Defence Against the Plague and a Criterion for the Elect of God — Page 3
Defence Against the Plague & A Criterion for the Elect of God 3 can it be assumed that ‘ I s a , who brought no complete law himself but followed the laws of M u s a in circumcision, matters of jurisprudence, inheritance, prohibition of swine, etc. , was definitely greater than all the righteous ones in his age? Those who have deified ‘ I s a , such as the Christians, or those who have idly ascribed divine attributes to him, such as our so-called Muslim foes who are opponents of God, are free to elevate him higher and higher until they raise him to heaven, or seat him on the Throne [of Allah], or proclaim that he too, like God, cre - ated birds. When man dispenses with modesty and justice, he says and does as he pleases; but there is no evidence to suggest that the Mas ih [Messiah] excelled other righteous ones in his time. In fact, it can be supposed that in one respect Ya h y a [ John the Baptist] possesses a supe - riority over him in that he did not drink alcohol, nor is it recorded any - where that a prostitute ever came to him and massaged his head with perfumed oil purchased from her own earnings; or ever touched his body and rubbed it with her hair; or that a young woman who had no relationship with him was placed into his service. For this very reason, God has referred to Ya h y a and not ‘ I s a as حَصُور [chaste] in the Quran, for such stories stand as a hindrance in the Mas ih being referred to as such. Moreover, ‘ I s a , may peace be on him, repented of all his sins at the hand of Ya h y a , whom the Christians call Yu h anna [John the Baptist] and who was later identified as [the second coming of ] I ly a [Elijah]— and became one of his special followers. This justifiably establishes the superiority of Hadrat Ya h y a —for it has not been proven that he ever repented at someone’s hand. It is thus clear that he lived a pure and innocent life. The actual purport of the commonly held belief among the Muslims that ‘ I s a and his mother were free from the influence of Satan is mis - understood by the unlearned. The fact of the matter is that those who were corrupt from among the Jews had levied extremely foul allega - tions against Hadrat ‘ I s a and his mother, and would accuse them both of—God forbid—satanic deeds. So it was necessary that they be exon - erated. Hence, this statement only means that the indecent allegations that were levelled against the two were false and in this sense they are free from the influence of Satan, and no other Prophet has ever required such an exoneration. —Author