Prophets As Celestial Beings
“We have adorned the lowest heaven with an adornment – the planets.” (37:7)
“And We have, indeed, made mansions of stars in the heaven and have adorned it for beholders.” (15:17)
“Blessed is He Who has made in the heaven mansions of the stars and has placed therein a Lamp producing light and a moon that reflects light.” (25:62)
“…And He created the sun and the moon and the stars – all made subservient by His command…” (7:55)
The above verses of the Qur’an, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, have many interpretations, one in which the verses reveal key astronomical knowledge about the stars, planets and other celestial bodies. Another interpretation of these verses (and the one used for the subject at hand) made by the Ahmadis is that the universe is the ‘spiritual universe’, the celestial beings (i.e. stars, planets etc.) as the Prophets, the sun as the Prophet Muhammad and the moon as the Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
The moon is taken to be the Mirza Ghulam Ahmad because in every verse above where the moon is signified, the word Qamar is used and that word distinctly means Full Moon (see: ‘Moon of the Prophets’ below).
“By the heaven having mansions of stars. And the Promised Day, And the Witness and he to whom witness is borne.” (85:2-4)
According to the Ahmadiyya interpretation of the above verse, the stars signify Prophets and the ‘Promised Day’ as the day of the coming of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (it is also interpreted as the Day of Resurrection). The Witness in this verse signifies Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as he was a Shahid (Witness) as all other Prophets were and was a witness to the truth of the ‘one to whom witness is borne’ in this verse, or the Prophet Muhammad as he was a Mashhud (One to whom witness is made) as all other prophets were.
Rejection of even one of the Prophets, results in the rejection of all prophets, according to the Ahmadiyya Community.
Read more about this topic: Prophethood (Ahmadiyya)
Famous quotes containing the words prophets, celestial and/or beings:
“Men do not accept their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and worship those whom they have tortured to death.”
—Feodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881)
“When the spirit brings light into our minds, it dispels darkness. We see it, as we do that of the sun at noon, and need not the twilight of reason to show it us. This light from heaven is strong, clear, and pure carries its own demonstration with it; and we may as naturally take a glow-worm to assist us to discover the sun, as to examine the celestial ray by our dim candle, reason.”
—John Locke (1632–1704)
“Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television.”
—Lewis Thomas (b. 1913)