A Response to Three Questions of a Christian

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A Response to Three Questions of a Christian

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اَهُّيَاٰۤي َنْيِذَّلا اْوُنَمٰا اْۤوُق ْمُكَسُفْنَا َو ْمُكْيِلْهَا اًراَن O ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from the fire of Hell ( S u rah at-Ta h r i m, 66:7) A RESPONSE TO Three Questions of a Christian (Eik ‘Is a ’ i kei T i n Saw a l aur unkei Jaw a b a t) Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen may Allah be pleased with him

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ISLAM INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS LTD A Response to Three Questions of a Christian ( Eik ‘Is a ’ i kei T i n Saw a l aur unkei Jaw a b a t ) Written by Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen First Successor of the Promised Messiah as may Allah be pleased with him First published in Urdu in Qadian, India, 1893 First English translation published in the UK, 2021 © Islam International Publications Ltd.Published by Islam International Publications Ltd.Unit 3, Bourne Mill Business Park, Guildford Road, Farnham, Surrey, UK GU9 9PS Printed at Raqeem Press Farnham, Surrey, UK For further information please visit www.alislam.org Cover design: Usman Nasir Choudhary ISBN: 978-1-84880-962-8 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Contents About the Author..............................................................xi Foreword...........................................................................xv A Response to Three Questions of a Christian Preamble.......................................................................1 The Questions...............................................................3 Reply to the First Question— Muhammad s as had doubts about his Prophethood and the Holy Quran..........7 Five Arguments— Evidencing Muhammad s as had complete conviction & the utmost awareness of his Messengership & Prophethood....................................7

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vi Reply to the Second Question— First Part— Had Muhammad s as been a Messenger he would not have responded helplessly to questions.............19 All inquiries put to Muhammad s as that could be answered were answered........................................................................19 First inquiry concerning the moons...............................20 Second inquiry concerning what should be spent..........20 Third inquiry concerning fighting in the sacred month 21 Fourth inquiry concerning wine & gambling...............21 Fifth inquiry concerning what should be spent.............21 Sixth inquiry concerning intercourse during menstruation................................................22 Seventh inquiry concerning orphans.............................22 Eighth inquiry concerning what is lawful to eat...........23 Ninth inquiry concerning division of the spoils of war..23 Tenth inquiry concerning the account of Dhul-Qarnain...........................................................23 Eleventh inquiry concerning strong mountains— if they will remain forever.........................................24 Twelfth inquiry concerning who made the Quran........24 Thirteenth inquiry asked by the people of the book that you cause a book to descend from heaven............25 Five Queries answered with ‘my Lord knows’....................26 First Query—When will the hour of judgment come to pass?.......................................................................26 Second Query—When will the Day of Recompense be? 27 Third Query—When will the Hour come?...................27 Fourth Query—They ask thee concerning the Hour.....27 Fifth Query—They ask you respecting the Hour as if you were really engaged in figuring out such things.........28

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Contents vii Second Part— Allegation that Muhammad s as misstated the number of A sha b-e-Kahf is false................29 Third Part— The Noble Quran never stated the sun becomes concealed in or sinks into a murky pool..........30 Reply to the Third Question— Muhammad s as was never granted any miracle.....................................31 Verses cited make no mention of any miracle, so how do these prove that Muhammad s as showed no miracles..31 Even the critic’s own translation makes no mention of any miracle.............................................................31 In fact, the S u rahs cited emphatically establish the existence of miracles...................................................32 The Noble Quran declares that Allah sent Signs in support of the truth of Muhammad s as........................33 Memorandum........................................................................34 No verse in the Holy Quran states that no Signs of prophethood were granted to Muhammad s as.............34 Six ways in which the verse cited was misunderstood...........................................................35 Six miracles asked to be shown..................................43 Publisher’s Note...............................................................49 Glossary............................................................................53 Biblical and Quranic Names...........................................55

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Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen ra First Successor of the Promised Messiah as

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About the Author Hadrat al- Ha j Maul a n a Ha fi z Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen (1841– 1914), may Allah be pleased with him, was the first Khalifah of the Promised Messiah— Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as.He was elected to this blessed office unanimously by the Community on 27 May 1908, shortly after the demise of the Promised Messiah as.Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen ra was born in Bhera, India and was the 34th direct male descendant of Hadrat ‘Umar ibn al-Kha tta b ra, the second Khalifah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.He started studying the Holy Quran at an early age and travelled far and wide in pursuit of knowledge, including Makkah and Madinah.He mastered Arabic and Hebrew, Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy, commentaries on the Holy Quran, and Persian poetry.In addition to his international renown as an Islamic scholar, he was an accomplished physician serving as the Royal Physician of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.Like so many renowned scholars of the time, he immediately recognized and accepted the Promised Messiah as, who wrote the following about him: Ever since I have been commissioned by Allah the Exalted and have been revived by the Ever-Living, the Self- Subsisting One, I have been eager to meet distinguished helpers of the Faith, with an eagerness greater than that of

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xii a thirsty one seeking water.I supplicated day and night: ‘Lord, I am alone and helpless—who will be my helper and my assistant?’ When my hands rose repeatedly in supplication, and the atmosphere became charged with my prayer, Allah the Exalted hearkened my entreaty and the mercy of the Lord of the worlds was roused on my behalf and He bestowed upon me a sincere and faithful friend who is the very eye of my helpers and is the essence of those who are my faithful friends in the cause of the Faith.His name—like his shining qualities—is Noor- ud-Deen [Light of the Faith].( A ’ i na-e-Kam a l a t-e-Isl a m , R uha ni Khaz a ’in, vol.5, p.581–582) His profound insights of the Holy Quran have been compiled in a collection entitled H aq a’ iqul-Furq a n.His countless services in the cause of Islam Ahmadiyyat include overseeing the compila- tion of the English translation of the Holy Quran, establishing the Community’s first foreign mission in the United Kingdom, and authoring numerous publications.A significant aspect of his life was his endless dedication to edu- cating the youth.This was accomplished throughout his life, often at his own expense.The fruit of these efforts culminated in some of the most towering scholarly figures in the history of Ahmadiyyat, including: Hadrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih II ra; Hadrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad ra; Ha d rat Mirza Sharif Ahmad ra; Hadrat Mir Muhammad Ishaq ra; Hadrat Ha fi z Roshan Ali ra; and Hadrat Sufi Ghulam Muhammad ra.

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About the Author xiii The Promised Messiah as cherished his outstanding character and commitment, an expression of which is seen in the following Persian couplet: وبدے ن ی� � ک زِاتم ونر د ی ہچ وخش وبدے ارگ رہ � وبدے ن ی� �یق� ِ وبدے ارگ رہ دل رُپ از ونر ن ی� م� ہ � How excellent would it be if everyone of the Community were a Noor-ud-Deen— So would it be if every heart were filled with the light of the certainty of faith! Hadrat Khalifatul Masih I ra passed away in 1914 and was succeeded by Hadrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih II ra.

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Foreword In 1891, a Christian by the name of Abdullah James posed three questions about the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and bless- ings of Allah be upon him, and invited Anjuman H im a yat-e- Islam to furnish replies to those questions.The Anjuman sub- mitted these questions to Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as, the Promised Messiah, and two other accomplished scholars: Hadrat Maulaw i Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen ra and Maulaw i Ghulam Nabi of Amritsar.The Anjuman published all three replies to these questions in 1892 under the title Eik ‘Is a ’ i kei T i n Saw a l aur unkei Jaw a b a t.In that original seventy-two-page publication, forty-seven pages documented the response of the Promised Messiah as, nineteen pages covered the reply by Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud- Deen ra, while Maulaw i Ghulam Nabi’s response occupied the last five pages.This book is the reply from Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor- ud-Deen ra.Abdullah James had argued that the Holy Prophet s as

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xvi had been in doubt about his own prophethood, did not possess any knowledge of the unseen, and failed to show any miracles.Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen ra rebuts these points with pro- found wisdom and comprehensive arguments.The reader will quickly appreciate his ability to disarm unfounded criticism, and his expertise in linguistics.al- Ha j Maul a n a Munir-ud-Din Shams Additional Wak i lut-Ta s n i f, London July 2021

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1 ِۡ ی ِۡبِس ِۡ الل ِّٰ الرَّحٰۡن ِ الرَّح�ِ ی بِس ِۡ الل ِّٰ الرَّحٰۡن ِ الرَّح�ِ 2 ِۡ ی َۡمَدُہ ٗ وَنصَل ِّۡ عَل ٰ رَسُوۡهل ِ اۡلكَر�ِ ن � ِۡ ی َۡمَدُہ ٗ وَنصَل ِّۡ عَل ٰ رَسُوۡهل ِ اۡلكَر�ِ ن � 3 ْلَب َوُه ٌۢتٰيٰا ٌتٰنِّيَب ْيِف ِرْوُدُص َنْيِذَّلا اوُتْوُا َمْلِعْلا [Preamble] A few days ago, a Christian gentleman by the name of Abdullah James, sent three questions about Islam to the Anjuman, seeking their answers.The replies to these questions were subsequently set forth by three respectable and capable helpers of this organiza- tion, which are being published with due gratitude.4 1.In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.[Publisher] 2.We praise Him and call down blessings upon his Noble Messenger.[Publisher] 3.Nay, it is a collection of clear Signs in the hearts of those who are given knowledge ( S u rah al-‘Ankab u t, 29:50).[Publisher] 4.The English translation of the response of the Promised Messiah as was published in 1972.This publication only presents the translation of the response from Hadrat Maul a n a Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen.[Publisher]

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The Questions

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The Questions First— Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was in doubt about his own prophethood and about the Holy Quran being the Word of Allah, as is written in S u rah al-Baqarah and S u rah al-An‘ a m: 1 اَلَف َّنَنْوُكَت َنِم َنْيِرَتْمُمْلا This proves that in his heart Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, knew with conviction that he was not a Messenger of God.If he had been a Messenger of God, or if he had ever shown any miracle, or had the M i ‘raj [Spiritual Ascent to Heaven] taken place, or if Gabriel, peace be upon him, had brought the Holy Quran, he would never have been in doubt about his own prophethood.This clearly proves that he was in doubt about the Holy Quran and about his own prophethood.Hence, he is not a Messenger of Allah.1.S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:148; S u rah al-An‘ a m, 6:115 [Publisher]

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4 Second— If Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had been a Messenger, he would not have responded so help- lessly to questions put to him at that time, saying that God knows; meaning, I do not know.Nor would he have spoken incorrectly concerning the number of A sha b-e-Kahf [the People of the Cave].Likewise, he would not have said that the Sun becomes concealed in, or sinks into, a murky pool.As a matter of fact, the Sun is 90 million times larger than the earth, so how can it possibly become concealed in a pool of murky water? Third— Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was never ever granted any miracle, as is stated in S u rah al-‘Ankab u t (Translation of the Arabic): ‘They say, “Why were not some Signs sent down for him from his Lord”.’ (This means not even one, because the word ال — l a in this verse, which is categori- cal, implies the negation of the class as a whole.) Then, in S u rah Ban i Isr a ’ i l, we also read: ‘And We ceased to send Signs because people had rejected them before.’ By this, it is clearly evident that God did not give him any miracle.In reality, had he been given even one miracle, he would not have been in doubt about his prophethood or the Quran.

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The Answers From the Most Learned Scholar of this Epoch, Leader of the Debaters of this Age, Defender of the Firm Faith, Maul a n a Maulaw i Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen of Bhera

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Reply to the First Question The Guide of Islam, the well-wisher of all humanity, on whom be peace and blessings, had complete conviction and the high- est degree of knowledge and belief in his Messengership and Prophethood, and in his own truth and success.Never did any kind of doubt or uncertainty enter the holy and enlightened heart of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, but set aside the men- tion of the Holy Prophet s as himself, even his Companions and fol- lowers like myself hold the highest degree of certainty in his truth and Prophethood.[First] Argument ٖهِذٰه ْۤيِلْيِبَس اْۤوُعْدَا ىَلِا ِهّٰللا١ؔ۫ ىٰلَع ٍةَرْيِصَب اَنَا َو ِنَم ْيِنَعَبَّتا١ؕ َو َنٰحْبُس ِهّٰللا َو ۤاَم اَنَا َنِم S u rah Y u suf, 12:109— َنْيِكِرْشُمْلا This indeed is my way: I call unto Allah1 on the basis of the highest form of knowledge and understanding, and 1.In the idiom of the Quran, ‘Allah’ is the name of that Holy Being who is the Possessor of every perfect attribute and is free from every defect.(Noor-ud-Deen)

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8 those who are with me are also the same.And Allah is free from every evil and defect, and I would never think of associating any created thing in any matter with Allah.Second Argument of not Wavering by the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him ْلُق ْيِّنِا ىٰلَع ٍةَنِّيَب ْنِّم ْيِّبَّر َو ْمُتْبَّذَك ٖهِب١ؕ اَم ْيِدْنِع اَم َنْوُلِجْعَتْسَت۠ ٖهِب١ؕ ِنِا ُمْكُحْلا اَّلِا ِهّٰلِل١ؕ S u rah al-An‘ a m, 6:58— ُّصُقَي َّقَحْلا َو َوُه ُرْيَخ َنْيِلِصٰفْلا Without any doubt or ambiguity, I have with me from my Lord manifest Signs of the highest order testifying to my truth and veracity and you have rejected this veracity.You seek to hasten the punishment that is to befall you in con- sequence of your rejection; but inflicting this punishment is not within my power.The governance of affairs rests with none except Allah, but bear in mind that those who reject will come to suffer.Allah will continue to manifest the truth which I have brought and He (Allah the Exalted) is, without any uncertainty or doubt, the Greatest Judge to decide between falsehood and truth.He will humiliate the liar and grant victory to the truthful.

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Reply to the First Question 9 Third Argument — ْلُق ْيِنَّنِا ْيِنىٰدَه ْۤيِّبَر ىٰلِا ٍطاَرِص ٍمْيِقَتْسُّم١ۚ۬ اًنْيِد اًمَيِق َةَّلِّم َمْيِهٰرْبِا اًفْيِنَح S u rah al-An‘ a m, 6:162 Without any uncertainty or doubt, my Lord has guided me upon the Straight Path—a correct and right religion, the name of which is the Religion of Abraham (Islam), the religion facing one way—entirely free from every type of association of partners with God.Fourth Argument S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:2–3 — َكِلٰذ ُبٰتِكْلا اَل َبْيَر١ۛۖۚ ِهْيِف ّٓمٓلا۰۰ This s u rah named ّٓمٓلا —Alif, L a m, M i m — is the Book (the promise to send which had been made in the 18th chap- ter of Deuteronomy in the Book of Moses, peace be upon him).There is no place for any uncertainty or doubt in it.Fifth Argument — ۤاَّنِا ۤاَنْلَسْرَا ْمُكْيَلِا اًلْوُسَر١ۙ۬ اًدِهاَش ْمُكْيَلَع ۤاَمَك ۤاَنْلَسْرَا ىٰلِا َنْوَعْرِف اًلْوُسَر S u rah al-Muzzammil, 73:16 Without any uncertainty or doubt (says Allah the Exalted) We have sent a Messenger of great grandeur as a Witness

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10 over you; and this Messenger is like unto the Messenger We had sent to Pharaoh.S u rah al-Muzzammil, 73:18— َفْيَكَف َنْوُقَّتَت ْنِا ْمُتْرَفَك O ye who deny! Do tell how you will safeguard yourselves from the chastisement if you reject this Messenger; mean- ing that: if Pharaoh was chastised for rejecting Moses, peace be upon him, then how can you, O deniers, escape punishment? This noble verse alludes to the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verse 18.In short, there are many verses of the same type present in the Holy Quran and it is clearly evident from these verses that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, held the utmost and abso- lute certainty in his Messengership, Prophethood, veracity, and righteousness.Anyone who believes in the Old Testament and the New Testament can certainly not justly deny this because in Deuteronomy 18:18 and in chapter 3 of Acts it is clearly written that a Prophet like unto Moses, peace be upon him, is to come.Furthermore, it is also written in the Torah that a false prophet who calls himself the like of Moses, peace be upon him, by way of fabrication and falsehood, shall be killed.The Holy Prophet (may my father and mother be sacrificed for him), the Arab Prophet, claimed to be a Messenger like unto Moses, peace be upon him, as has been noted earlier.And reciting the noble verse, َو ُهّٰللا َكُمِصْعَي َنِم ِساَّنلا ( S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:68)—which means that Allah the Exalted will protect you from the people— he even did away with guards and arrangements for his security.In

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Reply to the First Question 11 absolutely no uncertain terms, he announced to Madinah’s Jewish and Christian communities that he would not be killed and, by the grace of Allah, he remained safe from being killed—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.Christian gentlemen! If the Prophet of Arabia is false (God for- bid) in this claim of Prophethood (and by announcing َنْوَعْرِف اًلْوُسَر ۤاَمَك ۤاَنْلَسْرَا ىٰلِا —Like unto the Messenger We had sent to Pharaoh— which is that very claim to Prophethood that is mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:18 and Acts chapter 3; and it is absolutely clear that the Arab Prophet was not killed), then the Torah is not a holy book, but is instead totally wrong and false, since it is writ- ten in Deuteronomy 18:20 that the false prophet would be killed.However, if the Holy Torah is by way of Divine revelation and true, then our Guide, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is a true Messenger and—as a matter of fact—the Messenger referred to in chapter 18 of Deuteronomy.It is for this very reason that the Noble Quran repeatedly declares both the Holy Prophet—Ahmad Mujtab a [ the Elect ] , Muhammad Mu st af a s as [the Chosen]—and itself to be ٌقِّدَصُّم اَمِّل ْمُكَعَم [fulfilling that which is with you].( S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n, 3:82) What does this mean? It means that the Noble Quran and the Arab Prophet, by his advent, security, and being safeguarded from being killed, proved the Torah to be true.Now, take further heed: the Noble Quran makes the claim that there is no contradiction in the Quran.S u rah an-Nis a ’, 4:83— َو ْوَل َناَك ْنِم ِدْنِع ِرْيَغ ِهّٰللا اْوُدَجَوَل ِهْيِف اًفاَلِتْخا اًرْيِثَك

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12 If the Noble Quran had not been the Word of Allah the Exalted, then there would necessarily have been contra- dictions—indeed much contradiction—in it.This is because contradictions can arise in two ways: First, that the themes of the Noble Quran be falsified by the law of nature, and the meanings of the Quran be opposed to the Divine system and dictates of human nature, or that our natural faculties be unable to bear them.The second way a contradiction may occur is for the contents of the Quran to be opposed to each other.Ponder! An unlettered Arab from unlettered Arabia ( ُۡ ۡ مَا اَسۡاَلُک ِّ ن �َع ۡ ج ِّ اَللّٰھُم َّ فَر ُۡ ۡ مَا اَسۡاَلُک ِّ ن �َع ۡ ج ِّ اَللّٰھُم َّ فَر ) [O Allah! Relieve me of that which I ask of You] recited this Quran to the people.Thereafter, thirteen centu- ries of the most intense research by natural philosophers failed to falsify any subject of the Holy Quran, the Word of the Gracious God, and, thus—through this experimentation—it became cer- tain that they would be unable to falsify it in the future as well.Regarding the second form of contradiction, I wish to say the following: The Noble Quran was recited to the people over a span of twenty-three years.During this lengthy duration of time the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, was sometimes alone and sometimes governing over thousands upon thousands of people.Sometimes he was battling enemies and sometimes he was sitting among his friends; sometimes he was at home with his wives and sometimes

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Reply to the First Question 13 in pursuit of enemies; sometimes he was speaking with the igno- rant and faithless people of Arabia and sometimes debating with the scholars of the Christians and the Jews.At times he was short of provisions and at other times he was self-sufficient, etc., etc.During such times of varying circumstances , the thoughts of a weak individual can never remain steady, and discord and deviation inevitably transpire.Yet, there is no discord in the Holy Quran even though it was revealed over a period of twenty-three years under varying circumstances.The Holy Quran has also said to its own credit: اًبٰتِك اًهِباَشَتُّم [‘a Book, whose verses are mutually supporting’].1 Having proven from the Holy Quran that neither the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, entertained any uncertainty or doubt, nor any contra- diction exists in the Quran, I will now focus on the question of the critic.Why? Because, as mentioned above, it stands proven to me from the Holy Book and the Praiseworthy Furq a n, 2 that the Most Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, held the highest degree of certainty, and there is no contradiction in the Quran; yet the critic alleges that the Holy Quran depicts the Guide of Islam as being riddled with doubt.The primary argu- ment of the critic is the following verse of S u rah al-Baqarah: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:148— ُّقَحْلَا ْنِم َكِّبَّر اَلَف َّنَنْوُكَت َنِم َنْيِرَتْمُمْلا 1.S u rah az-Zumar, 39:24 [Publisher] 2.Furq a n (Discrimination) is another name of the Holy Quran.[Publisher]

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14 The first Rebuttal— اَل َّنَنْوُكَت — la tak u nanna is a form of naf i [negation] not of nahy [prohibition], and it is to lay emphasis that the ّ ن [ n u n with shadd ] has been added to its end to make it اَل َّنَنْوُكَت.The ّ ن cannot come in cases of the past or present.Thus, اَل َّنَنْوُكَت is a future tense.As such, based on this analysis, the meaning of this verse is: This is the truth from your Lord (because this truth has become established based on revelation and arguments) so you will never be from among those who doubt.The Second Rebuttal— I accept [for the sake of argument] that la tak u nanna is not a form of naf i , but rather, of nahy.However, I would like to point out that nahy is of two types: one which demands the abandoning of an action and the other which demands the non-existence of the action.The objection of the critic is based on the understanding that, here, nahy should be taken to mean the abandoning of an action; that is, the per- son addressed should abandon the action of doubting.However, I contend that, here, doubting is non-existent and the intent of nahy is that just as doubting is currently non-existent, it should remain so in the future as well.The Third Rebuttal— O critic! What indication is there in the verse اَلَف َّنَنْوُكَت to make us believe that اَل َّنَنْوُكَت is addressed to the Guide of Islam, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? I can affirm on the basis of the above-mentioned proofs that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, had full faith in his Messengership and there is no contradiction in the Noble Quran.Therefore, it is

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Reply to the First Question 15 proved that اَل َّنَنْوُكَت is addressed to some wavering sceptic and not the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him.The Fourth Rebuttal— I accept [for the sake of argu- ment] that this phrase َّ َ تَكُوْنَن ال addresses our Holy Guide, peace be upon him.Nonetheless, the manner of speech in the Arabic and Hebrew languages is very close to each other, and the parts of the [previous]holy books that are unadulterated and the Holy Quran are both the words of the same Speaker and both have issued forth from the same Source.It is the idiom of both that the address is made to the Supreme Founder, but the intended audience are the followers of the Founder.The person addressed is one individual, but the intended addressee is another.▣ See Jeremiah: Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble… ( Jeremiah 30:7–10) ▣ Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord… ( Jeremiah 46:28) ▣ The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways… (Hosea 12:2) ▣ But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgres- sion, and to Israel his sin.(Micah 3:8) ▣ For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel… (Nahum 2:2) ▣ Woe unto thee, Chorazin (this is the name of a village which is not worthy of regret and rebuke)! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! (this is also a village)… (Matthew 11:21) ▣ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem (this is Baitul-Muqaddas), thou that killest the prophets… (Matthew 23:37)

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16 Such holy books can be found in hundreds of places.Now observe such usage from the Noble Quran: 1.اَهُّيَاٰۤي ُّيِبَّنلا اَذِا ُمُتْقَّلَط َءٓاَسِّنلا — O Prophet! When you people divorce women...( S u rah a t - T al a q, 65:2) 2.اَهُّيَاٰۤي ُّيِبَّنلا ِقَّتا َهّٰللا َو اَل ِعِطُت َنْيِرِفٰكْلا َو َنْيِقِفٰنُمْلا١ؕ َّنِا َهّٰللا َناَك اًمْيِلَع اًمْيِكَح —O Prophet, have the fear of God, and neither follow the disbelievers nor obey the hypocrites.Verily, Allah the Exalted is Aware of all that you (addressing the general public) do.( S u rah al-A h z a b, 33:2) 3.َو ْلَٔـْس ْنَم اَنْلَسْرَا ْنِم َكِلْبَق ْنِم ۤاَنِلُسُّر —Ask those Messengers who came before you ( S u rah az-Zukhruf, 43:46) In these places, note who is addressed by the word يا [O!] and who by ۡ طَلَّقۡتُم [you people divorce]; who is addressed by اِلٰی [to]; who appears to be addressed by the word َ تَعۡمَلُوۡن [do]; who is referred to by ۡ مَن [whoever]; and who is meant by قَبۡلِك [before you].The Fifth Rebuttal— I concede [for the sake of argument] that َّ َتَكُوْنَن ال is in the form of nahy [prohibition], and even that nahy conveys the meaning of abandoning [an action], and even that the person addressed is the Chief and Pride of all Creation, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and furthermore, that he is indeed the one intended to be addressed; nevertheless, I assert that ْ تَكُن َ ال is given in the form of nahy, with the ّ ن [ n u n with shadd ] added for emphasis.The emphatic ّ ن never comes for the past or the present;

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Reply to the First Question 17 upon whichever verb it comes, it transforms it into a future verb.Therefore, the meaning of 1 اَل َّنَنْوُكَت َنِم َنْيِرَتْمُمْلا would be as follows: O Muhammad, you have never been the one to doubt in the past nor the present.Now, as you face the future, remain likewise without any doubt or uncertainty.This is a divine prayer so to speak, which is certainly accepted.Furthermore, given that your temperament is not one to entertain any doubts about such a teaching [as Islam], therefore, My aims have now become firmly established with arguments.The Sixth Rebuttal— I allow, for the sake of argument, that reluctance actually occurred; so, can such hesitation result in dis- missal of a person from the office of prophethood based on the principles accepted by the Christians? Most certainly not.Consider the Books of Exodus and Judges from the Torah of Moses, peace be upon him.Moses, peace be upon him, was selected by Allah the Exalted to save the Children of Israel.Thereupon, Moses says: ‘Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?’ (Exodus 3:11) Then, Moses, peace be upon him, started offering excuses that he could not speak well and so Allah the Exalted said emphat- ically, ‘You go; I am with you.’ Even then—according to the Christians—on account of his weaknesses, he was not satisfied, so he submitted that someone else be sent to Egypt.Thereupon, 1.S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:148; S u rah al-An‘ a m, 6:115 [Publisher]

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18 the anger of the Exalted Maker (says the present-day Torah) was roused.See, ‘And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.’ (Exodus 4:14) And all that Gideon had done is manifest from Judges 6:36–40.1 How he persistently experimented! Let fair-minded Christians ponder over this.1.And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside , then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of wa- ter.And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.(Judges 6:36–40) [Publisher]

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Reply to the Second Question While reflecting upon this question, I studied the Noble Quran several times, but despite careful consideration and deep ponder- ing, I could not find any verse of the Holy Quran from which the critic extracted such a question.This humble one has divided the issue raised by the critic into three parts for ease of discussion.First Part of the Critic’s Question ‘If Muhammad s as had been a Messenger, he would not have responded so helplessly to questions put to him at that time saying that God knows; meaning, I do not know.’ My humble self submits that all the questions that were put to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, by opponents and disci- ples that could possibly be answered, were indeed answered by the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him.The Quran contains the answers to the following listed questions; unbiased minds should pay heed:

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20 The First INQUIRY— When the Noble Quran mentioned the month of Ramadan and the moon to start fasting, people inquired about the moon of Ramadan and other moons.Accordingly, the Quran mentions this question after mention of the month of Ramadan and states: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:190— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِةَّلِهَاْلا They ask you concerning the moons other than that of Ramadan; meaning, what needs to be done during those months? The response to this question is given immediately after the ques- tion as follows: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:190— ْلُق َيِه ُتْيِقاَوَم ِساَّنلِل َو ِّجَحْلا Say in reply to this question that they are a means for measuring time for the general good of mankind and in some moons the rites of the Pilgrimage are performed.The Second INQUIRY— S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:216— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي اَم اَذ َنْوُقِفْنُي They ask what should be spent.The response given by the Quran is: — ۤاَم ْمُتْقَفْنَا ْنِّم ٍرْيَخ ِنْيَدِلاَوْلِلَف َو َنْيِبَرْقَاْلا َو ىٰمٰتَيْلا َو ِنْيِكٰسَمْلا َو ِنْبا ِلْيِبَّسلا S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:216

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Reply to the Second Question 21 Whatever of wealth you spend should be for parents and relatives and orphans and the poor and wayfarers.The Third INQUIRY— S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:218— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِرْهَّشلا ِماَرَحْلا They ask you concerning the Sacred Month as to what is the commandment regarding fighting therein.The reply given is: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:218— ْلُق ٌلاَتِق ِهْيِف ٌرْيِبَك١ؕ َو ٌّدَص ْنَع ِلْيِبَس ِهّٰللا Respond to them that fighting in this month is an evil act, and it necessarily results in interfering in worship like H ajj and ‘Umrah.The fourth INQUIRY— S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:220— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِرْمَخْلا َو ِرِسْيَمْلا They ask you concerning wine and gambling.The response given is to tell them: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:220— ۤاَمِهْيِف ٌمْثِا ٌرْيِبَك Drinking [wine] and gambling are a grave and evil sin.The fifth INQUIRY— S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:220— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي اَم اَذ َنْوُقِفْنُي They ask what should be spent.

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22 The reply given is to tell them: َوْفَعْلا —Spend what you can spare after [fulfilling] your needs.The sixth INQUIRY— S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:223— َو َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِضْيِحَمْلا They ask whether or not intercourse is permissible with a woman during menstruation.The reply given is: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:223— ْلُق َوُه ىًذَا ١ۙ اوُلِزَتْعاَف َءٓاَسِّنلا يِف ِضْيِحَمْلا Tell them that copulation during the days of menstruation is painful.Keep away from the company of women during the days of menstruation.The Seventh INQUIRY— S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:221— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ىٰمٰتَيْلا They ask you concerning the orphans.The response given is to tell them: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:221— ٌحاَلْصِا ْمُهَّل ٌرْيَخ Safeguarding the wealth, honour, and nurturing of orphans — indeed their reformation and betterment care- fully in every way — is an act of goodness.

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Reply to the Second Question 23 The Eighth INQUIRY— S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:5— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي اَم ۤاَذ َّلِحُا ْمُهَل They ask what is made lawful for them to eat.The reply given is to tell them: S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:5— َّلِحُا ُمُكَل ُتٰبِّيَّطلا All things considered clean and desirable among the pure-natured of the major civilizations have been made lawful for you.The Ninth INQUIRY— S u rah al-Anf a l, 8:2— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِلاَفْنَاْلا They ask you about the division of the spoils of war.The reply given is to tell them: S u rah al-Anf a l, 8:2— ُلاَفْنَاْلا ِهّٰلِل َو ِلْوُسَّرلا The division of the spoils is the prerogative of Allah, then His Messenger.The tenth INQUIRY— S u rah al-Kahf, 18:84— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ْنَع يِذ ِنْيَنْرَقْلا They ask you about the story of Dhul-Qarnain.

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24 The response given is to recite to them the story, starting with: S u rah al-Kahf, 18:85— اَّنِا اَّنَّكَم ٗهَل يِف ِضْرَاْلا [We established him in the earth.] and it was completed to the extent needed.This Dhul-Qarnain is the one mentioned in Daniel 8:4.The Eleventh INQUIRY— S u rah Ta H a , 20:106— َو َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِلاَبِجْلا They ask you, will such strong mountains remain forever? The reply given is to tell them: S u rah Ta H a , 20:106— اَهُفِسْنَي ْيِّبَر اًفْسَن My Lord will destroy the mountains and shatter them into pieces.The Twelfth INQUIRY— S u rah Ban i Isr a ’ i l, 17:86— َو َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِحْوُّرلا They ask you who has made the Quran.The answer given is to tell them: ْنِم ِرْمَا ْيِّبَر —This Quran is by the command of my Lord; and it is indeed His Word.Bear in mind that I have translated روح — r uh to mean the Quran.This is for several reasons: First, in the Quran itself this revelation and the Divine Word

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Reply to the Second Question 25 has been called r uh, and some parts of the Quran explain other parts.See: S u rah ash-Sh u r a , 42:53— َو َكِلٰذَك ۤاَنْيَحْوَا َكْيَلِا اًحْوُر ْنِّم اَنِرْمَا And thus have We revealed to you the روح — r uh by Our command.Secondly, before and after the verse under discussion, there is mention only of the Noble Quran.However, it is possible to take the word r uh to mean the angel who used to bring revelation, who is called Jibr a ’ i l [Gabriel] by the Muslims.We could also say that the question was asked whether r uh was a creation or something outside of creation.The answer given was that the r uh is حادث — ha dith [a nascent creation] and came into being by the direct command of the Lord.The Thirteenth INQUIRY— S u rah an-Nis a ’, 4:154— َكُلَٔـْسَي ُلْهَا ِبٰتِكْلا The Jews and the Christians—the People of the Book— ask of you: S u rah an-Nis a ’, 4:154— ْنَا َلِّزَنُت ْمِهْيَلَع اًبٰتِك َنِّم ِءٓاَمَّسلا That you cause a Book to descend upon them from heaven.The People of the Book asked this question because Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, claimed to be a Prophet like unto Moses and the one concerning whom the prophecy is found in chapter 18 of the Book of Deuteronomy in the Torah.

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26 The prophecy concerning that Prophet was written in the Torah as follows: I will raise [them] up a Prophet [from among their breth- ren,] like unto thee [Moses], and will put my words in his mouth[; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall com- mand him].(Deuteronomy 18:18) Thus, necessarily, no such book shall descend for that Prophet from heaven which should be all written down already because the Torah states: ‘I will put My words in his mouth.’ Thus, in reply to this question it was stated: S u rah an-Nis a ’, 4:154— ْدَقَف اْوُلَاَس ىٰۤسْوُم َرَبْكَا ْنِم َكِلٰذ اْۤوُلاَقَف اَنِرَا َهّٰللا ًةَرْهَج [They asked Moses a greater thing than this: they said, Show us Allah openly.] The remaining five Queries are the ones, in reply to which the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, said: ‘My Lord knows.’ First: S u rah al-A‘r a f, 7:188— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِةَعاَّسلا َناَّيَا اَهىٰسْرُم They ask you, when will the Hour of Judgment come to pass? The reply given was: S u rah al-A‘r a f, 7:188— ْلُق اَمَّنِا اَهُمْلِع َدْنِع ْيِّبَر Say to them: The knowledge thereof is only with my Lord.

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Reply to the Second Question 27 Second: S u rah adh-Dh a riy a t, 51:13— َنْوُلَٔـْسَي َناَّيَا ُمْوَي ِنْيِّدلا They ask: When will the Day of Recompense be? No answer was given to this, probably for the reason that it forever remains [the Day of Recompense], or because they were referring to the Day of Judgment.Third: S u rah an-N a zi‘ a t, 79:43— َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي ِنَع ِةَعاَّسلا َناَّيَا اَهىٰسْرُم They ask: When will the Hour come? The reply given to this was: S u rah an-N a zi‘ a t, 79:44–45— ىٰلِا َكِّبَر اَهىٰهَتْنُم َمْيِف َتْنَا ْنِم اَهىٰرْكِذ۰۰ Why are you concerned with these matters? The knowl- edge thereof rests only with the Lord.Fourth: S u rah al-A h z a b, 33:64 — َكُلَٔـْسَي ُساَّنلا ِنَع ِةَعاَّسلا They ask concerning the Hour.The reply given to this was: S u rah al-A h z a b, 33:64— اَمَّنِا اَهُمْلِع َدْنِع ِهّٰللا The knowledge of it is with Allah alone.

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28 Fifth: S u rah al-A‘r a f, 7:188 — َكَنْوُلَٔـْسَي َكَّنَاَك ٌّيِفَح اَهْنَع They ask you respecting the Hour as if you were really engaged in figuring out such things.The answer given to this was: S u rah al-A‘r a f, 7:188 — اَهُمْلِع َدْنِع ِهّٰللا The knowledge of this is [only] with Allah.In any case, no defect arises in Prophethood by not giving an answer to this question because Jesus says, ‘But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only’ (Matthew 24:36).And at another place he says, ‘But of that day and that hour knoweth no man , no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father’ ( Mark 13:32).The critic and his ilk should ponder over the verdict of Jesus concerning this Hour.If not providing the time of such an Hour creates some fault in Prophethood and Messengership, then a fault will arise not only in the Prophethood and Messengership of Jesus, but also in the presumed ‘Divinity’ of Jesus as believed by the Christians.

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Reply to the Second Question 29 Second Part of the Critic’s Question Question— He would not have misstated the number of A sha b- e-Kahf [the People of the Cave].Reply— Neither the Noble Quran nor the Noble Messenger has mentioned the number of the A sha b-e-Kahf , so it cannot be understood why the critic has made the allegation of misstate- ment.When the Holy Prophet has given no such number and has not mentioned it at all, how does the allegation of misstatement arise? It appears to me that the critic has been misled by someone in raising this question, because the account of A sha b-e-Kahf in the Holy Quran has the following verse concerning their number: ٌةَعْبَس َّو ْمُهُنِماَث ْمُهُبْلَك١ؕ ْلُق ْۤيِّبَّر ُمَلْعَا ْمِهِتَّدِعِب اَّم ْمُهُمَلْعَي اَّلِا ٌلْيِلَقَنْوُلْوُقَيَس ٌةَثٰلَث ْمُهُعِباَّر ْمُهُبْلَك١ۚ َو َنْوُلْوُقَي ٌةَسْمَخ ْمُهُسِداَس ْمُهُبْلَك اًۢمْجَر ِبْيَغْلاِب١ۚ َو َنْوُلْوُقَي Translation: People will say, ‘They were three, the fourth was their dog.’ Others say, ‘They were five, the sixth was their dog,’ guessing at random.And yet others say, ‘They were seven, the eighth was their dog.’ You should tell them (O Muhammad): ‘My Lord alone knows their number.None knows them except a few.’ ( S u rah al-Kahf, 18:23) From this holy verse it is manifestly clear that people will say vari- ous things and will give different counts regarding the number of A sha b-e-Kahf, but these people’s guessing at random is not wor- thy of any reliance.In short, the Holy Prophet of Arabia has made no mention of any number regarding the A sha b-e-Kahf.

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30 Third Part of the Critic’s Question Question— And he would not have said that the Sun becomes concealed in, or sinks into a murky pool, whereas the Sun is 90 million times larger than the Earth, so how can it possibly be con- cealed in a pool of murky water? reply—Dear critic! It is nowhere written in the Noble Quran that the Sun becomes concealed in, or sinks into a murky pool.The Christian priests have wrongly believed for a long time that it is written in the Quran, whereas it is not so written in the Quran.The fact is that at one place, the Noble Quran gives the account of that Dhul-Qarnain who is mentioned in the Book of Prophet Daniel 8:4.And it is stated therein that when that King of Media and Persia went on achieving victories and reached the western region of the Levant, then, in the western part of that particular territory, at one place Dhul-Qarnain saw what appeared to be the ‘Sun setting in a pool of murky water’.It is most likely that Dhul- Qarnain had occasion to witness this scene when he reached the banks of the Black Sea or the Danube.I accept that the Sun is a great deal larger than the Earth, but because it is so very distant from us, it appears to be very small, and due to the spherical shape of the Earth, it appears to us at the time of sunset that it is setting behind some part of the Earth or the peak of a mountain, or behind a tree on the horizon for the viewer, or if there is water and marshy land to the west of us, as was the case for Dhul-Qarnain, then the Sun will appear to be setting into that water and marshy land at the time of sunset.

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Reply to the Third Question First Rebuttal The noble verses that the critic has cited, and from which he has argued that the Holy Prophet, the Guide of Islam, showed no miracles, do not include the word ‘miracle’ at all.Therefore, how do those verses prove that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, did not perform any miracle? Second Rebuttal What is the word from which the critic was led to believe and say, ‘from this, it is clearly evident that God did not give him any miracle’; whereas the translation written by the critic himself similarly lacks the word ‘miracle’.

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32 Third Rebuttal If the critic thinks that the words آيت — a yat [Sign] or آيات — a y a t [Signs, meaning miracles] prove that no miracle was shown at the hand of Hadrat Kh a tamul-Anbiy a ’ [the Seal of the Prophets] and Sarwar-e-A s fiya’ [the Leader of the Pure], the critic should ponder and ponder well because things appear to be the opposite in S u rah al-‘Ankab u t and S u rah Ban i Isr a ’ i l, to which the critic has referred.Both S u rahs emphatically establish the existence of miracles.First, there are these verses—preceding the verse identified by the critic—in S u rah al-‘Ankab u t: َو َكِلٰذَك ۤاَنْلَزْنَا َكْيَلِا َبٰتِكْلا١ؕ َنْيِذَّلاَف ُمُهٰنْيَتٰا َبٰتِكْلا َنْوُنِمْؤُي ٖهِب١ۚ َو ْنِم ِءٓاَلُؤٰۤه ْنَم ُنِمْؤُّي ٖهِب١ؕ S u rah al-‘Ankab u t, 29:48— َو اَم ُدَحْجَي ۤاَنِتٰيٰاِب اَّلِا َنْوُرِفٰكْلا And in like manner have We sent down the Book to you; the People of the Book who have knowledge do believe in it; and of these Makkans also there are some who believe in it.And none but the disbelievers deny Our Signs (miracles).— َو اَم َتْنُك اْوُلْتَت ْنِم ٖهِلْبَق ْنِم ٍبٰتِك َّو اَل ٗهُّطُخَت َكِنْيِمَيِب اًذِا َباَتْراَّل َنْوُلِطْبُمْلا S u rah al-‘Ankab u t, 29:49 And before this time you were not able to read or write; had it been so, these liars would have doubted.What does this mean? It is that now they are not denying due to doubt; it is sheer stubbornness, obstinacy, and enmity that causes them to deny.

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Reply to the Third Question 33 َو اْوُلاَق ْوَل َوَا ْمَل ْمِهِفْكَي ْلَب َوُه ٌۢتٰيٰا ٌتٰنِّيَب ْيِف ِرْوُدُص َنْيِذَّلا اوُتْوُا َمْلِعْلا١ؕ َو اَم ُدَحْجَي ۤاَنِتٰيٰاِب اَّلِا َنْوُمِلّٰظلا۰۰ ۤاَل َلِزْنُا ِهْيَلَع ٌتٰيٰا ْنِّم ٖهِّبَّر١ؕ ْلُق اَمَّنِا ُتٰيٰاْلا َدْنِع ِهّٰللا١ؕ َو ۤاَمَّنِا اَنَا ٌرْيِذَن ٌنْيِبُّم۰۰ S u rah al-‘Ankab u t, 29:50–52 — ۤاَّنَا اَنْلَزْنَا َكْيَلَع َبٰتِكْلا ىٰلْتُي ْمِهْيَلَع Without a doubt it (the Quran) is a collection of clear Signs for those who are given knowledge.And indeed none but the great wrongdoers deny Our Signs.And they say, ‘Why are not Signs sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say, ‘The Signs are with Allah, and He is the One who sends them and certainly I am a clear Warner.’ Is it not enough for them by way of Signs that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? O fair-minded Christians! If the word آيت — a yat means ‘Sign’, and the meaning of the plural of this word, آيات — a y a t, is ‘mir- acle’, then the Noble Quran proves miracles in many places and informs that those who deny Muhammad’s miracles—which are called آيات — a y a t — are disbelievers, transgressors, and wrongdo- ers.Reflect upon this.— َو ْدَقَل ۤاَنْلَزْنَا َكْيَلِا ٍۭتٰيٰا ٍتٰنِّيَب١ۚ َو اَم ُرُفْكَي ۤاَهِب اَّلِا َنْوُقِسٰفْلا S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:100 And surely, We have sent down to you manifest Signs, and no one disbelieves in them but the disobedient.— ْلَب َوُه ٌۢتٰيٰا ٌتٰنِّيَب ْيِف ِرْوُدُص َنْيِذَّلا اوُتْوُا َمْلِعْلا١ؕ َو اَم ُدَحْجَي ۤاَنِتٰيٰاِب اَّلِا َنْوُمِلّٰظلا S u rah al-‘Ankab u t, 29:50 Without a doubt, it is a collection of clear Signs in the hearts of those who are given knowledge.And none but the wrongdoers deny Our Signs.

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34 — َكِلٰذ ْمُهُؤٓاَزَج ْمُهَّنَاِب اْوُرَفَك اَنِتٰيٰاِب ْمُهىٰوْاَم ُمَّنَهَج١ؕ اَمَّلُك ْتَبَخ ْمُهٰنْدِز اًرْيِعَس۰۰ S u rah Ban i Isr a ’ i l, 17:98–99 The deniers of Arabia are commanded in S u rah Ban i Isr a ’ i l that their abode would indeed be Hell; every time its fire abates, We shall increase its flame; that is their rec- ompense because they rejected Our Signs.Memorandum I have written in response to the first question that there is abso- lutely no contradiction whatsoever in the Noble Quran.Thus, when the Noble Quran declares that Allah sent Signs in support of the truth of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, then it would be absolutely impossible to find written in the Quran that Allah did not give Signs to the Arab Prophet, because believing this would imply contradictions in the Quran whereas there is no contradiction in the Quran.Moreover, there is no verse in the Holy Quran that says that no Signs of prophethood have been granted to Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.Please see the detailed discussion in Ta s d i q Bar a hin- e-Ahmadiyya about the verses upon the basis of which the critic, some of his like-minded Christians, and, following in their foot- steps, the Aryas, deny miracles.To the extent needed, such discus- sion is included herein: Here is the verse that has been misunderstood by the deniers of the Arab Prophet, the Benefactor of All Creation, peace and

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Reply to the Third Question 35 blessings of Allah be upon him, and which has been talked about a great deal: S u rah Ban i Isr a ’ i l, 17:60 — َو اَم ۤاَنَعَنَم ْنَا َلِسْرُّن ِتٰيٰاْلاِب ۤاَّلِا ْنَا َبَّذَك اَهِب َنْوُلَّوَاْلا From this verse the deniers have come to believe that no mira- cle has been bestowed upon the Arab Prophet because they have understood it to mean that since the former peoples rejected miracles, Allah had therefore ceased sending miracles— but this notion of theirs is wrong.First, since mention of the occurrence of miracles and آيات — a y a t is abundantly present in the Noble Quran; those who deny the miracles of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, have been called wrongdoers, transgressors, and disbelievers because they deny a thing that is manifest and present.The word َّ ال اِ — ill a , which occurs in the verse under dis- cussion is also employed in the Arabic language—which is the language of the Noble Quran—by way of an addendum.Look at the following statement of Dhu’l Rummah: ً َّ مُنَاخـۃ ُّ إِال ماتنفـك حَراجیـج علی الخسف أو نرمی بھا بلدًا قفرا My tall she-camel remains sitting abjectly, Or I travel the plains of far-off arid places on her back.Note that, based upon this research, the meaning of the holy verse that the deniers of miracles put forth becomes: ‘And the rejection of those who came before did not prevent Us from sending Signs.’ At the very least, this verse no longer remains a clear and manifest

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36 argument in favour of rejecting miracles, because this verse actu- ally proves the existence of miracles—not their negation.َّ بِتَأْيِیۡد ِ رُوۡح ِ الۡقُدُسِ.ال الۡعٰلَمِیۡنَ.اِن ۡ ھٰذَا اِ ِّ وَالۡحَمۡد ُ ل ِِّٰ رَب [And all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.Surely this is only through the help from the Holy Spirit.] Second, because َّ ال إِ — ill a is a word which also gives the meaning of the conjunctive ‘and’.Consult the most authoritative books of syntax and semantics, and note this holy verse as evidence: — اَّلِا ْنَم َمَلَظ َّمُث َلَّدَب اًۢنْسُح َدْعَب ٍءْٓوُس ْيِّنِا اَل ُفاَخَي َّيَدَل َنْوُلَسْرُمْلا۰۰ S u rah an-Naml, 27:11–12 Allah the Exalted says: There is no fear in My presence for My Messengers and those who had been doing evil but relinquished it, and replaced it with acts of virtue.The Imams of linguistics and syntax— Imam Akhfash, Imam Far a ’, Im a m Ab u ‘Ubaid—have explained that here َّ ال إِ — ill a means ‘and’.The same is the case in the holy verse: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:151 — اَّلَئِل َنْوُكَي ِساَّنلِل ْمُكْيَلَع ٌةَّجُح١ۙۗ اَّلِا َنْيِذَّلا اْوُمَلَظ ْمُهْنِم So that the ordinary people and especially the wrongdoers may have no argument or proof against you.Thus, on the basis of this research, the meaning of the verse

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Reply to the Third Question 37 presented by the deniers would be as follows: ‘And We were not prevented from sending Signs by anything and by the rejection of the deniers.’ Thus the ‘and’ would serve to specify the particular individuals over the general public.Think about it! The rejection of deniers can’t possibly prevent miracles.If their denial had stopped miracles, then did Pharaoh’s rejection of the immensely great miracles of Moses, peace be upon him, cause Almighty Allah to refrain from granting miracles upon Moses? On the contrary, the deniers kept rejecting and the mira- cles kept coming.الۡعٰلَمِیۡنَ.وھٰذَا بِتَأْيِیۡد ِ رُوۡح ِ الۡقُدُسِ.ِّ وَالۡحَمۡد ُ ل ِِّٰ رَب [And all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.And this (explanation) is through the help from the Holy Spirit.] Third, I concede that the word ill a here is neither زائد [addendum], nor a conjunction; it is for استثناء [exception].The ألف — alif and the الم — l a m of َات ي ٰۡ ال اَ — al- a y a t will refer to the word a yat which is already in the reader’s mind and is for specificity, or for generali- zation encompassing all types of a yat.If it is the first case, that is, what already exists in the reader’s mind and specificity, the verse would mean: ‘And nothing pre- vented Us from sending specific Signs, except the rejection of the earlier peoples.’ Thus, it follows that specific signs and specific

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38 miracles would not come.It does not establish the general nega- tion of all miracles.In the second case of the ألف — alif and the الم — l a m connoting universality and all inclusiveness, the meaning would be: ‘The rejection of the earlier peoples prevented the sending of all-in- clusive Signs.’ However, it cannot be concluded from this that no miracle would be sent at all.Fourth, because all that can be concluded from the verse under discussion is that nothing beyond the rejection of the earlier peo- ples prevents Allah the Exalted from the sending of miracles, and it is clear that this is not an obstacle.Can the rejection of deniers stop the Exalted Maker from sending proofs? The Prophets, peace be upon them, have always been rejected, yet they kept coming.Rejection always ensues upon miracles, yet miracles keep occurring.Divine powers and forces cannot be halted by the obstruc- tions of deniers.The meaning of the word مَنَعَنَا is ‘tried to stop us’.This word does not mean that ‘We stopped’.But yes, if it had been stated in the Noble Quran as follows: ۡ اَن َّٓ ال َات ِ إِ ي ٰۡ ال َ مَا امۡتَنَعَنَا اَن ۡ نُّرۡسِل َ بِا َوَّلُوۡن ۡأ ال کَذَّب َ بِھَا ا , which would mean, ‘We have not stopped sending Signs and miracles except for the reason that the earlier peoples rejected them’; then, in that case, the argument of the deniers of miracles could have proceeded a bit further.However, the word in the Quran is not اِمۡتَنَعَنَا but rather, it is مَنَعَنَا , which means ‘They tried to stop Us’ and not that ‘We stopped’.In short, falsification [by the opponents] tried to stop [mir- acles], but the Exalted Maker did not stop.This is the only verse which, if interpreted and accepted to mean stop, supports the

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Reply to the Third Question 39 stoppage of miracles.However, the evidence of not stopping them is provided by the verses which contain proof of the Signs.ُ ً وَالۡقُرۡاٰن ق ُ بَعۡضُہ‘ بَعۡضا ِّ ُصَد ي ۡ مُتَشَابِھًا اَي —the verses of the Noble Quran are mutu- ally supporting; that is, one verse supports the truth of the other and does not oppose or contradict it.الۡعٰلَمِیۡن.ِّ ۡضًا بِتَأْيِیۡد ِ رُوۡح ِ الۡقُدُس ِ وَالۡحَمۡد ُ ل ِِّٰ رَب ي ھٰذَا اَ [This (explanation) too, is through the help of the Holy Spirit, and all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.] Fifth, because some such miracles were asked about by the Jews, Christians, and the people of Makkah at the instigation of the People of the Book, which were totally opposed to the prophecies and glad tidings regarding the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.The opponents used to ask for such mir- acles, thinking that if they were manifested in contradiction to the [prophesied] glad tidings, then they would raise objections against the Holy Prophet based on these prophecies and glad tid- ings which the Prophets had made in sacred texts in favour of the Holy Prophet.And if such miracles end up not being shown to us due to [their being in contradiction to] these glad tidings, then they would condemn him for not showing miracles.For example, it is said in a glad tiding concerning the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, that the Word of God that would descend upon this Prophet would not descend upon him in the form of a book all at one time, but rather, that the Word of God

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40 would be placed in the mouth of that promised Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, some here and some there.Ponder over the following verses of the Holy Books: I will raise them up a Prophet from among their breth- ren, like unto you [Moses], and will put my words in his mouth… (Deuteronomy 18:18) For precept upon precept, precept upon precept; law upon law, law upon law; here a little, and there a little: how that wild (Arabian) with stammering lips and another tongue will speak to this people.(Isaiah 28:10–11) From these verses it is clear that the Word of God that this Prophet would be bestowed shall be placed in his mouth and descend stage by stage.Some here, some there; meaning some in Makkah, some in Madinah, some at one place, and some at another.Now, look at the Noble Quran wherein it is written at one place that the dis- believers say: — ىٰقْرَت يِف ِءٓاَمَّسلا١ؕ َو ْنَل َنِمْؤُّن َكِّيِقُرِل ىّٰتَح َلِّزَنُت اَنْيَلَع اًبٰتِك ٗهُؤَرْقَّن S u rah Ban i Isr a ’ i l, 17:94 O Muhammad, ascend up into heaven, and we will not believe in you upon your ascension until you bring down from heaven such a book as we can read.Now tell me, what other reply could have been made to this request besides: ‘Holy is my Lord! Whatsoever He has decided for me is not defective in any way that it should now be altered,

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Reply to the Third Question 41 and I am naught but a man sent as a Messenger.And men sent as Messengers have always shown only those miracles that were not against their glad tidings and they brought only those Signs which Allah the Exalted had decreed for them.’ Sixth, because the manifestation of miracles and that which is stated by the Prophets sometimes comes to fruition in stages, and because the Prophets, upon whom be blessings and peace, are mere mortals and Messengers, they are not the kind of crea- tion who would desire to oppose Divine will.Mischievous people desire that such miracles as are destined to appear at certain times should be made manifest before their time.Thus, because those miracles are set to manifest at a particular time and are bound by stipulations, they cannot be manifested before their appointed time and before the fulfilment of the precedent conditions.For example, it was promised to Moses, peace be upon him, and those Children of Israel who were suffering severely under Pharaoh, that they would be granted the land of Canaan etc.See the Torah: I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmas- ters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.(Exodus 3:7–9)

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42 Nonetheless, take note that this promise was not fulfilled in favour of these people who had suffered under Pharaoh.Observe: And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it… (Deuteronomy 1:34–36) Similarly, the disbelievers of Makkah, asked for some such mira- cles which are mentioned below: 1.1 َو اْوُلاَق ْنَل َنِمْؤُّن َكَل ىّٰتَح َرُجْفَت اَنَل َنِم ِضْرَاْلا اًعْوُبْۢنَي۰۰ 2.ْوَا َطِقْسُت َءٓاَمَّسلا اَمَك ْوَا َنْوُكَي َكَل ٌتْيَب ْنِّم ٍفُرْخُز ْوَا ىٰقْرَت يِف ْوَا َنْوُكَت َكَل ٌةَّنَج ْنِّم ٍلْيِخَّن َّو ٍبَنِع َرِّجَفُتَف َرٰهْنَاْلا اَهَلٰلِخ اًرْيِجْفَت۰۰ ِءٓاَمَّسلا١ؕ َو ْنَل َنِمْؤُّن َكِّيِقُرِل ىّٰتَح َلِّزَنُت اَنْيَلَع اًبٰتِك ٗهُؤَرْقَّن١ؕ ْلُق َناَحْبُس ْيِّبَر ْلَه ُتْنُك اَّلِا اًرَشَب َتْمَعَز اَنْيَلَع اًفَسِك ْوَا َيِتْاَت ِهّٰللاِب َو ِةَكِٕىٰٓلَمْلا اًلْيِبَق۰۰ 2 اًلْوُسَّر۰۰ From the verses listed above it is learnt that the disbelievers of Makkah asked for six such miracles from the Holy Prophet, peace 1.And they say, ‘We will never believe you until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth’ ( S u rah Bani Isr a ’ i l, 17:91).[Publisher] 2.‘Or you have a garden of date palms and vines, and cause streams to gush forth in the midst thereof in abundance; ‘Or you cause the heaven to fall upon us in pieces, as you have claimed, or you bring Allah and the angels before us face to face; ‘Or you have a house of gold or you ascend up into heaven; and we will not believe in your ascension until you send down to us a book that we can read.’ Say, ‘Holy is my Lord! I am not but a man sent as a Messenger.’ ( S u rah Bani Isr a ’ i l, 17:92–94) [Publisher]

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Reply to the Third Question 43 be upon him, which were not shown to the deniers immediately.But pay attention as to why these miracles were asked to be shown and why the denying did not begin immediately: The first miracle that the disbelievers of Makkah asked for was that fountains should gush forth from رض أ ال ا — al-ar d [the earth]; meaning, this specific land of Makkah.The second miracle that they asked for was that you should possess gardens of dates and grapes in which streams should be flowing.Both of these miracles were asked because in the Holy Books it is written—in connection with the glad tidings pertaining to Muhammad—that: …I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my cho- sen.This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.(Isaiah 43:19–21) And also see: Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways… (Isaiah 42:24) And in Chapter 21 of Isaiah there is this Divine Word concerning Arabia:

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44 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.(Isaiah 21:14) And then it is stated: Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: And the residue of the num- ber of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished.From these verses, it seems apparent that fountains shall spring forth in the wilderness and deserts and streams shall begin to flow, but it is written in it that they would be for the holy ones to drink.Look up Isaiah 21:16–17.Such gardens of the Children of Israel would certainly come into the hands of the Arabs in which streams would be flowing, but the Children of Israel are not settled in Makkah.That would happen after the H ijrah [Migration] at which time this glad tiding was fulfilled.The disbelievers deceive upon being incited by the People of the Book, but observe and see how powerful the prophetic mira- cles and marvels of Muhammad are! Streams began to flow for the holy ones of Allah the Exalted in this wilderness and desert, but not for the disbelievers.Observe and see that Zubaida Canal in Makkah and the canal of Ban i Zarq a in the holy city of Madinah are present for the holy people to drink therefrom.The dwellings of Ban u Qurai z ah and Ban u Na di r came into the possession of the holy people, and gardens of dates and grapes,

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Reply to the Third Question 45 which have streams flowing beneath them, came not only into the hands of the Holy Prophet s as , but remain there in the possession of his servants.Most of that generation remained deprived of the government of the land of Canaan, as promised to Moses as , but due to the blessed miracles of the Holy Prophet s as , most of his peo- ple saw the fulfilment of the promises made to him and—God- willing—they will also reach the real Canaan as well.The third and fourth miracles , that the sky should shatter and rain down upon the deniers, and that Allah the Exalted and the army of angels should destroy the disbelievers; both these mir- acles, which were asked for by the disbelievers, are also present in the Holy Books.Observe: The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints… (Deuteronomy 33:2) This prophecy came to fulfilment most perfectly on the day when the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, entered victoriously into Makkah.Ponder over page 613 of S a hih al - Bukh a r i , printed by Meerut Press, and page 50 of volume 2 of the Egyptian edition of S a hih al - Bukh a r i.On that day, the very number of ten thousand holy Companions, accompanied by angels, were present with the Holy Prophet; and on that day, the heavens so burst and came falling down upon the disbelievers so that no trace of them was left behind.It must be kept in mind that Hagar is the Mount Sinai of

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46 Arabia; see Galatians 4:25.1 Thus, the meaning would be from the descendants of Hagar, and Faran is what they themselves call the Valley of Hejaz.The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, went to Seir twice as a trader, and an army of angels was a most powerful helper of the Islamic army in the Battle of Badr as well.See S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n of the Holy Quran.The fifth miracle was that your house should be of great adorn- ment.This was taken from the Holy Books: …I will lay thy stones with fair colours ( surmah in Urdu, collyrium), and lay thy foundations with sapphires.And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of car- buncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord… (Isaiah 54:11–13) Now, if it is to be taken literally here, then you can observe the use of local stones in [preparing] collyrium, which is made there and used by the pilgrims; from this one truth, it is to be believed that the remaining will also be fulfilled, as is clear from the revelations of John; see Revelation 21:11.Do not be hasty.And if the mean- ing is taken to be just ordinary adornment, as is evident from the word زخرف — zukhruf [gilded] of the Quran and from chapters 16 and 23 of Ezekiel, then you can see for yourself how the great city of Makkah is adorned.If it is to be taken to refer to the house of our Holy Prophet 1.‘For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.’ [Publisher]

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Reply to the Third Question 47 and our Guide, as it appears from the words ٌ بیت َ لَك [a house for you], then you can see the spectacle of the holy and sacred tomb of the Holy Prophet! نۃ مصطفٰی شتان بین الھند و الزوراء اللھم ارزقنی شھادۃ فی ي کیف الوصول الی مد بلد رسولك اٰمین.[How can I reach the city of the Chosen One! How different are India and that distant land! O Allah grant me mar- tyrdom in Your Messenger’s city! A m i n! ].The sixth miracle has already been mentioned.1 Ponder over how all these miracles have been fulfilled.And all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.As a reminder for Christian gentlemen, if the failure of any trial or miracle to appear is a defect, then reply to this [scenario] when a particular individual said the following to the Messiah: If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro- ceedeth out of the mouth of God.Then the devil taketh him (the Messiah) up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.(Matthew 4) 1.Ascending up to heaven and bringing down a book that they can read.See page 40.[Publisher]

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Publisher’s Note Please note that, in the translation that follows, words given in parentheses ( ) are the words of the author.If any explanatory words or phrases are added by the translators for the purpose of clarification, they are put in square brackets [ ].Footnotes given by the publisher are marked ‘[Publisher]’.References to the Holy Quran contain the name of the s u rah [i.e.chapter] followed by a chapter:verse citation, e.g.S u rah al-Jumu‘ah, 62:4, and count Bismill a hir-Ra h m a nir-Ra hi m [‘In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful’] as the first verse in every chapter that begins with it.All Biblical references have also been updated.The following abbreviations have been used: s as s allall a hu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning ‘peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’, is written after the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.as ‘alaihis-sal a m, meaning ‘peace be on him’, is written after the names of Prophets other than the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.

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50 ra ra d iyall a hu ‘anhu/‘anh a /‘anhum, meaning ‘may Allah be pleased with him/her/them’, is written after the names of the Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as or of the Promised Messiah as.rta ra h matull a h ‘alaih/‘alaih a /‘alaihim, meaning ‘may Allah shower His mercy upon him/her/them’, is written after the names of those deceased pious Muslims who are not Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as or of the Promised Messiah as.aba ayyadahull a hu Ta‘ a l a bina s rihil-‘Az i z, meaning ‘may Allah the Almighty help him with His pow- erful support’, is written after the name of the pres- ent head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad aba, Khal i fatul- Mas ih V.Readers are urged to recite the full salutations when reading the book.In general, we have adopted the following system estab- lished by the Royal Asiatic Society for our transliteration.ا at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, u preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word honour.ث th – pronounced like th in the English word thing.ح h – a guttural aspirate, stronger than h.خ kh – pronounced like the Scottish ch in loch.ذ dh – pronounced like the English th in that.

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Publisher’s Note 51 ص s – strongly articulated s.ض d – similar to the English th in this.ط t – strongly articulated palatal t.ظ z – strongly articulated z.ع ‘ – a strong guttural, the pronunciation of which must be learnt by the ear.غ gh – a sound similar to the French r in grasseye, and to the German r.It requires the muscles of the throat to be in the ‘gargling’ position to pronounce it.ق q – a deep guttural k sound.ء ’ – a sort of catch in the voice.Long vowels by: a for __ ٰ ___ or آ (like a in father ).i for ی __ ِ ___ or __ ٖ ___ (like ee in deep ).u for و __ ُ ___ (like oo in root ).Other vowels by: ai for ی __ َ ___ (like i in site ).au for و __ َ ___ (resembling ou in sound ).The consonants not included in the above list have the same pho- netic value as in the principal languages of Europe.As noted above, the single quotation mark ‘ is used for transliterating ع which is distinct from the apostrophe ’ used for ء.Terms which may not be familiar to the Western reader are italicized in the text and defined in the Glossary.We have not

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52 transliterated some Arabic words which have become part of the English language, e.g.Islam, Quran, Mahdi, jihad, Ramadan, and ummah.The Royal Asiatic Society’s rules of transliteration for names of persons, places, and other terms, are not followed throughout the book as many of the names contain non-Arabic characters and carry a local transliteration and pronunciation style.It should be noted that wherever the author had not given the translation of a verse of the Holy Quran, we have generally taken the translation from Hadrat Khalifatul Masih IV rta or Hadrat Maulavi Sher Ali ra, but have changed ‘Thou’ and ‘Thee’ to ‘You’, and ‘Thy’ and ‘Thine’ to ‘Your(s)’, etc.Acknowledgements This English translation was performed by Waseem Ahmad Sayed.Naser-ud-Din Shams, Faizan Mughni Khan, Munawar Ahmed Saeed, Mubashar Ahmad, Naveed Ahmed Malik, Bushra Shahid, Abdul-Wahab Mirza, and others helped to finalize the publica- tion.May Almighty Allah bless them all.A m i n.

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Glossary A ha d i th Plural of hadith.Reported statements of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.A m i n A term which literally means, ‘so let it be’ and is used at the end of a supplication to pray that God may accept it.It is similar in mean- ing to ‘amen’.Baitul-Muqaddas A title of the an- cient Temple of Solomon, now the site of al-Aqsa Mosque.Third ho- liest site in Islam.Lit.the Sacred House.Hadrat A term of respect used to show honour and reverence for a person of established righteous- ness and piety.The literal mean- ing is: His/Her Holiness, Worship, Eminence, etc.It is also used for God in the superlative sense.H ajj Pilgrimage to the House of Allah in Makkah, Arabia; also known as the fifth pillar of Islam.H ijrah The Migration.Refers to the exodus from Makkah to Madinah by the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as in the year 623 CE, which marks the beginning of the calendar of Islam.Holy Prophet s as A title used exclu- sively for the Founder of Islam, Hadrat Mu h ammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.Holy Quran The final and per- fect Scripture revealed by Allah for the guidance of mankind for all times to come.It was revealed word by word to the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as over a period of twenty-three years.Khalifah Caliph or Successor; in Is- lamic terminology, the word right- eous Khalifah is applied to one of the four Khulaf a ’ who continued the mission of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.

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54 Khalifatul Masih Ahmadi Mus- lims refer to a successor of the Promised Messiah as as Khal i fatul- Mas ih.Khulaf a ’ is the plural of Khalifah.Kh a tamul-Anbiy a’ The Seal of the Prophets, a title accorded to the Holy Prophet s as.Mi‘r a j The spiritual ascension of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as to Heaven, described in the Holy Quran and related in detail in hadith literature.Mu st af a The Chosen One, a title of honour used for the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as.Ramadan The ninth month of the lunar calendar, in which fast- ing is prescribed for all adult, able-bodied Muslims, except those traveling, ill, pregnant, or nursing.S u rah A chapter of the Holy Quran.‘Umrah Sometimes called the ‘lesser pilgrimage’ to the House of Allah in Makkah, Arabia that can be un- dertaken at any time of the year.Some of the rituals included in H ajj are also included in ‘Um- rah—wearing of i h r a m, circuits of Ka‘bah, running between the hills of a s - S af a and al-Marwah, and cutting the hair or shaving the head.

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Biblical and Quranic Names N a m e s o f P r o p h e t s Adam A dam David D a w u d Abraham Ibr a h i m Son of Mary (Jesus) Ibn Maryam Elijah Ily a s Jesus ‘I s a Ishmael Ism a ‘ i l Messiah Mas ih Muhammad Muhammad Moses M u s a Noah N uh John the Baptist Ya h y a Solomon Sulaim a n Jacob Ya‘q u b Jesus Yas u ‘ Joshua [son of N u n] Y u sha‘ Jonah Y u nus Joseph Y u suf Zachariah Zakariyy a

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