In Ahmadiyya theology, the view on the Prophets of God () differs significantly from Mainstream Islam. The main difference centres on the Quranic term Khatam an-Nabiyyin () with reference to Muhammad which is understood by Ahmadis in terms of perfection and testification of prophethood instead of chronological finality (as understood within mainstream Islam). Accordingly, Muhammad is held to be the last prophet to deliver a religious law to humanity in the form of the Quran whose teachings embody a perfected and universal message. Although, in principle, prophets can appear within Islam but they must be non-lawbearing prophets dependent upon the sharia of Muhammad. Their prophethood is reflective of that of Muhammad, that is, within his Seal; and their role is merely that of reviving and purifying the faith. They cannot be prophets in their own right and cannot change, add to or subtract from the religious law of Islam. As such, Ahmadis, regard their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) as a subordinate prophet who appeared as the promised Messiah and Mahdi in accordance with Islam's eschatological prophecies. As reproduced in In contrast to mainstream Muslims who believe Jesus was raised to heaven and one who would return himself towards the end of time, Ahmadis believe Jesus to have died a natural death and view the coming of such an independent, Israelite prophet (from outside the Islamic dispensation) to amount to breaking the Seal of Prophethood.The Removal of a Misunderstanding http://www.alislam.org/books/misunderstandingremoved.htmlThe Question of Finality of Prophethood http://www.alislam.org/library/books/promisedmessiah/index.htm?page=37
Moreover, unlike orthodox Islam, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community considers the term Messenger (rasul) and Prophet (nabi) as being different aspects of the same office of a Khalifatullah (Representative of God on Earth). According to Ahmadiyya belief, the terms used in the Qur'an to signify divinely appointed individuals, namely, Warner (Nazir), Prophet (Nabi), Messenger (Rasul), are generally synonymous. Ahmadis however categorise prophets as law-bearing ones and non-lawbearing ones.
Definition Ahmadis believe that when the world is filled with unrighteousness and immorality, or rather, when a specific part of the world displays these attributes, or when the followers of a certain law (religion) become corrupt or incorporate innovative and corrupted teachings into the faith (Bid‘ah), thus making the faith obsolete or in need of a ‘divine sustainer‘, then a prophet of God is sent to earth by God to re-establish his will, that is, for humans to worship him and to observe the rights of his creation.
Prophets, and the true followers of prophets, according to the Ahmadiyya Community have always faced severe opposition and often persecution, especially so in the country/society in which they brought forth their religious message. This is in accordance with the history of the prophets and also with the principle laid out in the Qur'an and parts of the Bible to this effect.
Prophets as divine magnetizers Prophets, according to the Ahmadiyya Community, inspire humans to such an extent that faith (eiman) translates into practical application of the faith (a'maal). The prophets 'magnetize' and draw humans towards them and as a result of this, true faith – that is, eiman with a'maal (practical application) – is established amongst their followers. It is written, however, that the 'magnetism' which draws forth people that a prophet displays is for a limited time because, within a somewhat long time period after they die, the magnetism that the prophet brought becomes less and less until it is absolutely non-existent. Thus, either God immediately appoints a Successor to the prophet (who may be a prophet himself) that has died or, after hundreds of years, when the magnetism is virtually non-existent, God sends forth another new messenger to display that magnetism once more. It is for this reason that, according to Ahmadiyya belief, followers of all faiths are not drawn to the magnetism of their founding prophets because that has become non-existent over time. This also applies, according to Ahmadiyya belief, to Orthodox Islam because it has been centuries since the founding prophet Muhammad died and centuries still since Muhammad's original Caliphate ceased to exist.
Caliphate According to Ahmadiyya belief, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya Community, was the promised messiah, sent by God as a prophet to bring back that magnetism that draws forth humans. After he died in 1908, his first successor was elected and up until today, this Ahmadiyya Caliphate has spanned over century, seen 5 Caliphs and is continuing, in the manner of the first 4 Caliphs of the Pious Caliphate of Muhammad. However, the Ahmadiyya Caliphate is seen as a re-establishment and continuation of the first Islamic Caliphate of Muhammad and the Ahmadiyya Caliphs as successors to the promised messiah as well as to Muhammad. The Rightly-Guided Caliphs of Islam (Pious Caliphs and Ahmadiyya Caliphs) are thought to be chosen by God through the agency of pious believers. The Rightly-Guided Caliphs are considered to be guided by God after their election to this office. Thus, the present Ahmadiyya Khalifa, Mirza Masroor Ahmad and also all other Ahmadiyya Khulafa are seen as successors of both the promised messiah and Muhammad, though human and in no way incarnations of God or any other status which would jeopardize the concept of the Unity of God (see: Non-divinity of Prophets). Though the caliphs, like the prophets, are deemed completely pure and sinless,https://www.alislam.org/books/my-relig/part2.html Islam: My Religion much like in Shia Islam (see: ‘Isma), however, they, like prophets, are not deemed immune from making mistakes pertaining to worldly affairs of everyday life or human errors in judgement.https://www.alislam.org/library/links/appoint_God.html The Khalifa Is Appointed by God,
Ahmadiyya belief dictates that prophethood is Qudrat Al-Awwal or the ‘first manifestation of God's omnipotence and rightly-guided caliphate’ (usually taken to mean the Ahmadiyya Caliphate) is a form of Qudrat Ath-Thaani or the ‘second manifestation of God's omnipotence’. However, in no way does the Ahmadiyya Community deem the Ahmadiyya Caliphate to be better than the Pious Caliphate of Muhammad because it has spanned a longer time or seen more caliphs.
Non-divinity of Prophets The prophets of God are not seen as incarnations of God but are seen as mortal humans, as they have all died, according to Ahmadiyya belief (including Jesus, who according to Ahmadiyya belief died and his body is not currently in Heaven right now as according to Orthodox Islamic and Christian belief). Each messenger is seen to have been an ordinary human who displayed righteousness and honesty to a degree that was not found even remotely in his society of the time. Then, according to Ahmadiyya belief, God is thought to have selected this pious human and told him his divine station of prophethood. God would then, invest the Holy Spirit (Arabic: rohil-Quddos) within the newly appointed prophet and the prophet would become a ‘manifestation of God‘, though still a human being and not divine in his own right. Prophets are not regarded as God, God's sons, incarnations of God, or in any other way which would put the unity of God, the concept of Islamic (tawhid) or the declaration of faith in jeopardy. The first part of the shahadah, the essential declaration of a Muslim, states: "There is no god but Allah" and another version of the same is "There is none worthy of worship except Allah". The word Allah, according to Ahmadiyya belief, is a personal name of God, is a proper noun and is not a combination or a derivative of any other Arabic words. The second caliph of the Ahmadiyya Movement made this abundantly clear in his ground-breaking commentary of the Qur'an. He writes: "In the Arabic language, the word Allah is never used for any other thing or being. No other language has a distinctive name for the Supreme Being. The names found in other languages are all attributive or descriptive and are often used in the plural, but the word 'Allah' is never used in the plural number. It is a simple substantive, not derived. It is never used as a qualifying word."
Reflections of divine attributes Although Prophets are regarded as human beings, they are seen as having attained the highest rank of spirituality among all humans. According to the Ahmadiyya Community, only in spirituality (literally, "Nearness to God") does one deserve any honour and that also usually only by God Himself and thus racism, sexism, nationalism and other ideologies such as these are condemned by the Ahmadiyya Community. The Prophets are seen to have resisted and overcome Satan, which is either Satan taking a corporeal form and inviting them to evil or the metaphorical Satan which is the base desires of humans (i.e. wealth, fame, lust, greed etc.). The purpose of life, according to the Ahmadiyya Community, and in principle with the Qur'an, is to worship God. This worship is in two parts:
1.) Direct Prayer with God to establish communion with Him, Zikr-Illahi (Remembrance of God) and other spiritual exercises.
2.) Service to humanity. As humans are the creatures of God, service to them means that you are in part worshipping God. This service may be on any scale, from being polite or holding the door for people, to being a doctor or establishing/donating to a large humanitarian relief organization. The only way to worship God completely is the way that He has told. Thus God sends prophets to ease this task for humans because they are seen as representatives of God on Earth. According to Ahmadiyya belief, out of all Prophets which are representatives of God, Muhammad reflected God's commandments perfectly and was the "Seal of the Prophets" as described in the Qur'an.
Ahmadiyya writings The Review of Religions, a magazine started by Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya Community, to promote inter-faith dialogue and guide seekers of the truth, which is the longest running Ahmadi English language magazine in the world, elaborates in the Prospectus of its first issue under its first volume (1902) and gives a short overview of the points above concerning Prophets being 'Manifestations of God' and 'Divine Magnetizers'. The Non-Divinity of Prophets, the Mirror Analogy, Sun and Lake Analogy and Prophets as the Reflection of Divine Attributes: "…how to be enfranchised from the bondage of sin, and how to get out of the impurities of life? There is only one answer to this all-important question. Such a regeneration can only be effected by the one who comes with a magnetism from heaven, who on account of the extreme purity of his soul and the surpassing cleanliness of his heart is metaphorically called a Manifestation of God."Review of Religions Vol. 97, Num. 7, July 2002. Pg. 8
"He (the Prophet) removes the poisonous matters, gives the elixir vitae in their stead, burns the carnal passions and low motives of worldly life and ennobles the soul with the pure and exalted divine morals."
"Look at the sun and the moon: each new day requires a new appearance of the glorious orb of light."
"The holy one that rose in the days of Pilate among the Jews (Jesus) was, no doubt, a sun of righteousness, but only so long as his magnetism attracted the hearts and his light worked a heavenly transformation in the souls of his followers. He is now a sun but one that has passed below the horizon. The radiant light which shone from his face and the brilliant luster which he cast around him is shorn of its beams and grown quite obscure, not the least trace of it being visible among those that call themselves after his name."Review of Religions Vol. 97, Num. 7, July 2002. Pgs. 8–9