Allegation that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad dishonouring Hazrat Isa

One objection being raised is that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him dishonoured Jesus may peace be upon him, called him bad names etc.  Some references are:-

Argument:

dishonouring-Hazrat-Isa

What was the character of Messiah, according to you?  An alcoholic and gluttonous person, neither abstinent nor a pious worshipper, nor an adorer of truth.  He was a non-believer and an arrogant and self-conceited claimant of divinity.
Noor-ul-Quran, Roohani Khazain, Vol. 9, P. 387

Jesus’s three paternal and maternal grandmothers were fornicators and prostitutes, from whose blood Jesus came into existence.

Jesus had an inclination for prostitutes perhaps due to his ancestral relationship with them, otherwise no pious man could allow a young prostitute to touch his head with her filthy hands, and massage his head with the unclean perfume purchased with the earnings of adultery, and rub his feet with her hair.  Let the intelligent judge what sort of character such a person must possess.
Anjam-i-Atham, Roohani Khazain, Vol. 11, P. 291

It is unjustly said about the person (Jesus) who is buried in the locality of Khanyar, Srinagar, Kashmir, that he is sitting in the Heavens.  How great an injustice is this!  God, in keeping to his promise has power over everything.  But, he can never send a person to this world the second time, whose first coming caused so much harm.
Dafi’-ul-Bala, Roohani Khazain, Vol. 18, P. 235

Rebuttal:

These objections raised against Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him was that he was disrespectful towards Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him and abused him! The main thing we need to understand is actually been mentioned in one of these quotes “What was the character of Messiah, according to you?”  As it is mentioned here, the Promised Messiah was quoting from what has been written about Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him in the Biblical teachings and being presented as Jesus’s teachings and not his own personal belief.

Again it is important to understand that different religions have different views concerning Hazrat Jesus may peace be upon him.  The Jews, to whom he was sent, rejected Jesus and tried to do a character assassination on him to prove that he was not the ‘awaited Messiah’ and finally tried to kill him to send him to Hell.  How could he be a prophet from Allah and the ‘awaited Messiah’ if he has gone to Hell – a place for sinners not godly people?  As for the Christians, who came after his supposed death, they asserted wonderful beliefs to Hazrat Jesus may peace be upon him turning him into a God and believing that all you need to do is ‘believe’ in Jesus and you will be ‘saved’.  They dismiss his teachings to follow the law of the Torah and so preach that ‘the law is a curse’, you no longer have to be circumcised, you can eat pork, etc.  Whereas Islam and the early Jewish Christians believe that Jesus was a respected Prophet of Allah, who taught the Jews that they should only worship Allah and follow the law of the Torah, but also understand the spirit behind the law.

Therefore Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him defended the true Jesus and his true message and praised the true Jesus. We must understand that Hazrat Ahmad may peace be upon him claimed that he was the spiritual coming of Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him.  He therefore was claiming that he had perfect spiritual resemblance to Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him, the first Messiah.  How then could it be possible that a person who claims to be the likeness of another and his spiritual reflection, should then defame that person or be disrespectful towards him?  Surely by doing so, it would then amount to him defaming himself?  It doesn’t make any sense that Hazrat Ahmad may peace be upon him should have said anything derogatory concerning Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him.  This denial was given by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him himself.  He said:-

“Claiming as I do, that I am the Promised Messiah and that I bear a resemblance to Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him, everyone would understand that were I to revile him, I would not claim any resemblance to him, for by reviling him, I would confess that I myself was vicious.” (Announcement of 27th December 1898)

Instead we find the opposite, that in his books, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him has constantly used expressions of honour, love and affection for Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him, for instance he says:-

There is no doubt that Hazrat Masih may peace be upon him was a true prophet” 
Arbain, No.2, Roohani Khazain Vol 17)

I call Allah, the Glorious, to witness that in the revelation vouchsafed to me He has clearly informed me that Hazrat Masih may peace be upon him, was without a doubt, a human being, like other human beings; that he was a true Prophet of God and was His Messenger and His Elect.
Hujjatul Islam, pg 9, Roohani Khazain Vol 6, pg 49

Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him was, no doubt, a beloved Prophet of God and possessed the highest qualities.  He was virtuous and a chosen one and had communion with God, but was not God.” 
Announcement of 22nd March 1877

The Messiah was an accepted one of God and was beloved of Him.  Those who utter calumnies against him are wicked.
Ijaz Ahmadi pg 25, Roohani Khazain Vol 19, pg 134

Therefore concerning the true Jesus, the Jewish Prophet of Allah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him was full of praise, but the Jesus that was being portrayed as ‘false’ by the Jews or into ‘a mighty god’ by the Christians, this was what he sometimes used some harsh expressions about.

Again we also need to look into why he referred to this bad portrayal of fictitious Jesus and what led him to mention these accounts contained in the Holy Bible about parts of his life which they were trying to claim that was immoral and stained.  The Promised Messiah may peace be upon him   has explained this in the following terms:-

“I desire to make it clear to the readers that my faith in Hazrat Masih may peace be upon him is a very good faith.  I believe sincerely that he was a true prophet of God and was loved by Him and I believe that, as indicated by the Holy Qur’an, he had, as a means of his salvation, perfect faith in our lord and master, Muhammad Mustafa may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.  He was one of the sincere servants of the law of Moses.  I respect him according to his station. 

But the Jesus who is presented by the Christians, who claimed to be God and condemned everyone else except himself, both those who had gone before and who were to come after, as accursed, as having been guilty of vices the recompense of which is a curse, is regarded by us as deprived of Divine mercy.

The Holy Qur’an makes no reference to this impertinent and foul-mouthed Jesus.  We are surprised at the conduct of one who considered that God was subject to death and himself claimed to be God and who revived such righteous ones as were thousand times better than him.

In our writings we have had this fictitious Jesus of the Christians in mind.  The humble servant of God, Isa, son of Mary, who was a prophet and is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, is not the object of our harsh condemnations.

We have had to adopt this method after having endured for forty years the abuse of the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him by the Christian missionaries. 
Nurul Qur’an, No. 2 Roohani Khazain Vol. 9 page 374 – 375

This statement makes it clear that whatever the Promised Messiah may peace be upon him used harsh expressions concerning Jesus, it has reference to the fictitious Jesus of the Gospels and not the Isa, son of Mary, who is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and whose like and reflection he himself was.

Now when we look at the time of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him, Christian missionaries had come to India to spread Christianity and they were having the habit of uttering vile abuse and false charges against the blessed person of the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, such as a sincere Muslim dare not even repeat.  Furthermore, in trying to project the high status of Hazrat Jesus may peace be upon him, they would, and still do, claim that everyone is a ‘sinner’, everyone except Jesus and it is only belief in Jesus that you will be saved.  Everyone includes the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and in fact all the Prophets of God before Jesus!  Everyone in their minds is a sinner and going to Hell unless they repent and turn to Jesus to be saved. Furthermore, Jesus would be followed by false prophets, which they include the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him as one of these false prophets!

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him took a stand against this abuse and entered into many a debate with the Christian missionaries and had to constantly listen to their vile abuse of the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him over a period of forty years.  Due to his utter devotion to the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, it compelled him to quote various sayings about Jesus mentioned in their own books, as a means of defence.  He has not in the slightest degree defamed Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him, who was a dear Prophet and Elect of God Almighty.  He has only, by way of refutation, condemned the Christians on the basis of the Gospels.  In doing this, his only purpose was that the Christian missionaries should refrain from abusing and defaming and uttering false charges against the Holy Prophet Muhammad may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.  Hazrat Ahmad may peace be upon him has written:-

We wish to record that we had no concern with the Jesus of the Christian missionaries and his conduct. Their purposeless abuse of our Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him has provoked  us that we should set forth somewhat of the circumstances of their Jesus. This vile and wicked Padre Fateh Masih (of Fateh Garh, District Gurdaspur) has in his letter that he has addressed to me called the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon himan adulterer and has heaped other vile abuse on him. In the same way this dead and wicked sect that worships the dead has compelled us that we should set forth somewhat of the circumstances of their Jesus. The Muslims should remember that God Almighty has made no mention of Jesus in the Holy Qur’an as to who he was, but the Christian missionaries believe that Jesus was a person who claimed to be God and called Moses a thief and a robber and denied the coming of the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and said that he himself would be followed by prophets who will be false. We cannot accept such a vile thinker and arrogant man and an enemy of the righteous as a good human being let alone that we should accept him as a prophet. These foolish missionaries would be well advised to abandon this method of abuse lest God’s jealousy be aroused. 
Zameemah Anjam Aatham, pg 8, Roohani Khazain Vol.11, pg 292

Therefore in getting the Christian missionaries to understand not to abuse a prophet of God, it was important for them to understand what their own books said about Jesus Christ and understand that he was not God, but just a normal man like everyone else.

Now let us see some of the things that they are making allegations against the writings of the Promised Messiah (as.):-

What was the character of Messiah, according to you? An alcoholic and gluttonous person, neither abstinent nor a pious worshipper, nor an adorer of truth. He was a non-believer and an arrogant and self-conceited claimant of divinity.
Noor-ul-Quran, Roohani Khazain, Vol. 9, P. 387

Concerning the first charge, one of the first miracles of Jesus that is mentioned in the Gospels is that on the occasion of a wedding, he converted water into wine (John 2:8).  In the Christian faith the wine is representing the ‘blood of Jesus’ which was drunk at the Lord’s Supper (Matt 26:29).  This encouragement has led to Christian countries being known for their overindulgence in alcohol.  No doubt this was not encouraged by any God-fearing person and the true teachings of Jesus only encouraged it to be taken in small amounts, but once the Christian Church started to teach to abandon the law, then there is nothing stopping people becoming excessive, which is what has happened.  

Jesus may peace be upon him was well known for talking in parables and quoting from passages from the Old Testament.  In fact this is the reason that the Holy Bible contains the Old Testament (Jewish) and the New Testament (Christian), which seems strange.  Why have the Old Testament if you do not accept Judaism? But the problem was that Jesus extensively quoted from the Old Testament and without having reference to that book, people would not understand what he is quoting.  Therefore the compilers of the Holy Bible had no choice but to include the Old Testament.  Now when you have for instance, ‘the Ten Commandments’ and Jesus is stressing on following the law of the Old Testament ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17), but the Christian Church is presenting Jesus’s message as to not follow the law, but just as faith, as St. Paul stated “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28) so doesn’t then that make Jesus’s words as lies?  Astaghfirullah! (I seek forgiveness from Allah!) Of course, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him knew that Jesus never lied, but this was how the Christian missionaries were presenting his teachings, making them into contradictions.

Again the Christian missionaries were presenting Jesus as a Christian, not a Jew, therefore making him a non-believer, in the Jewish eyes.  Once again Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him knew perfectly well this was not the case, as both the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an make it very clear that Jesus was sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5-6) and in the same quote said “Go not into the way of the Gentiles (non-Jews)”.  But St. Paul decided to take the message of Jesus to the non-Jews and present Jesus as a God for them (Acts 18:6).  Once again Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him knew perfectly well that Jesus never claimed Divinity, instead he firmly believed in the One God, as he said “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One God” (Mark 12:29), but the Christian missionaries promoted a different message of Jesus, claiming the Trinity and making Jesus part of it, For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost.  These three are one.”  (I John 5:7) (Incidentally, this verse is now omitted from modern publications as not being part of the Bible, but a note written on the side, which crept into the Bible). 

Other objections like ‘uttering obscenities and using foul language’, this is relating to some of the speech of Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him when trying to make a point i.e. ‘it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs’,(Matthew 15:26) here the ‘children’s bread’ represents the ‘Jewish law’ and the ‘dogs’ represents the ‘Gentile – non-Jews’.  It is an interesting saying where Jesus is making it very clear that his message should not be taken to the non-Jews, which of course is what happened after he left them.  But the phrase ‘dogs’ could be taken as foul language.  Again another quote is when he called the Jews “A wicked and adulterous generation” (Matthew 16:2)

So it is clear that whilst Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad may peace be upon him did not believe this to be the real teachings presented by Hazrat Isa may peace be upon him, he argued that this was the false teachings being presented by the Christian missionaries which was ‘a great injustice’ that ’caused harm’ making millions of people worship Jesus as a God, instead of worshipping the One God that the real Jesus was presenting.  Here is that quote again:-

It is unjustly said about the person (Jesus) who is buried in the locality of Khanyar, Srinagar, Kashmir, that he is sitting in the Heavens. How great an injustice is this! God, in keeping to his promise has power over everything. But, he can never send a person to this world the second time, whose first coming caused so much harm.
Dafi’-ul-Bala, Roohani Khazain, Vol. 18, P. 235

Another objection that the Promised Messiah may peace be upon him has written that some of the grandmothers of Jesus were guilty of adultery:-

Jesus’s three paternal and maternal grandmothers were fornicators and prostitutes, from whose blood Jesus came into existence.

Jesus had an inclination for prostitutes perhaps due to his ancestral relationship with them, otherwise no pious man could allow a young prostitute to touch his head with her filthy hands, and massage his head with the unclean perfume purchased with the earnings of adultery, and rub his feet with her hair.  Let the intelligent judge what sort of character such a person must possess.
Anjam-i-Atham, Roohani Khazain, Vol. 11, P. 291

Now first of all they have put ‘paternal’ in bold.  In fact this is one of the contradictions found in the Holy Bible.  In an attempt to make Jesus come from the line of David, there are two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus found in Matthew and Luke.  These accounts are completely different, but one strange thing is that they have taken it from Joseph, the husband of Mary, but he was not the father of Jesus, as it was a ‘virgin birth’.  Therefore the genealogy has taken the ‘paternal’ descendants from Joseph, despite the fact that he was not the father of Jesus.

The gospels relate that in Jesus’s genealogy three women are mentioned who were guilty of adultery.  These women were Tamar, Rahab and the wife of Uriah.

Padre Imaduddin, in his commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, has observed:

This shows that Lord Jesus did not disdain to be born in the chain of sinners.

Of course as Muslims we believe that all prophets are sinless, but this is one of the contradictions of the Christian teachings, that they teach that through the sin of Eve, all sin is transmitted through women, therefore based on the same logic, Jesus, being born of a woman, would have had the sin transmitted through Mary.  This is a Christian teaching, not found in the Jewish faith and so was not the belief of Jesus, but we are pointing out the weaknesses of the Christian teachings.

Again it is well known about Mary Magdalene, a prostitute who touched Jesus’s head and feet.  Once again, Hazrat Ahmad may peace be upon him knew that the real Jesus could not be tempted and served everyone, no matter who they were, but as way of an argument, especially as the Christian missionaries were insulting the Holy Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, so Hazrat Ahmad may peace be upon him referred to the behaviour of Jesus and who he mixed with; which doesn’t mean that he really committed any offence.

In fact this was always the way, that people make character assassinations on the Holy people,  we see how the Jews tried to portray that Mary must have had an affair and became pregnant with Jesus.  They reject the concept of the ‘virgin birth’, but the Christian and Islamic teachings support the ‘virgin birth’. 

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