Concept of Infallibility of Prophet and 'Qadyaniat' (2)

   

In the  part (1) of this article, we have seen that if an act is committed in the way one intends to commit it, without knowing the fallacy of such act, such act is mistake with intent. If an act is committed NOT in the way one intends to commit it, such act may be called mistake without intent; rather more rightly it may not be called a mistake (more appropriately such an act may be called an accident). If a person commits an act in the way he intends to commit it, knowing the fallacy of such act, such an act is not only mistake with intent but also is a wrong which may be likely to be punished/ compensated for.

Prophets are infallible in the sense that they cannot commit a mistake with intent or wrong likely to be punished/ compensable. There are two constituents of mistake with intent:

i.             The act is false/wrong at the time of commission whether or not the fallacy/wrongness of the act is known to the actor;

ii.           The act is performed in the way the actor intends to perform it;

Similarly mistake without intent consists of three parts:

i.             The act is NOT false/wrong at the time of commission;

ii.           The act is not performed in the way the actor intends to perform it;

iii.           The act turns out to be false/wrong when it is completed.

As it is mentioned above, mistake without intent is actually no mistake; more appropriately, it may be called an ‘accident’. If any element/constituent is missing, the act may not be called as mistake with intent or mistake without intent respectively.

(Note: It must be kept in mind  what is called a mistake is an act which may be declared as mistake when seen through revealed knowledge. Only incurring any loss in the way of acting upon wahi is not a mistake, if it is not a mistake seen through revealed knowledge.  Allah tries His slaves with loss in property, life and 'rizq'. To go through such trial and succeed in it is not a mistake; rather it is Allah's blessing. For instance, it is said  that our Nabi (s.a.w) once went outside the city to wage 'qattal' with non-believers, after consulting his (s.a.w) companions though through a dream our Nabi (s.a.w) was informed that the better strategy was to remain inside the city; the result of war was not favorable. 
It is alleged it was a mistake committed by our Nabi (s.a.w). But actually it was not a mistake when seen through revealed knowledge; it was a trial only in which Muslims came out successfully. Our Nabi (s.a.w) came out from the city under hidden revelation; the dream did not bind our Nabi (s.a.w) to remain inside the city, and Allah did not declare our Nabi's (s.a.w) act as a mistake).

Now we turn to the arguments put forth by Qadyanis against the concept of infallibility of prophets.

The most quoted argument against the concept of infallibility of prophets is relating to mistake committed by Hazrat Adam (a.s) which resulted in ousting of hazrat Adam (a.s) from the paradise. Let us look into Quranic verses stating the incident of ousting of hazrat Adam (a.s) from the paradise. These verses of sura ‘Taha’ are quoted below:

“So We said, "O Adam (a.s), indeed this (shaitan) is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you from Paradise so you would suffer” (117- Taha).

“Indeed, it is [promised] for you not to be hungry therein or be unclothed” (118-Taha).

“And indeed, you will not be thirsty therein or be hot from the sun” (119-Taha).

“Then Satan whispered to him; he said, "O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and possession that will not deteriorate?" (120-Taha).

“And Adam and his wife ate of it, and their private parts became apparent to them, and they began to fasten over themselves from the leaves of Paradise. And Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred” (121-Taha).

“After that his Lord chose him and accepted his repentance and guided [him]” (122-Taha).

These above stated are continuous verses of sura Taha (117-122). Therefore sequence of these verses is very important to keep in view. these verses mainly reflect two points: firstly, these verses reflect that it was not Adam with a body of blood and bones who have committed the stated mistake; rather it is the soul of Adam (a.s) who committed the stated mistake. In other words, Adam (a.s) was NOT yet born onto the earth when he (a.s) committed the mistake. Secondly, these verses reflect that Adam (a.s) was not yet a prophet when he committed the mistake. He committed mistake before he (a.s) was born onto the earth and before he (a.s) was granted the status of a prophet. He (a.s) was born onto the earth after his repentance was accepted by Allah, and after he was granted status of a prophet.

The verse 118 states that hazrat Adam (a.s) was not having hunger and was not being unclothed. Similarly verse 119 states that he (a.s) was not having thirst and warmth of the sun. We know that a human being of flesh and bones does have hunger, thirst, and warmth; it may also be unclothed as well as clothed. If an entity is devoid of having qualities of thirst, hunger and warmth, it may not be termed as a human being. It may be appreciated that having thirst and hunger satisfied (after feeling thirst and hunger) is something different.  Verses 118-119 are not stating that thirst and hunger of Adam (a.s) will be satisfied; rather these verses are mentioning that he (a.s) was not having thirst and hunger. Actually having no thirst and hunger are qualities of human soul; soul does not have thirst, hunger and warmth. We have already seen in my article “Reality of Human Soul” that human being has been created in pair; human physical body is paired with human soul to create human being. Who was living in the paradise was soul of Hazrat Adam (a.s), and  pair (human physical body) of this soul was being developed on the earth through evolution. When human physical body was fully developed on the earth through evolution and it became equipped with all the potentialities possessed by the soul, the soul was got descended from the paradise and combined with the physical body. With the combination of soul and physical body, birth of Hazrat Adam (a.s) came into being onto the earth.This fact is also endorsed by our Nabi's (s.a.w) saying which mentions that " our Nabi (s.a.w) was a Nabi even when Adam (a.s) was  (in stage of) soul, and intermediate stages of body formation".

Therefore we may conclude that the stated mistake was committed by the soul of Adam (a.s) before he (a.s) was born onto the earth.

Secondly we can see going through the sequence of the verses (Taha-117-122) that hazrat Adam (a.s) was not yet granted the status of prophet, when he (a.s) committed the stated mistake. The verses 117-121 state about living of hazrat Adam (a.s) in paradise; his not having thirst, hunger and warmth; and his tasting the forbidden tree violating Allah’s commandment. Verse 122 states that after that (after committing the mistake) “After that his Lord chose him, accepted his repentance and guided [him]” (122-Taha). This verse clearly states that hazrat Adam (a.s) was chosen after he (a.s) had committed the mistake. In other words, Adam (a.s) was granted with status of prophet after he (a.s) had committed the mistake but before having birth onto the earth. It may be appreciated that prophet is always by birth a prophet (plz see my article “ Prophethood-always by birth”). Therefore hazrat Adam (a.s) was granted prophethood before his birth. This fact is reflected in the following verse:

“We said, "Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve” (al-baqra-38).

This aabove quoted verse says that when hazrat Adam (a.s), alongwith others, was got down from the paradise, they were advised to follow the guidance coming from Allah. This verse implies that guidance was available to Adam (a.s) when he was got down from the heavens. There is no point in keeping Adam (a.s) without guidance on earth even for the most brief period of time. In other words, the guidance given to Adam (a.s) at the time of gracing him with prophethood and mentioned in verse Taha-122 had been granted to Adam (a.s) before his descending to the earth, before his taking birth onto the earth.

From the foregoing, we can conclude that story of hazrat Adam (a.s) does not endorse the view that a prophet may be fallible. This story transpires that hazrat Adam (a.s) was NOT a prophet when he (as) committed mistake; nor was he born onto the earth when he (a.s) committed mistake. No prophet, after taking birth onto the earth, can commit any mistake with intent. Infallibility of prophet is a concept  relating to a prophet of flesh and bones, born onto the earth; it is not related to a soul which is yet not born onto the earth. Even soul of a prophet, even before taking birth onto the earth, cannot commits mistake with intent ; the soul of Adam committed mistake with intent before the soul was granted the status of prophet-hood.
Therefore there is no justification of mistakes and wrongs done by Mirza Ghulam Qadyani; he was a lair; prophets do not commit mistakes with intent and do not commit wrongs liable to be punished for as he (Mirza) has committed (continued).