The allegation of the anti Ahmadi Muslims is that Ahmadas has stated that any statement one makes which has a qasam or an oath, is always taken literally. This is taken from Hamamatul Bushra, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 7 Page 192.
The anti Ahmadi Muslims say they agree with Ahmadas here and claim that whenever a oath is made everything has to be literal or there is no need for the oath. The truth is that they have firstly misunderstood Ahmadas and have also made a false claim. Hadhrat Ahmad (as) is emphasizing on the meaning of a specific hadith and that it has to be taken literally.
The hadith being spoken about is the following:
Hadhrat Ahmad (as) is speaking of this narration. He (as) is telling the Muslims that this was a prophecy which must be taken literally and that if Dajjal was alive at that time, he would have died within those hundred years.
He (as) is not saying that everything in the oath is always to be taken literally.This itself is proven from countless of ahadith. For example it is narrated in Musnad Ahmad:
وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنَّ لَهَا لِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ تُقَدِّسُ الْمَلِكَ عِنْدَ سَاقِ الْعَرْشِ
Meaning, “By Him Whose Hands my soul is in! There is a tongue and two lips for Ayat-e-Kursi that sanctify the King in the stalk of the Throne”(Musnad Ahmad, also recorded under Ayatul Kursi in Tafsir Ibn Kathir)
Another hadith which also contains a qasam is as follows:
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَلاَءِ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو أُسَامَةَ، عَنْ بُرَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي بُرْدَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ تَعَاهَدُوا الْقُرْآنَ فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَهُوَ أَشَدُّ تَفَصِّيًا مِنَ الإِبِلِ فِي عُقُلِهَا ”.
Narrated Abu Musa:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Keep on reciting the Qur’an, for, by Him in Whose Hand my life is, Qur’an runs away faster than camels that are released from their tying ropes. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith #5033)
In this hadith as well, the statement states that the Qur’an runs faster than camels that are released from their tying ropes. This is not to be taken literally as we know that the Qur’an does not have feet nor does it run, rather this is simply showing that one forgets the Qur’an extremely fast if they do not practice it regularly. Another hadith states:
حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ سَعِيدِ بْنِ كَثِيرِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ الْحِمْصِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبَّادُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، حَدَّثَنَا صَفْوَانُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو، عَنْ رَاشِدِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ عَوْفِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ” افْتَرَقَتِ الْيَهُودُ عَلَى إِحْدَى وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً فَوَاحِدَةٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَسَبْعُونَ فِي النَّارِ وَافْتَرَقَتِ النَّصَارَى عَلَى ثِنْتَيْنِ وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً فَإِحْدَى وَسَبْعُونَ فِي النَّارِ وَوَاحِدَةٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لَتَفْتَرِقَنَّ أُمَّتِي عَلَى ثَلاَثٍ وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً فَوَاحِدَةٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَثِنْتَانِ وَسَبْعُونَ فِي النَّارِ ” . قِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَنْ هُمْ قَالَ ” الْجَمَاعَةُ ” .
It was narrated from ‘Awf bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said:“The Jews split into seventy-one sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy in Hell. The Christians split into seventy-two sects, seventy-one of which will be in Hell and one in Paradise. I swear by the One Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, my nation will split into seventy-three sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy-two in Hell.” It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, who are they?” He said: “The Community.” (Sunan Ibn Maja, Volume 5, Book 36, Hadith #3992)
This hadith is not taken literally in its complete sense. The Muslims agree that the fire or hell meant here does not refer to the real hell in the hereafter, rather only shows us that the majority of the Muslims in the end times would be on the wrong path. This further proves that not everything in the narration is taken literally, rather there is emphasis. This is what Ahmadas was in reality stating.