TAUDEH MARAM BY HADHRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD OF QADIAN (BOOKS)

Ahmadiyya Mosque, Germany

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during Ramadan we will be publishing articles on individual books of The Promised Messiah, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Previous editions as well as the schedule for future editions are available here. In this article we will be looking at Taudeh Maram, or 'Elucidation of Objectives,' the English translation of which is available for free online at this link. 

Historical and Social Background of the Publication of Taudeh Maram

In 1890, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad announced that Allah had informed him through divine revelation that he was the Messiah of the Latter Days, for whom the great religions of the world were awaiting. To carry the message of the announcement, The Promised Messiah had written a three part book. The first part of this book had been called Fateh Islam and that volume had announced that he had been divinely appointed the Messiah. It had also outlined his divinely ordained mission, had expressed the methods by which The Promised Messiah intended to carry out his mission and had called on the Muslims to join him in this noble quest. The second part of the book Fateh Islam was published in the same year and was given it's own separate title, Taudeh Maram. 

Contents of Taudeh Maram

At the outset of Taudeh Maram, The Promised Messiah's objective was to preemptively refute some of the objections to his claim he was sure would arise on the publication of the announcement of his claim to Messiahship in Fateh Islam. He began by presenting the argument that in the Bible there were only two personalities who ascended to heaven and were promised would one day return. One was the prophet Elijah and the other was Jesus. However, the Bible also confirms that Elijah did not physically return, but came in the form of the prophet John the Baptist, who was similar in personality to Elijah and this fulfilled the prophecy. He noted that as Christians have accepted John the Baptist to have metaphorically fulfilled the return of Elijah throughout their history, they should now have no issues with accepting Jesus' return was not to be a physical one but a metaphorical one, in the form of a person who held similar characteristics to him. (References to the prophecy of Elijah's return and it's fulfillment found in the Biblical chapers Malachi and Matthew)

He then referred to the passage of The Holy Qu'ran in which it says that those who enter paradise will not be fatigued and 'nor shall they ever be ejected therefrom' (The Holy Qu'ran, 15:48/49). He reminded the Muslims that the only possible conclusion from this verse was that if Jesus had indeed physically ascended to heaven, it would be impossible for him ever to leave heaven again and therefore he could not literally ever return to Earth. He then reminded the Muslims how it is recorded in The Holy Qu'ran that the enemies of The Holy Prophet s.a.w. demanded that he give them the sign of ascending to heaven and descending back down in front of their eyes. He replied by reminding them that it is impossible, as he was, 'but a mortal sent as Messenger' (The Holy Qu'ran, 17:93/94). The Promised Messiah asked how it could be possible for Jesus to perform this miracle, if The Holy Prophet himself could not, for the reason that The Holy Prophet was only a mortal messenger. Do the non-Ahmadi Muslims believe Jesus to be not only immortal,  but superior to The Holy Prophet s.a.w, as otherwise they must admit from The Holy Qu'ran that such a miracle is simply impossible. 

There are certain points here which we are obliged to mention. The first is that at this stage it is clear from passages of the book that The Promised Messiah did not believe himself to be a prophet, but only the lesser station of Muhaddath. An objection sometimes raised is that why did The Promised Messiah then later change his position and claim prophethood? The answer to this is simple, he did not himself raise his position or claim, it was Allah the Almighty who conferred it upon him through revelation. In fact, as we have already discussed in our previousarticle on his book Baraheen-e-Ahmadiyya, by the time of the publication of Taudeh Maram The Promised Messiah had already been receiving revelations to the effect that he was both the Messiah and a prophet of God for over ten years and several such prophecies are recorded in Baraheen and have been discussed in detail in that article. However, as The Promised was of such a humble nature, he misinterpreted the meaning of those revelations to be metaphorical. 

The second point we are obliged to make is that as the physical ascent of Jesus to heaven was the prevalent belief amongst the Muslims at the time and The Promised Messiah was taught this throughout his youth, it is likely that in his early career he may also have believed this. This is held against him by the anti-Ahmadiyya movement who state that he changed his position on this issue. However, this is actually a manifest sign of his truthfulness. Had he , God forbid, been motivated by personal ambition, he would have contradicted such beliefs right from the outset, so as to set up the framework for his own claims. Instead, he also believed what he had been taught about Jesus' ascent, until such a time as Allah the All-Knowing revealed to him that this was not correct. This shows that his correct interpretations of The Holy Qu'ran were not based on his personal motives, but what Allah the Almighty taught him. What is certainly clear is that by this point the idea that Jesus was still alive and would one day physically return was outrightly rejected by The Promised Messiah, based on the revelations he had received, which had directed him to the passages of The Holy Qu'ran that this article has already mentioned. Anyhow, although we can't say for certain, it does seem likely that The Promised Messiah had already rejected the possibility of any human being physically ascending to heaven, as this is explicitly stated in his next book, Izala-e-Auham, which was published almost immediately after Taudih Maram. 

Much of the rest of the book discusses the role that angels play. The arch-angel Gabriel is presented as a case study and The Promised Messiah mentioned how one of Gabriel's major functions is to bring Allah's revelation to mankind. Referring to divine revelation, The mentions the objection raised by some, that what is so special about the dreams and revelations of prophets? After all, say the objectors, even the most sinful person sometimes experiences dreams that turn out to be true. The Promised Messiah acknowledges that this statement is correct and that even the worst of mankind, who are devoted to evil, sometimes experience true dreams. 

The Promised Messiah explains that the reason for this is that revelation falls upon mankind like rain. Perhaps sometimes even the driest desert- or the most sinful person- can take advantage of the rain of revelation. The purpose of people from across mankind being blessed with true dreams is to remind them of the existence of God. However, he says that comparing the true dreams of a sinner to the revelations of a prophet is like comparing a glowworm to the sun. He tells us that individuals can receive some divine revelation according to their own capacity, but the capacity of a prophet to receive revelation is like a large and clear mirror's ability to reflect images. He goes on that perhaps a lowly sinner's capacity to receive divine revelation would be better compared to the hazy capacity of the rings on someone's finger to reflect tiny images. 

The Promised Messiah ends the book by requesting that Muslims should at least read all three volumes of the book (Fateh Islam, Taudeh Maram, Azala Auham) for the purpose of judging the validity of The Promised Messiah's claim. 

Impact of the Taudeh Maram

Predictably, the response of the Muslim clergy to this book was that of outrage and from this point the same clergy who had so praised The Promised Messiah in the preceding years as great scholar, a pious man and The Islamic Reformer of the Age, now became vicious enemies of his. 

Discussion of Selected Passages from the Book

It is common experience that once a Mullah has expressed his opinion publicly and pronounced it to be final, he finds it worse than death to retract it. (The Promised Messiah, Taudeh Maram)

We found the description of certain obstinate religious clerics given above perfectly amusing and so have presented it here for the benefit of our readers.  

As for addressing each of them as ‘the son of Mary’, this is a metaphor which is as subtle as it is fine: it has been employed on account of the temperamental and spiritual affinity between the two Messiahs. Is it not true that because of such resemblance in disposition and character, two different persons, known for their piety, may well be addressed by the same name, just as two bad characters, who equally share evil, may be called counterparts? (The Promised Messiah, Taudeh Maram)

Here, The Promised Messiah has explained why the prophecised Messiah was referred to as by the name of 'Jesus son of Mary'.

This super-condition was vouchsafed to the one and only person in the entire world—namely the Perfect Man. He alone is the culmination and apex of human excellence. It is in his person that the evolutionary cycle of human potentiality reached absolute perfection. Indeed he is the last point on the higher scale of the extended line of God’s creation and constitutes the absolute pinnacle of all spiritual heights. Divine wisdom initiated the evolutionary process at the lowest level of creation with the meanest of creatures and caused it to attain the highest point, the other name of which is Muhammad s.a.w. 

The name Muhammad s.a.w signifies the most praised one or the one who is the supreme embodiment of all perfection and excellence. Just as the Holy Prophet s.a.w. innate spiritual station was extremely exalted and so high and lofty, the quality of revelation vouchsafed to him was also very high. It is too exalted a station for me or the Messiah to attain. It is known as the Meeting Point or the point of Absolute Union. The earlier Prophets who foretold the coming of the Holy Prophet s.a.w envisaged the same station and its hallmark. Indeed it was to this unique station that they chose to refer. Furthermore, the spiritual station the Messiah and I share, could figuratively be described as that of being the spiritual son of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. His spiritual station is in fact so lofty that the earlier Prophets described the coming of its occupant as if it were the coming of God Himself. For instance, the Messiah also says in a parable: 

At first, the Lord of the vineyard— God—sent his servants to collect the harvest. By servants he meant those who were close to God, in short all the righteous and the saintly who lived during or prior to the time of the Messiah. But when the tenants declined to surrender His share of the crop, the Lord of the orchard sent his own son to emphasize the point in the hope that recognizing the son, they would forthwith surrender the yield of the orchard. (The Bible, Matthew, 21:33-41)

Hence, the son means the Messiah who enjoyed a still closer degree of nearness and love, but the husbandmen refused to deliver the fruit even to the son. Instead, in their own arrogance and fancy, they killed him. The Messiah then adds: Now the Lord of the vineyard will come Himself. In other words, God will Himself appear in person in order to kill the tenants of the garden and transfer its possession to those who would surrender the harvest on time.  Here the coming of the Lord God symbolizes the coming of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. whose station of love and nearness to God is of the superlative quality. 

It was not the Messiah alone who described our lord and master, the Seal of the Prophets, the Holy Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. in this vein and declared that his coming was, in fact, like the coming of God; other Prophets too have used the same kind of diction in their respective prophecies about the Holy Prophet s.a.w. and, figuratively speaking, have likened his coming to the coming of God Almighty. Indeed because of his being the most perfect manifestation of God, they have addressed him as if he were God. In the Psalms of David 45:2-7 we read: 

"Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured unto thy lips; therefore, God hath blessed thee forever. (i.e., Thou art the seal of all Prophets). Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach terrible things. Thy arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. O God Thy throne is for ever; the scepter of Thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." (The Bible, Psalms of David, 45:2-7)

Let it be clearly understood that the verse in Psalms: "O God Thy throne is for ever and ever; scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom," is merely a figure of speech. Its purpose is to highlight the spiritual greatness of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Similarly in Isaiah too, we read:  

"Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break and the smoking flax shall he not quench; he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he has set judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law… The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealously like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar, he shall prevail against his enemies." (The Holy Bible, Isaiah, 42)

Now the expression that the Lord shall go forth as a mighty man is also a figure of speech symbolizing the awesome coming of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. Some other Prophets too have used this figure of speech in their prophesies pertaining to the Holy Prophet'ssa advent. I would rest content with what I have already said because it would be rather lengthy quoting them in detail. That three stations of intimacy and love of which the third is alone the loftiest and belongs to the Holy Prophet s.a.w. alone is not a view of my own based on any a posteriori reasoning. It is in fact the truth, which has been communicated to me through Divine revelation. (The Promised Messiah, Taudeh Maram)

The above passage describes how the matchlessly high status of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. had already been prophecised in previous scriptures. It also refutes the false allegation that The Promised Messiah ever claimed to be anywhere near the high status of his master, The Holy Prophet s.a.w, or that he in any way insulted him or was anything other than a perfectly obedient and adoring servant of his. Also, The Promised Messiah ends this particular topic by reminding the readers that his interpretations aren't based on his own personal whims or opinions, but in this instance were taught to him through the medium of divine revelation from Allah the Almighty. 

Muslim scholars, for one, do not subscribe to the view that Angels, with some kind of material bodies quite like humans, have to walk on foot to come down to earth. This kind of thinking would evidently be false. Were it necessary for Angels to come down to earth in any formal shape to carry out their respective duties, it would have been absolutely impossible for them to complete any task. For instance, the angel of death has to take the lives of thousands of people per second, who live at distances of thousands of miles from one another, in different parts of the world. If he were under obligation to foot it up to each country, town and home to find the opportunity to take a life, then let alone one second, even months wouldn’t suffice to carry out such a huge task. Is it possible for a person moving about like humans to go round the world in a split second or even less? No, not at all. On the contrary, Angels do not even fractionally stir from their true stations allotted to them by God Almighty. (The Promised Messiah, Taudeh Maram)

The passage above describes some of the attributes of angels.  

That is why at places, every material particle is described in the Holy Qur’an as an angel because all particles hearken to the call of their Gracious Lord and do exactly what they are asked to do. For instance, changes in the human organism make for either health or illness. Each and every particle tasting such changes moves backwards and forwards in keeping with the Divine Will. (The Promised Messiah, Taudeh Maram)

Here, The Promised Messiah underlines the All-Powerful nature of Allah with regards to every particle of the universe.  

Now the point at issue is, that if the royal courier delivers dispatches from the reigning monarch to a provincial chief or governor, will this show that the emissary, who is the link between the monarch and the Governor General, is superior to the addressee. (The Promised Messiah, Taudeh Maram)

In the extract above, The Promised Messiah has refuted the allegation by the Hindus that Muslim doctrine makes angels into gods, because they are the ones who deliver the revelations from Allah to His prophets. He points out that this is the equivalent of saying that an employee of the postal services who delivers letters to and from a monarch is of the same rank as the monarch!


Next Edition of the Series: Azala Auham
The next article of this series, scheduled for Friday the 10th of August 2012, will discuss the third volume of this book, which followed the first two (Fateh Islam and Taudeh Maram). It is titled Azala Auham. Although it has never been translated from cover to cover, it's full original Urdu is available to view online for free at alislam.org.