of Divinity

This allegation can only be raised by one who has no knowledge of the Qur’an, Ahadith, or Islamic Dreams. The non Ahmadi Muslims lacking this knowledge, quite often quote a vision of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as in these words:

“I saw in one of my contemplative visions that I am God myself and I believed that I am the same”

Firstly, this allegation is completely out of context and once the conext is shown the matter becomes clear. Now one first has to understand that this is a vision and not a statement of Ahmad^as himself. Secondly, he stated that we need a new system and a new sky and thirdly, Ahmad^as states that these are insprations that he is enlightened with by Allah.

The first important point is that visions are not always taken literal. The vision of Ahmad^as is completely appropriate according to the Qur’an, ahadith and the views of the scholars of Islam and scholars of dream interpretations in Islam. We will start from the Qur’an and then move to the ahadith, and then provide some statements which the scholars have said.

Allah States in the Qur’an:

فَلَمْ تَقْتُلُوهُمْ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ قَتَلَهُمْ ۚ وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ رَمَىٰ ۚ وَلِيُبْلِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْهُ بَلَاءً حَسَنًا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ {18}

So you killed them not, but it was Allah Who killed them. And thou threwest not when thou didst throw, but it was Allah Who threw, that He might overthrow the disbelievers and that He might confer on the believers a great favour from Himself. Surely, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.(Chapter 8 Verse 18)

No one takes such statements of the Qur’an to literally mean that Allah Came down to throw the sand and it was not the Holy Prophet^saw in reality who threw it. These are beautiful statements when one tries to understand them.  Firstly the words which state that it was Allah who killed them simply shows that the victory of Badr was all because of the Help of Allah and not because of the effort of the Muslims. The throwing of the pebbles also suggests that the victory came from Allah but the Holy Prophet^saw also had a share in the effort because of his prayers which drew the help of Allah.

Allah also States:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ ۚ فَمَنْ نَكَثَ فَإِنَّمَا يَنْكُثُ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِهِ ۖ وَمَنْ أَوْفَىٰ بِمَا عَاهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللَّهَ فَسَيُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا{11}

Verily, those who swear allegiance to thee indeed swear allegiance to Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands. So whoever breaks his oath, breaks it to his own loss; and whoever fulfils the covenant that he has made with Allah, He will surely give him a great reward.(Chapter 48 Verse 11)

This statement is also not literal and people do not physically believe that Allah’s hands were over their hands. Rather it is taken metaphorically.

We will now provide similar statements from the ahadith where Allah uses such statements to show His Love for His servants. It is narrated:

حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ حَاتِمِ بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ، حَدَّثَنَا بَهْزٌ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ أَبِي رَافِعٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَقُولُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ مَرِضْتُ فَلَمْ تَعُدْنِي ‏.‏ قَالَ يَا رَبِّ كَيْفَ أَعُودُكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ عَبْدِي فُلاَنًا مَرِضَ فَلَمْ تَعُدْهُ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّكَ لَوْ عُدْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَنِي عِنْدَهُ يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ اسْتَطْعَمْتُكَ فَلَمْ تُطْعِمْنِي ‏.‏ قَالَ يَا رَبِّ وَكَيْفَ أُطْعِمُكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّهُ اسْتَطْعَمَكَ عَبْدِي فُلاَنٌ فَلَمْ تُطْعِمْهُ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّكَ لَوْ أَطْعَمْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ اسْتَسْقَيْتُكَ فَلَمْ تَسْقِنِي ‏.‏ قَالَ يَا رَبِّ كَيْفَ أَسْقِيكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ قَالَ اسْتَسْقَاكَ عَبْدِي فُلاَنٌ فَلَمْ تَسْقِهِ أَمَا إِنَّكَ لَوْ سَقَيْتَهُ وَجَدْتَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي ‏”‏ ‏.‏

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:Verily, Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, would say on the Day of Resurrection: O son of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit Me. He would say: O my Lord; how could I visit Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? Thereupon He would say: Didn’t you know that such and such servant of Mine was sick but you did not visit him and were you not aware of this that if you had visited him, you would have found Me by him? O son of Adam, I asked food from you but you did not feed Me. He would say: My Lord, how could I feed Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? He said: Didn’t you know that such and such servant of Mine asked food from you but you did not feed him, and were you not aware that if you had fed him you would have found him by My side? (The Lord would again say: ) O son of Adam, I asked drink from you but you did not provide Me. He would say: My Lord, how could I provide Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? Thereupon He would say: Such and such of servant of Mine asked you for a drink but you did not provide him, and had you provided him drink you would have found him near Me. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith #2569)

No one believes that Allah will Physically be hungry or sick. It just shows the Love of Allah for His servants.

We will now read the entire statement of Ahmad^as in context to remove any misconceptions:

“‘In a vision I saw that I myself was God and believed myself to be such. I felt that I had no will or thought or action of my own left, and that I had become like something which was being completely overpowered by something else that had absorbed me wholly so that my own being had completely disappeared. I saw the divine spirit envelop my soul and covering my body hide me completely in itself so that not a particle of me remained. I beheld myself as if all my limbs had become His, my eyes had become His eyes, my ears had become His ears and my tongue had become His tongue. My Lord seized me with such great force that I disappeared in Him and I felt that His power was surging in me and that His divinity was coursing through me. The Lord of honor then set His camp around my heart and the Lord of power ground down my soul so that there was no more of me nor any desire of mine left. My whole structure was demolished and only the structure of the Lord of the universe remained visible.

The Divine overcame me with such force that I was drawn to Him from the hair of my head to the nails of my toes. Then I became all spirit which had no body and became an oil which had no dregs. I was separated completely from my ego and I became like something which was not visible or like a drop which had become merged in the ocean so that the ocean comprehended it in its vastness. I no longer knew what I had been before nor what my being was. Divinity coursed through my veins and muscles. I was completely lost to myself and God Almighty employed my limbs for His purpose and took possession of me with such force that nothing exceeded it. By this seizure I became non existent. I believed that my limbs had become God’s limbs and I imagined that I had discarded my own being and had departed from my existence, and that no associate or claimant had remained as an obstruction. God Almighty entered wholly into my being and my anger and my gentleness, and my bitterness and my sweetness and my movement and my inertness all became His. In this condition I said: I desire a new universe, a new heaven and a new earth” (Kitabul Bariyyah, Pages 85-87, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 13 Pages 103-105)

This context itsel shows that Ahmad^as did not claim any type of divinity. He states that He saw in his vision that he was God himself which already shows that there is a God who exists, and it is not him. Furthermore, in this vision he submits to God that a new system and sky was needed which further shows that there is no room for accusation against him for claiming divinity. This is simply a vision which shows that the Glory of God descended pon him and this is acceptable according to Islam and has been stated by many saints. Firstly we would like to make it clear that according to Ta’tirul-Anam which is a famous book of dream interpretations, it is stated:

“Anyone who sees in a dream that he has become God, the Glorious and Exalted, this is an indication that he would be rightly guided to the straight path”

Another hadith of the Holy Prophet^saw states:

حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُثْمَانَ، حَدَّثَنَا خَالِدُ بْنُ مَخْلَدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ بِلاَلٍ، حَدَّثَنِي شَرِيكُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي نَمِرٍ، عَنْ عَطَاءٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَالَ مَنْ عَادَى لِي وَلِيًّا فَقَدْ آذَنْتُهُ بِالْحَرْبِ، وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَىَّ عَبْدِي بِشَىْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَىَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُ عَلَيْهِ، وَمَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَىَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ، فَإِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ الَّذِي يَسْمَعُ بِهِ، وَبَصَرَهُ الَّذِي يُبْصِرُ بِهِ، وَيَدَهُ الَّتِي يَبْطُشُ بِهَا وَرِجْلَهُ الَّتِي يَمْشِي بِهَا، وَإِنْ سَأَلَنِي لأُعْطِيَنَّهُ، وَلَئِنِ اسْتَعَاذَنِي لأُعِيذَنَّهُ، وَمَا تَرَدَّدْتُ عَنْ شَىْءٍ أَنَا فَاعِلُهُ تَرَدُّدِي عَنْ نَفْسِ الْمُؤْمِنِ، يَكْرَهُ الْمَوْتَ وَأَنَا أَكْرَهُ مَسَاءَتَهُ ‏”‏‏.‏

Narrated Abu Huraira:Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Allah said, ‘I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (praying or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him, so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection (Refuge), I will protect him; (i.e. give him My Refuge) and I do not hesitate to do anything as I hesitate to take the soul of the believer, for he hates death, and I hate to disappoint him.” (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith #6502)

This does not mean that Allah literally becomes the ears and the eyes and the hands and feet of the person rather it shows that such people who follow Allah are drawn closer to him and He becomes a Part of them since they are totally lost in Him.

We will now see some statements of the Muslim scholars in regards to this issue. Hazrat Abu Yazid Bustami^rh stated that Allah declared:

“If a man be totally lost in God, since God is everything he will see in himself everything” (Bustami, Abu Yazid, Tadhkirath-al-Auliya, Chapter xiv, Page 146)

Hazrat Ali Ibn Talib^ra stated:

“l am the dot under the letter b of Bismillah. l am that aspect of God about which you have been indifferent. I am the Qalm. I am the Luh, I am the ‘Arsh, I am the Kursi, I am the Seven Heavens and the Earths” (Hazrat Ali, Sharh Fusoos al Hukrn, Preface, sc. Viii, Page 32)

Imam Ja’far Sadiq^rh stated:

“we are the face of God”(Sadiq,  Imam Ja’far. vide. Kitab Mazhar al ,’Ajai’b fin Nikat e Wal Ghara’ib)

Hadhrat Abu Yazid Bustami^rh states:

‘There is no one like me in heaven, nor anyone of my attributes on earth. My attributes are hidden in the Unseen. How can such a one be man? Nay, he is the tongue of Truth, and the speaker of the Truth Himself. For Me he speaks, for Me he hears, from Me he sees. Therefore, it is God Who speaks through the tongue of Abu Yazid(Bustami, Abu Yazid. Tadhkirat al Aulia, ch. xiv, p. 151)

Hadhrat Jalal Ud Din Rumi^rh has said: ‘That glorious sage Abu Yazid came to the disciples and said: I am God. This perfect spiritual leader, in the state of spiritual intoxication declared: There is no God but me, serve me; In other words, in my robe there is none but God, so how long will you search Him in heaven and earth.(Rumi, Jalal ud Din. Miftah al Ulum, sec. iv, pt. ii, pp,. 25 & 36)

Ibn Arabi^rh has stated:

‘I am the spirit of spirits not the spirit of vessels.(Arabi,  Sheikh Muhiyudin ibne. Fatuhat Makiyya pt. 1, p. 1)

Hadhrat Hussain Ibn Mansur Al Hallaj^rh stated:

“I am the Lord” (Halaj,  Mansur al. vide. Fawaid e Faridiyya, p. 76)

Hazrat Abu Al Hassan Kharaqani^rh stated:

“I am God of my Age”(Kharaqani, Abu al Hasan, Tadhkirat-al-Auliya, ed 1917, Page 585)

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as himself beautifully explains his revelations. Ahmad^as in these revelations is in reality showing that such revelations do not mean the person has claimed to be God. He is replying to some statements of Jesus from the gospels which the non Muslims quote. Write above from where this allegation is raised, Ahmad^as states:

“It should also be remembered that these ideas were not contained in the teachings of Jesus, and his teachings did not add anything to the Torah. He had said very plainly that he was a human being. True, just as the chosen ones of God receive titles of honour, nearness and love from the Exalted God, or just as those people themselves while absorbed in Divine love, utter words of love and union [with God], similar was his case. What doubt is there that, whether someone loves a human being or God, when that love reaches perfection, the lover definitely feels that his soul and that of the beloved have become one. At the stage of spiritual annihilation, many a time he sees himself as one with the beloved. As, for example, the Exalted God addressing my humble self in His revelations says: …”

After quoting the revelation under discussion, he states:

“Is it not true that if someone’s Divinity can be inferred from such revelations and statements then from these revelations of mine my Divinity — I seek refuge with God— will be better established than that of Jesus? And more than that of anyone, the Divinity of our leader and master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad can be established. For, his revelation does not only contain the verse “those who swear allegiance to thee do but swear allegiance to Allah”, and not only that the Exalted God has called the Holy Prophet’s hand as God’s own hand, and has declared each of his actions as God’s own action, and by saying “Nor does he speak out of desire, it is naught but revelation that is revealed” He has declared all his words to be God’s own words, but at one place He has called all the people his (the Holy Prophet’s) servants, as He has said: “(O Prophet) say (to people): O my servants”. Hence it is obvious that the Divinity of our Prophet can be established so plainly and clearly from these sacred words that the Divinity of Jesus cannot possibly be established to the same degree from the statements in the Gospels. Let alone this chief of the two worlds, the Holy Prophet, whose status is so great, the Christian clergymen should consider with justice even these revelations of mine, and then be judges themselves and decide whether it is not true that if such statements can establish Divinity then my revelations are a much stronger testimony to my Divinity than those of Jesus are to his Divinity.”

Ahmadas himself is stating that such revelations do not suggest the claim of divinity, rather show his spiritual annihilation to his Creator and if there is anyone above all who’s revelations can prove him to be God, it would be the Holy Prophet^saw.

He also writes:

“Once in a vision I saw that I created a new earth and a new heaven and then I said, let us now create man. At this the foolish Maulvis raised a storm that look, he has now claimed to be God, but this vision meant that God would produce such a transformation at my hands that it would be as if the heaven and the earth had become new, and real humans would come into existence.” (Chashma-i Masihi; Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 20, p. 375-376)

And:

“It must be remembered that God the Most High is clear of having any sons. No one is His partner and no one is His son. No one has the right to say ‘I am God’ or ‘I am the son of God’. These words here are metaphorical and figurative. In the Holy Quran God has declared the hand of the Holy Prophet Muhammad as His own hand and said: ‘It is the hand of Allah that is above their hands’ (48:11). Similarly, instead of ‘Say, O servants of Allah’, He revealed: ‘Say, O My servants’ (39:11), and also said: ‘Remember Allah as you remember your forefathers’ (2:201). So you must read the word of God with intelligence and caution, and accept these as allegorical matters, and don’t try to determine their exact nature. Leave the actual nature to God and believe that God is clear of taking anyone as son although much is found in his revelation as allegory. Save yourself from following the allegorical matters and being destroyed thereby. Among the revelations about me which are in clear words there is this one which is recorded in Barahin Ahmadiyya: ‘Say, I am a mortal like you. It is revealed to me that your God is only One God, and all good lies in the Quran’.” (Dafi‘ul-Bala;Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 18, p. 227, footnote)

Ahmadas is simply showing the concept of fana fillah, which is a famous concept among the great saints of Islam and was supported by the Ahadith quoted earlier. A similar allegation is also quoted from Aina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam page 564, where Ahmad^as states that he saw in a dream that he wwas Allah and believed it. The answer remains the same and just two pages after this he writes:

“We do not interpret this experience according to the meanings in the books of the believers in wahdat-ul-wujud nor according to the beliefs of the Hulul. On the contrary, this experience is in accordance with the hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad contained in Bukhari explaining the rank of nearness to God that is attained by His righteous servants.” (p. 566)