HAZRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD'S VIEW OF ELIJAH THE PROPHET

Ahmadiyya Mosque, South Africa

This allegation was raised in the comments section of our site on several occasions a while ago that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad believed in the phsyical ascension of the prophet Elijah and therefore Ahmadi Muslims should believe in the physical ascension of Jesus. This is not true as Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad did not believe any prophet or person has ever ascended physically to heaven. Anyone anyone can read the abridged English translation of Izala-e-Auham and find out what Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad really said on these subjects. However, as a short rebuttal, we also asked the Ahmadi Muslim commentator Khalid Nawaz Sahib to offer his thoughts on the issue in a short article, which we have adapted from an email he sent us:

Let me give you a summary of what Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was actually saying in Izala-e-Auham:

The notion that Jesus will descend bodily from heaven is only a consequence of the concept that he was raised bodily to heaven. Therefore, we should first consider whether or not the primary factor can be established on the basis of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. If the basic factor is established, we will be able to accept that a person whose bodily ascent to heaven is proved could likewise descend bodily from heaven. But if the basic factor is not established on the authority of the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith and instead contradicts them, we cannot accept the accuracy of the alleged consequence and if there should be any Ahadith whose purport might be indicative of such consequential proposition, we would try to reconcile them to the basic factor. (Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Izala-e-Auham, p236)

Hazoor (as) then says that even if there are some hadith that seems to present the idea of physical return of the Jesus, then- due to the fact that we do not have any proof of his physical ascension- we must interpret those hadith and believe in the return of someone bearing a resemblance to the Messiah. Hazoor (as) goes on to remind the reader that all the people of the Jewish faith had the firm belief that Elij’ah was lifted to the heaven physically and will return physically back from the sky. However, what Jesus said was that John the Baptist (as) is the manifestation of the return of Elij’ah. This was totally against the Jewish religious scholar's beliefs. That’s why they did not accept either Jesus (as) or John the Baptist (as) . Instead, they were left looking towards the sky for the physical return of the Elij’ah (as). It was very difficult for them to accept any other thing as they all believed on his physical return. Apparently the wording of the Biblical prophecies found in Kings 2 and Malachi supported their beliefs. That is why they rejected two prophets of the God i.e. Jesus (as) and John the Baptist (as).

However, if the Jewish people had, instead of strictly following the apparent wordings of the their books, interpreted the words of Kings and Malchi, then there would not be any Jews left in the world. All of them would have become Christians. It was because the real meaning of the return of Elijah (as)- as described in the Kings and Malachi- was that someone else would come in the spirit of Elijah (as) and not that Elijah (as) himself would descend physically from heaven. John the Baptist (as) fulfilled this prophecy, but the Jewish people who had strict hearts did not accepted the spiritual meaning of the prophecies and kept believing in the apparent wording of those books. 

This is what was written by the Promised Messiah (as) before the page 238 of Izala-e-Auham. On page 238 The Promised Messiah (as) wrote that unlike Jews, Muslims have no difficulty in believing in the spiritual return of the Jesus (as), because from The Noble Qu'ran and ahadith, the death of the Jesus has been proven (as shown from verses of The Holy Qu'ran in other parts of Izala-e-Auham). After his death, they should not have any difficulty in believing that it was Jesus’ (as) soul that was lifted to the sky and not his body and that he shall therefore return only in the metaphorical sense, in the same way Elijah only returned in the metaphorical sense.

The Promised Messiah (as) also argued that whatever was written in these prophecies from Kings and Malchi has been proven to be  100% correct. This does not mean he agreed with the apparent meanings of physical ascension as well. 

The mistake the commentator has made is that he took a single line out of a long discussion out of context, highlighted it and presented it to mean something it did not. If we analyse the entire discussion, which took place over several pages as shown above, we find that certainly The Promised Messiah (as) in no way believed or supported the concept of the physical ascension of Elijah (as) and to say he did from this book is essentially to twist and misrepresent his words to the point of lying. In fact, he was saying the complete opposite of this and showing that this concept was not true and that neither of these prophets physically ascended and neither of them were to physically return. Only with the height of deceit could you take passages that so emphatically revolve around disproving the physical ascent of Elijah (as) and Jesus (as) and claim that they were actually supporting the physical ascent of either of these prophets!