The Messiah and His Second Coming

I solemnly believe that Jesus (peace be upon him) is dead and is in the company of the departed ones. And why should I not believe this, when God Almighty has declared him dead in His Mighty Book, the Holy Qur’an. There is no mention anywhere in the Qur’an of his extraordinarily long life or of his second advent. Rather the Holy Qur’an declares him to be dead and says nothing more. I consider it an utterly false and vain notion that he is alive in his physical body and will appear in this world a second time. I believe this, not only on the basis of the revelations vouchsafed to me, but also because I know that it is opposed to the clear, conclusive and certain testimony of the Holy Qur’an.

Popular Beliefs About the Ascension

It is clear that Christians and the bulk of Muslims entertain the belief that Jesus (peace be upon him) ascended bodily to heaven. Both imagine that he is physically alive in heaven and will descend upon the earth sometime in the latter days. But there is one difference between the two doctrines. Christians believe that Jesus (as) died on the cross, came back to life, then ascended bodily to heaven and took his seat on the right hand of his Father and will descend to the earth to judge mankind in the latter days. They allege that Jesus is the God, the Creator and Master of the world, and that he will descend in glory at the end of the world to judge mankind. Then all those who have not accepted him or his mother as God will be seized and cast into hell where they will stay weeping and grinding their teeth. Muslims, on the one hand, allege that Jesus (as) was not crucified and did not die on the cross. He was not even nailed to the cross; rather, when he was apprehended by the Jews, an Angel of God carried him bodily to the second heaven where he abides alongside the Prophet Yahya (as) or John1. Muslims also believe that Jesus (as) was a revered Prophet of God and was neither God nor the son of God. They believe that he will descend in the latter days leaning upon two angels, near a minaret in Damascus, or at some other place, and that he and the Imam Muhammad Mahdi, who will have already appeared from among the descendants of Hazrat Fatima, will both join forces to slaughter all those who do not immediately accept Islam. In short, the Muslims who call themselves Ahl-e-Sunnah and also Ahl-e-Hadith, who are commonly known as Wahabis, say that the real purpose of the second advent of Jesus (as) is that, like the Mahadev of Hindus, he should destroy the greater part of the world. He will first warn people to become Muslims and if they resist he will put them to the sword.…

As regards Christians, the Muslim divines assert that, when Jesus (as) descends from heaven, he will break all the crosses in the world and will mercilessly drown the whole world in blood. Though Jesus (as) will himself be a Mahdi, indeed he will be the principal Mahdi, yet he will not be the Khalifa because the Khalifa must be from among the Quraish. Muhammad Mahdi will be the Khalifa. According to them, both of them will together fill the earth with human blood and will cause bloodshed unparalleled in the annals of the world. They will start killing as soon as they appear, without any admonition and without manifesting any sign. They allege that Jesus (as) will be a counsellor or minister of Imam Muhammad Mahdi who will be the ruler, but Jesus will constantly incite the Mahdi to bloodshed as if to make up for his previous teachings: ‘Resist not evil, and, being smitten on one cheek, turn the other cheek as well.’

Ahmadiyyah Belief About the Mahdi

My belief and the belief of the members of my Community is that the bulk of the Ahadith concerning the advent of the Mahdi and the Promised Messiah are utterly untrustworthy. These fall into three categories:

This is mentioned in the collection of Ibn-e-Majah, which is known by this very name, and is also comprised in Hakim’s Mustadrak, on the authority of Anas bin Malik. This Hadith has been narrated by Muhammad bin Khalid Jundi on the authority of Aban bin Saleh who related it on the authority of Hasan Basri who related it on the authority of Anas bin Malik who heard it from the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) This Hadith means that there will be no Mahdi except the person who will appear in the spirit of Jesus (as), and whose teachings will be like those of Jesus (as), because he will not physically resist evil nor fight; he will spread the truth through his holy example and through heavenly signs, and will be both the Promised Messiah and the Mahdi. This Hadith is supported by another Hadith comprised in the collection of Sahih Bukhari, which says:

This means that the Mahdi, whose other name will be the Promised Messiah, will put an end to all religious wars and will direct that there should be no fighting in the cause of religion and that religion should be propagated through the light of the faith, moral miracles and the signs of nearness to God. I, therefore, affirm that he who fights in this age for the sake of religion, or lends support to any such fighter, or—openly or secretly—counsels fighting, or entertains any such designs, is guilty of disobedience to God and the Holy Prophet (sas) and transgresses the limits, obligations and admonitions which are prescribed by them.

… I am the Promised Messiah who is Divinely guided, and who follows the morals of the Messiah (peace be on him.) Everyone should judge me with reference to these morals and should purge his heart of all ill will concerning me. A careful consideration of the teaching that I have set forth during the last twenty years, from Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya to Raz-e-Haqiqat, should testify to my inner purity. I can prove that I have spread these books as far as Arabia, Turkey, Syria and Kabul. I utterly repudiate the doctrine that Jesus will descend from heaven to fight the battles of Islam, or that anyone who calls himself Mahdi, and appears from among the descendants of Hazrat Fatima, will be the monarch of the time, and that the two of them will start a reign of bloodshed. God has revealed to me that all these speculations are false. Jesus (peace be on him) died long ago and lies buried in Mohalla Khanyar in Srinagar, Kashmir. Thus as the descent of the Messiah from heaven is disproved, the appearance of any warrior Mahdi is also falsified. Let him who thirsts for truth accept this.

My statement concerning the Promised Messiah, whose descent from heaven and second advent into the world is awaited, which God Almighty has disclosed to me by His grace and mercy, is that there is no mention in the Holy Qur’an of the second advent of Jesus. According to the Holy Qur’an, Jesus has departed from this world forever. Some Ahadith, which are replete with metaphors, predict the second advent of Jesus. Their context indicates that they do not predict the second coming of Jesus, son of Mary, but comprise metaphorical statements which mean that in an age that would resemble the age of Jesus, son of Mary, a person will resemble Jesus, son of Mary, in his temperament, power and function. As Jesus, son of Mary, had revived the religion of Moses (as) and had set forth afresh the true teaching of the Torah, which the Jews had forgotten, in the same way this second Messiah would revive the faith of the Prophet who was like Moses (as) and was the Seal of the Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) This Messiah of the Prophet who was the like of Moses (as) will completely resemble the Messiah of Moses (as) in the events of his life and in all other consequences that his people will experience on account of their obedience to him or their denial of him. God Almighty has revealed to me that I am that Promised Messiah.

Contradictions in the Popular Beliefs

According to their old ideas which have taken firm root in their hearts, the Muslims’ claim that Jesus, son of Mary, will descend from heaven near the eastern minaret of Damascus with his hands resting on the shoulders of two angels. Some of them say that he will descend on the minaret with the help of a ladder which the Muslims will provide for him, and the angels will then depart. He will be well dressed—he will not be naked—and will meet the Mahdi in that condition. His age will be the same as when he ascended to heaven, that is thirty-two or thirty-three years. Passage of years and months will not have affected his age or physique; nor will his hair and nails have grown; they will only become subject to change after his descent. He will not engage in fighting, but the disbelievers will die by the power of his breath alone, which, instead of reviving the dead as it formerly did, will now cause the living to die.

Here the clerics contradict themselves and assert that he will wage wars, and the one-eyed Antichrist will die at his hands. The Jews will also be killed by his command. They assert that he will be the same Jesus, son of Mary, who was a Prophet of God and who was bestowed the Gospel through Gabriel, and yet they allege that on his descent upon earth he will have lost his status of Prophethood and will only be a follower of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and will be bound by the law of the Holy Qur’an, like the Muslims, and will join them in their prayers. Some say that he will be a follower of the great Imam Abu Hanifa, but it is not specified which of the four Sufi orders, Qadri, Chishti, Suharwardi or Naqshbandi he will identify himself with. In short, they begin with describing him as a Prophet and then reduce him to a degree that no sensible person can ever contemplate. Then, converting his functions from their metaphorical description into physical activities, they allege that he will break crosses and slaughter swine. They do not explain what he will gain by breaking crosses. Even if he broke one or two million crosses, would the Christians, who are devoted to the worship of the cross, not make new ones in place of the broken ones? If the slaughtering of swine is also to be taken literally, will the principal occupation of the Messiah be that of hunting swine with a pack of dogs? If that is so, it will be a great day for Sikhs and some nomadic tribes like the Chamars, Sansis, Gondelas, etc., who are fond of hunting swine. But this activity of his will not in any way benefit the Christians, who are already very skilful in hunting swine. There are up to a thousand shops in London that sell the flesh of swine, and up to twenty-five thousand pigs are daily sent to the outlying areas of the city. The question is: is it worthy of a Prophet who has appeared for the reform of mankind to waste his time hunting pig, a disgusting animal, while even touching the pig is a grave sin according to Torah. A question also arises that—while hunting is a hobby of the idle—if the Messiah is still to be so fond of hunting, is there any dearth of such good animals as deer, caribou, rabbits, etc., that he should soil his hands with the blood of such a foul animal?

I have presented here a picture of the character and activities of the Messiah in his second advent, as conceived by the bulk of the Muslims. It is for sensible people to consider how unnatural, contradictory and inconsistent with the high status of Prophethood all this is. It should be remembered that none of this nonsense is mentioned in either of the two great compilations of Ahadith. Imam Bukhari has given no indication that the Messiah who is to come will be the same person as Jesus, son of Mary. On the contrary, he has narrated two actual sayings of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), which distinguish the Second Messiah from the first. The connotation of one of these Ahadith is that the son of Mary will appear from among you, and it further clarifies that he will be your Imam from within you.

One should carefully consider how the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), in order to remove any misunderstanding which may result from the name ‘son of Mary’, goes on to say: Do not take him to be the son of Mary himself, rather:

The other Hadith, which gives the same indication, is that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) described the features of the first and the second Messiah differently. His description of the features of the second Messiah fits me exactly. Is the clear distinction between the features of the two not enough to prove that the first and the second Messiah are in fact two distinct personalities?

It would not be without interest to mention that the Promised Messiah’s appearance was awaited by all Muslim sects and everyone was looking forward to the fulfilment of the prophecies predicting this event in the context of the repeated sayings of the Holy Prophet (sas). Many who were favoured with visions had intimated, on the basis of revelation, that the Promised Messiah would appear at the beginning of the fourteenth century of the Islamic era. The advent of the Promised Messiah is only briefly referred to in the Holy Qur’an, but it is mentioned so frequently in Ahadith, that it is unreasonable to deny its authenticity. Of all the prophecies made by the Holy Prophet (sas), this is the one that has been reported more than any other.…

It is a pity, however, that despite its frequent occurrence, the divines of this age of ignorance have gone utterly astray in construing this prophecy correctly. In consequence of their grave misunderstanding, they have inserted shameful contradictions into the body of this doctrine. On the one hand, they are compelled to believe, in accordance with the Holy Qur’an and true Ahadith, that Jesus (as) has died; and, on the other, they believe that he has not died and is alive in heaven in his physical body, and will descend to earth some time in the latter days. Again they hold, on the one hand, that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the last Prophet, and yet they also believe that a Prophet will come after him, namely Jesus (as) son of Mary. They believe on the one hand that the Promised Messiah will appear when the Antichrist has supremacy over the whole world, with the exception of Mecca and Medina. On the other, they are compelled to believe, in accordance with a true tradition narrated by Bukhari, that the Promised Messiah will appear at the time of the supremacy of the cross, that is to say at the time when Christianity will be dominant, and the power and the wealth of Christians will be greater than all others. Again, they believe that the Promised Messiah will not be the Mahdi and the Imam, rather some other person from the descendants of the Holy Prophet (sas) will be the Mahdi. In short, they set forth so many contradictions that they have created serious doubts about the very truth of this prophecy; for a collection of contradictions cannot be true, and sensible people cannot accept it at the cost of reason. That is why the newly educated section of Muslims, who judge everything by the criteria of nature, its laws and the dictates of reason, have been compelled to reject this prophecy despite its frequent occurrence. Indeed, if this prophecy can only be interpreted in a manner that would entail so many contradictions, then human reason, failing to reconcile them, would resolve the difficulty by rejecting the prophecy altogether. That is why those who are committed to nature and reason have rejected this great prophecy despite its frequency. It is a pity, however, that these people were hasty in their rejection of the prophecy, as no sensible person should reject a prophecy that is reported with such persistence and frequency as to guarantee its accuracy. The way of fairness and support of the truth was not to reject the prophecy, but to reject the interpretations put upon it by the foolish clerics which entail all manners of contradiction. It is the faulty reasoning of the dim-witted clerics which has misinterpreted a simple prophecy in such a way that it has become a myriad of contradictions which have bewildered every research minded people.

True Meaning of the Ascension and Second Coming of Jesus

God Almighty has now disclosed the true meaning of the prophecy, which is free from all contradictions and unreasonableness. He has thus furnished every fair-minded seeker of truth the opportunity to accept the prophecy and to look for its fulfilment, thus safeguarding himself against rejecting a clear and true prophecy.

There are great difficulties in interpreting this prophecy literally, for this would invite all manner of objections before the Messiah even descends from heaven. There is no need for us to get involved in these difficulties. Why should we seek to bring the son of Mary down from heaven and deprive him of his Prophethood? Why should we degrade him so that someone else should be the Imam and he should be the follower; and another should take the covenant of allegiance as the Imam and Khalifa while he should be a helpless spectator; and he should become a common Muslim, and dare not even mention his Prophethood?

Sensible people had no difficulty in understanding this prophecy as the holy words of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) clearly indicated that it did not mean the second coming of a Prophet of Israel himself; for he had repeatedly affirmed that there would be no Prophet after him. The Hadith

4 was so well-known that no one entertained any doubt about it. The Holy Qur’an, every word of which is conclusive and final, had also confirmed it in the verse

that Prophethood had come to an end with the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) Then how was it possible that anyone, with the status of an independent Prophet, should come after the Holy Prophet (sas)? Such an event would altogether disrupt the whole pattern of Islam. To assert, on the other hand, that Jesus (as) would come a second time, bereft of his Prophethood, would be the height of impertinence and shamelessness. Can a Prophet like Jesus (peace be on him), who is accepted of God Almighty and one of His favourites, ever be deprived of his Prophethood?

The 'Descent' or the 'Coming' does not mean the coming of the Messiah son of Mary; it is actually a figure of speech signifying the coming of someone resembling the son of Mary; and, in accordance with Divine intimation and revelation, it is the present writer—my own humble self—to whom it applies.

I am only too well aware that as soon as this view of mine, which is based on clear and definite revelation, is made public, many a hostile pen shall come alive and there will be a public outcry full of horror and rejection.…

There are two Prophets concerning whom it has been supposed, on the basis of the Bible, Ahadith and some scriptures, that they were raised bodily to heaven; one was John, whose name is also Elia or Elias, and the other is Jesus, son of Mary. Some of the books of the Old and New Testaments state, with regard to both of them, that they were raised bodily to heaven and will at some time be seen descending upon the earth. Some of the Ahadith also use similar expressions with reference to them. With regard to Elias, the Gospels state that the prophecy concerning his descent was fulfilled in the advent of John the son of Zachariah. Jesus clearly said: John is Elias who was to come. Let him, who will, accept. Thus the controversy regarding the physical ascent to heaven of one of them and his descent at some later time, was settled by a Prophet, namely Jesus, and his second coming was thus explained. The agreed Christian doctrine, in accordance with the Bible, is that Elias descended from heaven in the time of Jesus, when one possessing his power and spirit was born to Zechariah as his son and was named John. But the Jews still await his descent. They believe that he will descend physically from heaven....In any event, Jesus furnished the true interpretation of the expression ‘descent from heaven’ and the manner of the descent of Elias was settled. But with regard to Jesus, it is still asserted emphatically that he will descend physically from heaven wearing luxurious robes and in the company of angels. Christians and Muslims do not agree on the place of the descent, whether he will descend in Mecca, or in some church in London or the Imperial Cathedral in Moscow. Had not the Christians been impelled by age-old mischief, they could have appreciated more easily than the Muslims that the descent of Jesus should be in accord with the interpretation of descent furnished by Jesus himself….

The Christians also believe that Jesus entered heaven after his ascent. According to Luke, Jesus tried to comfort a thief with the assurance: ‘You will enter heaven with me today.’ Christians also believe that a person, however low his station, who is once admitted to heaven will not be expelled from there. Muslims also believe the same, as Allah the Glorious has said:

‘Those who are granted admission into Paradise will not be expelled therefrom.’

Though there is no express mention in the Holy Qur’an of the entry of Jesus into heaven, yet his death is mentioned at three different places. In the case of holy personages, death and entry into heaven are simultaneous, as is indicated by the verses:

they are made to enter paradise forthwith. It is now incumbent upon both Muslims and Christians to consider whether it is possible that a favourite of God, like Jesus, should be admitted to heaven and then be expelled from it. Would this not be contrary to the promise of God Almighty, which is clearly set out repeatedly in all holy books?...The disbelievers of Mecca had demanded from the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he should ascend to heaven and descend therefrom while they watched, and he was instructed to say:

This means that the wisdom of God Almighty does not permit the exhibition of such extraordinary signs in this world, since such exhibition would destroy the reality of faith in the unseen.

How can that which was not permissible in the case of the Holy Prophet (sas), who was the best of Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), be permissible in the case of Jesus? It would be the height of disrespect to hold that a situation was not permissible in the case of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and yet accept it as permissible in the case of Jesus. No true Muslim can be guilty of such impertinence.…

Our lord and master, the Seal of Prophets, has distinguished between the first Messiah and the second Messiah by declaring not only that the second Messiah would be a Muslim who is bound by the commandments of the Holy Qur’an, such as prayer and fasting etc., but he would be born in a Muslim home, would be the Imam of Muslims, would bring no new religion, would not claim any Prophethood apart from the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (sas), but also has described the differences in features between the first and the second Messiah. The features of the first Messiah as observed by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on the night of his spiritual ascent was: medium height, rosy complexion, curly hair and a broad chest. (See Sahih Bukhari, p.489.) But he described the features of the second Messiah as wheatish complexion and straight hair coming down to the ears (Bukhari.) Does this distinction in their features not clearly establish that the first Messiah and the second Messiah are distinct personages? The designation of both as son of Mary is a fine metaphor that has been employed to indicate resemblance in their temperaments and spiritual qualities.

Misguidance About Jesus Caused by the Antichrist

If you do not overlook the events of today, you will realize that the prevalent misguidance has been propagated by the Antichrist against whom every Prophet has warned, and whose foundation was laid by the Christian doctrine and the Christian people. It was therefore, necessary that the reformer of the age should be designated the Messiah, inasmuch as all corruption has proceeded from the followers of the Messiah. It has been revealed to me in a vision that Jesus was made aware of the poisonous atmosphere that has been spread in the world by the Christian people, in consequence of which, his soul was moved towards a spiritual descent and in its agitation, finding his people bent upon ruin, it desired a substitute on earth who should resemble him and should possess an identical temperament. Therefore, God Almighty granted him, according to His promise, one whose soul resembled his soul, upon whom were bestowed the resolve, character and spirituality of Jesus. A close relationship was established between him and Jesus as if the two had been fashioned out of the same jewel. The spiritual attention of Jesus made the heart of the other its resting place and desired to fulfil itself through him. In this sense his being became the being of Jesus and the passionate intentions of Jesus descended upon it, a descent that was metaphorically described as the descent of Jesus. It is a spiritual mystery that sometimes so firm a spiritual relationship is established between the holy ones who have passed away and those who are living, through the reflection of their attention and the unity of their thinking, that those in heaven regard those on earth as their spiritual substitutes. The designs generated in their hearts in heaven are correspondingly generated by God’s command in the hearts of their reflections on earth. A soul which is thus united with one on earth is bestowed the capacity to communicate its designs fully to that soul. This transfer takes place under Divine direction. This is the Divine way in which Prophets and the holy ones who have passed away descend upon the earth. It was thus that Prophet Elijah descended in the form of John the Baptist. This is also the true meaning of the descent of Jesus, which has been revealed to me. If anyone should still persist in denial I would be ready to enter into a Mubahalah [Prayer duel] with him.

Correct Meanings of Nuzul

It is asked: how can we reject the clear and obvious statements of the Ahadith which expressly state that Jesus, son of Mary, would descend from heaven near the eastern minaret of Damascus with his hands on the shoulder of two angels? The answer is that descent in this context does not mean descent from heaven in a physical body. The Ahadith do not even employ the word ‘heaven.’ The Arabic word Nuzul [descent] is commonly used to connote arrival. A person who arrives at one place from another is described as having descended at that place. For instance, it is said that an army or a camp has descended at such and such a place. This does not mean that the army or the camp have descended from heaven. The Holy Qur’an has also employed the expression Nuzul [descent] for the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It is also stated in a verse that iron has descended from heaven.9 It is thus obvious that this descent does not connote what people have imagined.

The word Nuzul is being deliberately misinterpreted. In the idiom of scriptures, he who comes from God is described as having descended from heaven (see John 1:38).10 The same is indicated in the verses:

Common people, whose thinking is earthy, interpret everything in a physical sense. They do not stop to reflect that as according to their conception Jesus will descend from heaven in the company of angels, in the same way they also believe that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had ascended to heaven in the company of angels, indeed there was also a burraq at his service. But did anyone observe the ascent and descent of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or did anyone see the angels and the buraq? It is obvious that the disbelievers did not see the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) being carried to heaven by the angels nor did they see him descending therefrom. That is why they asserted that the spiritual ascent of the Holy Prophet (sas) was not a fact. How misguided, therefore, are those who are waiting to see Jesus descend from heaven in the company of angels. If the Chief of the Prophets was not seen ascending to or descending from heaven, then will they see Jesus descending therefrom?

Did Abu Bakr Siddiq observe the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ascend or descend from heaven in the company of angels on the night of Me‘raj? Did ‘Umar Faruq enjoy the privilege of such observation? Did ‘Ali Murtada partake of such spectacle? Then who are you and what is your standing that you would see the Promised Messiah descending from heaven in the company of angels? The Holy Qur’an rejects the very idea of such a spectacle.

Muslims should beware of the dangerous situation in which the Jews placed themselves by insisting on the literal fulfilment of the prophecy concerning the second coming of Elijah. It is sheer folly to insist upon something of which there has been no instance before and the falsity of which has been repeatedly demonstrated. God Almighty has said:

‘Ask the Jews and the Christians for an example of the ways of Allah, if you do not know.’

The Hadith of Sahih Muslim which says that the Messiah would descend near the white eastern minaret of Damascus has throughout puzzled the scholars, for it is not clear what relationship Messiah has with Damascus.…

A little attention resolved this difficulty in my mind and it was disclosed to me, in a clear vision, that the intimation in the compilation of Abu Dawud that a person designated Harith or Harrath [a cultivator] ill appear is correct and is identical with the prophecy of the second advent of the Messiah and that both have reference to me.

It has been disclosed to me that the word Damascus in the prophecy means a town which is home to a people who resemble Yazid and think and act like him. Their hearts feel no love for Allah or His Messenger and they do not esteem Divine commandments. They worship their selfish desires and are so committed to the dictates of their evil egos, that they esteem the blood of the pure and the holy lightly. They do not believe in the hereafter; and the existence of God Almighty is for them a mystery which they cannot understand. Just as a physician is needed for the sick, it was necessary that the Messiah should appear among such people. It has been disclosed to me that the word Damascus here indicates a place which possesses this important characteristic peculiar to Damascus. The use of this word in connection with the place of the appearance of the Messiah is an indication that the Messiah does not mean Jesus who was given the Gospel but he is someone from among the Muslims who, in his spiritual condition, resembles both the Messiah and Imam Hussain.…

The word Damascus clearly indicates that Jesus in not the Messiah who was to come, but as the Yazidis resemble the Jews in the same way the Messiah who is to come resembles Jesus and possesses the temperament of Hussain. This is a very subtle point: the word Damascus has been used metaphorically. As the tragedy of Imam Hussain was an enormity in the estimation of God Almighty and resembled closely the tragedy of Jesus, as even the Christians would acknowledge, therefore, God Almighty desired that the coming generations may be apprised of its enormity and its resemblance to the tragedy of Jesus. Damascus has been metaphorically mentioned in this context so that the readers might be reminded of the time when the beloved grandson of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was, like Jesus, put to the sword most tyrannically by the wretches of Damascus. Thus God Almighty particularly mentioned Damascus, wherefrom such tyrannical directions had issued and which was the home of such hard-hearted and dark-minded people, as an indication that the place which resembled Damascus would now become the headquarter for the propagation of faith and justice.

I would now like to draw attention to the Hadith narrated by Abu Dawud in his compilation. It contains a prophecy that a person designated as Harith, or a cultivator, will appear from Transoxiana, that is to say, from the direction of Samarkand, who will lend support to the descendants of the Holy Prophet (sas) and it would be obligatory on every believer to help and support him. It has been revealed to me that this prophecy and the prophecy of the advent of the Promised Messiah, who will be one of the Muslims and will be their Imam, relate to the same event and both have reference to me. The prophecy that relates to the Promised Messiah has two special aspects. One is that through his true teaching he will reform the spiritual condition of the Muslims which will be utterly corrupt at the time of his advent and; he will totally remove their spiritual poverty and inner indigence and present them the jewels of knowledge, verities and comprehension in excess of their need. No seeker after truth from among them will remain spiritually poor and indigent. All those who hunger and thirst for truth will be provided in abundance with the wholesome food of truth and the sweet drink of comprehension. Their pockets will be filled with the pearls of true knowledge and they will be given phialae filled with the perfume of the true meaning of the Holy Qur’an.

The second special aspect of the prophecy, which relates to the advent of the Promised Messiah, is that he will break the cross, slaughter the swine and kill the one-eyed Antichrist. Every disbeliever who is touched by his breath will die instantly. The spiritual interpretation of this special aspect is that the Promised Messiah will crush under his feet all the glory of the religion of the cross, that he will destroy with the weapon of conclusive arguments those who are afflicted with shamelessness like swine, and who devour filth like pigs, and that he will wipe out with the sword of clear proofs the opposition of those who possess only the eye of the world and are bereft of the eye of the faith in place of which they have only an unsightly taint. Not only such one-eyed ones, but also every disbeliever who views Islam with contempt will suffer spiritual extinction through the glorious breath of Messianic reasoning. In short all these signs are metaphoric, the significance of which has been fully revealed to me. Some may not appreciate it at this time but after waiting for sometime, and despairing altogether of the hopes that they now entertain, all of them will accept it.

It is an absurdity to interpret literally the Hadith of Sahih Muslim which says that when the Messiah descends from heaven he will be wearing yellow robes. There appears no reason for this peculiarity. If this indication is interpreted according to the principles of the interpretation of dreams, it would mean that when the Promised Messiah announces his claim he would not be in good health.

The account of the Me‘raj [spiritual ascent of the Holy Prophet (sas)] set out in Bukhari, which describes his meeting with some of the Prophets, makes no mention that Jesus was there in his physical body. The meeting of the Holy Prophet (sas) with Jesus is described in exactly the same terms as his meeting with Abraham (as) and Moses (as). His dialogue with Moses (as) is set out in detail. There can, therefore, be no doubt that if on the basis of this Hadith Jesus (as) had been raised bodily to heaven so must Abraham (as) and Moses (as) have been bodily raised, inasmuch as the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw all of them in the same condition. He did not observe any particular dress or other sign of a bodily ascent about Jesus, which was not visible with regard to the other Prophets.

Nowhere does the Holy Qur’an mention the bodily ascent of Jesus to heaven. His death, on the other hand, is specifically mentioned at several different places. One of these contains Jesus’ own confession of his death:

As his death is established, it follows that his body must have been buried in the earth like the bodies of all dead people. The Holy Qur’an expressly states that it was his soul that ascended to heaven and not his body. That is why, in the verse just cited, he clearly acknowledged his death. Had he ascended to heaven alive in his physical body, he would not have said that he had departed the earth after his death. And, obviously, if it was only his soul which had ascended to heaven, then how can he possibly descend in his physical body?…

If we were to assume that he had ascended to heaven in his physical body, we would have to acknowledge that, like all human and animal bodies, his body must also be affected by the passage of time and that one day he must die. Thus he may have died in heaven having lived out his normal span of life and may have been interned in a graveyard on some planet which is now supposed to be capable of supporting human life. On the other hand, if we are to assume the impossible—that he is still physically alive, then, after the passage of so many centuries, he must have arrived at extreme old age and will no longer be capable of performing any religious function or service. His descent upon earth in such a condition would serve no useful purpose and would only put him to unnecessary travail.

Evidence Regarding the Death of Jesus

We have so many certain and conclusive proofs of the death of Jesus, son of Mary, that they cannot all be set out in this brief publication. Read the Holy Qur’an carefully and you will find the death of Jesus mentioned so clearly and definitely that it is not possible to interpret it otherwise. For instance, the Holy Qur’an reports the acknowledgement of Jesus:

Can we interpret the word Tawaffi in this verse as meaning sleep? Would it be right to understand this verse as meaning: Since Thou didst cause me to sleep Thou hast been the One to watch over them? Of course not. The only appropriate interpretation of Tawaffi in this context is the straightforward one of death; and the context does not permit us to interpret that death will occur after Jusus’ bodily ascent to heaven. This is because the question put to Jesus refers to the going astray of his people, which had happened after his supposed bodily ascent to heaven and had been completed before the advent of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

The Hadith also confirms the death of Jesus (as). On page 162 of the Commentary Ma‘alim it is mentioned on the authority of ‘Ali bin Talhah that Ibn-e-‘Abbas (ra) interpreted the verse:

to mean

i.e., ‘I will cause you to die.’ This is supported by other verses like:

Thus Ibn-e-‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, believed that Jesus had died. Our readers must be aware that Ibn-e-‘Abbas was among the foremost of those who comprehended the Holy Qur’an perfectly. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had prayed for him that he might be bestowed true knowledge of the Holy Qur’an.

It is for this purpose that Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him), has quoted the verse:

in Kitab-ut-Tafsir. In so doing, he intended to convey that the correct interpretation of the word Tawaffaitani is the one which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) attributed to it, that is to say, ‘Thou didst cause me to die’. In the following Hadith:

the Holy Prophet (sas) says that: “on the Day of Judgement some of my people will be driven to hell, and I will supplicate, ‘Lord! these are my companions’. Then it will be said to me, ‘You know not what they did after you’. Upon this I will say what a righteous servant of God, i.e., Jesus son of Mary, had said when he was asked: ‘Did you teach your people that they should worship you and your mother as gods?’ I will say what Jesus had then said: ‘I was witness over them while I was amongst them; but since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the One to watch over them.’” (Bukhari)

The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) meant that he would make the same affirmation as Jesus would make when he would be asked whether he had taught his people to take him and his mother as gods. In this manner the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) interpreted the expression Tawaffaitani as meaning death.

I put only one question to the clerics who differ with me on the question of the death of Jesus. Had they pondered over it sincerely, it would have been enough to guide them aright, but they did not ponder over it, as none was desirous of being rightly guided. My question is: Twice has Allah the Glorious, applied the expression Tawaffi in the Holy Qur’an with reference to Jesus (as); and the same has been applied to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); and it has also been used in the prayer of Joseph (peace be on him.) There are several other places where it has been used in the Holy Qur’an. Pondering over all these references, a just minded person would be satisfied that in each case Tawaffi connotes death and nothing but death. The expression Tawaffi has been used in hundreds of places in the Ahadith but nobody can show you a single occasion where it has been used to connote anything other than death. If an illiterate Arab were told Tuwuffiya Zaidun he would understand by it that Zaid has died. Whenever a companion or a relative of the Holy Prophet (sas) died, he always used the expression Tawaffi for the purpose of conveying that the person mentioned had died. When he himself died, the companions used the expression Tawaffi to convey that he had died. In the same way, this expression was used to indicate the death of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and all other companions of the Holy Prophet (May Allah be pleased with them.) The use of this word to indicate the death of a Muslim is an honourable way of conveying the news of his death. In view of all this, why is it that this expression, when used with reference to Jesus, should be interpreted in any other way?

In the idiom of the Holy Qur’an, the word Tawaffi has always been used in the connotation of death and taking possession of the soul. A minute study of Arabic prose and poetry—both ancient and modern—shows that wherever the expression Tawaffi is used for a human being, and the action is attributed to Allah the Glorious, Tawaffi invariably means death and taking possession of the soul. In this context, there is not a single instance, where this expression means anything other than taking possession of the soul. Those who are wont to refer to lexicons like Qamus, Sihah, Sarah, etc., have not found a single instance where, in the context that we have mentioned, any other connotation has been attributed to the expression Tawaffi. There is not the slightest indication of the possibility of any other connotation. Then I studied the books of Hadith to discover whether the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or his companions had on any occasion applied the expression Tawaffi to a human being in any other connotation than that of death and taking possession of the soul. I had to labour hard in this search. What I discovered on checking every page of the compilations of Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Tirmadhi, Ibn-e-Majah, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Darimi, Mu’atta’ and Sharh-us-Sunnah etc., was that the expression Tawaffi has been used three hundred and forty six times, and in no single instance has it been used, either by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or by his companions, to mean anything other than ‘death’, or ‘taking possession of the soul’. I have gone through these books with great care line by line, and I can say that on each and every occasion the expression Tawaffi has been used only in the connotation of death or taking possession of the soul. A careful perusal of these books also establishes that, from the moment of the Call and all through his life, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) never used the expression Tawaffi in any connotation other than death and taking possession of the soul.…

Imam Muhammad Isma‘il Bukhari has made a fine point in his compilation which indicates that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used the expression Tawaffi at least seven thousand times between his Call and his death, and every time he used it in the connotation of death and taking possession of the soul. Seekers after truth should be grateful to Imam Bukhari for this information.

If anyone can cite a single instance from the Holy Qur’an or Hadith, or from ancient or modern Arabic poetry and prose, that the word Tawaffi, when applied to a human being, God being the subject, has been used in any connotation other than death and taking possession of the soul, for instance, in the connotation of the taking the body, I bind myself on oath that I shall pay that person one thousand rupees in cash by selling some of my property and shall always hold him in high esteem as a great scholar of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith.

The Holy Qur’an clearly states that there never was a Prophet who did not pass away:

To conceive of Jesus as alive in the face of these verses, and to believe, contrary to the purport of the verse:

that Jesus is alive in heaven like the angels, without the need of food, would be to turn away from the Holy Word of God.

I again affirm that if Jesus is alive in heaven in his physical body, then the Divine reasoning set out in one of the above verses—that if the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were to die it would not be inconsistent with his Prophethood as all Prophets before him have been subject to death—would be accounted as defective and meaningless. Surely God Almighty is far above saying that which is not true and is against the facts.

This means that: ‘Those who are worshipped and called upon beside Allah cannot create anything but are themselves created. They are dead, not living. They do not know when they will be resurrected.’

Just see how clearly these verses affirm the death of all those human beings who were worshipped as gods by the Jews and Christians and some of the Arab tribes and to whom they supplicated. If you are still not convinced of the death of Jesus son of Mary, why don’t you simply admit that you are not prepared to believe in the Holy Qur’an?

Question: Though the Holy Qur’an affirms the death of Jesus, it does not specify when he died. Why not reconcile the Qur’an and Ahadith by adopting the position that Jesus will die after his descent upon earth?

Answer: The Holy Qur’an clearly says that Jesus died in the period when he was raised to reform the tribes of Israel which had gone astray; as Allah the Glorious, has said:

In this verse, ‘I shall cause thee to die’ precedes ‘I shall exalt thee’, which shows that death occurred before exaltation. A further proof is that Allah the Glorious, has said: After thy death I shall place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve (i.e., the Jews), until the Day of Judgement. All Christians and Muslims agree that this prophecy had been fulfilled before the advent of Islam, inasmuch as God Almighty had subordinated the Jews to Christians and Muslims, and they have continued in that condition of subordination for centuries. The verse cannot be construed to mean that such subordination will take place after Jesus returns from heaven.

That is: ‘God has enjoined upon me Prayer and almsgiving throughout my life and has made me dutiful towards my mother as long as I live.’

These commandments can obviously not be carried out in heaven. He who believes that Jesus was raised bodily to heaven will have to accept, according the above verse, that Jesus is still subject to all the commandments of the Torah and the Gospel, whereas this requirement cannot be fulfilled in heaven. It is also strange that, on the one hand, God Almighty should command Jesus to be dutiful to his mother throughout his life, but He should then separate him from her while he was still living; and that He should command him to give alms throughout his life, but should then convey him alive to a place where he cannot give alms himself nor can direct anyone else to do so; and that He should command him to observe Prayer, but should convey him far away from the company of the believers whose companionship was necessary for Prayer services. Did his bodily ascent to heaven have any other result than making him incapable of discharging his obligations towards his fellow beings and from carrying out the duty of enjoining virtue and forbidding vice? Had he continued to live on earth during these 1891 years, how beneficial his person would have been for God’s creatures! The only result of his bodily ascent to heaven was that his people went astray and he himself was totally deprived of the opportunity to carry out the functions of Prophethood.

We have established fully that the belief that Jesus had ascended bodily to heaven is not supported by the Holy Qur’an and true Ahadith. It seems to be based upon senseless and contradictory speculation. In this philosophical age, which is accompanied by cultured reason and sharpness of intellect, it would be a great mistake to hope for religious success on the basis of such doctrines. If these meaningless speculations were to be presented to the illiterate Bedouins of Arabia, or the inhabitants of the deserts of Africa, or the wild dwellers of the far off islands in the oceans, they might gain some acceptance; but we cannot hope to propagate among educated people such doctrines as are utterly opposed to reason, experience, laws of nature and philosophy. Moreover, they cannot be attributed to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); indeed they contradict the Ahadith. Nor can we present such doctrines as a gift to the scholars of Europe and America who are discarding the absurdities of their own respective faiths. How can those, whose hearts and minds have been developed by the light of new kinds of knowledge, accept such concepts which are disrespectful to God Almighty, denigrate His Unity, falsify His Law and abrogate the teachings of His Books?

The notion that Jesus will descend bodily from heaven is only a consequence of the concept that he was raised bodily to heaven. Therefore, we should first consider whether or not the primary factor can be established on the basis of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. If the basic factor is established, we will be able to accept that a person whose bodily ascent to heaven is proved could likewise descend bodily from heaven. But if the basic factor is not established on the authority of the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith and instead contradicts them, we cannot accept the accuracy of the alleged consequence. And if there should be any Ahadith whose purport might be indicative of such consequential proposition, we would try to reconcile them to the basic factor.

When the Muslims of our time affirm the death of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his burial on earth, and at the same time affirm that Jesus is still alive, they furnish the Christians with a written acknowledgement that Jesus possessed qualities different from those of the common man and also different from all the Prophets. If it were true that while the Best of Mankind (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who appeared six hundred years after Jesus, died after a brief life thirteen hundred years ago, yet Jesus has not yet died, would it not prove that Jesus possesses qualities that are superhuman? Though the Muslim divines of these times formally reject every form of association of partners with God, yet they lend their full support to those who are guilty of such association. It is an outrage that while Allah the Glorious, in His Holy Word, proclaims the death of Jesus, these divines create countless difficulties in the way of Islam by adhering to the notion that he is still alive. They acknowledge Jesus as ever-living and self-subsisting in heaven, and affirm the death and burial upon earth of the Chief of the Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! The Holy Qur’an records the testimony of Jesus to the effect:

That is: ‘I give glad tidings of a Messenger who will come after me (i.e., after my death,) whose name will be Ahmad.’

Hence, if Jesus is still bodily alive, it follows that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has not yet appeared on earth.

It is absolutely wrong to say that Jesus (peace be on him) has ascended bodily to heaven. There is no proof of this in the Holy Qur’an nor in Ahadith, nor can reason accept it; indeed the Qur’an and the Hadith and reason all three reject it. The Holy Qur’an has clearly said that Jesus (peace be on him) has died, and the Hadith narrating the Me‘raj [Spiritual Ascent] of the Holy Prophet (sas) informs us that Jesus (as) has joined the souls of the departed Prophets (peace be on them), and has cut asunder completely from the earth. Reason tells us that it is not the way of Allah that a mortal body should ascend to heaven and, discarding all the characteristics of earthly life like eating and drinking etc., should join the souls who have suffered bodily death and have arrived in the hereafter. Reason can furnish no such instance. Moreover, as the belief that Jesus (peace be on him) ascended bodily to heaven is inconsistent with the Holy Qur’an, so is the doctrine of his bodily descent inconsistent with the Holy Qur’an.

and proclaims the end of normal Prophethood after the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and clearly affirms that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is Khatam-ul-Anbiya’ by stating:

But those who insist on bringing Jesus (peace be on him) back to the earth believe that he will return with the status of a Prophet and for forty-five years Gabriel shall continue to convey Prophetic revelation to him. What room does this doctrine leave for the belief that Prophethood ended with the Holy Prophet (sas)? According to them it is Jesus who is the Khatam-ul-Anbiya’.

The citation by Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), on the occasion of the death of the Holy Prophet (sas), of the verse:

shows that he believed Jesus (peace be on him) to be dead. If this verse is to be construed to mean that some Prophets had died before the advent of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and some were still living, then it would not support the reasoning of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra), as it would not be an authority for the death of all previous Messengers. Yet none of the companions of the Holy Prophet (sas), who were all present on the occasion, took exception to the reasoning of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra), which shows that it was supported by the consensus of the companions, which is held as binding and can never err. One of the many favours that Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) bestowed upon the Muslims is that during his rightful Khilafat he opened the door of truth and accuracy to deliver them from the error that was to arise in later times and erected such a strong barrier against the flood of misguidance as cannot be demolished by the divines of this age even if they were assisted by all the Jinns. So we pray that God Almighty may shower thousands of blessings on the soul of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) who conclusively settled, on the basis of pure Divine revelation, that Jesus had died.

The Holy Qur’an has categorically said that Jesus (peace be on him) had died. The verse:

clearly establishes that Jesus (peace be on him) died. Sahih Bukhari furnishes proof on the authority of Ibn-e-‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that, in this verse, the expression Tawaffi connotes death. It is utterly wrong to suggest that the expression Tawaffaitani, which is in the past tense, should be construed to indicate the future, that is to say, that Jesus (as) had not yet died but would die in the latter days. The purport of the verse is that Jesus (as) would submit that his people did not go astray in his lifetime but were led astray after his death. If it is assumed that Jesus (peace be on him) is not dead, it will also have to be acknowledged that the Christians have not yet gone astray, because the verse clearly states that they went astray after the death of Jesus (as). Only those who are utterly bereft of faith can deny such express authority.

Seeing that the Holy Qur’an affirms the death of Jesus (peace be on him) and designates the Holy Prophet (sas) as the Seal of Prophets, and Hadith confirms both these verities and also states that the Messiah who is to come will be one of the Muslims, the question arises as to how such a consensus could have reached that Jesus (as) would descend bodily from heaven in the latter days? The answer is that there never was such a consensus, and anyone who claims to the contrary must either be extremely stupid or dishonest. The companions of the Holy Prophet (sas) were in no need of looking into the details of this affair. According to the verse:

they believed that Jesus (as) had died. That is why when Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), perceived at the time of the death of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that some people were in doubt concerning his death, he emphatically affirmed that all Prophets had died and no one of them was alive. He recited the verse:

Not a single person questioned his statement. Then there is Imam Malik, a great Imam, a reputed scholar of the Qur’an and Hadith and a righteous one; he believed that Jesus (as) had died. So did Imam Bin Hazam whose high status is well known, and so did Imam Bukhari whose compilation of Ahadith is known as the truest book after the Book of God. In the same way, the learned Muhaddathin and commentators Ibn-e-Taimiyyah and Ibn-e-Qayyim, who were the Imams of their respective ages, believed that Jesus (as) had died. The Chief of the Sufis, Sheikh Mohy-ud-Din Ibn Al-‘Arabi very clearly stated in his commentary that Jesus (as) had died. The same has been the case with leading scholars, Muhaddathin and commentators. All the Imams and scholars of the Mu‘tazila held the same view. It would, therefore, be a daring invention to say that the bodily ascent of Jesus (as) to heaven and his expected descent has been a matter of consensus. These are the beliefs of the people of the time when thousands of innovations had found their way into Islam. These were the middle ages which are described by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as Faij-e-A‘waj39. It is concerning these people that he said:

In adopting such a belief, they transgressed from the Holy Qur’an in four ways. They cannot cite any verse or any Hadith in support of the fiction that Jesus (as) had ascended bodily to heaven. They deceive the common people by adding the word heaven to the word Nuzul, whereas it does not occur in any Hadith whose accuracy is beyond doubt. In Arabic, the word Nuzul merely means ‘arrival’, like the arrival of a traveller. In our own country, the equivalent of Nuzul is used for the arrival of a stranger and no one has the slightest notion that such a one descends from heaven. A thorough search of the books of Hadith of all Muslim sects would not produce a single Hadith of any kind stating that Jesus (as) had ascended bodily to heaven and would return to earth in some later age. If anyone should set forth such a Hadith, we are prepared to pay him as much as twenty thousand rupees as penalty; we shall also publish a confession of our mistake and burn all our books. Let anyone who wishes come forward to satisfy himself.

That Jesus, son of Mary, will appear in the world by way of transmigration of souls is the worst and most shameful of notions. Those who believe in the transmigration of souls, believe that only an impure person would return to this life, but that those who leave the world, having completed all stages of spiritual perfection, would stay in the house of salvation for a long time. Moreover, according to our belief, God Almighty has promised that those who are admitted to heaven would never be expelled therefrom. It surprises us as to why our divines would want to bring Jesus out of paradise. They relate the tale that Enoch, with the permission of the angel of death, stepped into paradise, and when the angel asked him to come out he refused to do so and recited the verse:

still they assert that Jesus will return to earth from heaven. Would he not be entitled to benefit from this verse? Is this verse to be considered abrogated in reference to him?

True Status of Jesus

I do not deny the high status of Jesus (as), despite the fact that I have been informed by God that the Muhammadi Messiah occupies a higher status than the Mosaic Messiah. I hold Jesus son of Mary, in high esteem inasmuch as I am spiritually the Khatam-ul-Khulafa’ in the Islamic dispensation, just as Jesus was Khatam-ul-Khulafa’ in the Israeli dispensation. In Mosaic dispensation the son of Mary was the Promised Messiah and in the Islamic dispensation I am the Promised Messiah; so I honour greatly the one whose name I bear. Anyone who asserts that I do not hold Jesus son of Mary in high esteem is a mischief-maker and a liar. I honour not only Jesus son of Mary but also his four brothers as they were all sons of the same mother. I also regard his two real sisters as holy, for they are all the children of the holy Mary.

Our readers should remember that in dealing with the Christian religion we have to adopt the same form of exposition as they adopt against us. The Christians do not believe in the Prophet ‘Isa (peace be upon him), who called himself a servant of God and believed in the righteousness of previous Prophets and had faith in the advent of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and had even made a prophecy concerning him. They believe in someone called Jesus, who is not mentioned in the Qur’an, and assert that he claimed to be God and designated previous Prophets as robbers etc. They also assert that he vigorously denied the truth of our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and prophesied that only false Prophets would appear after him. The Holy Qur’an has not directed us to believe in any such person, but has clearly affirmed that anyone who claims to be God shall be consigned to hell. That is why, when speaking of the Jesus of the Christians, we have not spoken with such respect as is due to a righteous person. Had he not been blind, he would not have said that only impostors would follow him; and had he been good and faithful, he would not have claimed to be God. Our readers should not be misled into thinking that some of the harsh words that we have employed concerning him were intended for Hazrat ‘Isa (peace be on him.) They have been written concerning the Jesus of whom there is no mention in the Qur’an or the Hadith.

I regret to say that I have had to publish this issue of Nur-ul-Qur’an in response to a person who instead of referring to our lord and master, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with respect, has vituperated him and has, out of his personal vileness, uttered so many calumnies against the Leader of the Righteous and the Chief of the Purified that a pure hearted person trembles at hearing them. In dealing with such a person, we had to adopt a severe tone.

I declare that my belief concerning the Messiah (peace be upon him) is an excellent belief. I hold sincerely that he was a true Prophet of God Almighty and was a loved one of His. I also believe, as the Holy Qur’an tells us, that he believed sincerely in our lord and master Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as the means of his salvation. He was a sincere follower, out of many hundred such followers, of the Law of Moses (peace be on him.) I, therefore, give him all the respect due to his to his exalted status. But the Jesus presented by the Christians—who claimed to be God and considered everyone but himself to be accursed, i.e., he considered them guilty of such vices the punishment of which is a curse—is, in my view not entitled to the mercy of God. The Holy Qur’an has not made any reference to such an impertinent and vile tongued Jesus. I am shocked by the conduct of one who believed that God could be subject to death and claimed godhead for himself and vilified such righteous ones as were a thousand times better than him. In dealing with Christians I have throughout had that fictitious Jesus in mind. The humble servant of God, ‘Isa, son of Mary, who was a Prophet and who is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an is not the one against whom my harsh words are directed. I have adopted this method after enduring, for forty years, the abuse which Christian missionaries have hurled against the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) Some foolish Maulavis, who should rather be called blind, think that Christians have never reviled the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) But the truth is that the Christian missionaries are in the forefront of those who refer to the Holy Prophet (sas) with contempt and defame and abuse him. I have a stock of books by Christian missionaries which are full of abuse of the Holy Prophet (sas). And whoso desires can come and inspect them. I declare that I shall henceforth deal respectfully with any Christian missionary who, discarding the method of abuse, adopts a respectful style of exposition. By having recourse to abuse, they themselves make their fictitious Jesus a subject of criticism. We have become weary of their abuse. If someone abuses another’s father, would the wronged one not be justified in abusing the offender’s father? What I have said is not abuse but a fact.

Objections Against Jesus

The wretched Jews of the time of Jesus (peace be upon him) planned his ruin and conspired to impose upon his righteous soul the curse of death upon the cross, as the Torah has declared that he who dies upon the rood would be accursed, which means that his heart would become vile and estranged from God and he would be rejected by God like Satan. That is why Satan is called the accursed one. This was an evil scheme which had been thought out with reference to the Messiah (peace be upon him) so that the people should conclude that he was not pure hearted and a true Prophet and a loved one of God but was accursed whose heart was vile, and that he was disgusted with God and God was disgusted with him. But God Almighty frustrated the wicked design of the Jews and not only rescued his righteous Prophet from death on the cross, but bestowed a long life of one hundred and twenty years upon him, during which all his Jewish enemies were destroyed. According to the eternal ways of God Almighty, every Prophet with a high resolve has to migrate on account of the persecution by his people. Therefore, Jesus (peace be upon him) also, after a ministry of three years, and having been rescued from death on the cross, migrated towards India. Having conveyed the Divine message to the other tribes of Israel, who, after the Babylonian dispersal, had settled in India, Kashmir and Tibet, he finally died in Kashmir and was honourably buried in Mohalla Khanyar of Srinagar. His tomb is quite famous.

The Jews raise such strong objections concerning Jesus and his prophecies, that it is difficult for us to refute them. All we can say is that Jesus was undoubtedly a true Prophet, because this is what the Holy Qur’an says. We have no other proof of his Prophethood. On the contrary, there can be several arguments in refutation of his Prophethood. It is the beneficence of the Qur’an that he is included among true Prophets. That is why we believe that he was a Prophet, a chosen one of God and free from the calumnies which the Jews had uttered against him and his mother. It appears from the Holy Qur’an that there were two principal charges against him:

The Torah declares that a person of illegitimate birth is accursed and will not be admitted to heaven nor will he be spiritually exalted. It was also written that he who dies on the cross will be accursed and will not be spiritually exalted. These are grave charges indeed! The Holy Qur’an has refuted them together in the same place:

The meaning of these verses, in brief, is that: ‘Jesus was neither of illegitimate birth nor did he die on the cross. It was mistakenly believed that he had so died. Hence he was accepted of God and was spiritually exalted like the other Prophets.’

There is no mention of his bodily ascent to heaven, as the Maulavis would allege. The whole controversy was simply about his spiritual exaltation.

The Holy Qur’an affirms his righteousness, but it is a pity that his prophecies are strongly criticized by the Jews and we have no answer to their criticism. We accept him sincerely as a true Prophet because the Holy Qur’an so affirms; we have no other proof of his Prophethood. The Christians exalt him to godhood while there is little proof even of his Prophethood.

If we were to rely solely upon the available record, it would not be possible to establish the Prophethood of Jesus. On the contrary, he would be charged with falsehood and imposture. For instance, he whom he represented as the Prophet Elias denied that he was Elias. But as the Holy Qur’an affirms the Prophethood of Jesus (as), we believe in him as such and regard his rejection as patent disbelief.

Jesus (peace be upon him) has been a victim of the misguided in a strange manner. During his lifetime the disbelieving Jews called him an infidel, liar, deceiver and impostor and denied his spiritual exaltation. When he died, those who were inclined towards the worship of man deified him. The Jews denied his spiritual exaltation and were countered with the doctrine of his physical ascent to heaven. Previous Prophets were exalted to heaven spiritually after they had died, but Jesus was declared to be seated in heaven bodily in his clothes and with all human qualities while he was still alive. This was a reply to his persistent rejection by the Jews and their denial of his spiritual exaltation, but it was an altogether absurd reply.

A certain person named Hidayatullah has published a pamphlet in which he has accused me of denying the miracles of Jesus (as). In doing so, he has sought support from some paragraphs of my book Izala-e-Auham. Remember, such people are the victims of their own short sightedness and lack of intelligence. I do not deny the miracles of Jesus (peace be on him); there is no doubt that he did work some miracles. The Gospel accounts of those miracles raise certain doubts about them, for instance, the reference to a certain pool, whose water possessed healing qualities, and the repeated affirmation of Jesus (as) himself that he was not a worker of miracles. Yet we are not concerned with the Gospel; the Holy Qur’an shows that he had been vouchsafed some signs. It is, however, a mistake on the part of our careless divines that they attribute certain qualities to Jesus wherby he used to fashion, like the Creator of the universe, the frame of a bird and made it alive by breathing into it so that it flew away, and he revived the dead with the touch of his hand, and he had knowledge of the unseen, and he did not suffer death and he is present in heaven in his physical body. If all that is attributed to him were true, then there would be no doubt about his being the knower of the unseen and reviver of the dead. If, on these premises, a Christian were to argue that Jesus was God on the basis of the proposition that the existence of the qualities of a thing is proof of the existence of the thing itself, then what answer would the Muslims give to such a claim? It would be a misinterpretation of the Holy Qur’an to affirm that these miracles occurred as a result of prayer. The Holy Qur’an does not mention any prayer in connection with the flight of something that was fashioned in the shape of a bird and was breathed into, nor does it state that such a shape became alive. It is not permissible to add something to the Divine Word from oneself. This was the kind of perversion on account of which the Jews were cursed. Ma‘alim-ut-Tanzil and several other commentaries only state that those shapes flew for a short while and then fell to earth. As there is no proof that they possessed life, we can only assume that they were figures made out of clay which flew about like toys by some human contrivance and under the spiritual influence of a Prophet; for, an affirmation of true creation on the part of Jesus would amount to a grave mischief and an association of partners with God. If all that is desired is proof of a miracle it is enough of a miracle for a lifeless thing to fly about for a short while. If it is alleged that any verse of the Holy Qur’an affirms that the shape of clay was invested with life or that there is historical proof that those shapes became alive and laid eggs and hatched birds and many of their race are in existence today, then a proof must be produced of such assertions. The Holy Qur’an affirms that even if the whole world joined together to create a fly it would not be able to do so, because in such a case it would become God’s partner in creation. It would be equally absurd to affirm that God Almighty had permitted him to create birds. This would be preposterous, as there is no contradiction in the Word of God, and He does not bestow such permission upon anyone. God Almighty did not bestow upon the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) permission to create even a fly. Then how could the son of Mary obtain such permission? Fear God, and do not seek to convert allegory into physical reality.

Miracles of Jesus

Certain Muslim sects believe that Jesus used to fashion different types of birds and used to invest them with life by breathing into them. On this basis I have been asked that as I claim to be the like of Jesus I should also fashion a bird and make it come alive by breathing into it. It is alleged that millions of birds created by Jesus fly about everywhere and that the like of Jesus should also create some birds.

The answer to all these superstitions is that the verses on which they are based are allegorical and it is the height of faithlessness and patent repudiation of the basic values of Islam to construe them as meaning that God Almighty had deliberately associated Jesus in His attribute of creation; inasmuch as it would be a negation of the Godhead to believe that God Almighty should invest someone else with His special attributes and His Divinity. One of these people was asked if he could distinguish those birds that had been created by God from those that were created by Jesus, but he confessed by remaining silent that he was unable to do so.

The doctrine that some birds are the creation of God Almighty and some are the creation of Jesus is altogether vicious and amounts to polytheism. Anyone holding such a belief cannot be a Muslim….

The miracles of Prophets are of two types. One are heavenly manifestations, in which human design and reason have no part, such as the splitting of the moon, which was a miracle of our lord and master, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and was manifested by the limitless power of God Almighty as a sign of the greatness of a righteous and perfect Prophet. Secondly, intellectual miracles, which are manifested through the extraordinary intelligence of a Prophet and which resemble Divine revelation. For instance, the miracle of Solomon (as), which was manifested in the shape of:

It appears that this miracle of Jesus was purely intellectual like the miracle of Solomon. History reveals that in those days people were inclined towards the useless pursuit of sleight of hand, which astonished the common people. People like those who, in the time of the Pharaoh, used to manipulate the forms of serpents and other animals and made them move like living animals, had by the time of Jesus spread into the land of the Jews who had learnt magical tricks from them as is also indicated in the Holy Qur’an. It is, therefore, not a matter of surprise that God Almighty may have instructed Jesus in some method whereby a toy fashioned out of clay could be manipulated by pressing a spring or breathing upon it so as to fly like a bird or to move on its feet. Jesus had worked with his father Joseph for twenty-two years as a carpenter, and carpentry stimulates a man’s mind towards inventing different kinds of machines and mechanical instruments.

Miracles are granted to a person in accord with the faculties that he possesses. As the spiritual faculties of our lord and master, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were well developed in the appreciation of spiritual verities, he was accordingly bestowed the miracle of the Holy Qur’an, which is comprehensive of all verities and understandings of the Divine. It should, therefore, not be a matter of surprise if Jesus displayed an intellectual miracle to his opponents, like the one displayed by his ancestor, Solomon (as). Such a miracle is not beyond the reach of the intellect inasmuch as in our own time many mechanical experts are able to fashion birds that speak and move and wag their tails. I have also heard that some mechanical birds can even fly. Many such toys are manufactured in Bombay, Calcutta, Europe, America and every year new one are introduced into the market.

As the Holy Qur’an often employs metaphors, these verses can be construed to mean that birds signify the illiterate and simple people whom Jesus chose as his companions, who were like birds under his care, and into whom he breathed spiritual guidance whereby they began to fly.

Moreover, it is possible that such wonders might be performed like a pastime through hypnosis. Those who are experts in ‘amal-ut-tirb [psychokinetic exercises] can, by directing the warmth of their spirits towards certain objects, make them appear as if they were alive. The human soul possesses the capacity of directing its warmth upon a lifeless object so as to make it move as if it was alive. I have seen some practitioners of this phenomenon, who so warmed a wooden tripod by the touch of their hands through the exercise of their animal spirit that it began to move, and though several people mounted on it, it could not be stopped....It should be remembered that such an object which is fashioned out of clay or wood and is warmed by a spirit through ‘amal-ut-tirb does not become alive. It remains solid and lifeless; it is only made to move by the warmth of the spirit of the mesmerist.

It should also be remembered that the Holy Qur’an does not affirm the movement or flight of such birds, nor their coming to life. It should also be kept in mind that curing diseases and influencing objects with the warmth of the spirit are all branches of mesmerism and there have always been people who healed the paralytics, the lepers and those suffering from tuberculosis through spiritual exercises … It has been conclusively established that, under Divine direction, Messiah, son of Mary, was an expert in mesmerism, like the Prophet Isaiah, though he was not as great an expert as the latter, because even the bones of Isaiah performed the miracle that when they were brought into contact with a corpse, it came back to life; but the corpses of the two thieves who were nailed to the cross at the same time with Jesus were not revived through contact with his body. In any case, these mesmeric activities of Jesus were in accord with the thinking of his age for a special purpose. It should, however, be kept in mind that mesmerism is not worthy of such appreciation as the common people imagine. Had I not looked upon it with contempt and disgust, I could, by the grace of God Almighty and with His support, have performed the same wonders as were performed by Jesus. But I prefer the spiritual method that was followed by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) Jesus had adopted this method under Divine direction in view of the earthy and low thinking of the Jews, which had become their second nature. In truth he was not fond of this method.

One evil characteristic of this physical practice is that a person who continues to employ his emotional and intellectual faculties to heal physical maladies suffers a serious decline of the spiritual capacities, which heal spiritual ills through their influence, and is not able to achieve any remarkable success in illumining and purifying souls. That is why Jesus, who healed those afflicted with physical ailments with this method, was not able to achieve any noticeable success in impressing hearts with guidance and the Unity of God and steadfastness of faith. But the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who did not pay any attention to physical matters, and concentrated on stimulating spiritual guidance in the hearts of his people, was most successful in purifying the souls and helped thousands of God’s creatures to achieve it to the highest degree. He achieved matchless success in the spiritual reform of mankind and in bringing about inner change. The dead, whom Jesus revived by the practice ‘amal-ut-tirb, died within a few minutes, as the warmth of the spirit and its life was only temporarily stimulated in them, but those who were spiritually revived by our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) shall live forever.

My designation of mesmerism as ‘amal-ut-tirb, in which Jesus had acquired some proficiency, is under Divine direction. God Almighty disclosed to me that this art is ‘amal-ut-tirb, and it is concerning this that I received the revelation:

It must be realized that God Almighty is Unique in respect of every one of His attributes and does not associate anyone in them. The emphasis which the clear and unambiguous verses of the Holy Qur’an give to this subject is well known. As Allah, hallowed be His name, says:

That is: ‘God is He Who alone owns the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He has no partner. He has no son nor has he any partner in His kingdom. He has created everything and has placed limits on their bodies, their power, and their life. The pagans have taken gods— beside that True God—who have not created anything and are themselves created. They do not determine any harm or benefit for themselves and do not control life nor death nor resurrection.’

God Almighty has here clearly affirmed that there is no Creator besides Him. In another verse, it is stated that the whole world together cannot create even a fly. Then it is stated that no one beside Him has control over death and life and resurrection. Had it been His way to associate any one of His creatures in these attributes, He would have made an exception of them and would not have taught His absolute Unity.

It may be asked why then has Allah the Glorious, employed the expression, ‘You will create’ with reference to Jesus. The answer would be that this is a metaphoric use of the expression as in the verse:

Without a doubt God Almighty is the true Creator and those who fashion toys of clay or wood are also creators but only metaphorically so, because their works are mere show and have no reality.

If it is asked why it is not permissible for Jesus (as) to have fashioned birds under Divine direction which could fly by his breathing into them, by way of a miracle, the answer is that God does not make anyone the master of death and life or harm and benefit. Prophets seek miracles through prayer and supplication and do not possess the power to work miracles like a man has the power to use his hands and feet. Thus the power of creation is one of those Divine attributes that are never bestowed upon man and is distinct from a miracle. The essence of a miracle is that God Almighty, in order to demonstrate the truth and honour of a Prophet and the powerlessness and helplessness of his opponents, manifests something that is extraordinary or beyond imagination by His special design or in response to the prayer or supplication of the Prophet. But it is done in a manner which is not inconsistent with His attributes of Unity, Holiness and Perfection and which does not permit of anyone else’s power or design.

It is not a miracle that God Almighty should invest a human being with the power of fashioning birds of clay, which would become real birds with flesh and bones and blood and all the limbs of animals when he breathes into them. If God Almighty can make someone the agent of His attribute of creation in the case of birds, He can also bestow the full agency of His attribute of creation. In this event, partnership in Divine attributes would become permissible, though only under His direction and permission, and the comprehension of the true Creator would become doubtful in the presence of such creators whose creations would become indistinguishable from God’s. This would not be a form of miracle; it would be partnership in Godhead.

Some wise people try to solve the dilemma of polytheism by asserting that the birds which Jesus created did not live for any length of time but fell down and died after a short flight. But this explanation would help only if it is held that those birds were not invested with true life but only appeared to be alive for a short time as a result of mesmeric influence.…

The Holy Qur’an affirms that Jesus had been given the power to do these things as an exercise of his natural capacity, which is inherent in every human being. Jesus was not unique in this respect. Such capacity is being demonstrated in our own age. The miracles of Jesus were rendered bizarre and doubtful by the pool which had existed even before the birth of Jesus, and which also displayed wonders and a single dip into which bestowed healing upon all those afflicted with diseases such as paralysis, leukoderma, leprosy etc. And there were others who manifested similar extraordinary signs later on, and there was no such pool to cast doubt on their manifestations.

The belief that Jesus fashioned birds of clay and made them come alive as real birds by breathing into them, is entirely false and polytheistic. It was only an exercise of mesmeric capacity that had been developed to some degree by his spiritual propensity. It is also possible that he made use of clay from the pool that had been activated by the Holy Spirit. His miracle was only a kind of sleight of hand and the clay remained only clay like the Samaritan’s calf. Ponder over it, because this is a magnificent point; no one comprehends it except those who have been granted great wisdom.

No other Prophet has had so many fictitious miracles attributed to him, as have been attributed to Jesus (as); some ignorant ones even imagine that he had revived thousands upon thousands of the dead. The Gospels narrate a highly exaggerated statement of an occasion when all the dead buried in a graveyard, which had existed for thousands of years, were revived and all of them walked into the city alive.

Anyone with wisdom can easily understand that despite the fact that millions of the dead who had been revived walked into the city and told their tales to their descendants and confirmed the truth of Jesus (as), the Jews still did not believe in him. Who would credit such hard-heartedness? Indeed, if Jesus occupied himself with reviving thousands of the dead it must be recognized that the revived ones could not all have been deaf and dumb. Some of them must have been the brothers, fathers, sons, mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers and other near relatives of those who witnessed these miracles. Thus Jesus (as) had open to him a vast scheme for converting the disbelievers. Many of the revived dead who were related to the contemporary Jews, must have accompanied Jesus (as), and he must have arranged for them to deliver public addresses in a number of cities that must have been heard with great interest and eagerness. For instance, when a revived one told his audience, ‘Many of you who are present here know me as I was buried by your hands. Now I have come to you after having heard from God’s own tongue that Jesus is true and he has revived me’ … This would have had a deep affect on the Jews and thousands upon thousands of them would have believed in him. But the Holy Qur’an and the Gospels affirm that the Jews had totally rejected Jesus (as) and that he was the least successful of the Prophets in his work of reform, and almost all the Jews considered him an impostor and a liar.

It is worth reflecting: should this have been the result of such a great supernatural miracle? When thousands of the revived dead testified to the truth of Jesus (as) and affirmed that they had seen heaven which contained only the Christians who believed in Jesus, and that they had seen hell which contained Jews who had denied Jesus, how could the slightest doubt remain about the truth of Jesus? If anyone was still in doubt, his ancestors who had been revived would have punished them to death proclaiming, ‘O Ye wretches! Are you still in doubt after our testimony.’ There is no doubt, therefore, that all such alleged miracles are pure fiction.

The True Claim of Jesus

Out of the wonders that God has bestowed on me, one is that I have on several occasions met Jesus in visions—in state of complete wakefulness—and have talked to him and have inquired from him about his true claim and his teaching. It is a great thing worthy of attention, that Jesus is utterly disgusted with the doctrines of atonement, Trinity and sonship, as if these are the greatest lies that are attributed to him. This testimony of my visions is not a mere unsupported assertion on my part. Indeed, I am certain that if a seeker after truth should stay with me for a time with complete goodwill and should desire to behold Jesus in a state of vision, he can do so with the blessing of my attention and prayers and can speak to him and can procure his testimony concerning his doctrine and teachings, because I am the one in whose soul dwells the soul of Jesus by way of buruz [second coming.]

I have beheld Jesus (as) several times in my dreams and have met him in visions. He ate with me from the same dish. On one occasion, I asked him about the misguidance in which his people have become involved. He was completely over-awed and glorified God Almighty and proclaimed His Holiness. He pointed to the earth and said that he was nothing more than a man made out of clay, and was completely innocent of that which was attributed to him. I found him to be a courteous and humble person.

Review of the Christian Faith

When I find that the Christian faith lacks altogether all three methods of the comprehension of God, I wonder on what basis Christians support their worship of Jesus. How unfortunate is it for them that the gates of heaven are closed to them, reason rejects them and they have not available to them documentary proof from the continuous teachings of the previous Prophets, and yet they have no fear of God. A wise person should adopt a religion whose teachings on the principles of comprehension of the Divine should be acceptable to all, and which should be supported by reason and against which the gates of heaven should not be closed. Reflection shows that the Christian faith is bereft of all these three qualities. Its method of comprehension of the Divine is so strange that neither the scriptures of the Jews nor any other heavenly book has taught it. As for the testimony of reason it is enough to point out that the more the Europeans become acquainted with dialectical methods, the greater becomes their mockery of Christian doctrines.

Logical propositions are of universal application as they are determined on the basis of universally accepted principles. Therefore, if a philosopher is convinced that Jesus is God, he must then hold that millions of gods have appeared in the past and can appear in the future, which is absurd.

As regards the heavenly signs, if all Christian clerics were to beseech Jesus for a heavenly sign throughout their lives, they would not be given any, as Jesus is not God. He is a humble human being and would be unaware of their supplication. Even if he were aware of it, what could he do?…

If on the Day of Judgement, Jesus was to confess that he was not God and inquire from them why they had attributed Godhead to him, what will they do and to whom will they turn? God Almighty has established four witnesses to confound the Christians:

Moreover, thousands of the righteous have testified under Divine guidance that Jesus, son of Mary, was a humble creature of God and His Prophet. God Almighty has raised me as a witness against the Christians and has commanded me to proclaim that the deification of the son of Mary is a false doctrine that amounts to infidelity. He has also honoured me with His converse.…

O Christians! be sure that Jesus, son of Mary, is not God. Do not wrong your souls by attributing the greatness of God to one of His creatures. Our hearts tremble at hearing that you call on a weak and helpless creature as if he were God. Turn to the True God so that you may achieve good and may receive salvation.

Jesus Did Not Claim to Be God

The deification of the son of Mary is a terrible wrong. He is only a man and a Prophet in the Mosaic dispensation. You have not seen him but I have seen him many times. None of you knows him but I know him. He is a honourable man who acknowledges the greatness of Moses (as) and believes sincerely in the greatness of our lord and master Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and is, like us, devoted to him. Were he to appear in the world at this time and find that he has been deified and is believed to have atoned for the sins of mankind, he would be so ashamed of this false glorification that he would be ready to suffer death and would supplicate God for forgiveness. What proof have you of his godhead? Do his words or the words of his disciples indicate his godhead? Even if they did, this would be an empty claim unsupported by any proof. This claim cannot be supported even from the Gospels. Nowhere do the Gospels state that the son of Mary ever claimed to be God. Indeed, when the Jews confronted him on one occasion with such a claim on his part, he repudiated it.

In John, chapter 10 verses 30-37, Jesus is reported to have said that he was no different from other righteous ones who had been called gods or sons of God in the scriptures. The Jews having heard that Jesus called himself the son of God, charged him with blasphemy, started throwing stones at him, and were much infuriated. What should have been the attitude of Jesus when the Jews attempted to stone him because he called himself the son of God, which in their estimation amounted to blasphemy? How could he have either disclaimed or established his claim? He could have adopted one of two attitudes. If he was truly the son of God, he should have answered, ‘My claim is true. I am indeed the son of God and I have two proofs in support of my claim. One is that in your books it is written that the Messiah is the son of God, rather he is God Himself, and he is All-Powerful, knows the unseen and does whatever he wishes. If you doubt this, bring your books, and I will show you the proof of my Godhead from these books. You charge me with blasphemy because of your misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of the Scripture. Your books proclaim me God and All-Powerful then why do you say that I blaspheme? You should instead worship me because I am God.’

His second proof should have been, ‘Come and behold the signs of Godhead in me. As God Almighty has created the sun and the moon and the planets and the earth, I too have created a portion of the earth or a planet or some other part of the universe. I can even now create something of that kind and demonstrate my Godhead. I have more power and strength than is manifested in the miracles of the Prophets.’ It would also have been appropriate for him to furnish his opponents with a detailed list of his works as God and to challenge them whether Moses (as) or any other Prophet of Israel had performed such works. Had he furnished such proof the Jews would have been confounded and the Scribes and Pharisees would have fallen prostrate before him and would have confessed, ‘Surely, you are God and we were in error. You have created a sun in contrast with the sun which has been shining from the beginning and which illumines the day, and you have created a moon which appears at night and illumines it with a beautiful light. This we have witnessed. You have also placed before us the proof of your Godhead from our recognized books. How can we then dare to deny that you are God?’ But Jesus set forth none of these proofs. All he did was to offer these statements. Please ponder over them:

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, ‘For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy and because that thou being a man makest thyself God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods?’ If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?46

Now, it is worthy of reflection whether for repelling the charge of blasphemy and for establishing that he was truly the son of God the only appropriate answer was, ‘If I have called myself the son of God, how have I offended you considering that some of those who appeared before me were called gods.’

Deputy ‘Abdullah Atham says, that Jesus was frightened by their mob and concealed the true answer and took refuge in subterfuge. But I ask: ‘Is such an attitude worthy of the Prophets who are always ready to lay down their lives in the cause of Allah the Glorious?’ It is said in the Holy Qur’an concerning them:

This means that: ‘The true Messengers of Allah, who convey His message, do not fear anyone in conveying the messages of Allah.’ Then how is it that Jesus who called himself God Almighty was afraid of the helpless Jews?

It is thus clear that Jesus (as) never claimed to be God or son of God in the true sense. He claimed to be in the same category as those who had been given such titles metaphorically and confessed that his claim was of the same kind.…

Confession of Human Weaknesses by Jesus

This is not all. On several occasions he confessed his human deficiencies. When he was asked to indicate when the Judgement would take place, he confessed his ignorance and declared that no one knew of that hour except God Himself.

It is obvious that knowledge is a characteristic of the soul and not of the body. If the soul of Jesus was Divine and he was God Himself, then how is it that he confessed his lack of knowledge of that Hour? Does God Almighty forget His knowledge? It is written in Matthew 19:16:

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons … She saith unto him, Grant that these my true sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left … But Jesus answered and said … to sit on my right hand, and on my left is not mine to give.

Then how was it that he was All-Powerful? Does the All-Powerful ever lose His power? When there is so much inconsistency in respect of his attributes, that his disciples considered him All-Powerful and he denied it, then what credence can be given to the prophecies when he in whose support they are cited denies being All-Powerful? Matthew 26:3848 records that Jesus prayed throughout the night for his deliverance and supplicated God in great sorrow and agony that if possible the cup may be taken away from him and also asked his disciples to supplicate on his behalf … Yet his prayer was not accepted and that which was written came to pass. Had he been All-Powerful his power and authority would first have benefited himself. Otherwise it was useless for others to expect anything from him.

True Meaning of ‘Son of God’

Those who were perfectly righteous have been called sons of God in the previous scriptures. This does not mean that they were actually the sons of God; such a things would be blasphemous, as God has no sons or daughters. Such expressions only mean that the reflection of God had been displayed in the clear mirrors of those righteous personages. The reflection of a person in a mirror is, metaphorically speaking, his son; for as a son is born of the father, a reflection is born of the original. When a reflection of Divine manifestations appears in a heart that is absolutely pure without any kind of stain, the reflection is metaphorically like a son of the original. That is why Israel was called the first begotten of God in the Torah.

If Christians had confined themselves to describing Jesus, son of Mary, as the son of God just as Abraham (as), Isaac (as), Ishmael (as), Jacob (as), Joseph (as), Moses (as), David (as), Solomon (as) and others were metaphorically called sons of God in the Scripture, there would have been no objection to it. Just as these Prophets were called sons of God, so is the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) metaphorically called God in some prophecies. The truth is that all these descriptions are metaphorical; none of those Prophets were sons of God, nor was the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) God. Such expressions abound in scriptures as indications of God’s love.

When a person becomes so devoted in his love for God Almighty that his self disappears altogether, such expressions are applied to him since his ego ceases to exist altogether; as God says in the Holy Qur’an:

That is: ‘Tell them, O my servants! Despair not of the mercy of Allah; surely Allah will forgive all sins.’

In this verse, ‘O my servants’ has been used in place of ‘O servants of Allah’ while mankind are the servants of God and not the servants of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) The expression has been used here in the metaphorical sense.

Christian Doctrine About the Son of Mary

The Christian description of their god is that he was an Israeli male, son of Mary daughter of Jacob. He passed out of this life at the age of thirty-two. When we consider how before his arrest he supplicated throughout the night for deliverance and failed to achieve it, was ignominiously apprehended and was nailed to the cross and died bewailing, ‘Eli, Eli’, we tremble to think that a person whose supplications were rejected by God and who died in extreme humiliation should be held up as Almighty God. Imagine how Pilate sent Jesus into the custody of Herod after he was arrested. How is it compatible with his divinity that, with his hands and feet in chains, he was taken as a prisoner to Galilee in the custody of a few soldiers; and in this wretched condition, he was transferred from one jurisdiction to another. Pilate wanted to release him on seeing some wonder of his, but he was not able to show any such thing. Ultimately he was handed over in custody to the Jews who despatched him speedily. Our readers should reflect whether these are the signs of the real and true God! Can any clear conscience reconcile itself to the situation that the Creator of heaven and earth Who possesses unlimited power and authority should become so weak and unfortunate and contemptible that wicked people may rule Him out of existence with their hands? If anyone should worship such a god and should put his trust in him, he is free to do so, but the truth is that if the power and authority of the god of the Christians is compared to that of the permeshwar of Aryas, it would amount to nothing at all. The fictitious permeshwar of the Aryas, though he has no power to create anything, is said to be able at least to put things together, but the god of the Christians was not proved to have even that ability. The Jews having nailed him to the cross told him that if he could save himself they would believe in him. This was not a great task but he was not able to do even this; all he had to do was to join his soul to his body. Afterwards it was declared that he had revived in the tomb. But those who made this affirmation forgot that the Jews had demanded that he should revive himself before their eyes. As he did not come back to life before their eyes, nor did he meet them after his revival in the tomb, what proof is there for the Jews, and indeed for any researcher, that he had truly come back to life?

The sum and substance of the circumstances of the son of May, shorn of vain and senseless praise, is that he was a humble creature and was one of the Prophets who were subject to the law of Moses (as) and was a follower of that great Prophet but had not himself the same status. That is to say, his teaching was subsidiary to that of Moses (as) and he did not have an independent status. According to the Gospels, he confessed that he was neither good, nor a knower of the unseen, nor powerful, but only a humble creature. The Gospels also show that before his arrest he supplicated throughout the night for deliverance and beseeched that his prayer may be heard. He was tempted by Satan like any other humble creature. It is thus obvious that having been born through the normal channel of birth, which signifies filth and excrement, he endured hunger, thirst, pain and illness over a period. On one occasion, when suffering from hunger, he approached a fig tree which proved to be fruitless and was frustrated without being able to create a few figs for his sustenance. In short, having spent his days in such conditions and having endured such afflictions, he died, according to the Christians, and was removed from this world. So we enquire whether God Almighty should possess such defective qualities and should be called Holy and Glorious while suffering from such faults and deficiencies? Also, how is it possible that of the five children born to Mary, only one became the son of God and even God Himself, and the remaining four were not bestowed any part of Godhead?

One would have thought that, contrary to the normal rule that a human being is born of a human being and a donkey is born of a donkey, if God can be born of a human creature, then no creature should be born from the same womb; all the children born from it should be gods so that the holy womb should be safeguarded against giving birth to creatures and should be solely a mine for the birth of gods. According to this speculation it was necessary that the brothers and sisters of Jesus should have partaken somewhat of Godhead and the mother of the five should have been honoured as the God of Gods because all five of them derived all their spiritual and physical faculties from her. The Christians have invented all sorts of undue praise for the son of Mary and yet they could not conceal his defects and deficiencies, and so brazenly pronounced him the son of God.

Although the Jews and the Christians, according to their strange scriptures, are all the sons of God, indeed, according to one verse, they are themselves God, yet we observe that the Buddhists have done better than them in their inventions and their impostures. Having acclaimed Buddha as God, they did not ascribe to him a birth through the normal filthy channel or that he had been reared on any impure nourishment. They believe that Buddha was born through the mouth of his mother. Alas for the Christians that though they forged many lies it did not occur to them to ascribe his birth also to the mouth so that they could have safeguarded their god from being mixed with urine and other impurities. Nor did it occur to them to safeguard him against death, which is the utter negation of Godhead. Nor did they think of excising from the Gospels all references to the confessions of Jesus that he was neither good nor wise nor knower of the unseen, nor had he come of his own will, nor did he possess absolute power, nor could he ensure acceptance of his prayers and that he was a humble human being who had been sent by the Master and Lord of the universe. All such references, therefore, should be expunged from the Gospels.

We have repeatedly admonished you O’ Christians that worship of Jesus is no less than idol worship or the worship of Rama, and that the son of Mary has no superiority over the son of Kaushallia; but have you ever paid attention to our admonitions? You attack all other religions but have you ever reflected over your triune God? Have you ever considered how one who possessed all greatness was afflicted like an ordinary human being, and how the creator was beaten and maltreated by his own creatures? Can it be contemplated that humble creatures should flog their creator, should spit in his face, should seize him and nail him to the cross and he should be helpless in their hands; and that, being God, he should be subject to death? Can it be imagined that there should be three physical gods, one whose physical image was Adam, another Jesus, and the third a pigeon, and that of the three one should have a son and two should be without issue? Can it be contemplated that God should walk behind Satan who should require him to prostrate himself before him and tempt him by offering to bestow the world upon him? Can it be understood that a person with God dwelling in his bones, supplicated throughout the night and yet his supplication was rejected? Is it not surprising that the Jewish scriptures are cited in support of the godhead of Jesus while such a doctrine is an anathema to the Jews, which they repudiate emphatically, and none of their sects subscribes to the doctrine of Trinity? Had the Jews been taught this doctrine by Moses (as) and all the Prophets after him, how was it possible that all of them, divided into so many sects, should have forgotten this teaching?

Is it not worth considering that from the earliest times there existed a Christian Unitarian sect, which was in existence at the time of the Holy Prophet (sas). It testifies that the unholy doctrine of Trinity emerged only in the third century? Even today there are hundreds of thousands of Unitarians in Europe and America who continue to publish books in support of their doctrine. In view of all this, and as the Christian missionaries still persist in their vile affirmation, is there not the need for Divine Judgement so that those who base themselves on falsehood may be ruined? Those who adhere to falsehood will now take to their heels and will seek refuge in false pretences.

Jesus as a Prophet

One strong argument in support of the truth of a Prophet is that he should bring about spiritual reform on a large scale. We find very little of this in the life of Jesus. He had twelve disciples and their example is most discouraging. They professed great devotion towards Jesus but their example was unmatched in treachery and cowardice. Did it behove a disciple to betray his Prophet and beloved leader to his enemies in return for thirty pieces of silver? What was it that compelled his principal disciple Peter to abuse and curse him to his face? Was it appropriate for his disciples to desert him and disappear as soon as he was arrested? Should this be the attitude of those whose beloved Prophet is apprehended on a capital charge? Afterwards creature worshippers invented all sorts of stories and elevated Jesus to heaven; but the record of their lack of faith is still preserved in the Gospels.

Thus the proof of the truth of a righteous Prophet is not to be found in the case of Jesus. Had the Holy Qur’an not confirmed his Prophethood, we could not have counted him as a true Prophet. Can one who taught that he was the son of God, and even God Himself, and that he didn’t have to worship anyone and his intelligence was so defective as to make him imagine that people would be delivered from sin by his suicide, be considered for one moment as a wise person who follows the straight path? But praise be to Allah that the Holy Qur’an has revealed to us that all these are calumnies against the son of Mary. There is no trace at all of the Trinity in the Gospels. The expression ‘son of God’, which had been applied to thousands of people from Adam (as) downwards in the scriptures, was applied to Jesus as well. Later, it was exaggerated and was seized upon for the deification of Jesus. He never claimed that he was God nor did he ever express a desire for suicide. If he had done so, his name would have been erased from the list of the righteous in accordance with the Word of God. It is also difficult to believe that these shameful lies had their root in the erroneous thinking of the disciples. Though, according to the Gospel, they were men of average intelligence and could easily fall into error, yet we cannot reconcile ourselves to the notion that having kept company with a Prophet they were capable of propagating such nonsense.

The truth appears to be—and this can be gathered from a study of the writings that are complementary to the Gospels—that all this was a device of Paul who had recourse to deep cunning like political adventurers.

The son of Mary, who is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, was bound by the eternal guidance that had been prescribed for mankind from the beginning. Whatever doubts and suspicions the Gospels may raise concerning his Prophethood, the testimony of the Holy Qur’an is enough to establish its truth. Peace be on him who follows the true guidance.

Absurdity of the Doctrine of Trinity

The doctrine of Trinity is a strange doctrine indeed. Has anyone ever heard of three perfect entities which are at the same time one: three separate and perfect gods combined as one perfect God? The Christian faith is a strange compound of error and misguidance, and despite all these darknesses all possibility of guidance through revelation and inspiration is excluded for the future. Therefore, the errors of the Gospels cannot, according to the Christians, be corrected through new revelations, inasmuch as they believe that there can be no revelation in future. Now their whole reliance is upon individual speculation, which is not free from darkness and ignorance.

The Gospels are a collection of countless absurdities: like the deification of a humble creature, his crucifixion as atonement for the sins of others and his condemnation to hell for three days. They deify Jesus and yet attribute weakness and falsehood to him. There are several statements in the Gospels, which prove Jesus to be a liar. For instance, he promised a thief that he would sup with him that day in heaven and then, contrary to his promise, he chose to go to hell and to abide therein for three days. It is also recorded in the Gospels that Satan led Jesus to various spots to try him. Strange it is that though Jesus became God, he could not escape being tried by Satan and that Satan had the daring to try God. This philosophy of the Gospels is beyond comprehension. If Satan had in truth come to Jesus, he was afforded a good opportunity of exhibiting Satan to the Jews as the Jews were persistently denying his Prophethood.

Be sure that the True God is the One to Whom the Holy Qur’an calls us. Beside Him there is nothing but worship of man or the worship of stones. Without a doubt Jesus, son of Mary, has also drunk of the fountain of which we drink and has eaten of the fruit of which we eat, but these things have nothing to do with Godhead or sonship of God. The Christians have invented a device for making Jesus a limited God, which is that they have made him accursed. If he did not become accursed, his Godhead would be useless and his being the son of God was in vain. Yet according to all the lexicographers the meaning of being accursed is that the heart should be disgusted with God, should lose all faith, should turn away from truth, should become an enemy of God, should become wholly bleak and worse than dogs and swine and apes, as is testified to by the Torah. Can it be imagined that even for a second Jesus ceased to be a loved one of God? Did his heart ever become disgusted with God? Did he ever think of discarding his faith? Did he ever become the enemy of God and God became his enemy? If nothing of this sort happened, then what portion did he suffer of the curse upon which the whole doctrine of salvation has been constructed? Does not the Torah affirm that he who dies on the cross is accursed? If he who is crucified is accursed then no doubt that curse would have fallen on Jesus as well. But it is the unanimous view that curse connotes distance from God and disgust with Him. To be afflicted with misfortune does not mean that one is accursed. Curse means turning away from God, hating God and even becoming His enemy. The accursed one is the title of Satan. Then reflect whether it is permissible for a righteous one to be considered an enemy of God and disgusted with God, should be designated as Satan and one of whom God is an enemy? It would have been better for the Christians if they had accepted hell for themselves and had not condemned a chosen one of God as accursed and Satan. Cursed is the salvation that can only be achieved by declaring righteous ones to be faithless and Satans.

Jesus Not Accursed

The Holy Qur’an has proclaimed the truth that Jesus did not die on the cross and did not become accursed. This is also borne out by the Gospels inasmuch as Jesus described his own case as resembling that of the Prophet Jonas; and every Christian knows that Jonas did not die in the belly of the whale. If Jesus lay dead in the sepulchre, what resemblance would he have with Jonas who was kept alive in the belly of the whale? It is also known that after deliverance from the cross Jesus exhibited his wounds to the disciples. If he had been bestowed a glorious body after death, how was it that he still retained the wounds received by his previous body? Had there been some deficiency left in the glory and, if so, how can it be expected that those injuries would be healed till the Judgement Day?

All these are senseless tales on which the beam of Godhead has been rested; but the time approaches fast, rather it has already come, when God Almighty will blow away all these tales like the carding of wool.

It is the agreed doctrine of all Christians that Jesus, having been crucified, became accursed for three days, and this curse is what their salvation is based on. This doctrine is open to so serious an objection whereby the whole doctrinal structure of the Trinity, atonement and forgiveness of sins is utterly falsified and disappears. If anyone is interested in maintaining the justification of these doctrines, let him come forth and answer this objection, otherwise this entire structure will fall and the whole bundle of Christian doctrines will be crushed. Then neither Trinity nor atonement nor the forgiveness of sins will survive. The entire doctrine of the cross will be demolished by the power of God.

In order to facilitate appreciation of this objection, we proceed to set forth the meaning of la‘nat [curse.] In Lisan-ul-‘Arab, which is an old Arabic lexicon and is an Islamic publication, in Qatr-ul-Muhit, Muhit and Aqrab-ul-Mavarid which have been compiled by two Christian lexicographers and have been recently published in Beirut, and in all other lexicons, the meaning of la‘nat is set out as follows:

An accursed one is he who is deprived of all good and of the mercy of God and the comprehension of God and is condemned to everlasting torment, that is to say, his heart is wholly deprived of all good and becomes Satan and acquires the qualities of swine and apes. The poet Shammakh calls an accursed one a wolf because his inner self has become corrupted.

When it is said that a person is under God’s curse everyone understands that he has become truly vicious and faithless and a Satan in the estimation of God and that God is disgusted with him and he has turned away from God….We wish to inquire most respectfully from Christian clerics if it is true that such a curse, with all its characteristics, had been imposed by God Almighty on Jesus and that under this curse he had fallen under the wrath of God and become black-hearted and had turned away from God? In my estimation such a person who designates a chosen one of God as accursed, that is to say, as black-hearted, disgusted with God and of satanic character, is himself accursed. Can it be said that a loved one of God had truly become accursed which means bitter enmity towards God.…

To designate a dear one of God as Satan is a satanic act. I cannot conceive that any decent person would for a second apply all these designations to Jesus. If this is not permissible then the whole structure of atonement falls to the ground and the doctrine of Trinity is demolished and the cross is broken. Is there anyone in the world who can challenge this objection?

The Christians believe that Jesus (peace be upon him), having been apprehended in consequence of the treachery of Judas Iscariot, was crucified and, having been resurrected, ascended bodily to heaven. But a careful study of the Gospels discloses that this doctrine is altogether false. In Matthew 12:40, it is written:

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

We know that Jonas did not die in the belly of the whale; at the most he suffered unconsciousness. The scripture shows that by Divine grace Jonas remained alive in the belly of the whale and emerged therefrom alive and was in the end accepted by his people. If Jesus (peace be upon him) died in the belly of the whale51, what resemblance would there be between him and Jonas?

The truth is that as Jesus was a true Prophet and believed that God, to whom he was dear, would safeguard him against an accursed death, he had, under Divine revelation, prophesied in this manner in order to convey that he would not die on the cross but would become unconscious like the Prophet Jonas. In this prophecy Jesus had also indicated that after emerging from the belly of the earth he would meet his people and would be honoured by them as Jonas had been honoured by his people. This prophecy was also fulfilled, inasmuch as after emerging from the belly of the earth, Jesus travelled to his people who were settled in Kashmir, Tibet and other Eastern countries. These were the ten lost tribes of Israel which had been captured from Samaria by Salamendor, King of Assyria, seven hundred and twenty-one years earlier, and who had migrated towards India and had settled in various countries.

It was necessary that Jesus should have undertaken this journey because the ultimate purpose of his Prophethood was to meet the lost tribes who were settled in India and other countries. They were indeed the lost tribes of Israel because after they had settled in these countries they had given up the religion of their ancestors and most of them had become Buddhists, and, in course of time, they had become idol worshippers.…

Moreover deliverance from the cross was also necessary for Jesus because scripture says that he who dies upon the rood is accursed. The meaning of curse is such that its application to Jesus for even a moment would be the height of cruelty and injustice. Curse is related to the heart. A person is called accursed when his heart, being alienated from God, becomes black and is bereft of His mercy, becomes a stranger to His love, is emptied completely of His comprehension, becomes blind and is filled with the poison of misguidance like Satan; and not a ray of the love and understanding of God survives in it. It is cut asunder from all faith and loyalty. Rancour, hatred, aversion and enmity are generated between it and God, so much so that God becomes its enemy and it becomes the enemy of God; and it becomes averse to God and God becomes averse to it. In short, curse means to become the heir of Satan in all his qualities. That is why Satan is designated the accursed….Can we say that the heart of Jesus had ever turned away from God and had denied God and had become disgusted with God and God had become his enemy? Can we imagine that the heart of Jesus at any time felt that it had become disgusted with God and had become His enemy and was sunk in the darkness of disbelief and denial? If the heart of Jesus never felt so and was ever filled with the light of love and comprehension, then ponder, O wise ones, how can we say that it had become subject not to one but to a thousand curses, with all that they entail. God forbid, certainly not. Then how can we say that Jesus became accursed?…

Such a notion is not only inconsistent with the status of Jesus (as) as a Prophet and a Messenger but is also inconsistent with his claim of perfection and purity and love and comprehension of God, which is mentioned time and again in the Gospels. A perusal of the Gospels shows that Jesus (as) affirmed, ‘I am the light of the world’; ‘I am the guide’; ‘I have a relationship of deep love with God’; ‘I have been bestowed a holy birth by Him’; ‘I am the beloved son of God’. Then, despite these inalienable and holy relationships with God, how can the concept of curse be attributed to his heart? Jesus certainly did not die on the cross and his heart was safeguarded against the unholy condition of being accursed. If he did not die on the cross, he also did not ascend bodily to heaven, for such ascension was a part of the whole project of his crucifixion. If he did not become accursed nor was committed to hell for three days, his bodily ascension to heaven, which was part of this whole drama, also falls to the ground. The Gospels furnish other evidence to the same effect, which is as follows: Jesus is reported to have said:

This shows that after emerging from the sepulchre Jesus went to Galilee and not to heaven. The expression ‘after rising again’ cannot be construed to mean resurrection after death. Jesus employed this expression in anticipation of the notions of the Jews and the common people concerning his end on the cross. Also such an expression would not be inept with reference to a person who was nailed to the cross and appeared to be dead while he was unconscious. If a person, on being delivered from such a situation, claims to have risen from the dead, it would be no exaggeration on his part.…

This shows that on emerging from the sepulchre Jesus proceeded towards Galilee. It is written in the Gospel of Mark, that he was seen walking towards Galilee and met the eleven disciples when they were at supper and showed them his hands and feet, which bore marks of wounds. They had imagined that he was a spirit, whereupon he asked them to touch him and see that a spirit could not have flesh and bones as he had. He took from them a piece of broiled fish and honeycomb and ate before them. See Mark, 16:14 and Luke, 24:39-42. These verses show clearly that Jesus did not ascend to heaven but on emerging from the sepulchre went to Galilee in his normal body and clothes. Had he risen from the dead, his glorious body would not have borne the marks of the injuries inflicted upon him on the cross, nor would he have been in need of nourishment. If despite his having risen from the dead he was still in need of food, he must need food in heaven also.

The cross was not like the modern gallows deliverance from which is almost impossible. In crucifixion no rope was put round the neck of the offender, nor was he suspended after being pushed from a platform. He was only nailed to the cross through his hands and feet and, in case it was not the intention to kill him, he was taken down after one or two days and his bones were not broken. If death was intended, he was left on the cross for two or three days without food or drink and was exposed to the heat of the sun. Thereafter his bones were broken and he died as a result of all this torment.

In the case of Jesus (as), the grace and mercy of God safeguarded him against all such torment as might have ended his life. The Gospels show that Jesus (as) did not remain on the cross for three days exposed to the sun without food or drink, nor were his bones broken. He remained on the cross for just about two hours. The grace and mercy of God so ordained that he was put upon the cross late on Friday when only a brief part of the day was left. The next day was the Sabbath and it was also the day of Passover and it was forbidden in the Jewish law to leave anyone on the cross on the night of the Sabbath, which began with sunset on Friday. This was the natural juxtaposition of the events. Then God Almighty caused a storm to arise at the sixth hour after midday, which darkened the earth and lasted for three hours. (Mark, 15:33.) The Jews were afraid lest in the darkness the sun might set and the Sabbath begin and they might be held guilty of breach of the Sabbath and become liable to punishment. So they took down the body of Jesus from the cross and also the bodies of the two thieves.

Another heavenly intervention that occurred was that when Pilate sat in the Judgement seat his wife sent him word:

Have you nothing to do with that just man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. (Matthew, 27:19)

The appearance of the angel to the wife of Pilate in her dream was a sure sign that it was God’s design not to let Jesus suffer death on the cross …

Another piece of evidence furnished by the Gospels in support of the deliverance of Jesus from death on the cross is his long journey to Galilee, which he undertook after emerging from the sepulchre. On Sunday morning he first met Mary Magdalene who immediately notified the disciples that Jesus was alive, but they did not believe her. Then he was seen by two of the disciples who were going into the country. Then he appeared to the eleven when they were at supper and rebuked them over their lack of faith and their hard-heartedness. See Mark 16:9-14. When Jesus met the two disciples near Emmaus, which is at a distance of three or four miles from Jerusalem, he desired to go forward but they stopped him to spend the night with them and he supped with them. See Luke, 24:13-31. It is thus obvious that all these incidents like eating and drinking and sleeping and going on a long journey to Galilee, a distance of seventy miles from Jerusalem, all of which are relevant to a mortal body, were utterly inconsistent with a glorious body with which Jesus is imagined to have been invested after death. Despite the many changes that have found their way in the different accounts of the Gospels due to prejudiced thinking, it appears clearly that Jesus did meet his disciples in his corporeal and mortal body and undertook a long journey on foot all the way to Galilee, showed his wounds to the disciples, supped with them and spent the night in their company. We shall prove later that he also treated his wounds with an ointment.

Here one must pause and consider as to how it was that Jesus, after being invested with a glorious and eternal body with which he was to sit eternally on the right hand of God Almighty, and which should have been exempt from the need of food and drink and should have been free from every stain and pain and deficiency and should have reflected the glory of God the Eternal, he was still bearing the marks of the wounds suffered on the cross, which were bleeding and hurting him, and for which an ointment had been prepared. This glorious and immortal body, which should have endured through eternity secure, faultless, perfect and unchangeable, was so full of defects. Indeed, Jesus himself showed his flesh and bones to his disciples.…

Thus without a doubt the truth is that Jesus did not die on the cross, nor was he invested with a new glorious body. He had become unconscious and appeared to have died, but Divine grace so ordained that the sepulchre, in which he was placed, was not like the graves in this country. It was a commodious, ventilated chamber with a window. It was customary with the Jews at that time to build such chambers beforehand and place corpses in them when the need arose….

Of the testimonies contained in the Gospel is the one concerning the statement of Pilate recorded in Mark, which reads as follows:

And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation … Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead. (Mark, 15:42-44)

From this, we are led to conclude that, soon after Jesus was put on the cross, doubt was expressed about his death by one who knew from experience how long it took for a man to die on the cross.

Of the testimonies contained in the Gospel, is the one which we reproduce below:

… because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs: but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. (John, 19:31-34)

These verses clearly show that, in order to put an end to the life of a crucified person, it was the practice in those days to keep him on the cross for several days and then to break his bones. But in the case of Jesus, his bones were purposely not broken and he must have been taken down from the cross alive, unlike the two thieves. That is why blood flowed out from his side when it was pierced, while the blood of a dead man is congealed.

This also shows very clearly that all this was a covert design. Pilate was a God-fearing and good-hearted man. He was afraid to show overt favour to Jesus, as the Jews had threatened to inform Caesar against him. All the same, Pilate was lucky to have beheld Jesus, but Caesar was not so fortunate. Pilate not only saw him but also treated him with favour and did not at all wish that Jesus should die on the cross. It is clear from the Gospels that Pilate sought several times to release him, but the Jews cried out that if he let Jesus go he would be no friend of Caesar….

Among the testimonies which bear out that Jesus (as) was indeed saved from the cross is the one narrated in Matthew 26:36-46. It relates that, having been informed by revelation of his impending arrest, Jesus (as) prayed to God all night, crying and prostrating. These prayers, which Jesus (as) offered in such humility, and for which he was given ample time, could not have gone unaccepted. God never turns down the prayer of a chosen one when he prays in distress. How could Jesus (as)’ prayer have been turned down, which he offered all night in a state of anguish and distress, particularly when he had himself claimed that his Father in heaven listened to his prayers. How could one believe that God heard his prayers, if this prayer, which was offered in such anguish, was not accepted?

The Gospels also show that Jesus (as) was sure that his prayer had been heard and he had great faith in his prayer. That is why when he was arrested and nailed to the cross, he found things contrary to his expectation and involuntarily cried out: ‘Eli, Eli, Lima sabachtani’—My Lord, My Lord, why has Thou forsaken me? That is, ‘I never expected things to come to this pass, and that I would have to die on the cross. I expected You to hear my supplications.’

God Almighty does indeed accept prayers, especially when the oppressed fall at His threshold with implicit faith in Him. He responds to their cries and helps them in strange ways. To this I myself am a witness. How could it be that the prayer of Jesus offered in such anguish was not heard? Indeed it was heard and God did save him, and for this purpose He caused things to happen on earth, and in heaven. John, or the Prophet Yahya, was granted no time to pray for his time had come, but Jesus was granted a whole night for prayer and he spent it in supplication, standing and prostrating before God. This was so because God had so willed that Jesus should give expression to his distress and pray for deliverance to Him for Whom nothing is impossible. God, in keeping with His eternal practice, heard his prayer. The Jews were false when they taunted him at the time of the crucifixion as to why God had not saved him despite his trust in Him. God frustrated all the designs of the Jews and saved his beloved Messiah from the cross and the attending curse. The Jews indeed failed.

Among the testimonies of the Gospels which have reached us, are the following verses from Matthew:

That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily, I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. (Matthew, 23:35-36)

In these verses, Jesus (peace be on him) clearly says that the chain of the slaying of the Prophets by the Jews had come to an end with the assassination of the Prophet Zechariah, and that thereafter they would not have the power to kill any Prophet. This is a great prophecy and it clearly spells out that Jesus (as) did not die on the cross. He was, on the contrary, delivered from the cross and ultimately died a natural death. Had it been that Jesus (as), like Zechariah, was also to be killed by the Jews, he would certainly have hinted at it in these verses.

The Jews have always been at a loss to explain how Jesus (as) died within two or three hours of being nailed to the cross, when even his bones had not yet been broken. This has led some of them to invent another plea that, in fact, they had killed Jesus with the sword. But the history of the Jews does not support this claim.

In order to save Jesus, Divine might and majesty intervened and caused darkness to prevail, which was followed by an earthquake. Pilate’s wife’s dream, the approach of the night of Sabbath when it was not permissible to leave anyone on the cross, and Pilate’s inclination to save Jesus because of the nightmare, all these coincided to save Jesus. Jesus was also made to lose consciousness so that he would appear dead.

The Jews became frightened of Divine chastisement, because of the terrible signs like the darkness and earthquake. They were also afraid lest the bodies should remain on the cross during the night of Sabbath. And when they saw Jesus in a swoon, they thought him dead. It was dark and there was an earthquake and great panic. They were also anxious about their homes and what their children must be going through in the darkness and earthquake. They were also perplexed that if Jesus was a liar and an apostate, which they thought he was, then why had such terrifying and unprecedented signs coincided with the torture to which he was subjected. They were so upset that they were unable to find out for themselves whether Jesus had really died or what exactly his condition was. All this was part of God’s design to save Jesus, and to which this verse refers:

This means that the Jews did not kill Jesus, but it was God Who made them believe that they had killed him. It is these circumstances which encourage the righteous to place great trust in God and to believe that He can save His servants as He pleases.

Some people may be troubled by the notion that the Gospels repeatedly mention that Jesus (peace be on him) died on the cross and that after resurrection he ascended to heaven. I have already answered such objections briefly, but I find it appropriate to repeat that Jesus (peace be on him) met his disciples after the crucifixion, journeyed to Galilee, ate bread and broiled meat, showed them his wounds, spent the night with his disciples at Emmaus, escaped secretly from Pilate’s territory, and, like Prophets before him, migrated from the country and travelled under the shadow of fear. All these facts indicate that he did not die on the cross, that he retained the functions of his mortal body and underwent no visible change.

The Gospels do not contain any eyewitness account of ascension to heaven. Even if there had been such evidence, it would have lacked credibility, for the evangelists seemed to be in the habit of making mountains out of a molehill. To illustrate, one of them may have said that Jesus was the son of God, whereupon another became anxious to make him God and a third invested him with authority over heaven and earth and a fourth had no hesitation in asserting that there is no God beside him. In short, the tendency to exaggerate carries them too far. A vision in which someone saw that the dead had emerged from their graves and had walked into the town was changed into an actual event that the dead had truly emerged from their graves and had arrived in Jerusalem and met other people. Just imagine how a feather was turned into a crow, and a crow into millions of crows. With such exaggeration, how is it possible to get to the truth?

It is also worth considering that the Gospels, the so-called books of God, contain inflated statements such as that if all the works of Jesus had been committed to writing, there wouldn’t be room enough in the whole world to accommodate them. Can such exaggeration be the way of honesty and truth? If the works of Jesus were so unlimited and beyond count, how were they confined within the brief space of three years?...

And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. (Matthew, 28:12-13)

Look, just how childish and absurd such statements are. If it means that the Jews wanted to cover up the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead and had bribed the watchmen so that this great miracle should not become known to the people, then why did Jesus, whose primary duty it was to proclaim this miracle among the Jews, keep it a secret and forbid others from disclosing it? And if it is said that he was afraid of being apprehended, then I would say that when the decree of God had been carried out once and for all and he was resurrected after death and blessed with a glorious body, what fear did he have of the Jews? Surely, they had no power over him as he was now beyond mortal existence. On the one side it is said that he had been blessed with a glorious body upon his resurrection and met the disciples and journeyed to Galilee and then ascended to heaven, while on the other hand, he was afraid of the Jews at every step, and, in spite of his glorious body, fled secretly from the country lest the Jews should recognize him and, to save his life, undertook a 70 kose journey to Galilee and more than once told his disciples not to mention this incident to anyone. Are these the ways and signs of a glorious body? Indeed no.

The truth is that his body was neither new nor glorious; it was the same wounded body which had been saved from death; and as he still faced the threat from the Jews, he took all the necessary precautions and left the country. All statements to the contrary are simply absurd.

Ointment of Jesus

I have discovered a piece of highly valuable evidence concerning the escape of Jesus from the cross, whose authenticity cannot be doubted. It is a medical preparation called Marham-e-‘Isa, or Ointment of Jesus. It is recorded in hundreds of books on medicine. Some of these are written by Christians, some by Magians and Jews, and some by Muslims. Most of them are very old. Research has disclosed that at first this prescription became known to thousands of people by word of mouth and it was later duly recorded. In the days of Jesus (as), shortly after the crucifixion, a pharmacopoeia was compiled in Latin, which contained this prescription and testified that it had been prepared for Jesus (as)’ wounds. This work was later translated into several languages and, in the time of the Abbasid Caliph Mamun Rashid, it was also translated into Arabic. Strange are the ways of Divine providence that eminent physicians of all religions, Christians, Jews, Magians and Muslims, have recorded this prescription in their books and have admitted that it was prepared for Jesus (peace be on him) by his disciples. It appears from the study of different pharmacopoeias that this ointment is most useful in injuries sustained by blows or a fall; it immediately stops bleeding as it contains myrrh. It is useful as an antiseptic and is also helpful in cases of the plague and is useful for all kinds of boils, etc. It is not clear whether the prescription was revealed to Jesus (as) after he suffered injuries on the cross or whether the ointment was prepared under the directions of a physician. Some of its components work like an elixir, particularly myrrh which is mentioned in the Torah.

Anyway, with the use of this ointment, injuries of Jesus (as) were healed in a matter of days and he recovered enough strength to travel on foot from Jerusalem to Galilee, a distance of seventy kose, in three days. It is enough praise for this ointment that it healed the injuries of Jesus who used to heal the others. The number of books of medicine which contain this prescription is more than a thousand.…

In short the ointment of Jesus is a grand testimony for seekers after truth. If this testimony were not accepted, all historical evidences in the world would lose their credibility.

Jesus in Search of the Lost Sheep

It was extremely important for Jesus (peace be on him) to travel to the Punjab and its neighbouring lands in order to discharge his Prophetic functions. This was because ten tribes of Israel, who have been designated in the Bible as ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel’, had settled there— a fact which no historian can deny. It was, therefore, necessary for Jesus (as) to travel to these lands, seek out the lost sheep and convey God’s message to them. Unless he did that, the purpose he had been sent for would have remained unfulfilled. His mission was to preach to the lost sheep of Israel, if he had died without seeking them, or, having found them, failing to teach them the way to salvation, he would have been like the man who was appointed by a king to go to a certain tribe in the desert and dig a well to provide them water, but he spent three or four years roaming in other places and returned without doing anything to find the people to whom he had been sent. Could it be said of him that he carried out the command of his master? Certainly not. In fact he cared too much for his own comfort to do anything for the people.

Jesus in Kashmir

One of the verses of the Holy Qur’an clearly indicates that Jesus and his mother travelled to Kashmir after the incident of crucifixion. It is said

‘We gave Jesus and his mother shelter at a plateau which was an abode of peace and was provided with springs of clear water.’

In this verse God Almighty has drawn an accurate picture of Kashmir. The expression Awa in Arabic is used for providing shelter against calamity of misfortune; and before the crucifixion Jesus and his mother underwent no period of hardship as would require shelter. It is thus established that it was only after the incident of the crucifixion that God Almighty led Jesus and his mother to this plateau.

I am the humble one who has been sent to sow the seed of true purity in the hearts of men, like the holy servant of God in the time of the Roman Empire nearly nineteen hundred years ago, who was sent to preach true salvation to the people of Galilee. Having endured great suffering at the hands of the Jews at the time of Pilate, he had to migrate from Judea, according to the eternal way of God Almighty. He came to India to convey the message of God to the Jews, who after the dispersal of Babylone, had come to these countries. At the age of 120, he departed from this mortal world and returned to his True Beloved, and Kashmir had the great honour of being his burial place. How fortunate are Srinagar, Anmoza and the Mohalla of Khanyar, unto whose blessed dust that eternal prince and righteous Prophet of God committed his holy body, and enabled many a dweller of Kashmir to partake of true salvation and eternal life. May the glory of God be with him forever, Amin.

The truth is that when Jesus (peace be upon him), after his deliverance from the hands of the unfortunate Jews, honoured the Punjab with his presence, God Almighty invested him with great honour and prestige in this country and he found himself amongst the ten lost tribes of Israel. It appears that after settling in these countries most of them had become Buddhists and some had taken to a low form of idol worship. With the coming of Jesus, a large majority of them reverted to the straight path. As Jesus had prepared them to accept the Prophet who was to come, the ten tribes, who came to be known as Afghans and Kashmiris, all became Muslims in the end. Thus Jesus was greatly honoured in this land.

Recently a coin has been found in the Punjab on which the name of Jesus (peace be on him) is inscribed in Pali characters. The coin is of the time of Jesus. This confirms that Jesus (as) was bestowed royal honour in this country. This coin was probably struck in the reign of a monarch who believed in Jesus. Yet another coin has been found which bears the fac-simile of an Israeli male. This is most probably the fac-simile of Jesus. The Holy Qur’an also contains a verse to the effect that God had blessed Jesus wherever he went.54 These coins also show that he was greatly blessed and did not die till he was bestowed royal honours.

Jesus (peace be on him) came to the Punjab via Afghanistan with the ultimate intention of going to Kashmir. The fact is that Chitral and a part of the Punjab separate Kashmir from Afghanistan. If we travel from Afghanistan to Kashmir through the Punjab, it is a distance of about 80 kose, which is equal to 130 miles, and if we go through Chitral, it is about 100 kose. Jesus wisely chose the Afghanistan route so that the lost tribes of Israel known as the Afghans may also benefit from his presence. The eastern boundary of Kashmir touches Tibet. From Kashmir he could easily go there. By travelling through the Punjab, Jesus could easily visit other parts of India before proceeding to Kashmir and Tibet. As some ancient records indicate, it is even probable that Jesus visited Nepal, Benares and other places, and later travelled to Kashmir via Jammu or Rawalpindi. Since he belonged to a cold region, he must have stayed in these parts through the winter and left for Kashmir at the end of March or beginning of April. As Kashmir resembles Sham,55 he must have settled down there permanently. It is also possible that he may have spent some time in Afghanistan and it is not unlikely that he married there. One of the Afghan tribes is known as ‘Isa-Khel. It would not be surprising if they are the descendants of Jesus. It is a great pity that the history of the Afghans is very ambiguous and it is very difficult to arrive at anything definitive by studying their tribal chronicles. There is no doubt however that the Afghans too are Israelites like the Kashmiris.

Research has disclosed that after his deliverance from the cross Jesus (peace be on him) travelled to India and Nepal and continued on to Tibet, from where he eventually came to Kashmir, where he stayed for quite some time, and preached to the Children of Israel who had settled in Kashmir after the Babylonian dispersal. He died in Srinagar at the age of 120 years and was buried in the quarter of Khanyar. He came to be known as Prophet Yuz Asaph, through some confusion of names.

The tomb of Jesus (as) in Kashmir, which is said to be about 1900 years old, constitutes evidence of the highest quality to prove this point. It is probable that there may have been some tombstones with this grave which now lie hidden.

Evidence From Buddhist Scriptures

I have discovered various kinds of evidence from Buddhist scriptures, the collective appraisal of which definitely and conclusively establishes that Jesus (peace be on him) travelled to the areas like Punjab and Kashmir. These are as follows….

First, the titles bestowed on the Buddha bear a strong resemblance to the titles given to Jesus, and some events in Buddha’s life closely resemble the events in the life of Jesus. Here I mean the Buddhism which prevails in areas around Tibet, like Leh, Lhasa, Gilgit and Hims, which are proved to have been visited by Jesus. As regards titles, Jesus (peace be on him) in his teachings called himself ‘the Light’, similarly Gautama was called Buddha, which in Sanskrit means ‘Light’. Jesus is also called ‘Teacher’ in the Gospels, similarly the Buddha is called Sasta, which means ‘Teacher’. Jesus is called ‘Blessed’ in the Gospels, and in the same way one of the names of Buddha is Sagpat, which means ‘Blessed’. Jesus is called ‘Prince’ and so is the Buddha. One of the names of Jesus in the Gospels connotes that he would fulfil the purpose of his advent, and the Buddha has been called Sadhartah, which means one who fulfils the purpose of his advent. One of the titles of Jesus is the Refuge of the weary, and one of the names of Buddha is Asran Sam, which means the Shelter for the shelterless. Jesus has been called ‘King’ in the Gospels though what he meant was the kingdom of heaven; likewise the Buddha has also been called ‘King.’

The similarity of events in the lives of the Buddha and Jesus appears from the following. It is stated in the Gospels that Jesus (peace be on him) was tempted by the devil, who said to him, ‘If you will worship me, you will have all the riches and kingdoms of the world.’ The Buddha was tempted in the same way and the devil said to him, ‘If you obey me and return home renouncing your ascetic ways, I shall confer the glory of kingdom on you.’ Just as Jesus did not obey the devil, neither did the Buddha….

Another resemblance between the Buddha and Jesus is that, according the Buddhist chronicles, the Buddha fasted for forty days when he was tempted by the devil. Readers of the Gospels know that Jesus also observed a forty-day fast.

Anyone who is acquainted with the teachings of both the Buddha and Jesus will also marvel at the close similarity between the moral teachings of the two….

Just as Jesus sent his disciples to different countries and himself travelled to another country, the same is recorded of the Buddha. It is recorded in Buddhism by Sir Monier Williams that the Buddha sent his disciples to different parts of the world to convey his message, and addressed them as follows: “Go forth and wander everywhere, out of compassion for the world and for the welfare of gods and men. Go forth, one by one, in different directions. Proclaim a life of perfect restraint, chastity and celibacy.” He added: “I will go also to preach this doctrine.” He went to Benares and there he performed many miracles. He delivered a very moving sermon on a hill just as Jesus did on the mount. It is also recorded in the same book that the Buddha often taught in parables and used to discuss spiritual matters in terms of physical phenomena….

The exact adoption by Buddha of this method of preaching through parables, especially those recorded in the Gospels, is indeed most surprising….

Buddhist records also show that Gautama Buddha had prophesied the coming of a second Buddha whom he named Metteyya. This prophecy is contained in Lagavati Satta,56 a Buddhist record to which reference is made on page 142 of Oldenberg’s book. It reads as follows:

He will be the leader of a band of disciples numbering hundreds of thousands, as I am now the leader of bands of disciples, numbering hundreds.

It should be remembered that the Pali name ‘Metteyya’ is the same as ‘Mashiha’ in Hebrew …. The future Metteyya prophesied by Buddha is none other than the Messiah himself. One strong evidence in support of this is that the Buddha himself prophesied that the faith he had founded would not endure on earth for more than five hundred years, and that at the time of the decline of the faith and its teachings, the Metteyya would appear in this country and re-establish these moral teachings in the world. We find that Jesus appeared 500 years after the Buddha and, just as the Buddha had foretold the time for the decline of his faith, Buddhism suffered deterioration and decadence. It was then that Jesus, having escaped from the cross, travelled to these areas where the Buddhists recognized him and treated him with great reverence….

It must be noted that the name Metteyya in Buddhist literature undoubtedly refers to the Messiah. On page 14 of the book Tibet, Tartary, Mongolia by H.T. Prinsep, it is written about the Metteyya Buddha, who in reality is the Messiah, that the first Christian missionaries, having heard and seen at first conditions obtaining in Tibet, came to the conclusion that in the ancient books of the Lamas there were to be found traces of the Christian religion. On the same page it is stated that there is no doubt about it that these earlier writers believed that some disciples of Jesus were still alive when the Christian faith reached there. On page 171 it is stated that there is not the slightest doubt that at that time everybody was eagerly waiting for the great Saviour to appear. Tacitus says that the Jews were not the lone holders of this belief, Buddhism too was responsible for laying the foundations of this expectation, inasmuch as it prophesied the coming of Metteyya. The author of the English work has moreover added a note to the effect that the books Pitakattayan and Attha-katha contain a clear prophecy about the advent of another Buddha who would appear a thousand years after Gautama or Sakhiya Muni. Gautama states that he is the twenty-fifth Buddha and that the Bagwa Metteyya is still to come, that is why after he has gone, one whose name will be Metteyya and who will be fairskinned will come….This is why the followers of Buddhism had all along been waiting for the Messiah to appear in their country.

The Buddha, in his prophesy about the future Buddha, called him Bagwa Metteyya. Bagwa in Sanskrit means ‘white’. Jesus, being of Syrian origin, was Bagwa—of white of complexion. The people of the land where this prophecy was made, i.e., Magadh, where Raja Griha was located, were dark-skinned and Gautama Buddha himself was dark. Therefore, the Buddha related to his followers two distinct signs of the future Buddha: first that he would be Bagwa—of white complexion, and secondly, he would be Metteyya—a traveller who would arrive from a foreign land….

We can never approve of the method adopted by European scholars who are so eager to prove one way or the other that the teachings of Buddhism had already reached Palestine by the time of the Messiah. It is most unfortunate that while the very name of Jesus is to be found in the ancient books of Buddhism, these researchers adopt the devious course of trying to find traces of Buddhism in Palestine. Why do they not rather try to find the blessed footprints of Jesus (as) on the mountains of Nepal, Tibet and Kashmir? I know that it was not for the likes of them to uncover by themselves such a great truth which lay hidden behind thousands of veils of darkness. It was for God Himself to do so, for He watched from on high that creature worship was running rampant in the earth and that worship of the cross and the supposed sacrifice of a human being had alienated the hearts of millions from the True God. Then, in His indignation, he sent to the world His servant in the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth in order to demolish the creed of the cross.

Breaking of the Cross by the Promised Messiah

And he came in accordance with the time honoured Divine promise. Then, at long last, came the time for the breaking of the cross: the time when the error of the creed of the cross was to be exposed with such clarity as the splitting a piece of wood into two. Heaven has thrown open the door to the breaking of the cross, so that whoever seeks the truth may seek and learn.

True, the notion of the bodily ascent of Jesus to heaven was false, yet it had a significance of its own. The truth about the life of Jesus which had become extinct, like a dead body swallowed by the earth, was preserved in heaven like a physical person and it was decreed that it should descend again in the latter days. Thus that Messianic reality has now descended like a physical person and has broken the cross. The evil qualities of falsehood and worship of falsehood, which the Holy Prophet (sas) has described in the Hadith concerning the cross as swine, have been broken with the breaking of the cross, just as swine is cut by the sword.

This Hadith does not mean that the Promised Messiah would slaughter the disbelievers or would go about breaking crosses. What the breaking of the cross means is that in this age the God of heaven and earth will disclose a hidden reality, whereby the whole structure of the cross will collapse at one stroke. And the slaughter of swine does not mean the slaughter of people or of swine, but it means the swinish habits like lying persistently, which is tantamount to swallowing of filth. Just as a dead pig can not swallow filth, in the same way, a time comes—indeed it has come—when dispositions will be stopped from swallowing such filth….

Do not think that I have come to wield the sword. No. What I have come to do is to put the swords back into their scabbards. Too long has the world been groping in the dark. Many have conspired against their wellwishers, wounded the hearts of their true friends and hurt their dear ones; but now darkness will be no more. The night is gone and the day has dawned. Blessed is he who does not remain deprived any more.

Divine Mystery of Jesus’ Second Coming

It is one of the Divine mysteries that when the law which is brought by a Prophet or by a Messenger is corrupted after his death, his true teaching and guidance are perverted and absurdities are attributed to him, and all this misguidance is attributed to the Prophet himself, the soul of that Prophet is greatly moved for the removal of all the corruption and calumnies that are attributed to him, and then his soul demands that a substitute of his should appear on earth.

Now listen attentively to this subtle spiritual verity, that the soul of Jesus (peace be upon him) had two occasions to demand a substitute. The first was six hundred years after his death. This was when the Jews insisted more than ever that he was an impostor and a liar and that his birth was illegitimate and that is why he died on the cross. While the Christians on the other hand proclaimed that he was the son of God and even God himself, and that he had laid down his life on the cross for the salvation of mankind. Thus the wretched Jews accosted so insolently the blessed person of Jesus (as), and on the basis of the verse in Deuteronomy57 which says that he who dies on the rood is accursed, called him accursed, and labelled him a mischief maker, liar and of illegitimate birth. The Christians, on the other hand, raised him to the status of Godhead and uttered the calumny that this was his teaching. It was then that the soul of Jesus was moved and demanded to be exonerated from all these charges and beseeched God for a substitute. Thereupon the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was raised, one of the many purposes of whose advent was to clear Jesus of all the false charges made against him and to bear witness on his behalf. This is why Jesus is reported to have said in John chapter 16:

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter (i.e., Muhammad salallaho alaihi wasallam)58 will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged … Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth….He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.…

Verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord (i.e., in the name of the Messiah—peace be on him).59

In these verses the sentence: ‘I shall send him to you’, clearly indicate that the soul of Jesus will be moved for his advent; and the phrase ‘The Father will send him in my name’, indicates that he who would come would comprehend the whole spirituality of Jesus and, by virtue of one branch of his qualities, would be the Messiah, just as by virtue of another branch he would be Moses (as)….

The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has said: ‘I have a strong resemblance to Jesus; my being is joined to his being.’ This Hadith confirms the statement of Jesus that the Prophet whose advent he prophesied would come in his name. So it happened that when our Messiah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came, he completed all the incomplete works of Jesus of Nazareth, and bore witness to his truth and cleared him of the calumnies which the Jews and the Christians had heaped upon him, and thus provided comfort for the soul of Jesus. This was the first agitation of the soul of Jesus of Nazareth which achieved its purpose in the advent of our lord and master, our Messiah, the Seal of Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.) All praise belongs to Allah.

The second time when the soul of Jesus was agitated was when the Christians completely assumed the qualities of Antichrist, and, as predicted, the Antichrist was to lay claim to both Prophethood and Godhood, this is exactly what these people did. They claimed Prophethood by interfering with the Divine word and framing regulations and carrying out changes that were the functions of a Prophet. They established what they wished, and invented doctrines and modes of worship and intervened so freely as if they had been commanded to do so by Divine revelation. Such unwarranted interference with Divine scriptures amount to claiming Prophethood.

And they claimed Godhead in the sense that their philosophers and thinkers designed to assume all the functions of Godhead. Their plans testify to their intents. For instance they are planning night and day to bring down the rain on their own, and control births by conveying the male sperm by means of some instrument to the womb of a woman. They believe that Divine decree has no meaning, and assert that it is only the failure of a project by some mistake which is taken to as Divine decree. They think that whatever is attributed to God Almighty is because previously the natural causation of everything had not been discovered and man’s extreme frustration was named God or God’s decree. According to them, when the system of physical causation is completely understood these ‘false’ notions would automatically disappear.…

Thus in this age the soul of Jesus was agitated a second time and longed for his substitute to appear in the world. When this desire reached its climax, God Almighty raised one who was his spiritual reflection to defeat the Antichrist of this age. That substitute is called the Promised Messiah, inasmuch as the reality of the Messiah is incarnated in him, i.e., the reality of the Messiah was united with him and he appeared in consequence of the demand of the soul of Jesus (as). That reality is reflected in him like a reflection in a mirror. As he has appeared in consequence of the agitation of the soul of Jesus, he has been named after him. The souls of Jesus desired from the All-Powerful God someone in his own image to come down on earth, who should be invested with the reality of the Messiah; this is exactly what happened.

This also explains why the Messiah was chosen for this purpose instead of Moses (as), Abraham (as) or David (as). On account of the current troubles, it was only the advent of the Messiah that was called for. It was his people who had been corrupted and among whom the qualities of the Antichrist had spread. Therefore, it was only proper that the soul of Jesus should have been agitated. This is the subtle spiritual comprehension that has been bestowed upon me through a vision. It has also been disclosed to me that, after a time of piety and purity and the supremacy of Divine unity, the world will again return to polytheism and transgression. Some will devour others like insects, ignorance will prevail, Jesus will be worshipped once again, and the error of creature-worship will be widespread. All this mischief will proceed out of Christianity in the last part of these latter days. Then again the soul of Jesus will be greatly troubled and will seek its descent in a majestic form. Then, with the advent of a awestriking semblance of his, this age will come to an end. That will be the end and the expanse of the world will be rolled up.

This shows that on account of the unworthy behaviour of the followers of Jesus, it had been decreed that the spirituality of Jesus should descend into the world three times.

1 John the Baptist. [Publisher]

2 ‘There will be no Mahdi except ‘Isa.’ [Publisher]

3 ‘He will be your Imam from among your own people.’ [Publisher]

4 ‘There is no Prophet after me.’ [Publisher]

5 ‘But he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets.’—Al-Ahzab, 33:41 [Publisher]

6 Al-Hijr, 15:49 [Publisher]

7 ‘It was said to him, Enter Paradise.’—Ya Sin 36:27 [Publisher]

8 ‘And enter thou My Garden.’—Al-Fajr, 89:31 [Publisher]

9 The reference is to Al-Hadid, 57:26. [Publisher]

10 John 1:30 in the New King James Version. [Publisher]

11 ‘Surely, We sent it down on the Night of Destiny.’— Al-Qadr, 97:2 [Publisher]

12 ‘Allah has sent down to you a Reminder—A Messenger.’— Al-Talaq, 65:11-12 [Publisher]

13 ‘May Allah’s curse be upon the liars.’ [Publisher]

14 Al-Nahl, 16:44 [Publisher]

15 ‘And I was a witness over them as long as I remained among them, but since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them; and Thou art Witness over all things.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118 [Publisher]

16 ‘Since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118 [Publisher]

17 ‘O Jesus, I will cause thee to die a natural death and will exalt thee to Myself.’—Al-e-mran, 3:56 [Publisher]

18 Say, ‘The angel of death … will cause you to die.’—Al-Sajdah, 32:12 [Publisher]

19 ‘Those whom the angels cause to die while they are pure.’—Al-Nahl, 16:33 [Publisher]

20 ‘Those whom the angels cause to die while they are wronging their souls.’—Al-Nahl, 16:29 [Publisher]

21 ‘Since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118 [Publisher]

22 ‘Muhammad is only a Messenger. Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him. If then he die or be slain, will you turn back on your heels?’—Aal-e-Imran, 3:145 [Publisher]

23 ‘We granted not everlasting life to any human being before thee.’—Al-Anbiya’, 21:35 [Publisher]

24 ‘And We did not give them bodies that ate no food, nor were they to live forever.’—Al-Anbiya’, 21:9 [Publisher]

25 Al-Anbiya’, 21:9 [Publisher]

26 Al-Nahl, 16:21-22

27 ‘O Jesus, I will cause thee to die a natural death and will exalt thee to Myself, and will clear thee from the charges of those who disbelieve, and will place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve, until the Day of Resurrection.’—Aal-e-‘Imran, 3:56 [Publisher]

28 Maryam, 19:32-33 [Publisher]

29 Al-Saff, 61:7 [Publisher]

30 ‘When Thou didst cause me to die.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118 [Publisher]

31 ‘Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him.’—Aal-e-‘Imran, 3:145 [Publisher]

32 ‘This day have I perfected your religion for you.’— Al-Ma’idah, 5:4 [Publisher]

33 ‘But he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets.’—Al-Ahzab, 33:41 [Publisher]

34 ‘But he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets.’—Al-Ahzab, 33:41 [Publisher]

35 ‘Muhammad is only a Messenger; Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him.’—Aal-e-‘Imran, 3:145 [Publisher]

36 ‘But when Thou didst cause me to die.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118 [Publisher]

37 ‘But when Thou didst cause me to die.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118 [Publisher]

38 ‘Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him.’—Aal-e-‘Imran, 3:145 [Publisher]

39 The time of great distortions.— [Publisher]

40 ‘…Nor shall they ever be ejected therefrom.’—Al-Hijr, 15:49 [Publisher]

41 ‘Actions are judged by their intentions.’ [Publisher]

42 Al-Nisa’, 4:157-158 [Publisher]

43 ‘A palace paved smooth with slabs of glass.’—Al-Naml, 27:45 [Publisher]

44 Al-Furqan, 25:3-4 [Publisher]

45 ‘So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators.’—Al-Mu’minun, 23:15 [Publisher]

46 John, 10:31-36 in the New King James Version. [Publisher]

47 Al-Ahzab, 33:40 [Publisher]

48 Mathews 26:39 in the King James version. [Publisher]

49 Al-Zumar, 39:54 [Publisher]

50 The word la‘n is common in Arabic and Hebrew. [Author]

51 This is a misprint in the first edition, the word ‘whale’ should be read ‘earth.’ [Publisher]

52 Al-Nisa’, 4:158 [Publisher]

53 Al-Mu’minun, 23:51 [Publisher]

54 The reference is to the verse: ‘And He has made me blessed wheresoever I may be.’—Maryam, 19:32 [Publisher]

55 Syria and its neighbouring territory. [Publisher]

56 This seems to be a misprint in the original Urdu text. The correct name should be Cakkavatti Suttanta. [Publisher]

57 Deuteronomy, 21:23 [Publisher]

58 The brackets in these quotations give the author’s explanation of the words like ‘Comforter’ and ‘Lord’.[Publisher]

59 The reference seems to be from Luke, 13:35 [Publisher]