The First Awakener-4 – Dawn Breakers

Teachings of Shaykh Ahmad

Shaykh Ahmad emphasized that the Qur’án’s narratives were in many instances metaphors. They were vehicles for conveying profound spiritual truths rather than literal narratives. One such narrative he challenged was the widely accepted literal interpretation of the Prophet Muhammad’s “Night Journey,” where the Prophet miraculously travels to Jerusalem and ascends through the heavens, communing with divine beings. 7ACT1 Shaykh Ahmad taught this was not a physical journey by the Prophet but a spiritual one. Using the same logic, Shaykh Ahmad also taught that the resurrection, 8 which is promised to happen on the Day of Resurrection when the Promised One comes, is a spiritual awakening and not a physical one. Such metaphorical perspectives diverged sharply from mainstream Islamic beliefs and most people found these teachings difficult to accept and even heretical.9 In fact the clergy [the religious leaders] began to rise in opposition to Shaykh Ahmad’s interpretations of Islamic teachings.

All this was preparation by Shaykh Ahmad, whose real intention was to create an openness of thinking in the people for the coming of the Promised One. With this in mind, Shaykh Ahmad after some years in Najaf and Karbalá’ set out for Persia and visited several of its cities: Mashhad

, Shíráz

and eventually Yazd.

Shaykh Ahmad’s hints about the coming of the Promised One

Initially, Shaykh Ahmad remained reticent about his true intention, which was to herald the advent of the Promised One. As time passed, subtle hints regarding the arrival of the Promised One began to surface in his teachings, yet many of these hints went unnoticed by his followers. These hints and clues referenced:

The city of Shíráz

⁷ MMuslims believe that in the Night Journey of the Prophet Muhammad to the heavens. This Night Journey has two parts. In the first part [called the Israʾ], the Prophet flew miraculously from Medina in Saudi Arabia to the Al-Aqsá mosque in Jerusalem. In the second part [called the Miʿraj], He then ascended from Al-Aqsá mosque to the 7th heaven in the company of Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and once there conversed with God. Virtually all Muslims believe [even today] that this Night Journey was a physical one which occurred in one night. It was therefore very challenging that Shaykh Ahmad taught that this was not a physical journey but a spiritual one, that is, it occurred in the realm of the spirit of the Prophet.

⁸means the dead coming alive.

⁹means going against the teachings of God.

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