Ahmadiyya Movement — Page 8
8 Israelites—that is to say, from among the descendants of Ish- mael —and into whose mouth God put His Words, and who was like Moses, the bearer of a law, was no other than Muhammad (on whom be peace and the blessing of God). Hence it was ne- cessary that the Promised Messiah should arise from among the followers of Muhammad, as the first Messiah had arisen from among the followers of Moses, and his teachings were bound to stand towards Islam in the same relationship as that in which the teachings of Jesus stood to the teachings of Moses. The Nature of the Claim of the Promised Mes- siah. It is necessary to explain here the exact nature of the claim of the Promised Messiah. (As the Christians and Muslims believe that Jesus (on whom be peace) is still alive and dwells somewhere in the Heavens and will return to this world at some appointed time. when they are told of the Promised Messiah they are apt to im- agine that the Ahmadies believe in the doctrine of reincarnation. The truth, however, is that the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) did not claim that the soul of Jesus was incarnated in him. By claiming to be the Promised Messiah, he merely meant that he had appeared in the power and spirit of Jesus. This question of a “Second Advent” has been cleared up by Jesus himself. The Jews believed that Elijah would appear a second time before the advent of the Messiah, and this “Second Advent” of Elijah had been mentioned as condition precedent to the appearance of the Messiah in the Book of Malachi. It had been said:— “Behold, I will send you Elijah, the Prophet, before the Coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. ” —Malachi iv. , 5. But, as it happened, Jesus appeared, and no Elijah descended from the Heavens. When Jesus was asked, concerning this, he replied:—