With-Love-to-Muhammad

42 With Love to Muhammad sa the Khātam-un-Nabiyyīn
1. The method of analysis of the words of the Qur’ān by
Ahmadī Muslims is erroneous.
2. One must analyze how the Holy Prophet sa defined the
word khātam, instead of going to external sources.
3. One must look at how Hazrat Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad as
used the word khātam in his writings.
These objections will now be discussed one by one.
Method of Analysis of Qur’ānic Words
While discussing the method of analysis of Qur’ānic
words, Farhan Khan explains that the mufassirūn [i.e., writers of
commentaries of the Qur’ān] would commonly refer to Arabic
poetry and literature to understand the meaning of words. He
then explains that this is only applicable to Arabic poetry and/or
literature from the pre-Islāmic period or the period
contemporary to the Qur’ān. To illustrate his point, he writes
that the word “salāh” ‏(‏ۃ)‏ used to mean blessing or connection
at the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa but over time, it
evolved to mean ritual prayer. In other words, in later periods,
the Arabic language began to evolve and the usage of certain
words, including khātam, began to change. Hence, the meanings
of words from later periods cannot be applied to their usage in
the Holy Qur’ān or ahādīth. In conclusion to his argument,
Farhan Khan says, “...hypothetically, even if the meaning of
Khātam did evolve to mean ‘best,’ the modern evolution of Arabic
does not retroactively change the meaning of the Qur’ān.” 24
Although we must give credit to Farhan Khan for his
creative ignorance, we are forced to expose his deceit. Our
rebuttal to his long ramblings about the alleged evolution of the
24
Khan, With Love, Page 44