Contents October 2003, Vol.98, No - Review of · PDF filethe author examines the various ... standard legerdemain of card ... moral and spiritual discipline instituted by Islam

Special contributors:Amatul-Hadi AhmadFarina Qureshi

Proof-reader:Shaukia Mir

Design and layout:Tanveer Khokhar

Publisher:Al Shirkatul Islamiyyah

Distribution:Muhammad Hanif

Mansoor Ahmed Shah

Basit Ahmad

Bockarie Tommy Kallon.

Fareed Ahmad

Fazal Ahmad

Fauzia Bajwa

Mansoor Saqi

Mahmood Hanif

Mansoora Hyder-Muneeb

Navida Shahid

Sarah Waseem

Saleem Ahmad Malik

Tanveer Khokhar

Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the opinions of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

All correspondence should beforwarded directly to:

The EditorThe Review of Religions

The London Mosque16 Gressenhall RoadLondon, SW18 5QL

United Kingdom

© Islamic Publications, 2002ISSN No: 0034-6721

Contents October 2003, Vol.98, No.10

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Chief Editor and Manager Chairman of the Management BoardNaseer Ahmad Qamar

Editorial – Why the person and purpose of Jesus Christ(as) have continually featured in these pages:Bockarie Tommy Kallon – UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Notes and Comment: Professional Fasting : Why the stunt of the American illusionist falls far short of a great Islamic institution:Bockarie Tommy Kallon – UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Jesus Versus Finality – A rational analysis of the contradictory belief in the physical re-advent of Jesus (as), Son of Mary, after the presupposed last prophet, the Holy Prophet of Islam(sa):Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Friends of Allah – The righteous pass through much travail and trials but they find God in this very life.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Muslim Beliefs in Jesus Christ (as) – A review of the various Islamic schools of thoughtsurrounding the life and mission of Jesus(as)

Dr Kalim Malik – USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

QUESTION & ANSWER – Belief and Guidance – If Imam Mahdi has come, why is Islam not the strongest religion in the world? How did the idea of Jesus’(as) physical ascent enter Muslim ideology?Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

The Purpose of Religion and Prophets – A brief look at what religion requires of us and the purpose prophets serve.Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Ever since his advent, the personand purpose of Jesus(as), Son ofMary, have been the subjects ofmuch debate and discussion. Noother prophet has appeared in theentire history of religion whosebirth, death, life, teachings andre-advent, have been subject togreater debate than Jesus’(as). Thisis mainly because thesignificance of these is notconfined to Christianity alone. Ittranscends the world ofChristianity to other worldreligions, Judaism and Islam inparticular.

These religions remain at oddswith each other about the basicfacts of the life and ideology ofJesus(as). Too many myths andlegends have emerged in thesereligions relating to the missionof Jesus(as) to distance man fromthe realities of life and make faithimaginary. A natural concomi-tant of this is the spread ofmaterialism, immorality andirreligion among contemporaryyouth initiated, besides other

factors, by a fatal trend towardsa total rejection of religion ingeneral and disbelief in God inparticular.

Religion, if it is to have itsnatural and proper place inspiritual life must be based onincontrovertible facts, the searchfor and assimilation of which isone of the principal aims of thisperiodical. It is generally forthese reasons that over the lastcentury many pages of thisjournal have been devoted to theperson of Jesus(as) in an attempt todivest him of all falseappurtenances of divinity anddisentangle the labyrinth ofcontroversy surrounding him.

Much of this edition is againdevoted to the person of Jesus(as).Muslim Beliefs in Jesus Christ(as)

is an excellent summary of theIslamic notions relating toJesus(as), believed to be a nobleprophet and honoured messengerof Allah, holding a unique placeamong the prophets of Israel. In

2 The Review of Religions – October 2003

Editorial

this review of relevant scriptures,the author examines the variousschools of thought surroundingthe person and mission ofJesus(as). Many conclusions aredrawn from this article, the mostimportant, perhaps, being thefulfilment of the propheciesrelating to the second advent ofJesus(as) in person of the HolyFounder of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community, HadhratMirza Ghulam Ahmad ( a s ) o fQadian.

Following on from that, in JesusVersus Finality, Hadhrat MirzaTahir Ahmad(ru) examines, fromthe vantage point of rationality,the incompatible belief held bythe majority of Muslims todaythat Jesus(as), Son of Mary, wouldreturn to earth as a prophetamong the Muslims in the LatterDays while still maintaining thatthe Holy Prophet of Islam(sa) isthe last prophet. This belief hasarisen from various misin-terpretations of relevant Qur’anicpassages and from a misun-derstanding of vital traditions ofthe Holy Prophet of Islam(sa) onthe subject. In this piece, the

author has relied purely on logicand common sense which haveneither creed nor colour.Rationality, common alike to allpeoples and religions, appeals tothe human intellect and providesa basis of agreement on thisfundamental issue. Amongstother things, it is what makes thisarticle, an extract from the bookRevelation, Rationality,Knowledge and Truth, one of thebest ever written on the subject.

Tommy Kallon – UK

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Message from Heaven

The Review of Religions –October 2003


Professional Fasting?In this narcissistic age, it is allabout standing out. Being merelytalented, it appears, is no goodany more. Or at least, this seemsto be the philosophy of DavidBlaine, and perhaps is why heembarked upon a strong dose ofself-imposed martyrdom framedin a glass cage. The Americanillusionist has moved on from thestandard legerdemain of cardtricks to feats of performance andendurance that have kept him inthe front pages of newspapersand television screens. Anestimated fourteen millionAmerican viewers watched himentomb himself in a block of icein Times Square for two and ahalf days. He followed this up bystanding on top of a 100-ft polein a Manhattan park for 35 hours,before jumping down into a pileof cardboard boxes.

For his next trick, Blaine is inLondon and a total of 44 daysincarcerated inside a Plexiglas

box suspended over the RiverThames at Tower Bridge, anevent filmed by satellitetelevision. He has no food: hisonly means of sustenance iswater delivered by a feedingtube. He is fitted with a catheterand his only baggage is abackpack containing diapers,Wet Wipes and lip balm.

Such feats which appear moreand more a macabre dance withmortality than magic is what thedaredevil refers to as the ‘purityof suffering.’ The problem forthe magician is that some haveresponded with a heart-warmingrefusal to be impressed. Nomedical team was willing tomonitor his progress in the glasscase for what he claimed wouldmake valuable scientificresearch. Unless he gets througha record number of nappies, thiswould not be one for the recordbooks either as the G u i n n e s sBook of Records has turned himdown on the grounds that it does

Notes & Comments

5The Review of Religions –October 2003

not do starvation records. Quiterightly so, otherwise the bookwill be full of anorexicschoolgirls and cadaverousvictims of famines.

But more than anything else,B l a i n e ’s organisation was notquite prepared for the level ofantipathy their man hasprovoked. This was not theintended response to ostentatiousfasting, an act repeatedlyintroduced as his toughestendurance feat yet. The crowdswere supposed to faint withanxiety, empathise through thelong nights, discern some noblepurpose for his supposed travail.Instead some come to participatein an exhilarating act ofcollective ridicule; they watch,eat and cackle.

Worse than that, the magician hascome under assault from fish andchips, eggs, golf balls and laserpens from a public expressingtheir outrage. He failed toappreciate that people wouldonly be impressed if he weredoing this for charity; to raisemoney for famine relief, for

instance. Not when he is to walkaway with an estimated £5mfrom TV and licensing for a dullepisode of professional fasting.

So some good does come out ofall this. The prospect of Blaine atthe mercy of a good humoured, ifpredominantly satirical crowd,composed of all ages, classes andethnicities, hints at someresidual, collective good senseand moral judgement, which candiscriminate between perhaps ahuckster and a hero. It bears astrong message of disapprovalfor a stunt which makes amockery of the hunger strikes ofAung San Suu Kyi and MahatmaGandhi, is an insult to ThirdWorld charities and the starvingof the world.

Fasting has been inculcated in allreligious disciplines based onDivine revelation. Says the HolyQur’an, the final code of conductrevealed to mankind by AllahAlmighty:

O ye who believe! fasting isprescribed for you, as it wasp rescribed for those before

Notes and Comments

you, so that you may becomerighteous. (Ch.2: V.184)

As David Blaine emerges fromhis faux-starvation, millions ofMuslims around the world wouldbe looking forward to the start ofthe holy month of Ramadan witha joyous surge of anticipationthat inspires the hearts of theyoung and the old. DuringRamadan, the ninth month of thelunar calendar in Islam, fasting –complete abstention from food,drink and conjugal relations fromdawn till sunset – is obligatoryupon every adult Muslim, subjectto certain permissible exemp-tions. The purpose, as of allforms of Islamic worship, is todraw people closer to Allah. It isa physical, moral and spiritualexercise designed to promoterighteousness and guard againstevil. Among other things, theMuslim learns, through personalexperience, what hunger,p o v e r t y, loneliness and dis-comforts mean to the lessfortunate sections of society.

Ramadan is a season of closer

communion with AllahA l m i g h t y, providing numerousopportunities to seek Hispleasure. As such, the birth of thenew moon which signifies thestart of the lunar month is greetedwith excitement. Felicitations areexchanged all around as mosquesbegin to be filled with eagerworshippers. An extra prayerservice is held every eveningduring which the congregation isprivileged to listen to therecitation of the Holy Qur’ a nfrom beginning to end.Numerous people read the HolyQur’an through by themselves.Others hear it interpreted andexpounded during discoursesheld and a reflection over theDivine signs contained thereintake up a larger portion of one’stime. Most of the night is passedin supplication and in praise,glorification and remembrance ofAllah. Greater attention isdirected towards philanthropiccauses such as caring for thepoor, the needy, the widow, theorphan, the sick, the distressed,the neighbour and the wayfarer.Towards the close of each day,the heart experiences a glow of

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Message from Heaven

The Review of Religions – October 2003

gratitude to the Divine that HisGrace has enabled one toapproach the end of the fasthaving spent the night and theday striving to conduct oneself inconformity to His will.

Numberless people experiencecloser communion with theirMaker and Creator during thisblessed month, the intensity andfrequency of which continue toincrease as the month progresses.During the last ten days ofRamadan, many people go intoretreat, as it were, into a mosque,devoting their entire time notoccupied by obligatory andvoluntary prayer services, to thestudy of the Holy Qur’an and theremembrance of Allah. Thisperiod of complete devotion isthe culmination of the physical,moral and spiritual disciplineinstituted by Islam. Fasting is theonly form of worship in whichthe only audience is none otherthan God himself. In other formsof worship, one could allege thatsomeone is praying or givingalms to be seen as amongst thefaithful but a fast is onlyundertaken for God – there is no

show-off. The spiritual recom-pense of the Islamic fast and itsconcomitant activities is beyondthe fancy of the materialisticillusionist. The Holy Prophet ofIslam(sa) is reported to have said:

‘ T h e re are appro p r i a t espiritual re w a rds for allworship and righteousaction; the ultimate reward ofa person who observes thefast solely for winning thep l e a s u re of Allah is AllahHimself.’

Tommy Kallon – UK

Postscript – Mr David Blaineemerged 4 stones lighter on 20thOctober 2003 and in an emotionaloutburst declared that theexperience had taught him anappreciation of all the little thingscreated by God.

7

Message from Heaven



The beliefs that the last prophet, Muhammad( s a ), has already come andgone and the assertion that Jesus( a s ) would descend to earth as a prophetafter him are so inconsistent that they cannot be owned simultaneously.In fact this cocktail of two unrelated issues was made by some Ulemaof the late medieval times. At the time of the revelation of the HolyQ u r’an any connection between the two was unthinkable.

For the sake of the unfamiliar non-Muslim reader we need to explainthe historical background of this issue lest they should fail tounderstand what the row is all about. The verse Khatamun-Nabiyyeenis one of the most fundamental verses of the Qur’an which isprofoundly rich in meaning and contains many possible connotations.But none of its connotations can even remotely be related to the so-called ascent of Jesus Christ(as). Hence the Mullah’s plea that Jesus(as),was lifted to the fourth heaven because this verse of finality was to berevealed by God is absolutely ridiculous and melodramatic. This so-called bodily ascent of Jesus(as) has nothing to do with this verse norwith any verse in the Qur’an. The idea of raising Jesus Christ(as), toheaven had never occurred to God. The entire Qur’an and thetraditions of the Holy Prophet(sa) absolve God of this absurdity by atotal absence of any such reference to the ascent of Jesus(as). For theMullahs to maintain that God had lifted him to forestall the problemcreated by this verse is a blatant lie and an unfounded allegationagainst the Qur’an. Thus it is the Mullah who is creating the problemhimself and resolving it in the name of God. To bind this unfounded

Jesus Versus Finality

This is an extract taken from the book R e v e l a t i o n ,

Rationality, Knowledge and Truth, written by Hadhrat Mirza

Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IV.

conjecture to one of the most fundamental verses of the Qur’an is anact of abomination. The reasons which motivate the medievalistclergy to do this and the deceptive manner in which they attempt tofuse these absolutely unrelated issues is the main subject of discussionhere. Having familiarised the reader with the background, now weproceed to tell the tale of the Mullah’s desperation. With this in mindwe hope that the reader will fully understand that which follows.

Despite the fact that the imagined ascent or descent of Jesus(as) hasnothing to do with the independent declaration of the Holy Prophet’s(sa)

finality, the clergy still assert that there is a definite link between thetwo. Prophet Jesus(as), son of Mary, they insist, will be personallybrought back from the heavens because no new prophet can be raisedafter Prophet Muhammad(sa). This ingenious device of bringing an oldprophet back to earth instead of raising one from the Ummah to meetthe new need may seem highly laudable to the Muslim orthodoxy buttheir enthusiasm cannot be shared by ordinary humans. No one withan iota of common sense can attribute this cheap act of trickstering toGod the Almighty, the All Wise. Only the Mullahs can and this exactlyis what they attempt to do. By connecting the return of Jesus(as) withthe finality of the Holy Prophet(sa), they think that they have rescuedGod from the consequences of a premature declaration of finality.Thus, the clergy believes that they have saved God from a gravedilemma of contradiction. This has to be the brainchild of a half-witMullah to whom it rightly belongs. The promise of finality to anyprophet by God, despite His knowledge that it could not be kept, isinconceivable of Him. To make a show of keeping the promise bybringing an old prophet after the demise of the last one is sheermockery. Thus, judging God by his own standards, the Mullah firstattributes a shameful act of contradiction to Him, then comes forwardto help Him save His face from it. This blatant attempt is not madewithout a purpose. To the Mullah it is a great idea having multipleadvantages.

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It saves the life of Jesus(as) from an ignoble death upon the cross andfrustrates his enemies’ attempts to prove him false. Imagine theirexasperation at finding Jesus(as) escape their clutches by vanishing intothin air (if there is any air at all in the fourth heaven where he isassumed to have ascended). But this measure must also have createdanother small problem for God. When and why he should be broughtback to earth must have been the question. After all he could not beleft abandoned in his heavenly confine till Doomsday. As far as Godis concerned the problem does not exist. As far as the Mullah isconcerned the problem is created by him to hide his own contradictionof believing in the finality of the Holy Prophet(sa), as well as believingin the re-advent of Jesus(as) as a prophet after him. That is the onlyreason why he connects the verse of Khatamun-Nabiyyeen with theimaginary ascent of Jesus(as). He does it with a cunning deceitfulnesswhich cannot be detected by the ordinary Muslim masses. Thefollowing is the case he builds:

1. Jesus(as) was lifted to heaven with a purpose and will be broughtback finally to earth.

2. The coming of an old prophet after the last one had appearedwould not break the seal of his finality.

3. The need for a new prophet in the latter days will be fulfilledwithout creating any dilemma of contradiction in God’s Decree.

There are some who kill two birds with one stone but the orthodoxyseems to know how to kill three with one! In reality, however, byshifting the twist of their own mind to that of God, they commit anunpardonable act of blasphemy.

We believe that by concocting this mindless exercise and spinningsuch a bizarre tale the most prominent advantage the Mullah gains,

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among others, is to escape the possibility of any Divine authority to beever imposed upon him. Good riddance once and for all from theinstitution of prophethood and the danger of ever losing his absolutecommand over the ignorant Muslim masses. The belief that a twothousand year old prophet would come again has the inherentguarantee that no prophet would ever come again. Thus the Mullah’sgrip on Islam will be perpetuated and he will forever retain hisdespotic authority over the unsuspecting Muslim masses.

The dead never return from their otherworldly abode. Once departed,none has ever paid a second visit to begin mixing with the living.Never has God brought back any dwellers of the past. Those wholiterally await the return of Jesus may continue to do so till eternity.He will never come, nor will the Mullah ever quit his demagogiccommand over the Muslim world. Left forever at the mercy of theMullah, who knows no mercy, the masses are duped to wait in vain forthe return of Jesus(as) bearing a cup of elixir in his hand. Islam willcontinue to suffer year after year, century after century under thedespotic rule of the Muslim clergy.

Looking yet again at the same question of Jesus(as) versus finality, thesolution proposed by the Mullah is untenable anyway. To borrow anold prophet from the bygone Ummah of Moses(as) for the completelydifferent requirements of the Muslim Ummah of the latter days can inno way resolve their problems. A borrowed prophet, they fail tounderstand, will be the one who will violate the sanctity of the HolyProphet’s(sa) finality and not the one who is born and raised within hisUmmah as his spiritual son.

Over and above what has been discussed, it must be noted that in thecontext of the present discussion mere chronology cannot determinewhether a prophet is old or new. If a prophet comes again with exactlythe same attributes which he had during his first advent then of course

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his visit could be treated as a repeat visit. But, if before his secondadvent, he has been radically changed in his physical characteristicsand aptitudes and his attitude to his enemies has fundamentallychanged, he can in no way be described as an old prophet come again.In addition, the spiritual status he holds, the message he delivers, themiracles he works and the authority he exercises over the whole ofmankind has no similarity with the Jesus(as) of the New Testament. Itis also worthy of note that the Jesus (as) whose advent was promised bythe Holy Prophet(sa) has a completely different identity from that of theprevious Jesus(as). The promised Jesus(as) would not be a prophet ofIsrael any more. He will no longer be subordinate to the Torah, or tothe Gospels he himself taught. Nor will he be confined to the domainof the House of Israel. If, despite all this, the Mullah must insist thatthe Promised Jesus(as) is the same Jesus(as) of Israel then they mustadmit that before being brought back to earth he would be completelyreconditioned and recommissioned in all the essential features of hisprophethood. If that is not the advent of a new prophet, what else is?No Mullah would concede that such a Jesus as the one described couldever be assimilated into Islam without compromising the principle ofthe Holy Prophet (sa) finality. What remains for them is only to believethat Jesus(as), would return to earth without any change wrought in him.Once here, he would be budded onto the tree of Islam and re-grow asa reformer fit to be called a universal Muslim prophet. We should bepermitted to draw the attention of the Mullah that even then, he willremain foreign to Islam, unable to shed his non-Muslim personality ofan Israelite. His case would be like that of a bud from a tree of adifferent species grafted onto the stem of another. If a lotus can begrafted onto a cherry tree, or a blueberry to a pineapple bush, onlythen can one visualize a pre-Islamic prophet grafted onto Islam. But towhat avail. The grafted stem can never lose its identity. What wouldgrow out of Jesus(as) even when bonded to Islam, would still be aJesus(as) of Israelitic identity.

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Jesus(as), therefore, even if physically transferred to the world of Islam,can never change his true identity. The Qur’an will continue todescribe him merely as a prophet to the children of Israel. Anyinfuriated Muslim divine could stand up to defy his claim on the basisof this Qur’anic injunction alone, if he ever returns. He will beroundly denounced as an impostor. By what authority, he will bequestioned, did he abrogate the proclamation of the Qur’an that hewas merely a prophet to the House of Israel? As long as the Qur’andefines him as such, his identity will never be changed; he was andwill always remain a prophet to the House of Israel.

... a Prophet to the children of Israel ... (Ch.3: V.50)

Ours is an age when the fundamentalists have overexcited thesensibility of the Muslim masses to the issue of blasphemy. Evidently,the life of Jesus(as) will not be safer in the hands of Muslim fanaticsthan it was in the hands of the Jewish people. Moreover, he will haveto face other multifarious dangers which he did not encounter duringhis first advent. The world of Islam is split into schisms far moresharply and intolerantly than the world of Judaism was at the time ofJesus Christ(as).

The threat to his life will be grave no matter where he lands in aMuslim state – if he ever lands! If his landing strip happens to be inIran, evidently he will be subjected to a gruelling examinationregarding his doctrinal position. Does he believe in the twelve Imamsor does he reject them? Does he believe in the Khilafat of Abu Bakr,'Umar and Uthman or does he not? Does he believe in the unbrokencontinuity of succession of Hadhrat Ali to the Holy Founder( s a ) o fIslam? If he conforms to the Shi’ite beliefs in answer to these

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questions, the threat to his life will still not be averted because of theadditional problem of the disappearance of the twelfth Imam. It will bedemanded of him as to how he dared return to earth alone while theirH o l y twelfth Imam (Al-Mahdi) is still in hiding somewhere in space.Without the personal testimony of that Imam to the truth of Jesus( a s ), hewill most certainly be stigmatised and penalised for being false.

If he is found guilty of endorsing the right to Khilafat of the first threeCaliphs, Hadhrat Abu Bakr, Hadhrat Umar and Hadhrat Uthman (mayAllah be pleased with them), he will be denounced even morevehemently as an impostor. After this, his being condemned to deathwould be but a routine procedure of Shi’ite jurisprudence.

However, if he descends in a Sunni territory while holding Shi’iteviews, no sooner will he land than be despatched back to heaven. If onthe other hand he holds Sunni views, his life will still not be out ofdanger because each of the Sunni sects dwelling in that country wouldrequire him to testify to the truth of their beliefs, or be rejected as aliar. It is hard to conceive Jesus Christ(as) converting to the Barelvi faithor becoming a Wahhabi fundamentalist the moment he touches downin their respective countries. Whichever of the two will he claim as hisown? Either way it will be tantamount to bargaining for a deathwarrant issued by the clergy of the other.

The reason for this condemnation would not just be his belonging to adifferent sect; the reason for his condemnation to death would be hisimposture as a true prophet of God. No true prophet of God can holdwrong religious views they will argue. Each sect, would judge Jesus(as)

by the testimony of their own beliefs; none will judge their beliefs bythe testimony of Jesus (as).

There will also arise the question as to which school of jurisprudencehe belongs. Will he belong to the school of Hadhrat Imam Malik or

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that of Imam Abu Hanifa or Imam Shafe’i or Imam Ahmad binHanbal? Having had no experience of such juristic wrangles, he willfind himself helplessly trapped in the middle of this rigmarole. Howhe would wish that he had never ever returned to earth! Even if he isaccepted by the sect whose garb he finally decides to wear, he will bestrongly rejected by the remaining seventy-one sects. Over and abovethis will he not continue to confront the danger of rejection by all onthe basis of the Qur’anic verse mentioned above, which declares himto be merely a prophet to the House of Israel?

The shout of ‘Go back to where you really belong’ may be heard fromthe mouth of any fanatic in the assembled crowd. ‘Take off and re-route your flight to the State of Israel,’ may well be curtly demandedof him. '’If you are man enough to face a retrial at their hands, go tothe Jewish people and prove your true identity.’

What shall God do at this new turn of events one wonders. Will Hecommand the angels to hasten to Jesus(as) rescue once again, liftinghim to the same remote celestial abode? Or will he be abandoned byGod to shift for himself at the mercy of the Muslim or the Jewishclergy? Whether he will be re-crucified by Israelite soldiers in thestate of Israel or whether he will be hung till death by a Muslimhangman, is a question which only the future will tell – if he ever visitsthis miserable world of ours again. Far more than his previous advent,he will find the new one to be a mission impossible.

On a more serious note, we beg to remind the reader that whenreligion is interpreted without rationality, when faith is divorced ofreason, all that they give birth to are myths without legitimacy andlegends without substance. Mindless trustees of faith succeed only inmaking a mockery of Divine wisdom.

The great scholars of medieval ages who failed to understand the true

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import of such prophecies can genuinely be excused. Theirs was adifferent age. Their understanding of the world and the cosmos aroundit was as yet merely conjectural. But the contemporary medievalistswho are born and raised in this age of enlightenment have nojustification for their gross misreading of Divine prophecies. The soulof holy Jesus(as), the true servant of God, has undoubtedly returned toHim to occupy the lofty station he is assigned. The Jesus they await isa mere fantasy of their own minds. What does one care therefore, ifthat phantom figure is crucified or stabbed to death or hung a thousandtimes! The whole episode of Jesus(as) bodily ascent and preservationsomewhere in space, merely to fulfil the future need for a prophet, isso provocative to the human sense of propriety! Add to this theimpunity of their attributing this nonsense to God and wonder whatstuff their minds are made of!

Let the world of Islam get rid of this fantasy once and for all and letthe clerics who nurture it get lost. The death of their age will usher inthe age of the revival of Islam.

Last, but not least, there is yet another strong objection against thesuggestion that a prophet of Israel could be somehow trimmed to fitinto the robe of a Muslim prophet. How can the orthodox clergy forgetthat during his absence from earth the Holy Qur’an could not havebeen revealed to Jesus simultaneously with the Holy ProphetM u h a m m a d( s a ). This angle of observation raises many diff i c u l tquestions for the clergy to answer. The foremost among them is theissue of his conversion. When and from whom did he learn that thegreatest of all the prophets had appeared down below on earth? Did hetestify to his truth forthwith becoming a believer? If he did becomeone – the first ever in space – how did he learn to practise Islamwithout knowing anything of the Qur’an?

As such, whether the Qur’an was revealed to him directly by God

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through the Archangel Gabriel, is the highly crucial question whichmust be addressed and answered.

If the Qur’an was revealed to him while he was still in space, he wouldcertainly have become a partner prophet to Prophet Muhammad(sa),like Aaron was to Moses(as), both enjoying an almost similar status. Ifthe Qur’an was not revealed directly to him through the archangel,what would be the nature of his faith before his return to earth? Hadhe remained a Judeo-Christian while Islam had been declared by Godas the last universal religion of mankind? Was he treated as anexceptional case and allowed to remain a non-Muslim after the adventof the Holy Founder(sa) of Islam? If not, then one cannot escape thelogical conclusion that the Qur’an must have been revealed to himsomehow.

Will the Mullahs suggest that instead of the archangel, the HolyProphets(sa) should himself have delivered the message to him? But theproblem is that when the Holy Prophet(sa) delivered the message of theQur’an to his companions no intermediary agent was required.Whatever was revealed to him through the archangel, he directlypassed it on to his companions. But Jesus(as), according to the medievalMullahs, was sitting high above somewhere in the heavens with nopossible direct link with the Holy Prophet(sa). So there are only twooptions left. Either he should be considered as totally unaware of therevelation of the Qur’an till his eventual return to earth, or the Qur’anshould only be revealed to Jesus(as) as a message from the HolyProphet(sa). But how can this message be lifted to him while in spaceunless the archangel is again involved in this exercise? The scenariowhich develops is so insulting and so abhorrent that a true believercannot entertain it even for a moment. Imagine the archangeldelivering the Holy Qur’an to the Holy Prophet(sa) and then begginghim to recite it back to him so that he could deliver it to Jesus(as) as amessage from the Holy Prophet(sa) and not from God.

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Returning to the issue of Jesus(as) conversion to Islam, if the Qur’anwas not revealed to Jesus(as) at all, but he believed in the HolyProphet(sa) in a vague nondescript manner, then at best he could bedescribed as a non-practising Muslim with no knowledge of Qur’anicteachings. The common herd of Muslims anywhere on earth couldclaim a better status in Islam despite their ignorance. How would aJesus such as this be welcomed back to earth by the great Muslimtheologians and clerics of the time? To redress his ignorance will hebe rushed to the presence of the Imam Al-Mahdi the instant he landsso that he could be initiated without further loss of time? No soonerthan he accepts Islam, will he be offered the chair of judgement overall the conflicting Muslim sects? When and by whom will he be taughtIslam fast enough to discharge such grave responsibilities withabsolute precision and perfection?

If the clergy insist that he must have been recommissioned as aMuslim prophet, while still in space before his descent to earth, thenhow could he be treated as an old prophet of the pre-Islamic era?

To conclude, the borrowing of a prophet from a pre-Islamic erarequires that either he is recommissioned in space as a new prophet inIslam after the advent of the last Prophet, or he is to be converted afterhis descent to earth and then recommissioned as a Muslim prophet.

However much this bizarre idea of inherent contradictions may appeardevoid of all common sense to the rest of the world, the orthodoxclergy is not perturbed in the least. Reason and rationality have no roleto play in their understanding of Divine prophecies. They take themliterally without ever realising what damage this may do to the causeof Islam. It is this madness which is largely responsible for all thechaos we observe today prevailing in their perceptions, hopes andaspirations.

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All said and done, the borrowing of a non-Muslim prophet from a pre-Islamic age does not transpire to be as profitable as it appeared to theclergy. It is a tribute to their relentless obstinacy that they would muchrather have a convert prophet from space than a prophet born here onearth, within Islam. They do so because there are many moreadvantages from this fairy tale visit of Jesus to be gained. He, as avisitor from space, would not be the same ordinary human prophet ashe was but would have amassed prodigal superhuman powers unheardof in the history of prophethood before his return to earth.

This mythical image of Jesus is evidently created by their sametendency to over-literalize prophecies. Evidently they do not carewhat price they have to pay for the folly of rejecting reason andrationality. To Jesus Christ(as) they assign thetask of salvaging whatever remains of thedignity and honour of Islam in the latterdays. It will be he, they believe, who willlaunch a single-handed powerful offensiveagainst the anti-Christ on a global scale.Having roundly defeated and destroyed theanti-Christ – the one-eyed monster, Jesuswill hand over the keys of his worlddominion to the people of Islam, and willalso distribute the immense treasure andriches which he will have amassed. Thus allthe spoils of his war against the anti-Christwill he lay at the feet of the Muslim Ummah.

Having resolved their political and economic problems, he will turnhis full attention to such prophecies as relate to religion. He will startby launching his campaign against Christianity. His strategy will be tobreak every cross in the world, whatever material it is made of. Hewill visit every cathedral, every monastery, every church, every

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The orthodoxy’s vision ofJesus’ re-advent when hewill literally smash all the

crosses in the world tosmithereens

temple, every Christian hermitage. He will walk every street of everytownship and stare at every passer-by in search of any cross. Ladiesperhaps will become the prime object of his scrutiny because he willbe aware of their despicable habit of having crosses engraved upontheir jewellery and ornaments. He will take care of the fact that theyalso wear crosses hanging around their necks. Thus he will snatchaway every bangle, every bracelet, every pendant and earring with thesign of the cross upon it. Woe to the ladies who dare to cross the pathof that Jesus, but where can they escape and hide, the poor defencelesswretches? He will enter every house and search every cabinet andjewellery box. Every wall and every corner will be scanned. Crossesmust be literally broken and wiped out from the face of earth. Until hehas accomplished this task to the full he will not rest in peace. This isthe vision of the Muslim orthodoxy of the mission of Jesus Christ ifever he returns to earth, but that is not all.

Having completely disposed of the symbol of Trinity, he would thenturn to another task which prophecies assign to him, if they are takenliterally. He will lose no time in beginning to kill every non-Musliminhabiting the world. Either they must convert to Islam or they mustdie – these will be their only options. He will go about thisslaughtering business in a rather unusual way. He will breathe fire likea mythical dragon, while no myth has ever presented such a dragonbefore, even in the wildest tales of fantasy. His blazing breath willscorch to death innumerable infidels even when they are miles awayfrom him. Those within the reach of his sword, will have their headsstricken off and made to roll. He will identify them unmistakablybecause on the forehead of each non-believer would appear theimprint in bold: Al-Kafir, the nonbeliever. Thus he will leave nonealive except the Muslims, and the de-Christianised Christians ofcourse, who will be left without a single cross to worship. Hence thecurtain will fall upon this unique carnage by the imaginary Jesus,filling the entire earth with fetid odour, an obnoxious stench of rotting

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bodies, some slaughtered, some scorched todeath. Hatred will generate more hatred,bloodshed will lead to more bloodshed.

The last gory act of Jesus upon the earth willbe to annihilate the species of swine. Noquarter will be granted to pigs. All boarsand all sows and all their brood will be putto the sword – each one of them. Hand onsword, fire in breath, Jesus will visit everytownship, every village, every street, everyhouse, every shack and every sty in searchof the hiding rascals. He will visit everywilderness, will thrash all the bushes ofAfrica, and will hunt for them in the rain-forests of South America.China will not be spared for that matter, nor will Japan. The islands ofthe South Pacific will also be combed where the flesh of pig isconsidered a highly prized delicacy.

Evidently no prophet of God in the entire history of mankind has everperformed such bloody, filthy feats as are attributed to the Jesus Christenvisioned by the Muslim orthodoxy. This is what the clergy in Islamhave done to the profound wisdom of the Holy Prophet(sa). They havefailed to penetrate across the bodies of letters to reach the soul andspirit of the prophecy they contained.

The real task assigned to the Promised Christ in this prophecy was topurify the human society from inhuman behaviour and some evilhabits which the swine symbolises. There are many animals and birdswhich steal the fruits of the farmer’s labour for the sake of theirsurvival but do not destroy the crops and trees just for the fun of it.The swine stands out among all the animals in this destructivetendency. The swine is also notorious for eating the corpses of its

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The imaginary Jesus aspainted by Christian artists,is shown in the vision of the

Muslim orthodoxy ascarrying a sword in handduring the carnage of the

swine.

young ones. No other non-marine animals are known to devour theiryoung ones when they die. A bloodthirsty lion, or even a ferociouswolf, will rather die of hunger, woefully sitting beside the dead bodiesof their brood, than to even dream of eating their flesh. Dogs do noteat the corpses of their dead puppies either. Pigs and boars, it shouldbe remembered, are vegetarians, yet by some devilish instinct theyrelish eating the corpses of their young ones. Evidently therefore, themessage implied in this prophecy has to be to wage a Holy Waragainst the perverted habit of humans to be inclined to genocide andto feel free to usurp the rights of the weak. The pig’s habit of eating itsown piglets could be likened to the child abuse of the modern age.Child abuse may be directed against one's own children or against thechildren of others, either way it is swinish in character. Recently it hasbecome a subject of common talk in modern society, so needs nofurther elaboration. No other animal can match humans in thisugliness.

War against evil has always been the occupation of prophets. As such,Jesus Christ(as) in his second advent would be no oddity among them ifhis second advent is understood to be metaphorical. But a Jesus suchas the one who is idolised by the Muslim clergy – a literal murderer ofthe swine – is what they need and await to welcome. The moment thisapple of their eyes arrives and discharges his task of eliminating thepig species from the animal kingdom, he must needs be applauded. Sowill he be applauded and befitting homage would be paid to his lastglorious days spent on the planet earth.

Glory be to Lord Jesus will be chanted over sea, over land, over hill,over dale. The church bells will not toll for the carnage he will makebut the minarets will resound with the shouts of the Muezzin heard farand wide, Allah-O-Akbar, Allah-O-Akbar, God is the Greatest, God isthe Greatest – and glory be to our saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Lastly, before Jesus’ departure from earth, there is yet another highlyimportant business for him to conduct, but in this he must be assistedby the Mullah. Throughout it has been only Jesus Christ serving thecause of the Mullah. Let the Mullah serve his cause now, for once atleast! All that Jesus would demand of the Mullahs after his globalexploits would be to help him in the task of getting married. After theruinous trail of rampage and bloodshed that he would have left behind,marriage would not be an unwelcome change for him.

If the Mullah has any serious regard for the literal fulfilment ofprophecies he must find him a highly gifted young Muslim damselwho should not fail to bear him children. Christ is about to be married!Some great Mullah must be found to read his wedding sermon andenquire from the would be father-in-law of Christ if he consents togive the hand of his daughter to that of Jesus. After his consent wouldcome the turn of Jesus, at last, to confirm the proposed marriage. Whathappy moments, what ecstasy! After a celibacy of two thousand yearsor more he would stand up and nod his head in affirmation Yes I do, Oloving Mullah, yes I do. In what better manner could the exploits ofJesus Christ be celebrated than that! From North to South, from Eastto West, hymns will be sung in his praise and marriage songs will fillthe air with their sweet melody. All that is left for him is to hopefullywait for the delivery of his blessed first-born with a holy string ofother sons and daughters to follow. Thus by producing children at theripe old age of two thousand years plus, he will create the greatest ofall the miracles he had ever worked. His spirit has always been strongbut the flesh too would not lag behind in strength it seems. What amiracle indeed that the passage of time makes him grow evenstronger, while old age is left buried far behind in the land of hisyouthful first advent. Finally, the hour of death will arrive, but what aglorious enviable death it will be! Blessed be the day he was born andblessed be the way he will die.

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This is the enchanting tale of Jesus which, if ever realised, the Mullahswill always tell their pupils in every Madrasah of Islamic instruction,year after year, generation after generation.

A more gruesome example is hard to find in the entire history ofreligion of how Divine prophecies are utilated out of shape, by amindless materialist clergy. But this is not a prerogative of the Muslimclergy alone. Whenever and wherever the priesthood takes over thecommand of religious orders they are likely to turn facts into fictionand realities into myths. This is the price man always pays forentrusting his faith to a hierarchy divested of common sense andreason, unable to distinguish between fair and foul. Whatever theirbusiness, rationality is not a commodity in which they trade.

The most tragic of all the religious leaders of the world is the case ofthe Muslim priesthood. The vain hopes they build for the ultimatevictory of Islam are based utterly on misconstrued prophecies turnedinto mirages and illusions. They are no longer fit to lead any religiousorder, let alone Islam! They are no longer fit to follow any prophet ofGod, be he old or new.

Their vision of the final victory of Islam, attained entirely by the mightof Jesus, absolves them of any role to play in the final struggle for thevictory of Islam. In truth, what they need is not a prophet but anenslaved giant. They fail to realise that the type of Jesus for whomthey aspire has never appeared in the entire comity of prophets before.No prophet is mentioned in the Qur’an or in any other scripture whowould fight single-handedly for the supremacy of his people whilethey sit idly by. This is what the Jews demanded of Moses(as) and weredenied. If the final victory of any religion can thus be achievedwithout blood, sweat or toil, where is there room for a prophet of Godwho invariably calls to the path of sacrifices? Their vision of aprodigal Jesus corresponds to a genie rather than that of a Divine

24



Reformer. The real issue with them has never been a choice betweenan old prophet or a new one, it has always been between a genie anda prophet. Their attitude is reminiscent of a tale from the classic workof A Thousand and One Nights.

Once upon a time, so it is narrated, a magician in the guise of a vendorroamed the streets of Baghdad shouting at the top of his voice, ‘Oldlamps for new! Old lamps for new!’ Many a housewife rushed to thedoor to have her old lamp swapped for the new ones he offered. Ahappy bargain indeed, they thought, and so it was. Yet there was oneexception. Little did one of the housewives know that when sheexchanged her old lamp for a new one offered by the swindler, the oldlamp she was giving away had imprisoned in it a genie with almostunlimited powers. She had no idea that the owner of that lamp couldalso become the master of the genie. Hence, the interest of theswindler was in the prisoner of the lamp, not in the lamp itself. If thatgenie could be possessed by swapping a million new lamps for onethat is old, no greater bargain could be conceived.

In reality the Mullahs are neither interested in a new lamp lit by thelight of Muhammad(sa) nor are they interested in the old lamp of theUmmah of Moses(as). All they are interested in is the prodigal Jesus oftheir fancy deemed to be trapped therein. No Divine torch ofprophethood means anything to them. A prophet is not what they carefor and a prophet is not what they require. All that they need is a giantslave who would lead them to all the worldly riches at their bidding.

Political and economic domination of the world is their only ambitionfor which they are most ill-equipped. All that they are trained for is theletting of Muslim blood at the hands of other Muslims butchered bythe knives of others Muslims.

Any bloody revolution brought about by Mullahcracy in any Muslim

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country should not mislead, others. In no way can it upset the balanceof power in the world. To dream of world domination withoutscientific and technological advancement, to hope for tilting theexisting balance of power without boosting their own economy andrevolutionising their industry; to challenge the might of great worldpowers without the capability of manufacturing highly advanced andsophisticated military hardware is ultimate madness. What little, onemay ask, do they have to achieve their goal?

The Mullahs must realise that their blatant distortion of the greatprophecies of the Holy Founder(sa) of Islam will not go unpunished. Itwill bring them and those whom they lead to nothing but utter ruin.This is the price they must pay for the crime of perverting the wisdomof God. Let them stand on a corner and watch the days and nights slipby. Let them watch the heavenly tracks and strain their ears to listento the descending footsteps of their mythical saviour from the voids ofspace. Let them live on and on in hope, and perish again and again indespair, generation after generation after generation. None will evercome to rescue them from the entangled web of their own twistedvision and contradictions between their ideals and practice. Everymoment that passes, every second that ticks by, the fear of God is fastvanishing from their daily life. Honesty, justice, selfless sacrifice,mutual brotherly love and respect for other’s property have becomevalues of the bygone days – still dearly remembered, but widelyshunned. With what yearning they are talked about, with what loveand tenderness they are treasured, but only in the storehouses ofmemories!

Theft, robbery, murder, child abuse, abduction, fornication, adultery,prostitution, fraud, and deceit are only registered by those whom theystrike. Others live with them in an unholy alliance. Gang rapescommitted in broad daylight by the very custodians of peace; bribery,corruption and brazen-faced violations of law by their lordships, who

26



are supposed to be the defenders of justice – a society where thewardens of peace lynch and murder peace, a society where disorder isthe only order of the day. Yet strangely enough, it is not altogetherbereft of its sense of right and wrong. It hates the evil it generatesitself, it abhors the horrors it commits. It is sick to death of thepollution it exhales. Everywhere, everyday the evils are decried by thevery people who exude them. They are castigated, condemned andcensured at such tempo as its resonance can be heard from one end tothe other, from the lofty legislative chambers to the lowly shacks ofthe destitute. Yet how dearly they are embraced at the same time, howfirmly clasped, how faithfully adhered to in everyday life at all tiers ofsociety! Their deeds display what their mouths condemn. This is thelie they live or the death they daily die but call it life. Where are thecustodians of Muslim values and where are the torch-bearers of decentconduct? Are there any who would lose a single moment of theirsweet sleep over these bitter realities? Why should it matter anyway,and what do the Mullahs care! What difference could it make to asociety which has been induced to believe that the hour of DivineDecree will finally strike and Jesus(as), son of Mary, will descend fromhis heavenly abode to raise Muslims such as these to the loftychambers of command. It would be they who would carve and shapethe destiny of the world. Thus the Mullahs lullaby the Muslim massesto sleep ‘until such time as the Lord of the Christian West will deserttheir cause and rise in full glory as the Lord of the Muslim East’. Whythen, should the Mullah ever bother about the moral destitution of theherds he leads? Why work for their reformation and strive hardneedlessly to redeem them from their hopeless state of morbidity?Patience, patience, is the only panacea – just wait for the hour tostrike!

Woe to such an hour of destiny if it ever strikes! Damnation is thename for it. For the creatures of Allah to be subjected to the rule of theMullah is sheer abomination. Jesus Christ! Could he ever permit

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himself to stoop so low! Could he ever be a party to such a blatantcrime! No –not he! Jesus or no Jesus, no prophet of God would everdebase himself to champion the cause of a depraved people. It is a taskfit only for a power-hungry demagogue who would not be reluctanteven to become a king of beasts let alone of a beastly people. With orwithout the help of a Jesus he would not hesitate to step upon theshoulders of prophets to achieve his ambition.

The Mullahs’ dreams are madder than those of a mad hatter’s but howcan they ever be realised? Mad dreams never turn darkness into light,nor do they ever break the dawn of a new day. It is always the dawnof a new day which breaks and shatters such dreams. Let the Mullahsleep forever. Let the empty chambers of his brain be filled with asmany illusions as would feed upon his limitless craving for power. Letthe people of Islam wake up and wish him to sink into a deep sleep tillDoomsday. Let the sleeping Mullah lie and sink into a deeper sleep.And let him leave the Ummah of the Holy Prophet(sa) alone to begin tosee the light of the day.

Reference:1. Translation of Ch.3: V.50 by the author.

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[Translator’s Note: All references tothe verses of the Holy Qur’an aregiven in Arabic as they occur in thetext. The English translation,presented in Italics, is taken from thetranslation of the Holy Qur’an by

Hadhrat Maulvi Sher Ali Sahib(ra).

Where the Promised Messiah(as) hashimself stated a certain interpretationof an Arabic verse, this isincorporated in the main body of thetext].

Allah states [in the Holy Qur’an]that:

We are your friends in thislife and in the Hereafter…(Ch.41: V.32)

Friends of Allah

The founder of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community was Hadhrat

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as).

In 1891, he claimed, on the basis ofDivine revelation, that he was thePromised Messiah and Mahdi whoseadvent had been foretold byMuhammad, the Holy Prophet ofIslam (peace be upon him) and by thescriptures of other faiths.

His claim constitutes the basis of thebeliefs of the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity.

Presented below is a compilation of extracts that have been taken from thediscourses and speeches of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian, thePromised Messiah and Mahdi, as recorded in the collection entitled Malfoozat.

Malfoozat is the title of the ten volumes that contain the collection of discourses,speeches and addresses of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian, thePromised Messiah and Mahdi.

Translated by Amatul Hadi Ahmad


In other words, Allah is statingthat he is a friend of the righteousin this world and the next. Implicitin this verse is also the denial ofthe belief held by some thatangels descend only at the time ofdeath and do not descend at anyother time in this life. If that werethe case, how is it that Allah is afriend in this world and the next.

It is indeed a blessing that thosewho are the friends of Allah areable to see angels. The nextworld is one in which we believethrough our faith but a righteousperson is shown the next world inthis very life. Righteous peoplefind Allah in this life – they seeHim and He speaks to them. Ifthis is not available to a personthen his death and his departurefrom this world will be a verybad one. A previous saint hasstated that, ‘He who has neverhad a true dream will face afrightful end.’ The Holy Qur’anholds this to be a sign of a truebeliever. Take note that he whodoes not possess this sign, doesnot possess righteousness.Hence, this should be a prayerfrom all of us that this condition

is fulfilled in us, that Allah maygrant us the blessing ofrevelation, of true dreams and ofvisions. This is a specialcharacteristic of a true believerand, hence, it should be present.

There are many other blessingsthat are granted to the one who isrighteous. For instance, in theopening chapter of the HolyQur’an, Surah Al Fatiha, Allahteaches a believer to pray thus:

Guide us in the right path -the path of those on whomThou hast bestowed Thyblessings, those who have noti n c u rred displeasure, andthose who have not goneastray.(Ch.1: V.6-7)

In other words, ‘guide us to thatpath which is straight and which

Friends of Allah


Friends of Allah

is the path of those who are therecipients of Your blessing andgrace.’ This prayer has beentaught so that a human beingshould acquire high resolve andshould understand the intentionof the Creator. That intention isthat this Umma, the followers ofthe Holy Prophet( s a ) of Islam,should not spend their life likeanimals, rather that all veilsshould be removed [to reveal trueknowledge of Allah]. It is thebelief of the Shi’a sect thatattainment of knowledge ofAllah came to an end after thetwelve Imams. Contrary to this,the prayer [taught in Surah AlF a t i h a] shows that Allah hadintended beforehand that therighteous should attain to thelevel of prophets and the pious.Another point that is madethrough this is that the humanbeing has been granted manycapabilities that need to benurtured and developed. A goat’scapabilities cannot develop as itis not a human being. When aperson of high resolve hears thestories of prophets andmessengers, he does not onlywish to have faith in the

blessings granted to that group,he wishes also to gain knowledgeof them. He desires to acquire thed i fferent levels of knowledgeregarding those blessings,beginning with knowledge that iscertain [but based on inference],then witnessed certainty to thecertainty of experience andabsolute truth.

There are three stages ofknowledge. Knowledge by wayof certainty of inference,knowledge by way of witnessedcertainty and the stage ofknowledge acquired through thecertainty of experience. Forexample, being certain of theexistence of fire having seensmoke rising from a place, isinferred knowledge that iscertain. However, to see the firewith one’s own eyes is awitnessed certainty but evenhigher is the stage of absolutecertainty of truth. An example ofthis would be like putting one’shand in the fire and from theburning sensation and themovement of the fireascertaining that the fire isactually there and real. How


Friends of Allah

unfortunate is the person whodoes not possess any of the threelevels of knowledge [of thespiritual realm].[Malfoozat, Volume 1, pp.18-20]

No matter how many holy peopleand saints there may have been,they all spent their time strivingand perfecting their worship.Baba Fareed Sahib and all theother past holy and saintly peoplereached their high station due tostriving and carrying out specialand strenuous spiritual exercises.Moreover, these people followedfully and strictly the practice ofthe Holy Prophet(sa). It was onlyafter such strict practice andmuch effort that their pride, theirarrogance and their egoism leftthem. They became as if they hadgone through the eye of theneedle – through which all suchpeople have to pass. It is onlyafter much strenuous efforts thatsuch people attain their station. Itis such people whose prayers areaccepted; otherwise, you see thata physician’s medicine has noe fficacy unless one exercisesabstinence. So is the secret of theacceptance of prayer – prayer has

no efficacy unless a personabstains fully [from all that isdisliked by Allah].

Some people have made up somefalse stories and tales about someholy people. These, too, becomea huge stumbling block in thepath of ordinary people andbecome the cause of stumblingfor a great many people. Onesuch story has been made upabout Hadhrat Sheikh AbdulQadir Jeelani that whoever camebefore him was turned into asaint by his attention. Rememberthat no one has ever attained to aspecial and high station withoutbringing about a death overhimself or without fullyfollowing the tradition andpractice of the Holy Prophet(sa).However, this much is certainlytrue that without there being ac a p a b i l i t y, nothing can beachieved. The capacities of somepeople and their nature is madesuch by Allah that pride,arrogance, conceit and othersimilar ills are easily extricatedand it is as if these had neverexisted. Just as a seed becomeslike dust when it is buried in the


Friends of Allah

earth and then Allah’s powermakes it grow, so these peoplefirst lose everything in the pathof Allah and then Allah bringsthem back to life, makes themdevelop and spread and theiracceptance by other people ismade easy. Hence, the personwho steadfastly bears thedifficulties and tribulations thatfrom time to time confront himby way of a test from Allah, andbears all this without layingdown any conditions or limitsand leaves his matter to Allah,then Allah, through His blessing,shows him all that makes hisfaith stronger and his heartwholesome. However, whenpeople are stubborn and wish tomake Allah move according totheir wishes, such people remaindeprived. After this, what carecan Allah have for such people?Allah is indifferent. There aretens of million of His servants. Ifa person does not accept, that isup to him but such a person thenjoins those who are destined forhell. In showing signs, Allahdoes not take any notice ofp e o p l e ’s wishes and plans.Manifestation of signs also

depends upon the capabilities [ofpeople]. If a grain that has beenchewed is sown within the earth,it will not grow or develop.Similarly, the unfortunate peoplecannot become the heirs ofAllah’s blessings and signs. [Malfoozat, Volume 10, pp.208-209]

Allah is not pleased with merewords. You should become sotrue that your sincerity and youranguish reaches up to theheavens. Allah protects andblesses the person He considersto have a heart that is truthful andfull of love. He looks at heartsand peeks into them. He does notcare for empty words. He entersthe heart that has been cleansedthoroughly and purified of allimpurities. He enters such a heartand makes His home there. Onthe other hand, the heart in whichthere remain impurities isdeclared to be an accursed one.

Remember that faith withoutgood deeds is an incompletefaith. How is it possible for truefaith not to be accompanied bygood deeds? Make your faith and


Friends of Allah

belief total. People do notstrengthen their faith and yet theycomplain that they are notreceiving the promised blessingsand rewards. Allah has, ofcourse, promised:

And he who fears Allah – Hewill make for him a way out.And will provide for him fromwhere he expects not. (Ch.65: V.3-4)

That is, he who is righteous andis so in the sight of Allah, issafeguarded by Allah against allhardship and Allah grants himprovisions from sources that areunimaginable. This promise ofAllah is true and it is our beliefthat Allah is Most Gracious andMost Merciful and He fulfils Hispromises. He who becomesAllah’s is saved by Allah fromhumiliation and is fully takencare of by Allah. However, those

who declare themselves to berighteous and yet complain thatthey have not received theaccompanying rewards, leave uswondering as to which of theirtwo claims to believe. [MalfoozatVolume 5, pp.243-244]

Allah Almighty makes men passthrough different trials so that Hemay see whether the believergives precedence to his faith overthe material world. There aremany who profess a belief inAllah but when they find suchbelief interfering with theirmaterial advantages, forsake thecause of Allah or when they haveany fear of harm from the rulers,they forsake the path of Allah.Such people are in fact withoutfaith and they do not know that inreality it is Allah Almighty whois the Judge over all judges.Doubtless, the path of Allah is adifficult path and unless a person[undergoes such extreme strivingin the path of Allah] that is akinto tearing off one’s own skin, hecannot find acceptance beforeAllah. Do we not dislike aservant who is disloyal? Is it nottrue that a servant who is not


Friends of Allah

faithful to his master and is notconstant in his duty is not lookedupon with honour anywhere?Thus it is also in the presence ofAllah. The person who forsakeshis Divine Master for the sake oflimited material gain is the mostdisloyal and faithless person.

Taking the B a i ’ a t (Oath ofInitiation) is to give oneself up toAllah. It means that the personentering into Bai’at sells his lifeto Allah. It is wrong to think thatone who walks in the path ofAllah ultimately suffers loss. Hewho serves Allah faithfullycannot suffer any loss. Loss is hiswho is false, who breaks thecovenant he has made with Allahfor the sake of this world. Lethim who is guilty of suchdisloyalty remember that no ruler

or king would be able to deliverhim when the hand of Allah isupon him. He has to eventuallymeet the Judge of all judges. It is,therefore, necessary for everytrue believer to have faith inAllah Who is the King of all theheavens and the earth and shouldturn to Allah with truerepentance. This is certainly amost difficult thing to achieve –it is only possible when Allahmakes the heart move in thatdirection. Hence, it requiresmuch prayer.

The person who treads in thepath of Allah with true sincerityis granted extraordinary powerand capability. The heart of thebeliever has within it a power ofattraction such that other peopleare drawn to him. I cannot

ALLAH ALMIGHTY MAKES MEN PASS THROUGH DIFFERENT

TRIALS SO THAT HE MAY SEE WHETHER THE BELIEVER GIVES

PRECEDENCE TO HIS FAITH OVER THE MATERIAL WORLD.THERE ARE MANY WHO PROFESS A BELIEF IN ALLAH BUT

WHEN THEY FIND SUCH BELIEF INTERFERING WITH THEIR

MATERIAL ADVANTAGES, FORSAKE THE CAUSE OF ALLAH OR

WHEN THEY HAVE ANY FEAR OF HARM FROM THE RULERS,THEY FORSAKE THE PATH OF ALLAH.


Friends of Allah

understand why people shouldnot be drawn to you if there iswithin you sufficient attraction oflove in the path of Allah and amagnetic power generated withinyou. [M a l f o o z a t, Volume 7,pp.29-30]

Some people consider thatmerely by visiting some holyperson and without any effort orinner purification, they will beable to join the fold of theTruthful. This is just wishfulthinking. You should study theHoly Qur’an to see that youcannot win the pleasure of Allahunless you too endure hardshipand tribulation as did theprophets of Allah. Some of theirordeals and suffering were soextreme that, [in the words of theHoly Qur’an]:

Until the Messenger and thosewho believed along with himsaid: ‘When will come the help of

Allah?’ Yea, surely the help ofAllah is nigh.(Ch.2: V.215)

It has always been the case thatthe servants of Allah have beenput through many an ordeal andhardship before they wereaccepted by Allah.

The Sufis have written about twopaths that lead to success in thisstruggle. One is the path ofSalook. This is the path of peoplewho, by using their ownintelligence and wisdom, adoptthe path of Allah and HisProphet(sa). [Allah, addressing theHoly Prophet(sa) states in the HolyQur’an]:

Say, ‘If you love Allah, followme: then will Allah loveyou…’ (Ch.3: V.32 )

That is, if you wish to becomethe loved ones of Allah then youshould follow the path of the


Friends of Allah

Holy Prophet(sa). He is the perfectguide and he is the Prophet whounderwent such extremehardship and suffering that thelike of it has never been seenanywhere in the world. His questwas such that it did not let himrest even for a day. The followers[of this Prophet] will only bethose who truly and sincerelyfollow his every word and everydeed. The true follower is he whofollows in every way. Theperson who has scant regard [forDivine injunctions] and a harshattitude [towards other people] isnot liked by Allah. Such a personwill, instead, come under thewrath of Allah.

The injunction to follow the HolyP r o p h e t( s a ), places an obligation onthe seeker to first study the wholehistory of the Holy Prophet( s a ) a n dthen to follow in his footsteps.This is what is meant by S a l o o k,[that is, ‘Initiation’]. There are inthis path numerous ordeals andhardships. It is only after showingsteadfastness in the face ofnumerous hardships that a personbecomes a Salik, that is a‘Devotee’.

The status of the people on thepath of Jazb is greater than thoseon the path of Salook. [The termJazb implies absorption of thelove of Allah]. Those who striveon the path of Jazb are not left atthe stage of S a l o o k. Allahdeliberately puts them throughordeals and tribulations in orderto draw them closer to Himselfthrough the eternal power ofabsorption, that is, Jaazba-e-Azli.All the Prophets of Allah wereM a j z o o b, that is, they weredrawn to Allah and wereabsorbed in Allah.

When the human soul is facedwith painful ordeals andtribulations, the experience andthe consequent humility makes itradiant. Just as iron or glasswhile possessing the capacity toshine, shine only after they haveundergone a lengthy process ofburnishing and then they shine sobrightly that in them is reflectedthe face of the person looking in.Striving in the path of Allah alsoworks as a process of burnishing.The burnishing of the heartshould be to such a degree that


Friends of Allah

the ‘face’ is reflected in theresulting ‘mirror’ [of the ‘heart’].What is meant by ‘reflection ofthe face’? The meaning of this isto become the fulfilment of thesaying, ‘Create within youmorals in accordance with thecharacter of Allah’. The heart ofthe Salik, that is, the Devotee, isa ‘mirror’ that is burnished somuch through undergoing expe-riences of great suffering andtribulation that the reflection ofthe moral qualities of the HolyProphet(sa) are fixed upon it. Thisoccurs at a time when, havingu n d e rgone numerous spiritualexercises and inner purification,there remains no resentment orimpurity within. It is only thenthat this status is attained. Every

Muslim believer needs this kindof cleansing to some extent. Nobeliever will find salvation whilstbeing without the ‘mirror’ of theheart. [Malfoozat , Volume 1, pp.27-28].

PLEASE NOTE:In this journal, for the information of non-Muslim readers, ‘(sa)’ or ‘sa’after the words, ‘Holy Prophet’, or the name ‘Muhammad’, are used.They stand for ‘Salallahu alaihi wassalam’ meaning ‘Peace and Blessingsof Allah be upon him’. Likewise, the letters ‘(as)’ or ‘as’ after the nameof all other prophets is an abbreviation meaning ‘Peace be upon him’derived from Alaihi salato wassalam’ for the respect a Muslim readerutters in the form of a prayer for a Prophet.Also ru or (ru) for Rahmahullahu Ta’ala means the Mercy of Allah theExalted be upon him

On the subject of the Muslimbeliefs in Jesus Christ ( a s ) t h e r eexists large volumes of literatureencompassing many diversetraditions, customs and cultures.Like the followers of otherreligions, Muslims also have awide range of opinion andinterpretation, especially withrespect to the beliefs in ourbeloved Jesus Christ(as).

At the outset, the very premise andsource of the true Muslim beliefsabout Jesus Christ (as) should beestablished. So without gettinginto a debate over the sources ofthese beliefs, we will resort only tothe very root basis of all of ourMuslim beliefs. In other words, wewill resort only to the Holy Qur’ a nas the source of these beliefs. Onlys e c o n d a r i l y, will we also examinethe sayings or the traditions of theHoly Founder of Islam, HadhratMuhammad Mustafa ( s a ), theAhadith, which elaborate thebeliefs in Jesus( a s ), based on theHoly Qur’ a n .

The Holy Qur’an is believed to bethat book which is the directrevelation of Allah to HisProphet, Hadhrat MuhammadMustafa(sa), which was recorded inthe Prophet’s life and safeguardedwithout the slightest interpolationor change, to this very day. TheHoly Qur’an mentions severalprophets, Adam( a s ), Abraham ( a s ),J o n a h( a s ), Moses( a s ), Jesus( a s ), aswell as others. With regards to theprophets of Allah, the HolyQ u r’an makes the emphaticdeclaration that believers ‘makeno distinction between any of HisMessengers’, meaning that theyare all from Allah and all are to berevered and accepted. Despitementioning so many prophets, theHoly Qur’an appears to make aspecial recognition of our belovedJesus(as).

It is important to point out that theHoly Qur’an describes a morecomprehensive and detailedaccount of our beloved Jesus(as),than for any other prophet


The Muslim Belief in Jesus Christ(as)

by Dr. Kaleem Malik, MD - Speech from Jalsa Salana USA 2003

mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.The reason for this is that perhapsthere is no other individual in thehistory of religions whose figuregenerates such controversy andsuch diverse opinion. The Jews,Christians, Muslims and others,all hold widely different viewswith regards to his birth, hispurpose and mission, thecrucifixion and the manner of hisdeath. The obvious diversity inthese interpretations and the manymyths surrounding himnecessitated the need for AllahAlmighty Himself to respond, andaddress these conflicting concernsabout our beloved Jesus Christ(as).

To begin with, his very name isintroduced in the Holy Qur’an as:

His name shall be theMessiah, Jesus, Son of Mary,honoured in this world and inthe next. (Ch.3: V.46)

The distinction of his name notonly honours him with the title ofMessiah, the Anointed one, butalso uniquely recognises afatherless birth, as ‘Son of Mary’.

Although in the Gospels he wasreferred to as Son of man, theHoly Qur’an gives him thedistinct title of Messiah, son ofMary. Since he is introduced inthe Holy Qur’an as the Son ofMary, it is only fair to begin thissubject of the Muslim beliefs inJ e s u s( a s ), by first brieflymentioning the Muslim beliefs ofM a r y, his mother. The HolyQur’an has indeed depicted her asa most pious, righteous and chastewoman.

Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:

O Mary, Allah has chosen theeand purified thee, and chosenthee above the women of allpeoples.(Ch.3: V.43)

This is the bold declaration of theHoly Qur’an, which not onlyexonerated a pious woman of theunfair charges and allegationsagainst her, but the Holy Qur’analso granted her such an exaltedstatus for mankind to alwaysemulate. It is the Holy Qur’an thatmentions her hardship, her piety,her chastity and her status. In fact,

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The Muslim Belief in Jesus Christ (as)


there is an entire chapter in theHoly Qur’an entitled Maryam. Totruly realise the weight of thisposition, it should be pointed outthat Islam stands uniquely aloneas the only other religion to acceptthe virgin birth. Islam is the onlyoutside religion, which bearswitness to this phenomenon andreveres Mary as an example formankind.

Coming back to Jesus(as), the HolyQur’an draws our attention to hispurpose and status:

And will make him aMessenger to the children ofIsrael.(Ch.3: V.50)

Also, Jesus(as) is reported to havesaid in the Holy Qur’an:

And I come fulfilling thatwhich is before me, namely,the Torah.(Ch.3: V.51)

This is consistent with the Gospelrecord of Mathew 15:25, ‘I amnot sent but to the lost sheep ofthe house of Israel’. And also

Mathew 5:17, ‘think not that Ihave come to abolish the law, butto fulfil the law’.

It is our belief that Jesus Christ(as)

was commissioned for thishonourable task to revitalise thetrue spirit of the Torah andremove misunderstandings aboutthe Law. It was the Law ofM o s e s( a s ) that after 1300 yearssuffered deterioration and fell intospiritual darkness. It was inresponse to the need of thatcritical hour, that Almighty Allahfulfilled His promise and grantedthe Israelites a Messiah toresuscitate their religion andpurify them.

From the depths of spiritual ruins,emerged a son of a virgin mother,signifying that none was worthyto father such a reformer. Fromthe depths of spiritual ruinemerged the Messiah from Allah,to gather his people, to reveal themajesty of Allah through manyheavenly signs and miracles. TheHoly Qur’an (Ch.3: V. 5 0 )highlights some of the miracles ofJ e s u s( a s ), including healing theblind and the leprous giving life to

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the dead, and creating birds,which will soar high in the skies.

The ability to create birds is ametaphor meaning that ordinarypeople who accepted histeachings were spirituallytransformed into birds soaringhigh into the spiritual horizonsand above all worldly concerns.The healing powers are alsounderstood in the spiritual sense.He restored sight to the spirituallyblind, and gave life to thespiritually dead.

Jesus(as) specifically referred to thePharisees of his day as being blindbecause of their maladies andhypocritical nature. Indeed allreformers of Allah are spiritualphysicians, because they alwaysappear to a people who, at thetime, are in need and as the HolyQ u r’an states, such people aredeaf, dumb, and blind (Ch.2:V.77).

The most controversial subjectwith regards to the Muslim beliefsin Jesus is the subject of thecrucifixion. History bears ampletestimony that whenever a Prophet

appears before his people, it is hisown people who fiercely rejecthim. The case of Jesus( a s ) is not anexception. We wholly andcompletely recognise that everyhuman effort was made by theJews who rejected him, to put anend to this message, to cause himevery humiliation, to condemnhim, to call him a liar, a falseprophet, an illegitimate son, arejected one of Allah, in short, theydesired passionately to prove ourbeloved Jesus( a s ), to be an accursedone of Allah. The Jews of the timeregarded Jesus( a s ) as a false prophetand to justify their accusations,they tried to enforce their law thataccording to Deuteronomy 21:23,‘he that is hanged is accursed ofGod.’ Therefore if Jesus( a s ) died onthe cross, the Jews would havesucceeded in their design and thescriptures would prove them to betruthful, and our beloved Jesus( a s )

to be a liar and an accursed one ofA l l a h .

According to the Holy Qur’an,and as supported by historical,biblical and scientific evidence,the Muslim belief is that the Jewswere unsuccessful in their attempt

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to crucify and kill Jesus(as). Thefundamental Qur’anic argument,which boldly comes in defence ofJ e s u s( a s ), is the Qur ’ a n i cdeclaration that Jesus is a truemessenger and beloved of Allah.

In response to the slandering andmaligning accusation of the Jews,who wished to prove that Jesuswas an accursed one of Allah, wesubmit that our beloved did not fitthe description of an accursed ofAllah. One would be said to be anaccursed of Allah when his hearthas become estranged fromAllah… has become so darkenedthat there remains no ray of divinelove, divine knowledge, or divinelight. An accursed of Allah wouldmean that the bond of loyalty andtrust with Allah is broken andthere develops contempt andhostility. But we confess whole-heartedly, that such a descriptionhas no place for the chosen onesof Allah. Our beloved Jesus’(as)

heart was never estranged fromAllah and never did hedemonstrate any behaviour oraction that would lead one to saythat he was, God forbid, anaccursed of Allah.

On the contrary, the Holy Qur’andeclares that Jesus(as) was a nobleand honoured Messenger ofAllah. Even Paul wrote in 1stCorinthians 12:3, ‘that no manspeaking by the spirit of God,calleth Jesus accursed’.

It must be appreciated howserious these allegations are.These were the corrupted views ofthe followers of the very law,which Jesus(as) came to fulfil. Paulconcedes to these allegations andlike the Jews, accepts that Jesuswas accursed and writes inGalatians 3:13, ‘Christ hasredeemed us from the curse of thelaw, being made a curse for us; forit is written that cursed iseveryone that hangeth on a tree’.

In response to the piles ofaccumulating allegations againstJ e s u s( a s ), Allah the Almightyconsistently comes running to theaid of his beloved and trueProphet. Whereas the Jewsplanned to kill Jesus ( a s ), Allahplanned to save him.

The Holy Qur’an says:

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And they (the enemies ofJesus) planned, and Allah alsoplanned, and Allah is the Bestof planners.(Ch.3: V.55)

Allah had already comfortedJesus(as) and promised him that notonly would He save him fromtheir evil design, but would alsoestablish his truthfulness. Allahsays in the Holy Qur’an:

O Jesus I will cause thee to diea natural death and will exaltthee to Myself, and will clearthee from the charges of thosewho disbelieve, and will plcaethose who follow thee abovethose who disbelieve, until theDay of Resurrection; then tome shall be your return…(Ch.3: V.56)

This was the comforting promiseof Allah, that He will take theresponsibility to save Jesus(as), andthen remove the slanderousallegations against him, and thenexalt his status, and then evenextend this promise to his truefollowers, by also exalting theirstatus.

So, the question to ask is whatthen was this plan of Allah? Howdid Allah save Jesus ( a s ) a n destablish his truthfulness. Thenext verse addresses the verycrucifixion.

Allah says in the Holy Qur’an,

And for their (the Jews)saying, ‘We did kill theMessiah, Jesus, Son of Mary,the Messenger of Allah;’whereas they slew him not, norc rucified him, but he wasmade to appear to them likeone crucified; and those whodiffer therein are certainly in astate of doubt about it; theyhave no definite knowledget h e reof, but only follow aconjecture; and they did notconvert this conjecture into acertainty..(Ch.4: V.158)

The events of the Passion of theCrucifixion have long beenaccepted as a mystery. But, whatwe have here is the unveiling ofthat Divine promise made toJesus(as) by Allah Himself.

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The Holy Qur’an vindicatesJesus(as) and states that the Jewswere not successful in theirattempts to kill him. But rather tothem, he only appeared andlooked as if he was dead. Inreality he was very much alive.

It may be worth, at this point,summarising and recapping thevarious different beliefs withregards to this event so that wemay appreciate the true andcorrect beliefs of Muslims. Up tonow, we know of four camps orprevailing schools of thought.

The Jews believe that he wasaccursed and a false prophet andso to prove it they believe thatthey successfully killed him bycrucifying him on the cross.

Our mainstream Christianbrethren believe as the Jews thatJesus(as) suffered the death of thecrucifixion. But in doing so heatoned for the sins of mankind.They believe that after 2 to 3hours on the cross he died, and onthe third day he rose resurrectedfrom the dead and lived a shortwhile in secrecy amongst his

disciples, and then bodilyascended to the heavens. He isalso believed to bodily return inthe same manner in the latter daysand offer a final salvation tomankind. Whoso does not accepthim, according to some, he willproceed to cast them in eternalhell.

To d a y ’s mainstream Muslimsbelieve that Jesus(as) was nevereven put on the cross. Rather, atthat critical hour of danger to hislife, today’s Muslims believe thatAllah created a Jesus(as) look-alikeimpostor and crucified himinstead. Jesus( a s ) meantime wasbodily lifted to some unknownstation in the sky. They too alsobelieve that in the Latter Days, hewill bodily descend from the sky,this time return as a Muslim andoffer Islam to mankind. Whosodoes not accept, he will slaughter.

It should be emphatically pointedout that neither did the HolyFounder of Islam, HadhratM u h a m m a d( s a ), share this view,nor did his companions share thiscurrent view of our contemporaryMuslims today. In fact, the Holy

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Qur’an rejects this view in itst o t a l i t y. This distorted viewevolved centuries after the demiseof the Holy Prophet(sa). This viewhas much in common with thesecond camp due to the greatChristian and Hellenisticinfluences and mixing ofideologies and cultures, whichfollowed the crusades.

F i n a l l y, the fourth camp isoffered, for mankind to judge foritself. This was the belief of theHoly Founder of Islam, HadhratMuhammad Mustafa( s a ), and inaccordance with the Qur’ a n i cteaching, that Jesus Christ(as) notonly survived the ordeal of thecrucifixion but went on to fulfiltwo major prophecies. The firstprophecy is that he declares:

‘And other sheep I have,which are not of this fold.Them also I must bring, andthey shall hear my voice andthere shall be one fold and oneShepherd.’(John 10:16)

He was referring to the lost tribesof Israel who as we know had

migrated towards the east andwere not in Judea at the time, butscattered. The second prophecy,in his own words solves themystery of the crucifixion.Jesus(as) gave the most powerfulsign of Jonah( a s ), that, just asJonah(as) for three days was in thebelly of the fish, so shall the Sonof Man be in the belly of the earth(Matthew 12:39).

It is the Muslim belief thatprophets fulfil their stated missionas a testimony and proof of theirtruthfulness as being chosen byAllah. It is only the light of theHoly Qur’an that enables one tofully realise that Jesus(as) actuallyfulfilled these promises. TheQur’an does not deny the fact thatJesus(as) was on the cross. TheQur’an only denies him dying onthe cross. The Qur’an declaresthat the Jews and the enemies ofJ e s u s( a s ) were not successful intheir design to kill him and makehim accursed. This was thestrongly held belief of the HolyProphet Muhammad( s a ), thatJesus(as) died a natural and nobledeath after having lived to an oldage.

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On this controversial subject ofthe crucifixion, there are volumesof books spanning variousdisciplines of science, medicine,h i s t o r y, including the biblicalsources, all of which todaysupport the claim that the HolyQur’an made 1400 years ago, thatour beloved Jesus(as) survived theordeal of the cross and fulfilledhis stated mission.

From the medical and historicalperspective, in a brief nutshell, theprobability of survival fromhanging on the cross for only 2-3hours is indisputably clear. Theusual custom of hanging for daysin this slow and torturous deathwas not applicable to Jesus( a s ).Clearly Allah’s plan was differentas evident from the Bible itself,which describes some amazingevents. It was Allah’s plan tocreate every possibility forJ e s u s( a s ) to survive and notundergo the usual custom. Thescene that is described is one ofchaos, earthquakes, eclipses,curtain of the temple torn, thegraves of many saints opened andso on. This was the hand of Allah,

which removed Jesus(as) from thecross within 2-3 hours,understandably in a state, whichseemingly may have resembleddeath. In fact, so doubtful was hisdeath that the only real expert ofthe time on the art of crucifixion,the Roman Governor, PontiusPilate marvels and doubts thatJesus(as) is dead. He is handed overnot to his enemies but his friends,who care for him, bring himointments, the best healing agentsof the time and care after him.This is why Jesus(as) chose theexample of Jonah. Jonah survivedthe seemingly impossible odds,revived and emerged out alivefrom the fish. It was the samescenario of seemingly impossibleodds which Jesus( a s ) had toovercome, to survive in likem a n n e r, to revive and emerg efrom the belly of the earth, inexact likeness to Jonah(as). Afterhaving been revived andresuscitated, he continues hismission as evident from theaccounts of the Bible and ofh i s t o r y. He eats, rests, seekss h e l t e r, disguises himself, andmeets with his disciples in secret,in the same physical body.

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I wish to leave you with a keyaspect of the Muslim belief inJ e s u s( a s ). To d a y, Jesus( a s ) a g a i nstands in the centre of a keydebate. Almost universally,mankind awaits a Reformer. Asalready mentioned, many believethat Jesus ( a s ) himself willphysically and bodily return fromthe heavens and offer salvation.After all, Jesus(as) himself did laygreat emphasis on his returning inthe Latter Days. But how will hecome?

Jesus(as) himself gives the answer.He settles the method or mannerof his second coming once and forall. This was the very question,which was put to him by the Jewswho awaited the second comingof Elijah(as) to physically descendfrom the heavens and serve as thespiritual harbinger for theMessiah. How clearly did Jesus(as)

dispel their false beliefs andpractices. He passed the verdictfor all of time to come, that noman would descend from the sky,neither recycled from the past orfrom the present or even from thefuture. By identifying John theBaptist as the spiritual Second

coming of Elijah ( a s ), Jesus hassolved the issue in a mostprofound manner, for all of time.

There is no doubting his prophecyof the Second Coming. Mathew24 is full of this very prophecy,which cannot be ignored. Thetime is described as one of unrest,and turmoil. Nations will riseagainst nations, wars, famines,earthquakes, man will turn awayfrom faith and the world will befilled with wickedness anddarkness. ‘For as lightning comesfrom the east and flashes to thewest, so will be the coming of theSon of Man… Heaven and earthwill pass away but my words willnever pass away.’ (Matthew24:27)

The Holy Founder of Islam(sa) hasused even more detail to describethe Latter Days as being filledwith irreligion, materialism andgodless pursuits. He referred tothe coming of the PromisedMessiah, as one who would findthe world filled with sin and faithhaving vanished and ascended tothe stars. At one time he said thateven if faith disappears and

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ascends to the stars, this PromisedMessiah will reach into the starsand bring it back and re-establishfaith in the hearts of men.

Today we are witnessing thefulfilment of those greatprophecies of the Bible, the HolyQur’an, the Hadith and other holyScriptures. The Latter Days havearrived with powerful fulfilmentof those prophecies. The verdictof our beloved Jesus(as) is clear. Itis our belief that the PromisedM e s s i a h( a s ) has appeared aspredicted. Syedna Hadhrat MirzaGhulam Ahmad(as) has appeared inthe likeness and spirit of Jesus(as),just as Jesus(as) described John theBaptist(as) to have come in thelikeness of Elijah(as).

The worldwide AhmadiyyaMuslim community recognisesthe fulfilment of Allah’spromises. We celebrate therighteousness of Mary and herImmaculate Conception. Wecelebrate the fulfilment of Allah’spromise to save Jesus(as) from theclutches of his enemies andestablish his truthfulness. Wecelebrate the fulfilment of his

prophecy as a Sign of Allah, tonot only survive like Jonah(as) butalso to gather the Lost Sheep as hepredicted. We celebrate the greatservice he has provided aboutgiving the glad tidings of thecoming of Prophet Muhammad(sa)

as recorded in various places ofthe Gospels. And today we creditJesus(as) for settling once and forall, the way to recognise thePromised Messiah.

Amidst the sea of controversy, ofmystery and false notions, theHoly Qur’an had emerged toremove the injustices and restore,with justice, the correct beliefs inthe heart of man. Beliefs whichwould appeal to the heart andbeliefs which would appeal to theintellect.

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I am from Malaysia and webelieve that by the time ImamMahdi comes to this world,Islam will be the stro n g e s treligion in the world. What isconfusing is that if we say thatthis religion is the stro n g e s treligion then why is it that forthe past three years whenBosnia was suffering attackfrom the Christian community,no Islamic country camef o rward to help? Why isAmerica involved instead?

Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru):You have asked two questions inone. The second question Iadvise you to address to SaudiArabia, to Kuwait, to Jordan, toSyria and to such other countriesyou are blaming for the absolutelack of interest in Muslim affairs.I am not answerable for whatthey do. I am answerable only onbehalf of the Ahmadiyyacommunity with our belief thatthe Imam Mahdi has come.

As far as your hearsay reportsabout Imam Mahdi suddenlytransforming the world of Islam

QUESTIONER

Belief andGuidance

Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, theF o u rth Head of the AhmadiyyaMovement in Islam, (God’s mercy beupon his soul), offered to people ofall nationalities, faiths and beliefs theopportunity of raising questions andissues that were of interest to them.Presented below are answers to somequestions that were raised in two

sessions held in London.

Compiled by Amatul Hadi Ahmad


into the most powerful people onearth is concerned, I disagreewith that view as false on thecount of contrary historicalevidence. No man who was everraised by God as a prophet or amessenger or a reformer broughtabout such a miracle in the world– not even the Holy Prophet(sa).Fourteen hundred years havepassed and still you yourself arequoting the example of theBosnians being Muslimscompletely helpless and laid atthe mercy of their non-Muslime n e m y. Here, it is not theChristians who have perpetratedany crime against them – that isalso wrong. Those who haveperpetrated the most horrid crimeagainst the Muslims are peoplewithout any religion – they arepractically atheist and morallydestitute. Why blameChristianity unnecessarily forcrimes committed by non-Christians!

Coming back to the question ofImam Mahdi, I remind you of thebasic fundamental principle thatGod has been enunciatedrepeatedly in the Holy Qur’an

[But thou wilt never find anychange in the way of Allah(Ch.35: V.44)] and that is God’sways in relation to mankind, inrelation to religion, have becomepart of human history and ofreligious history and you willnever see any change in theconduct of God in relation to theattitude of the people on earthand [the Holy Qur’an] repeatedlychallenges man to find one singleinstance where God changed Hisway and His attitude to theproblem. Whenever He raised aprophet, He chose a person who,whilst belonging to the strongersections of society, wasindividually weak and was neversupported by any powerfulgroup. Every prophet cameindependently as a single personyet he gained a followingthrough a very strong andpersistent struggle and endeav-our that he continued regardlessof the pressure of the enemyagainst him. The miracle whichis the Sunna of God, that is theway of God, in this case whichwas common to all prophets wasthat despite the fact that theywere neither supported by any

Beliefs and Guidance


powerful social group, economicgroup, religious group orpolitical group, yet theyinvariably emerged victorious.They achieved success through aslow process of change thatbegan with moral change andthat change itself was notbrought about by a spell cast bythe prophet. That change wasbrought about by humansacrifices. Each person whoanswered the call of the prophetaccepted a miserable life for thesake of truth. He was put into themill of torture and persecutionand the society that hadpreviously honoured him, nowtreated him as a low person andin this there is no inconsistencyin the ways of God, if you findout about those ways throughhuman history. From the time ofAdam(as) up to the time of theHoly Prophet(sa) this is the storyof the prophets repeated over andover again, exactly like this.U l t i m a t e l y, if people did notreform and rejected the prophetaltogether, then the people werewiped out, not the prophets.What happened to the people ofNoah(as)? What happened to the

people of Lot ( a s )? Religioushistory, as preserved in the HolyQ u r’an, is most reliable andunchangeable. How can you fityour concept of Imam Mahdi inthat history? Where can you fit itif you believe that somebody isDivinely appointed and with hissupernatural powers he destroysthe rest of the world and makesthose who share his views andhis religion conquerors of thewhole world? Why should thatbe so if those people arethemselves corrupt – if they areat least as corrupt as other peopleare? What justice would there bein God bringing about arevolution in favour of such apeople as you find in manyMuslim states? If you reallystudy the current history ofMuslim states you will find thatmost of the people living therehave become dishonest andcorrupt, indulging in all the illpractices that are to be found inthe rest of the world. Name acrime that is found elsewhere inthe world but is not found in aMuslim state. Why, therefore,one fine morning should theImam Mahdi appear and say, ‘All



right, do whatever you please –religion does not appear for thepurpose of revolutionisingmorals and conduct – religiononly comes to establish thesupremacy of one people and thatis all. Hence, I have come andyou shall emerge as victorious. Iwill hand over the keys of theworld to you and disappear backto nothingness’. Can you agreewith such a scheme of things? Itis impossible!

How did the idea of thephysical ascent of Jesus(as) enterthe Muslim ideology?

Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru):

The idea of physical ascent ofJ e s u s( a s ) infiltrated the Muslimworld very gradually. It wasabout three hundred years afterthe Holy Prophet(sa) of Islam thatit penetrated Muslim thinking.As to why it infiltrated Muslimthinking is a very importantquestion that needs to becarefully addressed.

The Holy Prophet(sa) of Islam had

prophesied that, some time in thefuture, Jesus Christ( a s ) w o u l d‘descend’ although he did notmention from where he woulddescend. He never stated that this‘descent’ would be from A s -Samaa, that is from the heavens,but he did state that Jesus ( a s )

would ‘descend’. The HolyQur’an states regarding the HolyP r o p h e t( s a ) himself that he‘descended’. The Holy Prophet(sa)

of Islam is the only Prophet whohas been referred in the HolyQur’an as having ‘descended’.The Holy Prophet( s a ) w a s ,therefore, fully supported byQur’anic usage of the term torefer to the future ‘descent’ ofJesus Christ ( a s ). Hence, hisstatement to the effect that therewould be no Prophet betweenhim and the time of ‘descent’ ofJesus Christ(as). It was because theword ‘Jesus’ was a personalname indicating the historicalJ e s u s( a s ) who had lived manycenturies ago that gradually theMuslim scholars came to believethat if Jesus Christ( a s ) i smentioned by name, it had to bethe one who appeared [inNazareth] among the followers

QUESTIONER



of Moses(as), that it had to be theperson of Jesus Christ ( a s ).Consequently, this idea becameso entrenched in their beliefs thatgradually it became part of theirdoctrine. Moreover, in order tojustify the notion of the ‘descent’of Jesus Christ(as), they also beganto claim that Jesus Christ(as) mustalso have ascended physically[up to heaven], their argumentbeing that he could not descendunless he had ascended in thefirst instance. They accepted hisascension up to heaven but in theprocess completely overlookedthe fact that nowhere in the HolyQur’an has it been mentionedthat Jesus Christ(as) was raisedbodily to heaven. The onlyreference that can be found in theHoly Qur’an that is similar tothis is the following verse thatstates:

On the contrary, Allahexalted him to Himself.(Ch.4: V.159)

That is to say, God did the Rafa’aof Jesus Christ(as) to Himself. We,the Ahmadis, point out that themisinterpretation of this verse

does not in any way help thecause of the Muslim scholarswho believe in the physicalascent of Jesus( a s ) because thequestion then arises as to wherewas God when He raised Jesus(as)

to Himself? Was not God presentwhere Jesus(as) was physically?Does God not occupy the entireuniverse? Was God not presentabove Jesus (as), below Jesus(as), tothe right of him and to the left ofhim? It is a fact that no body canmove physically to God as Godis not a physical body and bodiescan only move in the direction ofbodies. This is an inviolable law– it is as good today as it everwas. You can try the experimentyourself – that which is a bodycannot move towards a spirit. Abody can only move in thedirection of a body. Hence, theinterpretation given to the aboveverse by Muslim scholars, thatGod lifted Jesus(as) physically toHimself, would indicate that Godwas not present where Jesus(as)

was prior to his ascent, that Godwas somewhere in the heavens,in mid-universe. This wouldhave to be the result of theira rgument because if God had



lifted Jesus(as) to Himself, Godshould have continued liftinghim to the boundaries of theheavens. However, according tothe Muslim clerics, Jesus(as) wasleft somewhere in the middle ofthe heavens as if God occupiesonly that space! They do notunderstand because they areprejudiced. They want to prove apoint in which they already havean entrenched belief.

According to the Holy Qur’an,the word ‘Nuzool’ or ‘descent’does not indicate a physicaldescent and the word R a f a ’ adoes not indicate physical ascent.These are, in fact, Arabic wordsand as such their usage should beunderstood in accordance withthe Arabic lexicon. The wordRafa’a, or ascent in the directionof God, when used in the Holy

Q u r’an, does not imply aphysical ascent towards God.Neither has it been used by theHoly Prophet(sa) in his statementsregarding this subject with theimplication of physical ascent.The greatest R a f a ’ a was theascent of the Holy Prophet ( s a )

himself. However, it was not aphysical ascent but a spiritualone.

These are all aspects that need tobe considered further in greaterdetail but unfortunately theshortage of time in today’s venuedoes not permit this. However, Ihope the questioner willunderstand this issue from ourpoint of view that these ideasinfiltrated Muslim thought not inthe first few centuries of Islambut later on. The process ofinfiltration was further aided by


ACCORDING TO THE HOLY QUR’AN, THE WORD ‘NUZOOL’OR ‘DESCENT’ DOES NOT INDICATE A PHYSICAL DESCENT

AND THE WORD RAFA’A DOES NOT INDICATE PHYSICAL

ASCENT. THESE ARE, IN FACT, ARABIC WORDS AND AS SUCH

THEIR USAGE SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD IN ACCORDANCE

WITH THE ARABIC LEXICON


the Muslims who had convertedfrom Christianity. We alsobelieve that there was adeliberate attempt on the part ofthe hypocrites, that is thosepeople who became Muslims butin fact wanted to destroy Islamicvalues from within. Thiscombination of factors took theMuslim scholars onto a path thatcould never reach a resolution.Unfortunately, this is what wefind even today.

The fact is that Jesus Christ(as)

never ascended physically toheaven, hence, he would neverreturn by descending physically.To whose advantage – to theadvantage of the clerics who rulethe world of Islam as despots anddemagogues. Unless Jesus( a s )

returns, their authority cannot besnatched away from them andbecause such a Jesus wouldnever descend so they willcontinue to enjoy their despoticrule of the world of Islam as theyare doing today. Although theseissues are peripheral to thisquestion, they need to be pointedout. Consider for yourself thefact that the ascent of Jesus(as) has

no meaning. Prior to Jesus( a s ),God did not adopt the method ofphysical ascent to maintain thespiritual community. It has neverbeen the case prior to Jesus(as)thata person was raised, ascendingbodily and then descendingaccording to the wishes of thepeople of the time. How can suchan event occur now when it hasnever occurred before?

However, [to explain this issuemore fully] we can quote theexample of Elijah(as). The earlierScriptures state that Elijah( a s )

would one day descend bodily.The Scriptures are very clearabout this. Elijah(as) is assumed tohave ascended bodily to heavenand it is clearly prophesied thatElijah(as) would descend on thesame fiery chariot upon which heascended. All the Christianswould support this prophecy andthat it is clearly stated in theScriptures. However, whenJesus(as) claimed to be from God,the people around him askedabout Elijah(as). How could theybelieve in the so-called Christuntil Elijah(as) returned? It wasabsolutely right. Elijah( a s ) m u s t


‘descend’ before the advent ofChrist and they, quite rightly,asked where he was. In responseJ e s u s( a s ) pointed to John( a s ) t h eBaptist. He told the people thatJ o h n( a s ) the Baptist was theawaited ‘Elijah’ whether theywished to believe this or not.Hence, the issue has beenresolved once and for all. IfHadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

Sahib of Qadian is right in hisclaim that he is the spiritualmanifestation of Jesus( a s ), thenJ e s u s( a s ) is right [in hisinterpretation of earlier scripturesregarding Elijah( a s )]. If, on thecontrary, Hadhrat Mirza GhulamA h m a d( a s ) Sahib of Qadian iswrong, then Jesus(as) is wrong.They are both responding to thesame situation. I don’t know whyMuslim clerics seem unable tounderstand this. How can theyreject Hadhrat Mirza GhulamAhmad(as) Sahib and accept JesusC h r i s t( a s ) who had issued theverdict that people regardingwhom there is a truthfulprophecy about their ‘descent’back to this world at some laterperiod, would appear again butnever in the form of a physical

descent. The claim of such aprophecy is fulfilled in the formof another person who is bornamong the people of that time.The name of the parents of sucha person are different from thenames of the parents of theperson whose manifestation herepresents – even his own nameis different from the earlierperson, yet such a person fulfilsthe prophecy. It is true that theprophecy of the Holy Prophet(sa)

regarding the future Messiahstated that it was ‘Jesus son ofMary’ who would ‘descend’ andthis is no different from theearlier prophecy regarding the‘descent’ of Elijah(as). Hence, it isthis similarity between the twoprophecies and their claims thatprove that the Ahmadiyyainterpretation is correct.

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Firstly, I wish to thank everyonewho has spared time to take partin this Jalsa (Annual Gathering).However, I regret that because ofmy other commitments in thisJalsa, I may not be able to spendmuch time with you.

In the few minutes that I have, Iwish to present to you in thewords of the Founder of theAhmadiyya Muslim Community,Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ofQ a d i a n( a s ), his thoughts about whatreligion requires from us and thepurpose that prophets serve.

But before that let me provideyou with a translation of theverse of the Holy Qur’an Irecited earlier:

He has prescribed for you thereligion which He enjoined on

Noah, and which We havenow revealed to thee, andwhich we enjoined onAbraham and Moses andJesus, saying, ‘Remainsteadfast in obedience, and benot divided therein. Hardupon the idolaters is that towhich thou callest them. Allahchooses for Himself whom Hepleases, and guides toHimself him who turns toHim.(Ch.42: V.14)

The Purpose of ReligionThe Promised Messiah( a s ) h a ssaid:

‘Purpose of religion is thatman should purify one’s selfof all evil so that one’s soul isalways in prostration at thethreshold of Allah. A person


The Purpose of Religion and Prophets

The following address was made to special guests at the Annual Gatheringin Mannheim, Germany in August 2003 by Hadhrat Mirza MasroorAhmad, Khalifatul Masih V. After reciting Shahada and the openingchapter of the Holy Qur’an, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V recited Ch.42:V.14 of the Holy Qur’an.

should be imbued with firmbelief, love, discernment andunderstanding, sincerity andloyalty. A special reformationshould take place in him sothat he attains paradise in thisvery world.’(L e c t u re Sialkot, RoohaniKhazain Vol. 20 pp. 233-234)

The Promised Messiah(as) says:

‘It should be obvious that byadopting a faith, the trueobjective is that one shouldhave such firm belief in theGod Who is the Fountain ofsalvation that it is as if hebeholds God with his owneyes. The evil spirit of sinwishes to destroy man. Mancan never protect himselffrom the lethal poison of sintill he has total faith in aPerfect and Living God andtill he knows that there is aGod Who punishes the guiltybut rewards the rightly guidedwith everlasting happiness. Ithas generally been observedin our daily life that if aperson is convinced of thedestructive nature of some-

thing, he would never goanywhere near that thing. Forexample, no one deliberatelytakes poison. No one standsin front of a wild lion. No onewillingly sticks one’s hand ina snake’s pit. Then why doesa person knowingly commitsins. It is only because helacks the conviction he has inother things. So the foremostobligation of man is that heshould have a firm belief inGod. He should adopt thatreligion through which firmbelief can be acquired somuch so that he fears God andhe saves himself from sin.But how can such faith beacquired? Can it be achievedthrough myths or fables?Certainly not. Can it beobtained by dint of logic orsome conjecture? Never. So itshould be abundantly clearthat there is only one way ofacquiring belief and it is thatthrough communication withGod, a person should bearwitness to His extraordinarymiracles and by repeatedobservation, he shouldbelieve in the Omnipotence

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and Power of God or else heshould remain in thecompany of a person who hasalready reached that stage ofbelief.(Naseem Dawat, RoohaniKhazain Vol.19: pp. 447-448)

The Purpose of ProphetsProphets are sent to draw mancloser to God and to reform man.In this connection, the PromisedMessiah(as) says:

‘The purpose common to theadvent of all the prophets, onwhom be peace, is to establishtrue and real love of God andto create a respect for humanrights and an affection formankind and amongstbrethren. Until that isachieved, everything is just ar i t u a l . ’

Explaining this further, thePromised Messiah(as) says:

‘Indeed, there is no successuntil man keeps his affairswith God honest andtransparent and until he fulfilsthe two duties. There are two

types of duties, Haquq Allah,the obligation of man to hisCreator and Haquq Al’abad,the duty man owes to the restof Creation.’

‘The duty of man to man canalso be divided into twocategories. One, is towardsthose who have become yourbrothers in faith, whether heis a brother, father or a son.They all develop a specialbond of brotherhood ofcommon faith. The second isto carry a true sympathytowards all human beings.’

‘As far as the duty of man toGod is concerned, the mostimportant duty is to worshipand pray to Him and thatprayer should not be taintedwith any personal want. Infact, even if there were to beno heaven or hell, God shouldbe worshipped irrespectiveand there should be nod i fference in the personallove that the created shouldhave for its Creator.’(Malfoozat; vol. 2, pp. 67-68:published in Rabwah)

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The Promised Messiah(as) furthersays:

‘After a lot of thinking andreflection and followingrepeated revelation from God,it has become obvious to methat although there are manysects in this country andreligious differences haveinundated the land, there isonly one main cause for thesedifferences. The fact is thatspiritual powers and com-passion and the love of Godhas diminished in manypeople. That Divine light,which helps to distinguishbetween Truth andFalsehood, has begun to fadefrom many hearts and theworld is moving towardsatheism…The proof of this isthat the conduct is not what itought to be. Deeds do notmatch the words. I do notwish to criticise anyone whois secretly righteous. Butwhat is generally observed isthat the purpose for whichreligion has been madecompulsory is largely redun-dant. Most of the people do

not try to inculcate the truepiety of the heart, the truelove of God, and a sinceresympathy towards thecreation. They do not possessthose pure virtues and valuesthat are the heart of anyreligion like forbearance,mercy, justice, and humility.It is regrettable that whileconflicts and wars in thename of religion are on theincrease in the world,spirituality is on the decline.’( L e c t u re Lahore, RoohaniKhazain: vol. 20, pp.147-148)

Therefore it is important for abeliever of each religion toreflect that if his relationshipwith a Living God and hisspirituality has diminished orceased altogether and there is anendless pursuit of materialism,the believer should find out whatare the causes of this state ofaffairs. Is there something amissin the teachings of the prophets,which evidently cannot be thecase. Is there any error inunderstanding the religiousScriptures? Perhaps there issomething written in them but

61



without proper thought andcareful study, we accept someonee l s e ’s interpretation. May be,what different religions, differentscriptures and different prophetstaught have been altered with thepassage of time and theseinterpolations have become thecause for the lack of spiritualityand religious diff e r e n c e s .Therefore, I request you to thinkabout these matters seriously,because until you know andunderstand the basic teachings ofyour own religion, the veryteachings that were given by theprophets in their own time, youwill find it difficult to understandIslam.

The Muslim religious scripture,the Holy Qur’an, was revealed tothe Holy Prophet of Islam ( s a ).There is a declaration from Godin this Scripture that:

Verily, We Ourelf have sentdown this Exhortation, andmost surely We will be itsguardian.(Ch.15: V.10)

This claim is as truly established

today as it was 1400 years agoand not an iota has been changedin this Book.

If you study it yourself you willcome to the conclusion that itsteaching is the Word of God.Even the western orientalistsconcede this fact. ProfessorNoldeke, the great GermanChristian orientalist, acknow-ledged as the master in this art,writes:

‘Today’s Qur’an is the sameas it was at the time of thecompanions.’

He adds:

‘Efforts of European scholarsto prove the existence of laterinterpolations in the Qur’anhave failed’(Encyclopaedia Brittanica)

Sir William Muir writes:

‘To compare (as the Muslimsare fond of doing) their puretext with the various readingsof our Scriptures, is tocompare things between the

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history and essential points ofwhich there is no analogy.’(Introduction to the Life ofMahomet: Volume 1; Chapter1 under footnote 27)

If you notice any shortcomings inMuslims, it is because theirpractical conduct has movedaway from the true teachings.There is no shortcoming in theteachings of the Holy Qur’an. Itstill exists as magnificent as itwas before. The Founder ofAhmadiyya Community hasclaimed to restore theseteachings to their pristine purityand this Community is strivinghard to continue with this sacredMission.

In the end, I apologise once againfor the shortage of time at mydisposal. Naturally, manyquestions will arise in your mindabout what I have said.Therefore, you can contact theC o m m u n i t y ’s Centre thatbrought you here for anyinformation you require. GodWilling, your query will beentertained diligently.

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Contents October 2003, Vol.98, No - Review of · PDF filethe author examines the various ... standard legerdemain of card ... moral and spiritual discipline instituted by Islam