V.—INSPIRATION.
According to Muhammadan theologians, inspiration is of two kinds, Wáhí and Ilhám. Wáhi, is that which was given to the prophets, and is used especially for the Qurán; Ilhám being the inspiration to Walis, or saints.
Ilhám is the word generally used by Christian missionaries for the inspiration of the sacred Scriptures, and we believe it is sometimes used by Arabic divines for a higher form of inspiration, but always in the compound form of Ilhám Rabbáni.
Shaikh Ahmad in his book, the Núr-ul-Anwár, defines inspiration as follows:—"Wáhí, or inspiration, is either Záhir (external), or Bátin (internal). Wáhí Záhir is divided into three classes:—(1) Wáhí Qurán, that which was given by the mouth of the angel Gabriel, and which reached the ear of the Prophet after he knew that it was Gabriel who spoke to him. (2) Ishárat-ul-Malak, that which was received from Gabriel, but not by word of mouth, as when the Prophet said, "The Holy Ghost has breathed into my heart." (3) Ilhám, or Wáhí Qalb, that which was made known to the Prophet by the light of prophecy. This kind of inspiration is possessed by Walis or saints, but in their case it may be true or false. Wáhí Bátin is that which the Prophet obtained by analogical reasoning (qiás) just as the enlightened doctors, or Mujtahidín, obtain it."
The Ishárat-ul-Malak, mentioned in the above quotation is never used for the inspiration of the Qurán, but for certain instructions which Muhammad professes to have received direct from Gabriel, and which are recorded in the Hadís, or Traditions.
Whatever may have been the actual impression upon Muhammad's mind as to the nature of the communications he professed to have received from God, it is evident that Muslim theologians have no conception of the Word of God being given in the form of the Old and New Testament Scriptures. The most plausible objection raised against the New Testament, by Muhammadan controversialists of the present day is, that the Christians have lost the original Gospels and that our present book contains merely the Hadís, or traditions, of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is, therefore, necessary to correct their common idea that the Gospel was revealed to Jesus in the same manner as the Qurán is said to have been given to Muhammad; to show that it was the special office of the Holy Spirit to give the New Testament Scriptures, and that they came to man by the same method of inspiration whereby the Old Testament writings were given to the Prophets of old, the Qurán being an exception to God's usual method of giving inspired writings to his Prophets.[1]
- ↑ Vide 2 Tim. iii. 16: πὰσα γραφὴ Θεόπνευστος "all scripture is God-breathed" (divinatus inspirata, Vulg.), which Dean Alford says is the idea common to the Jews. Vide Jos. contra Apion. i. 7.