The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 178
178. Essence of Islam-III days. Again they hold, on the one hand, that the Holy. Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the last Prophet, and yet they also believe that a Prophet will come after him, namely Jesusas son of Mary. They believe on the one hand that the Promised Messiah will appear when the Antichrist has supremacy over the whole world, with the exception of Mecca and Medina. . On the other, they are compelled to believe, in accordance with a true tradition narrated by Bukhārī, that the. Promised Messiah will appear at the time of the supremacy of the cross, that is to say at the time when Christianity will be dominant, and the power and the wealth of. Christians will be greater than all others. Again, they believe that the Promised Messiah will not be the Mahdī and the Imam, rather some other person from the descendants of the Holy Prophets will be the Mahdi. In short, they set forth so many contradictions that they have created serious doubts about the very truth of this prophecy; for a collection of contradictions cannot be true, and sensible people cannot accept it at the cost of reason. That is why the newly educated section of Muslims, who judge everything by the criteria of nature, its laws and the dictates of reason, have been compelled to reject this prophecy despite its frequent occurrence. Indeed, if this prophecy can only be interpreted in a manner that would entail so many contradictions, then human reason, failing to reconcile them, would resolve the difficulty by rejecting the prophecy altogether. That is why those who are committed to nature and reason have rejected this great prophecy despite its frequency. It is a pity, however, that these people were hasty in their rejection of the prophecy, as no sensible person should reject a prophecy that is reported with such persistence and frequency