Muhammad (S) is the Last Prophet

Imam Mahdi (a.j.)

Now that we have come to the prophecies about the advent of Imam Mahdi (a.j.) and Prophet Jesus, son 'of Mary (a.s.), it is advisable to describe these subjects in some detail, because Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani claimed not only to be a prophet but also to be Imam Mahdi (a.j.) and Jesus - thus giving the world another example of 3-in-1 identities.

In numerous traditions, appearance of Imam Mahdi, then of Dajjal, then of Prophet Jesus have been mentioned as the confirmed signs immediately before the Qiyamah (Resurrection Day).

As the Qadianis are very fond of quoting (out of context, of course) from writings of the Sufis especially from Al-Yawaqeet wal-Jawahir of Sheikh Abdul Wahhab Sha'arani and Al-Futulatul Makkiyyah of Sheikh Muhyiddin Al-Andalusi, I would prefer to quote from these two books only on this subject, to show what these two Sufis believed Sheikh Abdul Wahhab Sha'arani writes in Al-Yawaqeet wal-Jawahir:

Chapter sixtyfifth: to show that all the conditions of Qiyamah (foretold by the Holy Prophet S.) are truth and all of them must appear before coming of Qiyamah.
"And those signs are like appearance of Mahdi, then of Dajjal, then coming down of Jesus and appearance of Dabba and rising of sun from its setting place and the Qur'an being taken up[^1] and opening of the barrier of Gog and Magog.

Even if there was only one day remaining from (the age of) the world, all of these signs would appear surely.

At that time the appearance of Mahdi (a.j.) should be expected; and he is the off-spring of Imam Hasan Al-Askari; his birth '(peace be on him) was on the night of 15th Sha'ban in the year 255, and he is alive till he meets Jesus, son of Mary (a.s.). 'Thus his (Imam Mahdi's) age at this time (i.e., the year 958 Hijri) is 703 years".

And Sheikh Muhyiddin writes in Al-Futuhatul-Makkiyyah (Chapter 366):
"Know that Mahdi (a.j.) (Allah he pleased with him) must appear. But he will not appear till the world becomes full of tyranny and injustice, then he will fill it with justice and equality; and if there is no more than one day remaining from the (age of the) world. Allah will make that long enough to enable this Caliph to rule. And he (Imam Mahdi) is from the progeny of the Messenger of Allah (Blessings and peace from Allah be upon him) from the children of Fatimah (Allah be pleased with Her); his fore-father is Hussain, son of Ali bin Abi Talib.

His father is Hasan Al-Askari (son of Imam Ali Al-Naqi, son of Imam Muhammad Al-Taqi, son of Imam Ali Al Ridha, son of Imam Musa Al-Kadhim, son of Imam Ja'afar Al-Sadiq son of Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir, son of Imam Zainul Abedeen Ali, son of Imam Husain, son of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib; his name is the name of the Messenger of Allah (i.e. Muhammad); the Muslims will do his 'Bay'at' (will declare their allegiance to him) between Rukn (i.e Yamani) and Maqam (-e·Ibrahim) (i.e., in Ka'aba).

He will be like the Messenger of Allah (Blessing and peace from Allah be upon him) in appearance, and below him in character, because nobody can be like the Messenger of Allah (Blessings and peace from Allah be upon him) in character as Allah says: "Verily thou art on great character" He will distribute the wealth equally and will do justice to the public More people will abstain from sin because of his fear rather than because of the Qur'an.

(Because of his blessings) a man who would be ignorant, coward and miser in the evening would become learned, brave and generous in the morning. Help (from God) will walk in his front; he will follow the footsteps of the Messenger of Allah and he will commit no mistake; there will be an angel supporting him without his seeing him; he will raise up the weary, help the weak.

His action will be according to his words, and his words according to his deeds he will destroy the injustice and unjust and will raise the religion and will put the life back into Islam. Allah, through him, will strengthen the Islam after its dishonor and will make it alive after its death; he will revoke Jaziya (personal tax payable by non-Muslims in an Islamic state) and will call towards Allah with sword.

He will manifest the religion as it is in reality, so that if the Messenger of Allah (Blessing and peace from Allah be upon him) were alive would have confirmed it. Thus, in his time there will not remain hut the religion pure from (the people's) views.

"Jesus, son of Mary (a.s.), will come down to him in the White minaret in the eastern part of Damascus leaning upon two angels (one on his right side, the other on his left) when the people will be in the prayer of Asr (afternoon); Jesus a.s.; will break the cross and kill the swine Mahdi (a.j.) will die clean and pure and Mahdi (a.j.) appeared in the 4th period (i.e. after Tabaeen) then he went into seclusion till comes the known (or appointed time)".

A Comparison

Now, let us compare Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadianis particulars with those of Imam Mahdi:

1. Genealogy: As Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn al-‘Arabi (and Sheikh Abdul Wahhab Sha'arani in short) wrote, Imam Mahdi (a.j.) is the son of Imam Hasan Al-Askari whose genealogy he has recorded up to Amirul-Mumeneen Ali bin Abu-Talib (a.s.); and all his ancestors (up to Ali bin Abu-Talib) are the well-known figures of history and are the Imams of the Shia Ithna-asheris.

'This specific genealogy does not leave any room for Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani to claim that he was the said Mahdi. He was Ghulam Ahmad son of Ghulam Murtaza son of Ata Muhammad son of Gul Muhammad.

So far as his origin is concerned, he seems to make various contradictory statements. Sometimes he claimed to be a Mongol; at others to be a Chinese; sometimes he was of Persian origin, at others of Turk. And the world knows him as a Punjabi Indian.

2. Date and Place of Birth: Imam Mahdi (a.j.) was born on 15th Sha'ban, 255 A.H. in
Samarra in Iraq; and in the year 958 his age· was 703 years.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani was born in 1839 or 1840 A.D., i.e., about 1000 years after the birth of Imam Mahdi (a.j.), and he did not live even up to 76 years as he claimed to be promised by God. He was born in Qadian in India.

3. Removal of Tyranny: Imam Mahdi (a.j.) will remove all the tyranny and injustice from the world, and will fill the earth with justice and equity.
And after the advent of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani injustice and oppression seem to increase day by day in this world.

4. His Appearing: Muslims will do the Bay 'at of Imam Mahdi (a.j.) between Rukn and Maqam of Ka'aba. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad did not even see the Rukn and Maqam.

5. Distribution of Wealth: Imam Mahdi (a.j.) will distribute so much wealth that nobody will remain needy and no one will accept the charity any more. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani, till the last days of his life, depended upon others donations and contributions.

In the beginning it were the Muslims who were approached to contribute towards the publication of his books; in the end it were his followers who were taxed to support him and his family.

6. Infallibility: Imam Mahdi (a.j.) will commit no mistake. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's life is full of the mistakes in deeds and beliefs.

7. Jihad: Imam Mahdi (a.j.) will call towards the path of Allah with sword. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani abrogated and cancelled the Jihad (Holy War) and made the fighting in the cause of religion unlawful.

8. Result of the endeavor: In Imam Mahdi's (a.j.) time, Allah will make Islam victorious over all religions and there will not remain but Islam, pure from all blemishes. Mirza Qadianis life came to an end without fulfilling that important task.
During Imam Mahdi's time, Islam will get strength. By the claim of Mirza Qadiani, Islam became weaker even than before.

9. Coming of Prophet Jesus (a.s.): During the days of Imam Mahdi (a.j.) Prophet Jesus, son of Mary (a.s.) will come down to assist him and will pray behind him. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani could not persuade Prophet Jesus (a.s.) to come down; so he claimed to be Jesus himself.

10. Eclipses: At the advent of Imam Mahdi (a.j.) there will be lunar eclipse on the 1st night of Ramadan and solar eclipse on 15th night of Ramadan. This sign, is yet to appear.

11. Sunrise from West: The almost last of the signs at the time of Imam Mahdi (a.j.) will be the rising of the sun from its setting place. After this sign, the conversion to Islam will not be acceptable, nor will such conversion be of any avail. This sign is yet to appear.

12. Death: Imam Mahdi (a.j.) will die clean and pure. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani died of epidemic cholera which is the dirtiest disease.

13. Imam Mahdi's Concealment and re-appearance: The above quotations make it clear that Imam Mahdi (a.j.) son of Imam Hasan Al-'Askari (a.s.) is concealed from the people after the death of his father; he is living and he will reappear and fill the world with justice and righteousness. His re-appearance is so certain that even if a single day is left before the end of the world, that day will be prolonged by God for him to appear and rule the world.

See: (1) Al-Yawaqeet wal-Jawahir Sheikh Abdul Wahhab Sha'ariini who is (according to him) supported in this respect (a) by two saints viz. Sh. Hasan Iraqi and Sh. Ali-ul Khawas, (b) by Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn al-‘Arabi in the 336th Chapter of Futuhat; (2) Mukashafat Hashiah Nafahat by Maulana Ali Akhbar Maududi (3) Shawahid-un-Nubuwwah by Maulana Jami; (4) Fasl-ul-Khitab by Khwaja Mohammad Parsa; (5) Hashia of Fasl-ul-Khitab by the author himself;

(6) Kitab Manaqib-wa-Ahwale Aimma-e-At'har by Sh. Abdul Haq Mohaddis Dehlavi; (7) Rawzat-ulAhbab by Jamal-ud-Din Mohaddis; (8) Tazkarah Khawas-ul-Ummah by Sibt Ibn Jawzi; (9) Kitab-ul-Bayan by Mohammad bin Yusuf Kanji Shafii, who has also written arguments against the doubt as to the length of the life of Imam Mahdi;

(10) Al-Fusul-ul-Mohimmah by Noor-ud-Din ibn-Sabbagh Maliki; (11) Matalib-us-Suool by Kamal-ud-Din bin Talha Shafii; (12) Mir'at-ul-Asrar by Maulana Abdur Rahman Sufi; (13) Barahin-e-Sabatiah by Qazi Jawad Sabati.

The full details of the birth of Imam Mahdi (a.j.) are given in the books number (3), (4) and (6) quoted above and the incidents which led to his concealment in number (1), (3), (7) and (11).

Shah Waliullah of Delhi in his two books (1) Musalsalat, well known as Fazl-ul-Mubin and (2) Nawadir, has reported a tradition of the Prophet through "the Imam of the present period, the concealed Imam, Mohammad Mahdi; son of the Imam Hasan Al-Askari".

Obviously, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani cannot claim that any of these details can fit him in any way.

14. Not a Follower of any other Muslim Scholar: Imam Mahdi (a.j.) will neither be a follower in Fiqh (The Islamic Laws) of any other person nor will he act upon analogies. His source of knowledge will be from God and direct communion with the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad Al-Mustafa (S).

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani, on the other hand, followed the Fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifa till the last day of his life; and so do his followers up till now, Therefore, Mirza cannot claim to be Imam Mahdi.

[^1]: Taken up: It means that the Holy Qur'an will remain only in form and not in spirit. It will continue to remain in existence but the instructions therein will no longer be put into practice