Paraclete and Ahmad are synonymous
On the evening of November 11, 1902, Maulvi Muhammad Ali drew the attention of Hazrat Mirza to an objection raised by someone, that the prophecy made by Jesus (peace be upon him) in the Quran — “…giving the good news of a Messenger who will come after me, his name being Ahmad” (61:6) is not found in the Gospels.
The Gospels, on the other hand, speak of a prophecy made by Jesus regarding the coming after him of Paraclete1 (Arabic Farqleet which means one who will make a distinction between truth and falsehood). How can the Quranic prophecy be verified from the Gospels?
Hazrat Mirza responded:
It is not necessary for us to be verifying prophecies from the Gospel; the Gospel has been tampered with and changed. We will accept those parts of it that are not contrary to the Quran and are verified by the Quran.
Second, it is Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) whose name is Paraclete (Farqleet) because Allah, the Most High, has named the Quran as Furqan (Discrimination) and Prophet Muhammad is Sahib-ul-Quran (the one to whom the Quran was revealed) and Furqan andFarq mean “that which makes a distinc- tion.” The word Satan (shaytaan) as in “I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan” isa synonym for leet. So in this way, Paraclete (Farqleet) also becomes the name of Prophet Muhammad, that is, the one who dispels Satanic influences.
And Ahmad means one who praises greatly, and who can excel Prophet Muhammad in his praise of Allah? Who is more befitting of the name Paraclete (Farqleet) than the one who dispels every type of Satanic influence through the Unity and Praise of God? Thus it is necessary to be Ahmad in order to become Paraclete (Farqleet). Ahmad is he who establishes the greatness and glory of God in place of the Satanic influences in this world. The purport of Paraclete is, in other words, Ahmad.
Hazrat Mirza’s response above was published in the newspaper Al-Hakam on November 17, 1902, and was also incorporated in MaulviMuhammad Ali’s book, Ahmad Mujtaba.
Hazrat Mirza declared Prophet Muhammad as the fulfillment of Ahmad
The purpose of presenting Hazrat Mirza’s speech of November 1902 above was to show that he considered Prophet Muhammad to be the fulfill- ment of Jesus’ Gospel prophecy regarding the coming after him of Paraclete, and that the Quran had shown the name of that Paraclete to be Ahmad in the verse: “…giving the good news of a Messenger who shall come after me, his name being Ahmad.” (61:6)
Thus, it was Hazrat Mirza’s sincere belief that the advent of Prophet Muhammad had fulfilled both the prophecies.
Some of Hazrat Mirza’s opponents and even some of his fanatical and ignorant disciples have alleged that Hazrat Mirza considered himself to be the fulfillment of the prophecy regarding Ahmad. This is pure fabrication and a grave calumny against HazratMirza. He neither wrote nor verbally expressed the impertinent idea that he was the real fulfillment of the prophe- cy regarding the coming of Ahmad.
Hazrat Mirza did, however, refer to himself as the reflection and manifestation of Prophet Muhammad’s name of Ahmad. Ahmad is the beauteous name of the Holy Prophet that manifests Divine mercy and beneficence. Since Hazrat Mirza’s adventwas also a man- ifestation of Divine mercy and beneficence, his ministry was a reflection of the attributes of Prophet Muhammad’s name Ahmad. This does not mean, God forbid, that Hazrat Mirza was the object of Jesus’ prophecy.
Although Hazrat Mirza’s speech above is sufficient to show that he considered Prophet Muhammad to be the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy about Ahmad, presented below for further elucidation are several more excerpts from the pen of Hazrat Mirza so that the fabrication of the oppo- nents and his ignorant, fanatical followers may be fully exposed.
Excerpts from Hazrat Mirza’s writings
- Hazrat Mirza stated in his book Ainah Kamalat Islam (page 42):
The testimony of Jesus in the Holy Quran is stated as follows: “…giv- ing the good news of a Messenger who shall come after me, his name being Ahmad,” (61:6) i.e., (Jesus says:) I give good news of a Messenger after me, that is, who will come after my death and whose name will be Ahmad. So if Jesus has not passed away from this phys- ical world, it follows that our Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has not come into this world yet because the categorical order in the statement clearly shows that it is only after the departure of Jesus from the physical world that Prophet Muhammad would come into the physical world.
In this statement, Hazrat Mirza has clearly declared Prophet Muhammad to be the fulfillment of the aforementioned prophecy. By writing “the categori- cal order in the statement clearly shows” Hazrat Mirza has declared the categorical order to be given by the Quran. It is the height of injustice then to make allegations after this.
- In Arbain Number 4 (page 13), Hazrat Mirza clearly declares Prophet Muhammad to be the fulfillment of the prophecy: “…giving the good news of a Messenger who shall come after me, his name being Ahmad,” (61:6).
You have heard that our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has two names: a) One is Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and this name is written in the Torah, which lays down a fiery law. This is apparent from theQuranic verse: “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers,compassionate among themselves…That is their description in the Torah…” (48:29). b)
The other name is Ahmad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and this name is in the Gospel, which is God’s guidance with a beneficent hue. This is apparent from the following verse: “…giving the good news of a Messenger who shall come after me, his name being Ahmad.” (61:6).
Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the embodiment of both glory and grace. His life at Makkah was a life of grace and his life at Madinah was one of glory.
The manner in which these two attributes were distributed in the Muslim nation was that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) of Prophet Muhammad were granted lives of glory, and thePromised Messiah was granted the life that manifested the grace of Prophet Muhammad’s name Ahmad (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)… Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the like of Moses as well as the like ofJesus… Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) displayed both these examples, of grace and of glory, during his life at Makkah and his life in Madinah, respectively.
He then wished that, after him, his followers who benefited from his influence and who were his spiritual inheritors should manifest both these attributes. As for the attribute pertaining to the name Muhammad, signifying glory, he chose his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) because this prescription best suited the persecuted state in which Islam was in that era.
When that era passed away and there was none left on the face of the earth that would use force against Islam in the name of religion, God wished that the attribute of Ahmad should be exemplified. That is, God wished that the quality of grace should be exemplified. So in accordance with God’s ancient promise, He raised His Promised Messiah who, being a manifestation of Jesus and embodyingthe Ahmadi nature, displays the qualities of grace and moral beauty.
And God appointed you as an organ for this Jesus who has the qualities of Ahmad.
Are more decisive words required than the ones above? With great clarity, Hazrat Mirza declared himself to be Jesus with the attributes of Ahmad, and declared Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to be the sole fulfillment of: “…giving thegood news of a Messenger who shall come after me, his name being Ahmad.” (61:6)
- Hazrat Mirza suggested the name his followers should use for their religious affiliation in the population census of 1901, and then stated in a published announcement on November 4, 1900:
The name that is appropriate for this Movement, and that I like for myself and for my party, is the name, Muslims of theAhmadiyya sect. And it is permissible that they be called Muslims of the Ahmadi belief… This sect has been named Muslims of the Ahmadiyya sect because our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had two names — one Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the other Ahmad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
The nameMuhammad signifies glory and majesty, and the hidden prophecy in this name was that Prophet Muhammad would punish with the sword those enemies that had attacked Islam with the sword, and killed hundreds of Muslims. But the name Ahmad signifiesbeauty and beneficence, and this meant that Prophet Muhammad would spread rec- onciliation and peace in the world.
So God divided these two names as follows: First, the life of the Holy Prophet in Makkah manifested the significance of the name Ahmad, and it was a lesson in patience and endurance; then the life in Madinah manifested the significance of the name Muhammad, and God in His wisdom considered it expedient that the opponents be punished.
But it was prophesied that Godwould manifest once again the significance of the name Ahmad in the last era, and that a person would appear through whom theattributes of Ahmad i.e., the beauteous qualities would become evident again, and all fighting will come to an end. Consequently, it seemed appropriate to name this sect the Ahmadiyya sect.
Here, too, Hazrat Mirza ascribes both names Muhammad and Ahmad to the Holy Prophet, and suggests the name Muslims of the Ahmadiyya sect for himself and for his followers. When the Holy Quran named its followers as Muslims, it declared Prophet Muhammad to be the first of the Muslims.
Similarly, when Hazrat Mirza named his followers as Muslims of the Ahmadiyya sect and ascribed this name to the name Ahmad of the Holy Prophet, he declared himself to be the first Ahmadi.
- There is a famous revelation of Hazrat Mirza as follows:
The majesty of Ahmad is beyond comprehension and conjecture, Whose slave, see, is the Messiah of the AgeThis is a place for serious reflection. The couplet quoted above is a revelation i.e., it is the word of God revealed to Hazrat Mirza.
It states the Holy Prophet’s name as Ahmad, and by calling the Promised Messiah as the slave of Ahmad, it accurately describes the real significance of his name Ghulam Ahmad (which literally translates as “Slave of Ahmad”). No room for con- troversyremains after this!
Footnotes
- “But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:26. Other references to Paraclete are found in John 14:16, 15:26 and 16:7. Paraclete, Comforter (L. Consolator; Greek parakletos) has been variously translated as “advocate,” “intercessor,” “teacher,” “helper,” “comforter.”
The Great Reformer 