The Correct Meaning Of The Descent Of Messiah In The End Times

Muslims and Christians both believe, albeit with some differences, that the Messiah son of Mary was physically raised to the heavens and that he will descend from the skies at some later time. I have already disproved this notion in the first part of this book. I have also pointed out that the ‘Descent’ or the ‘Coming’ does not mean the coming of the Messiah son of Mary; that actually it is a figure of speech signifying the coming of someone resembling the son of Mary; and that, 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 a public outcry full of horror and rejection will ensue. At first, I thought I should hold my peace for the time being and forego engaging in any detailed discussion, so that I could answer the objections as and when they were raised, and could lay down my reasons and arguments at fuller length, in view of the critics’ perceptions. On second thought, however, this idea does not seem to be without blemish. I now feel that my silence is more likely to be misconstrued, not only by the Muslim laity but also by some of the clergy, who, on account of their warped thinking—which is the unavoidable consequence of their decadent condition—and their being influenced by an old hackneyed belief, will rise up in protest and reject my claim out of hand. And, as party to their own cherished opinion, they will be eager at all costs to establish its bona fides. Indeed, it would be hard and rather impossible for them to retreat from a publicly declared position. It is common experience that once a Mullah has expressed his opinion publicly and pronounced it to be final, he finds it worse than death to retract it. Hence, before they should get entangled in the meshes of hidebound obduracy by confronting me, I decided that, as an act of pity, I should try on my own to bring home to them the truth with such clear and cogent reasoning as should adequately satisfy any intelligent and fair-minded seeker after truth. Later on, the occasion may arise when I am required to elaborate further for the sake of those who happen to be naïve and of lesser intellect and are unaware of the metaphors, terminology, and subtle and abstruse exegeses common to the revealed scriptures. They rather fall under the category of “لا يَمَسُّهُ “¹

Let it be clear, that according to the Bible, our own books of Ahadith², and other records, only two Prophets are supposed to have physically ascended to the heavens, namely Elijah, also known as Elias, and Messiah son of Mary, also known as ‘Isa or Jesus. Concerning both these Prophets some books of the Old and New Testament say that they were raised to the heavens and shall return to the earth sometime in the latter days and that people will actually witness their descent from the skies. The Ahadith of the Holy Prophet^sa also contains words to the same effect. Concerning Elias, whose Biblical name is Elijah, the Gospels positively declare that the prophecy of his descent from the skies has been fulfilled with the birth of Yahya or John, son of Zecha￾riah. The Messiah son of Mary declares in unmistakable terms: “He is indeed the Elijah who was expected to come. Acknowledge him if you will.”³

Through this arbitration by no less a person than a Prophet of God, the case of Elijah, his ascension to the skies and subsequent descent has been effectively settled and the manner and meaning of the ‘Second Coming’ clearly determined. This, therefore, is the doctrine, consistent with the Gospels, to which Christians should unanimously subscribe, that Elijah, whose descent was awaited, did, in the time of the Messiah, return from the heavens in the person of John who was born to Zechariah, with the temperament and qualities of Elijah. The Jews, however, continue to await Elijah’s descent. They believe that he will physically descend from the skies and land on the minarets of Baitul Muqaddas, where the Jews will assemble and lower him down to the ground with the help of ladders or some such device. When you confront the Jews with Jesus Christ’s interpretation of the descent of Elijah, they fly into a rage and start abusing not only Jesus Christ but also John the Baptist, and condemn as heresy the solemn declaration of a Prophet of God. In any case, the real connotation of the term ‘descent from the skies’ has been determined by the verdict of Jesus Christ himself, and the dispute about Elijah’s descent has been finally settled. The manner of his descent has also been conclusively established. But, concerning the descent of the Messiah, it is still claimed with great fervour that he will descend from the skies, clad in rich royal robes,

accompanied by angels.⁴ The two camps have, however, failed to agree on the place in which he will actually touch down. Will it be Holy Mecca, a church in London or some royal Russian Cathedral? Were the Christians not waylaid by their holding fast to their hackneyed opinions, they could have realized, more readily than the Muslims, that the descent of the Messiah should take place in exact conformity with what has already been spelled out in such clear terms by Jesus Christ himself, for it is impossible for two similar scenarios to admit of contradictory interpretations. This is a point that deserves serious consideration by all serious-minded people. If Jesus Christ’s interpretation regarding the descent of Elijah from the skies is true, the question arises that the case of the Messiah being parallel to that of Elijah, why not draw the same conclusion, particularly when a Prophet of God has already lifted the veil off the face of this close secret? And, what is more, this interpretation is also in exact consonance with the laws of nature. Why then digress from the right and straight path and opt for one that is both crooked and objection￾able? There is no reason to adopt an alternative interpretation. Can the conscience of honest and enlightened people, fully supported by Jesus’ own verdict, accept any other meaning of the term ‘Descent’? Incidentally, about ten years ago, some Christians published a prophecy in the British press to the effect that the Messiah’s descent would take place within three years of its publication. Now that God has identified the Messiah who was to come, it is incumbent upon the Christians to be the first and foremost to accept him lest they are guilty of defying their own prophecy. Christians also believe that Jesus entered Paradise after he was raised to the heavens. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus,

reassures one of the thieves saying: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”⁵

Christians also unanimously believe that no one, however sinful, will ever leave Paradise, having once entered it. The Muslims hold exactly identical views. Says Allah in the Holy Qur’an:

“وَمَا هُمْ مِنْها بِمُخْرَجِينَ“⁶

that is, those who enter Paradise shall never be made to leave it. True, there is no pointed mention in the Holy Qur’an of Jesus entering Paradise, but his death is mentioned in three different verses.⁷ And it is also true that the death of holy people and their entry into paradise is one and the same thing, because, according to the verses,

“قِيلَ ادْخُلِ الْجَنَّةَ“⁸

“وَادْخُلِيْ جَنَّتِيْ“ ⁹

they enter Paradise straight away, without any let or hindrance. Muslims and Christians are, therefore, under obligation to consider seriously if it is possible for a man of God like Jesus to enter Paradise and then be driven out? Wouldn’t it be contrary to the Divine promise contained in all the Holy Scriptures with such frequency and detail, that those who enter Paradise will never be made to leave it. Would the breach of such a solemn and positive commitment not shatter the credibility of all Divine promises? Of a certainty, such a belief will not only unfairly place Jesus in an awkward position, but indulging in such a futile exercise will also be disrespectful and derogatory to God Himself. The matter deserves a very keen and close study. Belief in a lesser doctrine of this kind, which can otherwise easily be explained as a metaphor, amounts to a virtual murder of cardinal religious verities. It is in fact a doctrine that is full of faults and is heir to a host of complex problems and difficulties. It provides the opponents with occasion for ridicule. As I have already mentioned elsewhere, the disbelievers of Mecca also wanted the Holy Prophet^sa to perform this miracle, namely, that he should ascend to the skies before their very eyes and then come down. The reply they received was:

“قُلْ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي“¹⁰

This means that it is against the wisdom and glory of God Almighty to show such palpably obvious miracles in this world of trials, and thus undermine the wisdom and value of belief in the unseen. Now I say to you: How is it possible that something, being against the divine law, should not be permissible for the Holy Prophet^sa—who is the best of the Prophets— and be permissible for the Messiah. It amounts, to rank disrespect that we, with respect to the Holy

Prophet^sa, regards a merit as impossible for him to have, and about the same merit we believe that it is possible for the Messiah to have it. Can a true believer be guilty of such insolence? Absolutely not! It may also be pointed out that this sort of thinking, which has become endemic among Muslims for quite some time, is conspicuous by its absence in the entire range of basic Islamic literature. The truth of the matter is that it is the failure to understand Ahadith that has led to this mistaken belief, to which quite a few unwarranted details have been appended. To invest it with plausibility, some baseless decorative material has been added in utter disregard of the facts which would otherwise have shown the way to truth. In this regard, the most clear and crucial Hadith¹¹ of the Holy Prophet^sa is the one recorded by Hadrat Muhammad Isma‘il Bukhari in his collection the Sahih Bukhari. Hadrat Abu Hurairara^{ra 12} reports that the Holy Prophet^sa said:

“كيف أنتم إذا نزل ابن مريم فيكم وإمامكم منكم“¹³

i.e., (the Holy Prophet says:) how will it fare with you when the son of Mary descends among you? Who will be this son of Mary? Indeed, he will be none other than your own Imam, your Mentor, who will be born among you. In this Hadith, the Holy Prophet^sa has unequivocally stated that you should never be led into imagining that the Messiah son of Mary will himself descend in person. Actually, the name son of Mary has been used metaphorically; in reality, he will be your Imam from among your own people and, in character and temperament, he will be a living similitude of the son of Mary. People who believe in old tales misinterpret this Hadith to mean that when the Messiah descends from the skies he will have resigned his office as Prophet and disowned the Gospels. He will accept Islam, practice the teachings of the Holy Qur’an, observe the five daily prayers, and call himself a Muslim. But they fail to explain why he should suffer such relegation. In short, our Muslim brethren unilaterally admit that at the time of his Second Coming, the Son of Mary will be a Muslim by faith, will proclaim himself as one, and will have completely forgotten about his earlier station as a Prophet. It is an insurmountable difficulty indeed into which our brethren have managed to land themselves by treating a metaphor as literal truth. This is why they had to resort to proposing the removal of a Prophet from his Prophetic station. There was, however, an easy way out of this self-made difficulty, if only they had accepted the simple and straightforward meaning of the sacred words of the Holy Prophet^sa already spelled out by Jesus Christ in the context of the second coming of Elijah. In that case, they would neither have to expel from Paradise the soul of Messiah, nor would they be constrained to divest a pious Prophet of his Prophethood, nor would they be guilty of showing disrespect for the honor and glory of the Holy Prophet^sa, while believing that they are respectful to him. Nor will they have to pronounce what amounts to a veritable abrogation of Quranic injunctions.

Perhaps, as a last resort, they would demand some acceptable explanation of the signs concerning the Second Coming of the Messiah as mentioned in authentic Ahadith. For instance, it is on record that the Messiah, in his Second Coming, will dismantle the cross, repeal the Jizyah¹⁴, and kill the swine¹⁵. It is also mentioned that at the time of his second coming evil practices peculiar to the Jews will be conspicuous by their presence among Muslims¹⁶. I tell you that the destruction of the cross does not signify war or armed conflict. It only means the demolition, by spiritual means, of the religion of the Cross, and to incontro￾vertibly establish the untenability of its creed. The abolition of Jizyah is self-explanatory. It only means that Jizyah will no longer be required. Human hearts will spontaneously respond to the truth, rendering recourse to war unnecessary. Winds of change will blow and people will flock to enter the fold of Islam. The gates will be flung wide open; it will be an influx en masse. As a result, Jizyah will become obsolete, for no one will be left to pay it. All this, however, will not happen at once; but its foundations are being laid here and now. Furthermore, the term ‘swine’ refers to the swinish humans who on that day will succumb to reason and be killed, as it were, by the sword of transparently clear arguments. It would otherwise be naïve to imagine that a Prophet of God would actually take to chasing and hunting swine in the jungles. My dear people! These are but metaphors. Those who are blessed by God with insight will realize their true significance, not only with ease, but also with some relish. Literal interpretation of such subtle and profound metaphors is like distorting beauty into a monstrosity. Fine metaphorical shades are the life and spirit of eloquence. That is why the Divine Word, which is the most eloquent of all speech, employs such refined figures of speech as no human speech can ever rival. To persist in equating the pristine purity of the metaphorical original with crude and commonplace literality, regardless of context and occasion, is tantamount to reducing miracles of expression and style to dust. Such an exercise not only misses the point and purpose of the Divine Word, it also damages its subtle and delicate cadence. Instead of imposing self-made, ugly, crude, and rather base meanings, which are more satirical than laudatory, the methods of exegesis that are truly graceful and pleasantly rewarding are the ones that pay due regard to the noble eloquence of the text and its superior intent and purpose. We wonder why such ugly, crude, and repulsive meanings should be preferred to the profound verities as ought to be, and indeed are, abundantly present in the Word of God? And why, for that matter, are such refined and subtle meanings not accorded due respect as are consistent with the wisdom and glory of God Almighty and His sublime and exalted speech! And why, for no reason whatsoever, are our doctors of religion so full of arrogance and allergic to Divine philosophy! Those who have devoted their lives and energy to the study of these truths will readily agree with what we have said. Indeed they will rejoice at the discovery of this truth and will communicate it to others with great delight and enthusiasm and contribute to the spiritual emancipation of mankind at large. But those who are no more than casual in their thinking and reasoning, cannot be of any use to Islam. They will only add to the already existing heap of baseless objections or create unnecessary confusion.

Now let us turn to our Holy Master and Mentor—the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa, the Seal and Certificate of all Prophets. In order to single out the second Messiah from the first, the Holy Prophet^sa did not merely announce that the former would be a Muslim by faith; that he would conduct himself in accordance with the Quranic Law; that he would pray and fast and carry out other Quranic injunctions like a Muslim; that he would be a born Muslim; that he wouldn’t bring any new Law; and that he would not claim to be an independent Prophet. In addition to all this, the Holy Prophet^sa also disclosed that there would be a marked difference between the physical features of the two Messiahs.

The Holy Prophet^sa saw the first Messiah on the night of the Mi‘raj¹⁷. According to a tradition mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, page 489, the Holy Prophet^sa described him as of medium height, reddish complexion, curly hair, and broad chest¹⁸. But, in the same book, the Holy Prophet^sa is reported to have described the second Messiah as being of light brown complexion the color of wheat and having, not curly, but straight hair reach￾ing down to his ears¹⁹.

Let us pause for a moment and consider. Surely the distinguishing marks of the two Messiahs, as stated by the Holy Prophet^sa, adequately assure us that the first and second Messiah are two entirely different persons. As for addressing each of them as ‘the son of Mary’, this is a metaphor that is as subtle as it is fine: it has been employed on account of the temperamental and spiritual affinity between the two Messiahs. Is it not true that because of such resemblance in disposition and character, two different persons, known for their piety, may well be addressed by the same name, just as two bad characters, who equally share evil, may be called counterparts? Muslims often name their children after the names of Prophets such as Ahmad, Musa, ‘Isa, Sulaiman, Dawud, and so on. They do so as an augury, hoping that, as a good omen, the children thus named might acquire the spiritual qualities and character of these archetypal ideals to the extent of becoming their true copies. However, if the objection is raised that since the first Messiah was a Prophet of God, the second Messiah too ought to be a Prophet, the answer is that the Holy Prophet^sa did not make Prophethood as the condition precedent for the Second Messiah: it is clearly recorded that he would be a Muslim by faith and practise the Quranic law like other Muslims. He will not claim to be anyone other than a

Muslim and the Imam of Muslims. There is no doubt that Allah has appointed me, a humble person, as Muhaddath²⁰.

A Muhaddath, in a way, is also a Prophet. It is true that his Prophethood is not absolute or complete, but he is, in part, a Prophet, for he has the honor of talking to God and the secrets of the unseen are revealed to him; like the messengers of God and His Prophets, the revelations he receives are free from satanic interference; he is taught the deeper meaning and essence of the Law; he is ordained exactly like Prophets and, like them, he is under obligation to openly pronounce and declare his ministry; and anyone who rejects him incurs a kind of Divine chastisement.

Prophethood too requires these same characteristics to be present in the person who claims to be a Prophet. To the objection that the door to Prophethood is closed forever and that the revelation which the Prophets receive has now ceased, my answer is that neither has the door to all kinds of Prophethood been completely closed nor has every kind of revelation been stopped. The fact is that the door to Prophethood remains open to the Ummah. But let it be understood, once and for all, that the institution of Prophethood, which is forever interminable, is neither absolute nor complete but is only partial, as I have just mentioned. Another name for it is Muhaddathiyat²¹. It is granted only through total submission to the Perfect Man who is the repository of all excellences pertaining to perfect Prophethood.

“فاعلم أرشدك الله تعالى أن النبي محدَّث والمحدَّث نبيٌّ؛ باعتبار المحدَّثية نوعا من أنواع النبوة. وقد قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: لم يبق من النبوة إلا المبشرات، أي لم يبق من أنواع النبوة إلا نوع واحد؛ وهي المبشرات من أقسام الرؤيا الصادقة والمكاشفات الصحيحة والوحي الذي ينـزل على خواص الأولياء، والنورُ الذي يتجلى على قلوب قوم موجَع. فانظر أيها الناقد البصير، أَيُفهَم من هذا سد باب النبوة على وجه كلّي؟ بل الحديث يدلّ على أن النبوة التامة الحاملة لوحي الشريعة قد انقطعت، ولكن النبوة التي ليس فيها إلا المبشرات فهي باقية إلى يوم القيامة، لا انقطاع لها أبدا. وقد علمتَ وقرأتَ في كتب الحديث أن الرؤيا الصالحة جزءٌ من ستة وأربعين جزءا من النبوة، أي من النبوة التامة. فلما كان للرؤيا نصيب من هذه المرتبة، فكيف الكلام الذي يوحى من الله تعالى إلى قلوب المحدَّثين. فاعلم، أيدك الله، أن حاصل كلامنا أن أبواب النبوة الجزئية مفتوحة أبدا. وليس في هذا النوع إلا المبشرات أو المنذرات من الأمور المغيّبة أو اللطائف القرآنية والعلوم اللدنِّية. 

²²وأما النبوة التي هي تامة كاملة جامعة لجميع كمالات الوحي؛ فقد آمنا بانقطاعها من يوم نزل فيه: “مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ”ا 

(the source: Tawdehulmaram Book) >>  to read Tawdehulmaram Original Book in Urdu, please visit the following link : https://mirzaghulamahmed.net/product/tawdehulmaram-original/