Heavenly Signs: A response to Ahmadi Answers

This is the fourth and last piece in the series of responses to a video by Ahmadi Answers attacking the Bahá’í Faith. To read the first article click here, for the second one click here and for the third one click here.

Signs in the Visible Heaven and the Bahá’í Faith

What did Bahá’u’lláh say regarding the signs in the visible and invisible heaven that appear for a Manifestation of God? In the The Kitáb-i-Íqán, Bahá’u’lláh explains:

By “heaven” is meant the visible heaven, inasmuch as when the hour draweth nigh on which the Day-star of the heaven of justice shall be made manifest, and the Ark of divine guidance shall sail upon the sea of glory, a star will appear in the heaven, heralding unto its people the advent of that most great light. In like manner, in the invisible heaven a star shall be made manifest who, unto the peoples of the earth, shall act as a harbinger of the break of that true and exalted Morn. These twofold signs, in the visible and the invisible heaven, have announced the Revelation of each of the Prophets of God, as is commonly believed. (The Kitáb-i-Íqán, par. 66)

Bahá’u’lláh then continues to explain these signs in the visible and invincible heaven for different Manifestations of God (Messengers). I am quoting below His description of these signs for Jesus:

In like manner, when the hour of the Revelation of Jesus drew nigh, a few of the Magi, aware that the star of Jesus had appeared in heaven, sought and followed it, till they came unto the city which was the seat of the Kingdom of Herod. The sway of his sovereignty in those days embraced the whole of that land.

These Magi said: “Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him!” When they had searched, they found out that in Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, the Child had been born. This was the sign that was manifested in the visible heaven. As to the sign in the invisible heaven—the heaven of divine knowledge and understanding—it was Yaḥyá, son of Zachariah, who gave unto the people the tidings of the Manifestation of Jesus… (The Kitáb-i-Íqán, par. 69–70)

To read more about this, click here.

Likewise, for the Cause of The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh too, signs appeared in the invisible and the visible heaven:

And now concerning this wondrous and most exalted Cause. Know thou verily that many an astronomer hath announced the appearance of its star in the visible heaven. Likewise, there appeared on earth Aḥmad and Kázim, those twin resplendent lights—may God sanctify their resting-place! (The Kitáb-i-Íqán, par. 72)

The Holy Scriptures of all religions had spoken of the advent of two Messengers that would appear at the end of times. (To read more on this, from an Islamic perspective, click here). Since the advent of two Messengers is prophecised, what were  the signs in the visible heaven for not just one but two Messengers?

We know of the Great Comet of 1843. It foreshadowed the coming of The Báb. The Declaration of The Báb took place on 23rd May, 1844. Moreover:

In 1845 a comet appeared soon after the one in 1843. It was called Biela’s Comet. It seemed to be an ordinary comet, in a year in which some 300 comets had appeared, and it had appeared many times before in the past. In 1846 it was still visible. At this period in its history, it became one of the unique comets of all time. It was now entering into the last dramatic moments of its life.

The Encyclopedia Americana gives the following account of this event:
“It was found again late in November 1845, and in the following month an observation was made of one of the most remarkable phenomena in astronomical records, the division of the comet. It put forth no tail while this alteration was going on. Professor Challis, using the Northumberland 1846, was inclined to distrust his eyes or his glass when he beheld two comets where but one had been before. He would call it, he said, a binary (twin) comet if such a thing had ever been heard of before. His observations were soon verified, however.” [Encyclopedia Americana, vol. III, 1994 Ed., p. 691]

History shows that there had been other binary (twin comets) but Biela’s was one of the most unusual. Sir James Jeans wrote of this same comet, saying: “The most interesting story is that of Rela’s comet which broke in two while under observation in 1846.”

The comet then disappeared. It returned in August, 1852. This was the very month and the very year in which Bahá’u’lláh was cast into an underground prison in Tihran. This was the year 1269 of the calendar of Islam. It was also exactly the ninth year after the Báb’s Declaration to Mulla Husayn in the year 1260. The Báb had prophesied: “Ere nine years have elapsed” the Promised One of all ages and religions will come. It was but a few weeks later, in that same prison, that Bahá’u’lláh’s Mission began.

August, 1852, was the hour of the reappearance of the comet, the comet that had split in two to become twin-comets. Strangely enough, at the time of the reappearance of the twin-comets in 1852, one half had receded far into the background. The other half, though in a parallel orbit, now dominated the scene. Just so had the Báb, the Herald of the Bahá’í Faith, passed into history, and the One Whose coming He had foretold, Bahá’u’lláh, had assumed His Mission.

Read more here.

Lunar & Solar Eclipses and The Ahmadiyya Movement

As I have explained the heavenly signs of the Bahá’í Faith in the visible heaven and I have also explained their nature, I will now briefly comment about the remark made in the video that the lunar eclipse (on March 21, 1894) and the solar eclipse (that occurred in April 6, 1894) prove beyond doubt that Mirza Ghulam Ahmed was the rightful claimant of Messiaship. I don’t intend to go in detail here as I have seen that there are already ample scholarly treatments of this online (as well as offline).

Mirza Ghulam Ahmed writes:

‘There are two signs of our Mahdi; since the creation of earth and heaven this sign has not been revealed for any appointed and prophet and messenger; and those signs are that moon will eclipse in the first night of its fixed nights of eclipse and sun will get eclipsed in the middle of the fixed days for its eclipse, during the month of Ramadhan.’ (Roohani Khazain, Vol. 17, P. 331)

The “supposed” hadith on which this prophecy is based is extremely dubious:

“For our Mahdi, two signs are given which never occurred in the past from the creation of the heavens and the earth. One is that a lunar eclipse will occur on the first night of Ramadhan and the second sign is that a solar eclipse will occur in the middle of Ramadhan and these signs had never happened from the creation of the heavens and the earth.” (Dar-e-Qatni, Vol. 1, P. 188)

This is not a hadith of Prophet Muhammad, instead most scholars of hadith attribute this statement to someone called Mohammed bin ‘Ali. The chain of narrators contain Amr bin Shamir who is widely known, in the science of narration (`Ilm al-Rijāl), as someone who reported lies and he seems to quote from Jabir Ja’fi who, again, is widely recognized as a liar. Owing to the utterly weak chain of narrators, it is impossible to attribute such a dubious statement to Prophet Muhammad and then even go on to establish a belief on its basis. Remember that God lambasted earlier religious communities for conjecturing beliefs: “they have no knowledge of this, they do but conjecture.” (Qur’an 45:24) Therefore, the prophecy is non-existent, we can’t establish beliefs on such manifestly dubious grounds.

If, for the sake of argument, it is conceded that the said hadith is actually from Prophet Muhammad and, moreover, we also accept the  Ahmedi interpretation thereof, we find that the supposed prophecy wasn’t fulfilled too! It can be said that, based on the criteria set by Ahmedis, lunar eclipse can occur in Ramadan on 12th (read Lunar eclipses on the 12th of a month here) so in this way 13th is not the earliest possible fixed date of lunar eclipse. This, therefore, is not a convincing proof that Mirza Ghulam Ahmed was the Messiah (and Mahdi).

In the end I invite you to investigate the Holy Writings of the Bahá’í Faith independently. One good place to begin this investigation is the The Kitáb-i-Íqán (The Book of Certitude).

Jazāk Allāhu Khayran.

Interaction with The People of Bahá: A response to Ahmadi Answers

This is the third response in the series of responses to a video by Ahmadi Answers attacking the Bahá’í Faith. To read the first piece, click here. To read the second piece, click here. To read the fourth piece, click  here.

The next thing mentioned in the video is whether Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had any interaction with Bahá’u’lláh and this is an interesting subject indeed. The video discusses the account of the interaction between Hakim Mirza Mahmood Ahmad Irani (Mirza Mahmud Zarqani) and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as told by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad himself in Lecture Lahore. In reference to this, the video then claims that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad challenged the entire Bahá’í community till the Day of Judgement (the Day of Judgement has already come according to the Bahá’í view, by the way. We briefly touched this subject in the first response). Anyhow, while I am going to discuss the aforementioned episode between Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and Mirza Mahmud Zarqani I will also briefly highlight some other notable interactions between Bahá’ís and Ghulam Ahmad. ¹

On the instruction of Bahá’u’lláh, a distinguished Bahá’í pioneer and scholar Sulaymán Khan (popularly known as Jamál Effendi) first came to the Indian subcontinent and from 1872 to 1898 continuously journeyed not only in India and Pakistan but also in Burma, Kashmir, Afghanistan and some parts of Turkey pioneering for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. He had a detailed meeting with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in which not only the glad-tidings of the Advent of the Mehdi (The Báb) and the Messiah (Bahá’u’lláh) were communicated to him but he was also provided with a box full of Bahá’í Books and Tablets for study. In his book Al-Balagh (البلاغ), whose other name is Faryad-e-Dard (فریاد درد), Mirza Ghulam Ahmad also recorded a listing of the subjects in which he gained mastery. This listing also mentions the Bábí books. This shows that he studied the Writings of The Báb in detail.

In the year 1900 the chief secretary of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Hakeem Noor-ud-Din (who later became the first successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad), through letters established communication with the distinguished Bahá’í scholar Allama Mirza Abu’l-Fadl Gulpaygani in order to get answers to some tough religious questions. Mirza Abu’l-Fadl was residing in Cairo in those days. In response, Mirza Abu’l-Fadl wrote and presented a book titled “الدُرر البہیة فی جواب اسئلتہ الہندیہ” as an answer. In this book he not only gave detailed and rational answers to those challenging questions but also expounded the message of the Bahá’í Faith.

In the year 1902 an eminent scholar of the Bahá’í Faith, Mirza Mahmud Zarqani, asked the meaning of Qur’an 18:86 (وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِي عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ) from Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. In the year 1904, Mirza Mahmud Zarqani published an announcement in the Paisa Akhbar inviting Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to arrange a gathering consisting of a few fair-minded scholars who are neither Ahmadi nor Bahá’í who should listen to the case and arguments provided by both of them and then give their judgement which will be accepted by both. To this Mirza Ghulam Ahmad responded in the words that can be found on pg. 2 of Lecture Lahore (This response was shown in the video by Ahmadi Answers). Responding to this, Mirza Mahmud Zarqani once again gave a public invitation to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad by publishing an announcement with the title of ‘Response to Lecture Qadiani’. To this invitation Mirza Mahmud Zarqani received no response.

On 3rd September 1907, Allama Syed Mustafa Rumi published an excellent essay in Paisa Akhbar Lahore in which he developed the case that on the one hand, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad admits that The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh have precedence of time over him in the claim of being Mahdi and Messiah respectively, yet at the same time, he claims to be the first claimant of Messiahship (and also of being Mahdi) without negation and refutation of the claims of The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. Ghulam Ahmad writes in Al-Badar (1st August, 1907, Qadian): “In the time of Muhammad many false prophets were born. But the liar always arises later. The truthful arrives earlier and then, in envy, false prophets come along. Nobody can say that someone after receiving revelation from God claimed to be Messiah, before my claim.” ² Mirza Ghulam Ahmad never responded to this essay.

Similarly, there was an interaction between Haji Sheikh Muhammad Raza Najfi, a Shi’a mujtahid, and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad the details of which I am not going to describe for the sake of brevity. Briefly, tension arose between them due to some indirect interactions. In conclusion, Muhammad Raza Najfi wanted a debate so that he could prove that Ghulam Ahmad’s assertion of being the first in claiming to be Mahdi is false. Ghulam Ahmad wrote in Tablegh-i-Risalat (Vol 6, pg. 38): “Received the Arabic letter of Sheikh Najfi 6th March 1897 whose answer, God-willing, I will give later.” Mirza Ghulam lived 11 years after this but did not give any response.

Contrary to what was said in the video, it is not the case at all that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad challenged the Bahá’ís till the Qiyámah. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad never accepted the invitations of the servants of the The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh nor did he ever refute the claims of The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh in writing.

The last thing discussed in the video is the confirmation provided by the heavenly signs. I’ll address it in the next and the final piece.

Footnotes:

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1. Information taken from The Bahá’í Faith and Ahmadiyya: A Comparative Analysis by Syed Muhammad Ali Shah.

2. The declaration of The Báb (Mahdi) was in 1844 and Bahá’u’lláh’s (Messiah) declaration in the Garden of Ridvan to a group of close followers was in 1863. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be a mujaddid in 1882 (he started taking allegiance from people as their mujaddid in 1889). He believed that Jesus (with his physical body) was raised in the skies and did not die till 1890 but starting from 1891 he claimed that Jesus (the Son of Mary) had died and in His image I have been sent. One complication with this claim was that  according to Islamic prophecies Mahdi (in His youth) had to come before the second coming of Jesus (and had to announce the second coming of Jesus) so Mirza Ghulam Ahmad eventually claimed to be Mahdi also. Finally, he claimed Prophet-hood (نبُوّت) such that he is a sub-ordinate Prophet to Prophet Muhammad.

 

Earlier Manifestations of God and the Qur’an: A response to Ahmadi Answers

This is the second piece in a series of articles responding to the video by Ahmadi Answers attacking the Bahá’í Faith which is titled “Shocking claim of Bahaullah and the Truth of Ahmadiyya”. To read the first piece, click here and to read the third piece, click here.

I have not been able to find most of the quotes from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh that the video presents. They may or may not be authentic. In any case, in the earlier article, I provided and clarified the context in which those quotes need to be understood. Now, I’ll address some of the other remarks, very briefly, made in the video.

What is the view of Bahá’u’lláh regarding earlier Manifestations of God (or Messengers of God)? He said:

These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One is the station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect, if thou callest them all by one name, and dost ascribe to them the same attributes, thou hast not erred from the truth. Even as He hath revealed: “No distinction do We make between any of His Messengers.” For they, one and all, summon the people of the earth to acknowledge the unity of God, and herald unto them the Kawthar of an infinite grace and bounty. They are all invested with the robe of prophethood, and are honored with the mantle of glory. Thus hath Muḥammad, the Point of the Qur’án, revealed: “I am all the Prophets.” Likewise, He saith: “I am the first Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus.” Similar statements have been made by Imám ‘Alí. Sayings such as these, which indicate the essential unity of those Exponents of Oneness, have also emanated from the Channels of God’s immortal utterance, and the Treasuries of the gems of Divine knowledge, and have been recorded in the Scriptures. These Countenances are the recipients of the Divine Command, and the Day Springs of His Revelation. This Revelation is exalted above the veils of plurality and the exigencies of number. Thus He saith: “Our Cause is but One.” Inasmuch as the Cause is one and the same, the Exponents thereof also must needs be one and the same. Likewise, the Imáms of the Muḥammadan Faith, those lamps of certitude, have said: “Muḥammad is our first, Muḥammad is our last, Muḥammad our all.” (Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XXII)

What is the Bahá’í view of the Qur’an? Bahá’ís consider the Qur’an as Divine Revelation and the verses of the Qur’an are used profusely in the sacred Bahá’í Writings. Bahá’ís consider Qur’an to be word-for-word authentic. Below are some quotes regarding the Qur’an from the Bahá’í Writings.

Muhammad, Himself, as the end of His mission drew nigh, spoke these words: “Verily, I leave amongst you My twin weighty testimonies: The Book of God and My Family.”…With unswerving vision, with pure heart, and sanctified spirit, consider attentively what God hath established as the testimony of guidance for His people in His Book, which is recognized as authentic by both the high and lowly. (Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán, pars. 222–223)

They must…approach reverently and with a mind purged from preconceived ideas the study of the Qur’án which, apart from the sacred scriptures of the Bábí and Bahá’í Revelations, constitutes the only Book which can be regarded as an absolutely authenticated Repository of the Word of God. (Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, p. 49)

In regard to your question concerning the authenticity of the Qur’án. I have referred it to the Guardian for his opinion. He thinks that the Qur’án is, notwithstanding the opinion of certain historians, quite authentic, and that consequently it should be considered in its entirety by every faithful and loyal believer as the sacred scriptures of the Muhammadan Revelation. (From a letter dated July 6, 1934 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, Letter on Holy Scriptures of previous Dispensations)

It is important to note now that there are two components of the Divine Law. One of them is essential in nature such as necessity of prayer and moral principles like the golden rule. The second is accidental, i.e. it is temporary and suitable to the exigencies of the time of its revelation such as marital laws. Just like the Qur’an had abrogated the accidental law of earlier dispensations, likewise, The Báb (who is the Mahdi and the forerunner of Bahá’u’lláh) and Bahá’u’lláh (who is the Messiah) abrogated the law of the Qur’an (Sharia law). The Most Holy Book or Kitáb-i-Aqdas is the book of laws revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the current dispensation. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh) explains this subject as:

In further consideration of this subject, I wish you to be fair and reasonable in your judgment, setting aside all religious prejudices. We should earnestly seek and thoroughly investigate realities, recognizing that the purpose of the religion of God is the education of humanity and the unity and fellowship of mankind. Furthermore we will establish the point that the foundations of the religions of God are one foundation. This foundation is not multiple for it is reality itself. Reality does not admit of multiplicity although each of the divine religions is separable into two divisions. One concerns the world of morality and the ethical training of human nature. It is directed to the advancement of the world of humanity in general; it reveals and inculcates the knowledge of God and makes possible the discovery of the verities of life. This is ideal and spiritual teaching, the essential quality of divine religion and not subject to change or transformation. It is the one foundation of all the religions of God. Therefore the religions are essentially one and the same.

The second classification or division comprises social laws and regulations applicable to human conduct. This is not the essential spiritual quality of religion. It is subject to change and transformation according to the exigencies and requirements of time and place. For instance in the time of Noah certain requirements made it necessary that all sea foods be allowable or lawful. During the time of the Abrahamic prophethood it was considered allowable because of a certain exigency that a man should marry his aunt, even as Sarah was the sister of Abraham’s mother. During the cycle of Adam it was lawful and expedient for a man to marry his own sister, even as Abel, Cain and Seth the sons of Adam married their sisters. But in the law of the Pentateuch revealed by Moses these marriages were forbidden and their custom and sanction abrogated. Other laws formerly valid were annulled during the time of Moses. For example, it was lawful in Abraham’s cycle to eat the flesh of the camel, but during the time of Jacob this was prohibited. Such changes and transformations in the teaching of religion are applicable to the ordinary conditions of life but they are not important or essential. His Holiness Moses lived in the wilderness of Sinai where crime necessitated direct punishment. There were no penitentiaries or penalties of imprisonment. Therefore according to the exigency of the time and place it was a law of God that an eye should be given for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It would not be practicable to enforce this law at the present time; for instance to blind a man who accidentally blinded you. In the Torah there are many commands concerning the punishment of a murderer. It would not be allowable or possible to carry out these ordinances today. Human conditions and exigencies are such that even the question of capital punishment,—the one penalty which most nations have continued to enforce for murder,—is now under discussion by wise men who are debating its advisability. In fact, laws for the ordinary conditions of life are only valid temporarily.

…We must remember that these changing laws are not the essentials; they are the accidentals of religion. The essential ordinances established by a Manifestation of God are spiritual; they concern moralities, the ethical development of man and faith in God. They are ideal and necessarily permanent; expressions of the one foundation and not amenable to change or transformation. Therefore the fundamental basis of the revealed religion of God is immutable, unchanging throughout the centuries, not subject to the varying conditions of the human world. (The Promulgation of Universal Peace, 112)

I’ll address the interactions between Mirza Ghulam Ahmed and the People of Bahá in the next piece.

Bahá’u’lláh and Divinity: A response to Ahmadi Answers

The following piece is a response to a video by Ahmadi Answers attacking the Bahá’í Faith which is titled “Shocking claim of Bahaullah and the Truth of Ahmadiyya”. Please don’t use a picture of Bahá’u’lláh in your video next time. Bahá’ís treat His pictures with utmost respect and the picture is displayed only to the Bahá’í pilgrims when they visit the Holy Land.

Let’s now dissect the allegations one by one. The Bahá’í Writings are not hidden. They are easily available online in multiple languages. Your first allegation is that Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be God (الوہیت). Even a cursory reading of the Bahá’í Writings will be enough for the reader to know that Bahá’u’lláh did not claim to be God. Below are some of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (Blessings be Upon Him). Bahá’u’lláh explains that the Essence of God is unknowable:

To every discerning and illuminated heart it is evident that God, the unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress. Far be it from His glory that human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His fathomless mystery. He is, and hath ever been, veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men. “No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile, the All-Perceiving.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XIX)

You can read more about the God of Bahá’u’lláh here.

Bahá’u’lláh further explains that the Messengers and Prophets are ‘Mirrors’ that reflect the attributes and light of God in this physical world:

The door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in the face of all beings, the Source of infinite grace, according to His saying, “His grace hath transcended all things; My grace hath encompassed them all,” hath caused those luminous Gems of Holiness to appear out of the realm of the spirit, in the noble form of the human temple, and be made manifest unto all men, that they may impart unto the world the mysteries of the unchangeable Being, and tell of the subtleties of His imperishable Essence.

These sanctified Mirrors, these Day Springs of ancient glory, are, one and all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the universe, its Essence and ultimate Purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge and power; from Him is derived their sovereignty. The beauty of their countenance is but a reflection of His image, and their revelation a sign of His deathless glory. They are the Treasuries of Divine knowledge, and the Repositories of celestial wisdom. Through them is transmitted a grace that is infinite, and by them is revealed the Light that can never fade…. These Tabernacles of Holiness, these Primal Mirrors which reflect the light of unfading glory, are but expressions of Him Who is the Invisible of the Invisibles. By the revelation of these Gems of Divine virtue all the names and attributes of God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy and wisdom, glory, bounty, and grace, are made manifest. (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XIX)

Messengers and Prophets are Divine intermediaries, they represent God and they are the Voice of God Himself in this phenomenal world:

And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with His creation, and no resemblance whatever can exist between the transient and the Eternal, the contingent and the Absolute, He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. Unto this subtle, this mysterious and ethereal Being He hath assigned a twofold nature; the physical, pertaining to the world of matter, and the spiritual, which is born of the substance of God Himself. He hath, moreover, conferred upon Him a double station. The first station, which is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself. To this testifieth the tradition: “Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with God. I am He, Himself, and He is I, Myself, except that I am that I am, and He is that He is.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XXVII)

Bahá’ís use the term Manifestation of God for the Messengers and Prophets. Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be a Manifestation of God and the Promised One of all religions. Bahá’u’lláh was ‘the Heavenly Father’ Whom the Sons of Israel and the Christians expect. He was the return or advent of Husayn ibn Ali according to the beliefs of Shi’a Islam. Bahá’u’lláh was the Second Coming of Christ according to the beliefs of Sunni Islam. He was the advent of Shàh Bahràm according to the beliefs of the Zoroastrians. Bahá’u’lláh explicitly responded to the allegation of being God in a literal sense (الوہیت) and denied it as calumny:

Certain ones among you have said: “He it is Who hath laid claim to be God.” By God! This is a gross calumny. I am but a servant of God Who hath believed in Him and in His signs, and in His Prophets and in His angels. My tongue, and My heart, and My inner and My outer being testify that there is no God but Him, that all others have been created by His behest, and been fashioned through the operation of His Will. There is none other God but Him, the Creator, the Raiser from the dead, the Quickener, the Slayer. I am He that telleth abroad the favors with which God hath, through His bounty, favored Me. If this be My transgression, then I am truly the first of the transgressors. I and My kindred are at your mercy. Do ye as ye please, and be not of them that hesitate, that I might return to God My Lord, and reach the place where I can no longer behold your faces. This, indeed, is My dearest wish, My most ardent desire. Of My state God is, verily, sufficiently informed, observant. (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, CXIII)

Bahá’u’lláh refuted the position of Manifestation as God many times in His Writings by differentiating between the Essence of God and the Manifestation of God (see for example this passage). At the same time, Bahá’u’lláh also endorsed the position of Manifestation as God in a non-literal sense. Now that we understand that the Essence of God is unknowable, that Manifestations of God (or Messengers) are mirrors, let’s finally consider a passage where Bahá’u’lláh directly addresses the question of ‘Manifestation of God’ as God:

Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: “I am God,” He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through their Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of God, His names and His attributes, are made manifest in the world. Thus, He hath revealed: “Those shafts were God’s, not Thine.” And also He saith: “In truth, they who plighted fealty unto Thee, really plighted that fealty unto God.” And were any of them to voice the utterance, “I am the Messenger of God,” He, also, speaketh the truth, the indubitable truth. Even as He saith: “Muḥammad is not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger of God.” Viewed in this light, they are all but Messengers of that ideal King, that unchangeable Essence. And were they all to proclaim, “I am the Seal of the Prophets,” they, verily, utter but the truth, beyond the faintest shadow of doubt. For they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one revelation. They are all the manifestation of the “Beginning” and the “End,” the “First” and the “Last,” the “Seen” and the “Hidden”—all of which pertain to Him Who is the Innermost Spirit of Spirits and Eternal Essence of Essences. And were they to say, “We are the Servants of God,” this also is a manifest and indisputable fact. For they have been made manifest in the uttermost state of servitude, a servitude the like of which no man can possibly attain. Thus in moments in which these Essences of Being were deep immersed beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting holiness, or when they soared to the loftiest summits of Divine mysteries, they claimed their utterances to be the Voice of Divinity, the Call of God Himself. Were the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in this very state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and nonexistent in the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the Incorruptible. Methinks, they have regarded themselves as utter nothingness, and deemed their mention in that Court an act of blasphemy. For the slightest whispering of self within such a Court is an evidence of self-assertion and independent existence. In the eyes of them that have attained unto that Court, such a suggestion is itself a grievous transgression. How much more grievous would it be, were aught else to be mentioned in that Presence, were man’s heart, his tongue, his mind, or his soul, to be busied with anyone but the Well-Beloved, were his eyes to behold any countenance other than His beauty, were his ear to be inclined to any melody but His Voice, and were his feet to tread any way but His way.… By virtue of this station they have claimed for themselves the Voice of Divinity and the like, whilst by virtue of their station of Messengership, they have declared themselves the Messengers of God. (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XXII)

 

Mirza Ghulam Ahmed himself testifies that the claim of Bahá’u’lláh was that of being Messiah:

“Bahá’u’lláh, who claimed to be Messiah (مسیح) in 1269 A.H. remained alive till 1309 A.H.” (Akhbar Al-Hakam, Qadian, 24^th October 1904, pg. 4)

Regarding Muhammad (Blessings be Upon Him), Mirza Ghulam Ahmed wrote:

“It has been described at several places in the Holy Qur’an in indications (اشارات) and remarks (تصريحات). That His Holiness (Muhammad) is the Supreme Manifestation of Divinity (مظہراتم الوہیت) and His words are God’s words and His Manifestation (ظہور) is God’s Manifestation and His advent is God’s advent.” (Surma-e Chashm-e Arya, Hashiya, pg. 229 – 230)

An impartial investigator will ask at this moment, if Bahá’u’lláh claimed Divinity (الوہیت) and it is wrong then why is it not wrong for Muhammad? Moreover, if the remark made by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed regarding Muhammad is figurative (and it is fine in that case) then why can’t the same be true for Bahá’u’lláh? That said, as I have already explained before, neither Muhammad nor Bahá’u’lláh ever claimed to be God in the literal sense.

According to the Bahá’í beliefs, the Day of Judgement has already come. In reference to Islam it has been discussed here. The Day of Judgement is also called the Day of Meeting God because the visitation of God (liqá-i-rabb) on the Day of Judgement has been promised in the Qur’an in several verses such as (83:6).

Now, consider the following:

God is sanctified from all material existence and He can never be seen by the material eyes. By the promise that the people will see and meet God on the Day of Qiyámah it is meant that they will see and meet a Manifestation of God. A Manifestation of God represents the Godhead and the pure-hearted people see in Him the effulgence of God. Through their inner eyes of wisdom and perception they see, in His beauty the Beauty of God. Thus meeting with a Manifestation of God is like meeting God himself. However, the wicked and evil-minded people deprive themselves of this bounty. The Muslims have been told that they will be sure to meet Him on the Day of the Judgement (Qiyámah): “For those whose hopes are in the meeting with Allah; for the term by Allah is surely coming and He hears and knows.” (Qur’an 29:5). The promise of God has been fulfilled, at the appointed Hour, by the Advent of Bahá’u’lláh. (Dr. Sabir Afaqi, Proofs from the Holy Quran, pg. 51-52)

Islamic prophetology is anchored in the received interpretation of Qur’an 33:40, establishing Muhammad as the God’s Final Messenger or “Seal of the Prophets”. In perhaps his most significant exegetical maneuver, Bahá’u’lláh relativizes that claim in order to supersede it, refocusing the reader’s attention a mere four verses later (Qur’an 33:44), a verse that promises eschatological attainment to the “Presence of God” (Iiqá’u’llah) on the Last Day. Since direct beatific vision of God is impossible, Bahá’u’lláh reasons that Qur’an 33:44 anticipate a future theophanic messiah who, as deus revelatus and divine vicegerent, is symbolically “God” by proxy. (Christopher Buck, The Eschatology of Globalization: The Multiple-Messiaship of Bahá’u’lláh Revisited in Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and The Bábi-Bahá’í Faiths, pg. 147)

In light of this we can see now that the Chosen Ones for this Day, the Day of the Lord and the Day of the visitation of God, couldn’t have used names like follower Prophet (اُمتَّی نبی), subordinate (ظِلّی) and commensal (طُفَیلی). They should have used terms like Manifestation of God, Lord of Lords, Most Great Light and Day-Star of the Universe. It was necessary that the Chosen Ones for this Day be bestowed with attributes and use names which are in conformity to God’s Will as expressed not only in the Qur’an but all the prior scriptures.

I’ll address the rest of the accusations made in the video in forthcoming articles. To read the next piece in this series, click here.