Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 274
274 be a physical picture of the spiritual minaret to which we have before referred. The world shall nob recognise him before his glorious advent for he is not of the world. Nor shall the world love him, for he comes from the God whom the world does not love. It is therefore necessary that he should be abused, perse- cuted and charged with all manner of crime. The Islamic prophecies testify that the Promised Messiah shall not be accepted in the beginning. On the other hand, he shall be sub- jected to malignant and bitter treatment from the ignorant and to oppression and outrage from the mischief-makers. A man shall do violence to him and think that he has done a deed of virtue, another shall do him injury and regard his deed as most pleasing in the sight of God. Thus shall he suffer and undergo every trial and face every difficulty till the corning of the appoin- ted time of God and the fulfilment of the Divine law of persecu- tion against prophets. Then shall come the time of his glory. Capable hearts shall have their eyes opened and they shall begin to think of him with unprejudiced minds. "Can this be a liar," they shall say, "who cannot be subdued and crushed. " What is the reason," they shall reason with themselves "that Divine assistance is without intermission granted to him and never to us. " The inspiring angel of God shall then descend upon their hearts and admonish them that every one of the circumstances related in the traditions which had been a hindrance in the way of their acceptance, need, not occur to the very letter. It was possible nay highly probable that some of those traditions were errors and fabrications, and others were couched in meta- phorical language and could not be fulfilled literally. What was the cause of the misfortune of the Jews in rejecting Jesus? Nothing but that they waited till every word of prophecy should have been fulfilled in a literal sense, and exactly according to