Revelation During the Time of the Messiah

The allegation raised by the non Ahmadi Muslims is full of ignorance and dishonesty. They claim that in the book “Need for The Imam” Ahmad^as has stated that kids would turn into Prophets. This is not true at all. Here is the correct translation of the passage they raise an allegation against:

” And anyone who has the capacity to pronounce judgement in matters of faith by the use of reason and reflection, his ability is enhanced. Anyone who has the inclination towards prayers is granted pleasure in his worship. Anyone who is engaged in debates with other faiths is given the power to argue and arrive at incontrovertible conclusions. All these blessings are in fact the outcome of the spiritual radiation which comes with the Imam of the age and descends upon the heart of every ready and eager person. This is a general law and a Divine practice to which we have been guided by the Holy Quran and authentic Hadith, and our personal experience have testified to it. The age of the Promised Messiah^as, however, has even greater distinction in that it is recorded in the books of earlier Prophets and Hadith of the Holy Prophet^saw that, at the time of his advent, this radiation of spirituality will become so universal that women too will begin to receive revelations, minors will make prophecies, and ordinary people will be inspired by the Holy Spirit. All this will be a reflection of the spirituality of the Promised Messiah^as. This is just like the light of the sun which falls upon a wall and illuminates it, and if the wall is white-washed with lime, it becomes all the more radiant. And if it is inlaid with mirrors, the light becomes too intense even for the eyes to behold. The wall, however, cannot claim this light as its own, for after sunset, not a trace of it remains. Likewise, all revelational light is a reflection of the light of the Imam of the age. Any right minded person—unless he is just unlucky, or is being tried and tested by God— will readily understand this fine point.” (Need For The Imam, Pages 6-7)

Firstly, the Promised Messiah^as did not say children would become prophets, rather he stated that they would make prophecies and have true dreams and be extremely spiritual. This is clearly fulfilled, especially in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community where the young children are extremely spiritual and have a direct communion with Allah. The second allegation the non Ahmadi Muslims raise is against the statement of other Prophets and the ahadith mentioning this as well. Firstly, we should look at the other books as Ahmad^as mentioned them first.

It is stated in the Book of Acts Chapter 2 verse 17:

“In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on all people. You sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams”

It is stated in the same book and chapter on verse 18:

“Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy”

It is stated in the Book of Joel Chapter 2 Verse 28:

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions”

We do not blame the anti Ahmadis for not knowing this fact as they do not read the bible, and when they do end up discussing with Christians, it is solely through the efforts and writings of Ahmad^as. Secondly the anti Ahmadis claim that such is not mentioned in the ahadith. They forget that it is the concept of this statement which Ahmad^as is referring to. It is not necessary for this to be in the ahadith word for word, rather the concept is needed. The reason this allegation is raised by the non Ahmadi Muslims, is because they believe Allah has stopped speaking, so in reality, the topic of discussion is whether revelation has ended or if it continues. The fact of the matter is that this statement of Ahmad^as is totally correct and we see the concept he has mentioned throughout the ahadith.

It is narrated in the most authentic book of ahadith:

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ صَبَّاحٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُعْتَمِرٌ، سَمِعْتُ عَوْفًا، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سِيرِينَ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، يَقُولُ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ إِذَا اقْتَرَبَ الزَّمَانُ لَمْ تَكَدْ تَكْذِبُ رُؤْيَا الْمُؤْمِنِ، وَرُؤْيَا الْمُؤْمِنِ جُزْءٌ مِنْ سِتَّةٍ وَأَرْبَعِينَ جُزْءًا مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ‏.‏ ‏”‏ قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَأَنَا أَقُولُ هَذِهِ قَالَ وَكَانَ يُقَالُ الرُّؤْيَا ثَلاَثٌ حَدِيثُ النَّفْسِ، وَتَخْوِيفُ الشَّيْطَانِ، وَبُشْرَى مِنَ اللَّهِ، فَمَنْ رَأَى شَيْئًا يَكْرَهُهُ فَلاَ يَقُصُّهُ عَلَى أَحَدٍ، وَلْيَقُمْ فَلْيُصَلِّ‏.‏ قَالَ وَكَانَ يُكْرَهُ الْغُلُّ فِي النَّوْمِ، وَكَانَ يُعْجِبُهُمُ الْقَيْدُ، وَيُقَالُ الْقَيْدُ ثَبَاتٌ فِي الدِّينِ‏.‏ وَرَوَى قَتَادَةُ وَيُونُسُ وَهِشَامٌ وَأَبُو هِلاَلٍ عَنِ ابْنِ سِيرِينَ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَأَدْرَجَهُ بَعْضُهُمْ كُلَّهُ فِي الْحَدِيثِ، وَحَدِيثُ عَوْفٍ أَبْيَنُ‏.‏ وَقَالَ يُونُسُ لاَ أَحْسِبُهُ إِلاَّ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي الْقَيْدِ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ لاَ تَكُونُ الأَغْلاَلُ إِلاَّ فِي الأَعْنَاقِ‏.‏

Narrated Abu Huraira:Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “When the Day of Resurrection approaches, the dreams of a believer will hardly fail to come true, and a dream of a believer is one of forty-six parts of prophetism, and whatever belongs to prothetism can never be false.” Muhammad bin Seereen said, “But I say this.” He said, “It used to be said, ‘There are three types of dreams: The reflection of one’s thoughts and experiences one has during wakefulness, what is suggested by Satan to frighten the dreamer, or glad tidings from Allah. So, if someone has a dream which he dislikes, he should not tell it to others, but get up and offer a prayer.” He added, “He (Abu Huraira) hated to see a Ghul (i.e., iron collar around his neck in a dream) and people liked to see fetters (on their feet in a dream). The fetters on the feet symbolizes one’s constant and firm adherence to religion.” And Abu `Abdullah said, “Ghuls (iron collars) are used only for necks.” (Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith #7017)

It is also narrated in Sahih Muslim:

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي عُمَرَ الْمَكِّيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَهَّابِ الثَّقَفِيُّ، عَنْ أَيُّوبَ السَّخْتِيَانِيِّ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏”‏ إِذَا اقْتَرَبَ الزَّمَانُ لَمْ تَكَدْ رُؤْيَا الْمُسْلِمِ تَكْذِبُ وَأَصْدَقُكُمْ رُؤْيَا أَصْدَقُكُمْ حَدِيثًا وَرُؤْيَا الْمُسْلِمِ جُزْءٌ مِنْ خَمْسٍ وَأَرْبَعِينَ جُزْءًا مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ وَالرُّؤْيَا ثَلاَثَةٌ فَرُؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةِ بُشْرَى مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرُؤْيَا تَحْزِينٌ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ وَرُؤْيَا مِمَّا يُحَدِّثُ الْمَرْءُ نَفْسَهُ فَإِنْ رَأَى أَحَدُكُمْ مَا يَكْرَهُ فَلْيَقُمْ فَلْيُصَلِّ وَلاَ يُحَدِّثْ بِهَا النَّاسَ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏”‏ وَأُحِبُّ الْقَيْدَ وَأَكْرَهُ الْغُلَّ وَالْقَيْدُ ثَبَاتٌ فِي الدِّينِ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ فَلاَ أَدْرِي هُوَ فِي الْحَدِيثِ أَمْ قَالَهُ ابْنُ سِيرِينَ ‏.‏

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:When the time draws near (when the Resurrection is near) a believer’s dream can hardly be false. And the truest vision will be of one who is himself the most truthful in speech, for the vision of a Muslim is the forty-fifth part of Prophecy, and dreams are of three types: one good dream which is a sort of good tidings from Allah; the evil dream which causes pain is from the satan; and the third one is a suggestion of one’s own mind; so if any one of you sees a dream which he does not like he should stand up and offer prayer and he should not relate it to people, and he said: I would love to see fetters (in the dream), but I dislike wearing of necklace, for the fetters is (an indication of) one’s steadfastness in religion. The narrator said: I do not know whether this is a part of the hadith or the words of Ibn Sirin. (Sahih Muslim Hadith #2263a)

These ahadith show us the amount of true dreams which would occur in the time of the Messiah. This also tells us that the anti Ahmadi Muslims who raise this allegation have not studied the ahadith of our beloved Prophet, Muhammad^saw. This concept is also present in many other ahadith. One example is this beautiful hadith which states:

حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ بِلاَلٍ، عَنْ ثَوْرٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الْغَيْثِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، رضى الله عنه قَالَ كُنَّا جُلُوسًا عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأُنْزِلَتْ عَلَيْهِ سُورَةُ الْجُمُعَةِ ‏{‏وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ‏}‏ قَالَ قُلْتُ مَنْ هُمْ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ فَلَمْ يُرَاجِعْهُ حَتَّى سَأَلَ ثَلاَثًا، وَفِينَا سَلْمَانُ الْفَارِسِيُّ، وَضَعَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَدَهُ عَلَى سَلْمَانَ ثُمَّ قَالَ ‏”‏ لَوْ كَانَ الإِيمَانُ عِنْدَ الثُّرَيَّا لَنَالَهُ رِجَالٌ ـ أَوْ رَجُلٌ ـ مِنْ هَؤُلاَءِ ‏”‏‏.

Narrated Abu Huraira:While we were sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ) Surat Al-Jumu’a was revealed to him, and when the Verse, “And He (Allah) has sent him (Muhammad) also to other (Muslims)…..’ (62.3) was recited by the Prophet, I said, “Who are they, O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)?” The Prophet (ﷺ) did not reply till I repeated my question thrice. At that time, Salman Al-Farisi was with us. So Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) put his hand on Salman, saying, “If Faith were at (the place of) Ath-Thuraiya (pleiades, the highest star), even then a man from these people (i.e. Salman’s folk) would attain it.” (Sahih al Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Hadith #420)

This hadith itself tells us that the faith would completely be revived by the Messiah which shows us that his followers would indeed have the greatest relationship with Allah. How can one believe that Islam would be revived by the Messiah, but his true followers would fail to have communion with Allah? It is a fact that the true followers of the Messiah would indeed have communion with Allah and we see this till today. There are millions whom Allah Himself tells to go and accept the Messiah and millions of Ahmadi Muslims who have true dreams. This includes children who also have many true dreams and the blessing and bounty of Allah is not only limited to older people or men, rather it is for every human being who strives in His way.