The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 188
188 فَسْلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ 156. Essence of Islam-III 'Ask the Jews and the Christians for an example of the ways of Allah, if you do not know. " [Kitāb-ul-Bariyyah, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, vol. 13, p. 43]. The Hadith of Sahih Muslim which says that the Messiah would descend near the white eastern minaret of Damascus has throughout puzzled the scholars, for it is not clear what relationship Messiah has with Damascus. . . . . A little attention resolved this difficulty in my mind and it was disclosed to me, in a clear vision, that the intimation in the compilation of Abū Dāwūd that a person designated Harith or Ḥarrāth [a cultivator] ill appear is correct and is identical with the prophecy of the second advent of the Messiah and that both have reference to me. . It has been disclosed to me that the word Damascus in the prophecy means a town which is home to a people who resemble Yazid and think and act like him. Their hearts feel no love for Allah or His Messenger and they do not esteem Divine commandments. They worship their selfish desires and are so committed to the dictates of their evil egos, that they esteem the blood of the pure and the holy lightly. They do not believe in the hereafter; and the existence of God Almighty is for them a mystery which they cannot understand. Just as a physician is needed for the sick, it was necessary that the Messiah should appear among such people. It has been disclosed to me that the word Damascus here indicates a place which possesses this important characteristic peculiar to. Damascus. The use of this word in connection with the 156. Al-Nahl, 16:44 [Publisher]