And those on whom they call beside Allah create not anything, but they are themselves created. They are dead, not living; and they know not when they will be raised (Chapter 16 verse 21-22)
These verses of the Holy Qur’an illustrate something really important. It is being mentioned that all the false Gods who people worshiped are dead and not alive. Since Jesus(as) is also one who is worshiped as a God he also is included in this verse, and has also died as the verse says. The only one in the entire world who he is called God more then even Allah himself is Jesus(As) alone. There are over 2.2 billion Christians who believe in the divinity of Jesus. We also know that during the life of Holy Prophet Muhammad(Saw), people believed Jesus was a God and worshiped him which clearly shows that he is included here. According to this ayah it is clear that when this was revealed to our Master Muhammad(saw), Isa(as) had indeed died already.
Non Ahmadis try to claim that this verse is only for idols and that those idols are dead not living. However this is a ignorant statement with no proof. Secondly the verse right after says “They know not when they will be raised” This shows that it is not for idols as we know that Idols are not resurrected nor do they have any life. This ayah makes it clear that Allah is living, and that He is the one and only Creator.
Now some non Ahmadis try to escape this verse by bringing up people who are worshiped as gods, but are alive. This is a foolish argument as this ayah refers to the false gods which men worshiped at the time the Qur’an was revealed The ayah has clearly said all worshiped other than Allah are dead not living, so if one considers Isa(as) to be alive he is basically putting him next to Allah.
Four arguments arise from these ayahs. The first is that they cannot create anything, nor do they have the power to. Secondly, they are themselves created, and are dependent on others. Thirdly, they are dead and therefore are devoid of the power to do good or evil to any person and one who is devoid of such power cannot claim to be God. Fourthly, they are unaware of when they will be raised back to life.
The anti Ahmadis sometimes make the foolish statement that Idols will physically be raised. They need to understand that yes, the ones who were made into idols will indeed be resurrected. For example, nowadays we sadly see statues of Jesus(as) being worshiped. Do they now think that all the millions of statues of Jesus worldwide would be resurrected independently? How foolish of a statement. It is obvious that the idol would itself be resurrected in the sense that if one was made into an idol, the person themselves will be raised, rather than the idol itself. This will show the people the weakness of their lords as well as they will be raised by their true creator whom they had rejected. There is a saying attributed to Ibn Abbas(ra) that idols will all be raised bu this cannot be accepted and nor do we believe he had stated such. We all know of this incident of Bukhari. It is narrated:
حَدَّثَنَا صَدَقَةُ بْنُ الْفَضْلِ، أَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي نَجِيحٍ، عَنْ مُجَاهِدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي مَعْمَرٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ دَخَلَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مَكَّةَ يَوْمَ الْفَتْحِ وَحَوْلَ الْبَيْتِ سِتُّونَ وَثَلاَثُمِائَةِ نُصُبٍ، فَجَعَلَ يَطْعُنُهَا بِعُودٍ فِي يَدِهِ وَيَقُولُ “ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ، جَاءَ الْحَقُّ، وَمَا يُبْدِئُ الْبَاطِلُ وَمَا يُعِيدُ ”.
Narrated `Abdullah:
When the Prophet (ﷺ) entered Mecca on the day of the Conquest, there were 360 idols around the Ka`ba. The Prophet (ﷺ) started striking them with a stick he had in his hand and was saying, “Truth has come and Falsehood will neither start nor will it reappear.(Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Hadtih #583)
Now the Holy Prophet(saw) destroyed 360 idols around the ka’ba, do the non Ahmadi Muslims really think that these idols would now all be raised and be present on the day of judgement to be questioned? This contradicts common sense and logic. Secondly the Prophet Muhammad(saw) had clearly said “Truth has come and Falsehood will neither start nor will it reappear. Can the non Ahmadis really believe that the Prophet Muhammad(saw) was wrong and that these idols would not just reappear, rather reappear in the presence of our Creator?
Now here is a beautiful hadith of Sahih Muslim which destroys the arguments of the anti Ahmadis :
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، وَعَمْرٌو النَّاقِدُ، وَابْنُ أَبِي عُمَرَ، – وَاللَّفْظُ لاِبْنِ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ – قَالُوا حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي نَجِيحٍ، عَنْ مُجَاهِدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي مَعْمَرٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ دَخَلَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مَكَّةَ وَحَوْلَ الْكَعْبَةِ ثَلاَثُمِائَةٍ وَسِتُّونَ نُصُبًا فَجَعَلَ يَطْعُنُهَا بِعُودٍ كَانَ بِيَدِهِ وَيَقُولُ ” { جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا} { جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَمَا يُبْدِئُ الْبَاطِلُ وَمَا يُعِيدُ} زَادَ ابْنُ أَبِي عُمَرَ يَوْمَ الْفَتْحِ .
It has been narrated by Ibn Abdullah who said:
The Prophet (ﷺ) entered Mecca. There were three hundred and sixty idols around the Ka’ba. He began to thrust them with the stick that was in his hand saying:” Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Lo! falsehood was destined to vanish” (xvii. 8). Truth has arrived, and falsehood can neither create anything from the beginning nor can It restore to life (Sahih Muslim, Book 19, Hadith #4397)
Now here the saying makes it clear that the idols will not restore to life as the non Ahmadis believe. Will they call the Holy Prophet(saw) a liar as well, god forbid? It is clear that the first part of the ayah which we have quoted here does indeed include idols as well but the idols will not be raised as this hadith also shows us.
It is also stated in Imam Malik’s Mutwatta:
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ، عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ اللَّهُمَّ لاَ تَجْعَلْ قَبْرِي وَثَنًا يُعْبَدُ اشْتَدَّ غَضَبُ اللَّهِ عَلَى قَوْمٍ اتَّخَذُوا قُبُورَ أَنْبِيَائِهِمْ مَسَاجِدَ ” .
Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “O Allah! Do not make my grave an idol that is worshipped. The anger on those who took the graves of their Prophets as places of prostration was terrible.”(Muwatta Malik Book 9, Hadith #88)
Now I wonder whether the non Ahmadis believe that the grave of the Prophet Muhammad(saw) if worshiped by even one person, will now also be raised on the day of judgement? Such beliefs of the non Ahmadi Muslims really show us how blessed we are as Ahmadi Muslims who have accepted the imam of the age. Sadly some have also tried to claim that cows are worshiped, but what they fail to understand is that this ayah refers to human beings as it is they who will be raised and questioned on the day of judgement. Yes animals will be present on the day of judgement but they will not be questioned on the day of judgement.
Some non Ahmadis have also stated that why do we say that this ayah only applies to the situation during the time of its revelation? Well it is clear because many were worshiping other gods and Allah revealed this to make it clear that whoever they call besides Allah (human beings) were dead not living, unlike Allah who was the only living One from those who were called as Gods and will always be the living God.We do not believe this only applies during its time of revelation as the ayah shows Allah is forever living In reality there are countless of ayahs which the non Ahmadis hold to only have a meaning during the time of its revelation and not after that so such an allegation is baseless. It is upsetting that the non Ahmadi Muslims have fallen to such a level where they accept anything attributed to Ibn Abbas(ra), ignoring the fact that not everything attributed to him is true.
A Statement of the Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)
The Promised Messiah (as) states: “Look at how explicitly these verses prove the death of the Messiah and all those people whom the Jews, Christians, and various sects among the Arabs held as God and to whom they supplicated. If even still you are not convinced of the death of the Messiah son of Mary, why do you not clearly confess that we hold reservations in believing in the Qur’an all together?”
He (as) also states:
“Just see how clearly these verses affirm the death of all those human beings who were worshipped as gods by the Jews and Christians and some of the Arab tribes and to whom they supplicated. If you are still not convinced of the death of Jesus son of Mary, why don’t you simply admit that you are not prepared to believe in the Holy Qur’an? “(Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 3, Page 431)