بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ
Abul-Kalām Āzād (1888-1958) is universally acclaimed as a great Islamic scholar by the Muslims, despite many having differences with him in his political ideology and activity, including myself. Although he was an Indian nationalist and a political activist involved with the Indian National Congress and closely associated with unsavory characters like Gandhi and Nehru, in religious matters he was rational and fair minded. I previously quoted his astute explanation on the reality of Gog and Magog. Here I would like to quote the Mawlānā regarding his belief that the Messiah Jesus of Nazareth is deceased. He once received a letter from one Dr. In’ām Ullāh Khān of Baluchistan requesting him to clarify his belief on the death of Jesus and repudiate his earlier statements reported in various periodicals and newspapers where he expressed the belief that Jesus has died and also praised Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad. In response to this letter, the Mawlānā said:
وفات مسیح کا ذکر خود قرآن میں ہے۔
مرزا صاحب کی تعریف یا برائی کا سوال ہی نہیں پیدا ہوتا اس لئے کہ
تو برا ہے تو بھلا ہو نہیں سکتا اے ذوق
وہ برا خود ہے کہ جو تجھ کو برا جانتا ہے
The death of Messiah [Jesus] is mentioned in the Qurān itself.
The question of praising or criticizing Mirzā sāhib does not arise because:
‘If you are bad, you cannot be good,
He himself is bad who considers you to be bad’.
1 Dhil Hijjah, 1372 H
(Malfūzāt Āzād, p.129. Compiled by Muhammad Ajmal Khān):
بلا شبہ یہ تسلیم کرنا پڑتا ہے کہ یہ عقیدہ اپنی نوعیت میں ہر اعتبار سے ایک مسیحی عقیدہ ہے اور اسلامی شکل ولباس میں نمودار ہوا ہے۔
Without a doubt, this belief by its nature is in every way a Christian doctrine which has taken on an Islamic form and guise.
(Naqsh Āzād, p.102. Compiled by Ghulām Rasūl Mahr):
Gabriel Said Reynolds of Notre Dame University writes: “I contend that the Quran rather accepts that Jesus died, and indeed alludes to his role as a witness against his murderers in the apocalypse.” (The Muslim Jesus: Dead or Alive? Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 72, No. 2 (2009), pp. 237-258)
ReplyDelete