Divine Manifestations — Page 9
9 his eyes would see *. It is wrong to infer from this Hadith that the Messiah would be a witch that would remove people’s hearts just by looking at them. What it really means is that wherever his pure breath—i. e. his teachings—would spread in the world, people would deny him, reject him and abuse him; so much so, that their rejection shall become a cause of chastisement for them. 8 This Hadith indicates that the Promised Messiah will be vehemently opposed, with the result that a great many people shall die in the land, the most severe earthquakes shall take place and * See S a hih Muslim, Kit a bul Fitan, B a bu Dhikril Dajj a l. [Publisher] 8 This Hadith, too, proves that, at the time of the Messiah, the injunction regarding Jihad shall be suspended, in accordance with one of the characteristics of the Promised Messiah recorded in Sah i h Bukh a r i is * i. e. , when the Promised Messiah comes, he shall put an end to war and Jihad. The underlying wisdom of this saying is that since the mere spiritual attention of the Messiah will be sufficient to trigger wrathful signs and hundreds of thousands shall die in plagues and earthquakes, it will not be necessary to destroy anyone with the sword. And God is far too Compassionate to inflict two terrible signs upon a people at the same time, i. e. , the vengeance of God coupled with the destruction unleashed by people through the sword. God Almighty has clearly stated in the Holy Quran that these two punishments cannot come together at the same time. ** [Author] * S a hih Bukh a r i , Kit a bul H ad i thul Ambiy a ’, B a b Naz u lul Mas ih. In some editions of Bukh ari the words are ﻳﻀﻊ ﺍﻟﺠﺰﻳﺔ ; however, both the expressions virtually mean the same thing—for Jizya (a kind of tax) is taken from the vanquished non-Muslims. [Publisher] ** See the Holy Quran, Al-An‘ a m 6:66. [Publisher]