Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq,
Jan. 1, 2025 By AimanAbir18plus –
Own work, CC BY 4.0, Wikipedia
How Ahmad al-Hassan’s Teaching on the Holy Spirit Laid the Foundations for a High-Control Movement
Source:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120104174415/http://hashemstudios-board.com/viewtopic.php?f=118&t=4677
Introduction
Question 118 of Mutashabihat appears at first glance to be a theological discussion about the Holy Spirit.
However, a careful reading reveals something much more significant.
Rather than merely explaining the Holy Spirit, Ahmad al-Hassan uses the subject to establish a hierarchy of spiritual authority that ultimately places divine knowledge in the hands of a select group of individuals and, by implication, in himself.
This pattern would later become a defining characteristic of the movement that evolved into the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL).
The issue is not whether one agrees or disagrees with Shi’a theology.
The issue is how these concepts are used to centralize authority, create spiritual dependence, and elevate the claimant above ordinary believers and scholars.
“The Holy Spirits Are Many”
Ahmad al-Hassan writes:
“And the Holy Spirits are many and it is not one.”
At first this appears harmless.
But notice what follows.
He immediately establishes a hierarchy:
“The one that was with Jesus and with the Prophets is not like the one with Muhammad and Ali and Fatima and the Imams.”
Then he introduces another category:
“The Great Holy Spirit.”
The implication is that there are different levels of divine access.
Some receive less.
Others receive more.
A small group receives the highest level.
This becomes important because the movement teaches that this highest spiritual authority passes from Muhammad to Ali, then to the Imams, and then:
“after them the 12 Mahdis.”
This is not merely theology.
It creates an exclusive chain of authority.
Expanding the Chain Beyond Mainstream Shi’ism
Mainstream Twelver Shi’ism teaches twelve Imams.
Ahmad al-Hassan extends the chain:
“after them the 12 Mahdis.”
This is crucial.
Without this extension there is no place for his own claim.
The doctrine creates theological space for additional divinely guided figures after the twelve Imams.
That theological innovation becomes the foundation upon which his entire movement rests.
The Holy Spirit Becomes a Vehicle for New Revelation
Ahmad al-Hassan states:
“The Holy Spirit is an intermediary to send knowledge to the human being.”
This statement deserves close attention.
Knowledge is no longer primarily derived from scripture.
Knowledge is transmitted through a spiritual intermediary.
Why is this important?
Because once followers accept that divine knowledge is being transmitted directly through a living representative, ordinary methods of verification become less important.
The authority of the messenger replaces the need for evidence.
Muhammad Did Not Know Until the Spirit Came
One of the most controversial passages states:
“He was at a state of not knowing what the book is and faith, until Allah delivered a Spirit.”
This interpretation is highly significant.
According to the narrative, understanding arrives through a special spiritual intervention.
The implication is clear:
Knowledge is not simply learned.
Knowledge is granted.
And if it is granted, then those who possess it occupy a higher spiritual category than everyone else.
This is precisely the framework that later allows claimants to assert special access to truth beyond ordinary scholarship.
The Pattern of Elitism Emerges
Notice how the hierarchy develops:
Ordinary believers.
Then scholars.
Then righteous believers.
Then prophets.
Then Imams.
Then the Mahdis.
Then those possessing the Great Holy Spirit.
Each step narrows the circle.
Each step concentrates authority.
Each step moves farther away from ordinary believers.
The result is a spiritual elite.
The Hidden Message
Throughout the passage Ahmad al-Hassan never directly says:
“I possess the Great Holy Spirit.”
He does not need to.
Instead he establishes:
- A special category of divine guidance.
- A chain extending beyond the twelve Imams.
- Exclusive access to higher knowledge.
- Spiritual truths unavailable to ordinary people.
The reader is then expected to draw the conclusion.
This indirect approach is often more effective than making a direct claim.
Why This Matters
The danger is not the discussion of the Holy Spirit itself.
The danger lies in what the doctrine accomplishes.
It creates a system where:
- Special knowledge exists.
- Only certain individuals possess it.
- Ordinary believers cannot independently verify it.
- Acceptance depends largely upon trust in the claimant.
This dramatically shifts authority.
Instead of:
Scripture → Evidence → Belief
the process becomes:
Claimant → Hidden Knowledge → Belief
That is a profound change.
The Seed of Later AROPL Theology
Looking back from the perspective of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, the pattern becomes easier to see.
The movement later develops increasingly expansive claims about divine representatives, divine manifestations, hidden knowledge, and unique spiritual authority.
Question 118 contains many of the seeds that would eventually grow into those later doctrines.
The framework is already present:
- Divine knowledge is hidden.
- A special spirit transmits it.
- Only select figures receive it.
- Authority passes through a unique chain.
- New divinely guided leaders continue after established authorities.
Once these premises are accepted, further claims become much easier to introduce.
The Real Issue: Authority
The central issue is not the Holy Spirit.
The central issue is authority.
Who has the right to define truth?
Who has the right to reinterpret doctrine?
Who has the right to introduce new teachings?
In this text the answer increasingly becomes:
Those possessing the special spirit.
And because the movement identifies itself with those figures, authority is gradually transferred away from traditional scholarship and toward the claimant.
Conclusion
Question 118 is far more important than it first appears.
What seems to be a discussion about the Holy Spirit is actually part of a broader framework designed to establish exclusive spiritual authority.
By teaching:
- multiple levels of Holy Spirit,
- higher and lower categories of divine access,
- special chains of authority,
- hidden knowledge unavailable to ordinary believers,
Ahmad al-Hassan creates the theological architecture necessary for later claims of unique divine guidance.
The result is a system in which spiritual authority becomes increasingly centralized, increasingly exclusive, and increasingly dependent upon accepting the claimant and his successors.
That pattern would later become one of the defining characteristics of the movement that evolved into the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light.
One additional observation that is difficult for AROPL defenders to answer is this: the passage repeatedly speaks about knowledge being transmitted through a special spirit to chosen individuals, yet provides no objective method for ordinary believers to verify who genuinely possesses that spirit. In practice, followers are asked to trust the claimant’s assertion. Once that principle is accepted, almost any new doctrine can be justified as “revealed knowledge,” making independent verification increasingly impossible.