A Gift for Baghdad — Page 101
Reply to the Announcement & Letter 101 the expression ‘descent from the skies’ is not found in any hadith and is only a perversion of the fabricators. All a ha d i th agree that the Promised Messiah will be from this ummah, for Prophethood has been terminated and our Messenger is Kh a tamun-Nabiyy i n. The word nuz u l, which is mentioned in the hadith , has the meaning of a traveller alighting from place to place, because naz i l [in Arabic] means a traveller. Even if we do accept the authen- ticity of this hadith, then it only establishes that the Promised Messiah or one of his Caliphs will travel from a certain place and will alight in Damascus. So, why should people bemoan the use of the word ‘Damascus’? Nay, it is confirmed, by using the phrase nuz u l near a minaret in Damascus, that the homeland from where the Promised Messiah will come forth is in another dominion and he will only alight in Damascus in his travels. This is if we accept the hadith in the literal sense, although that in itself is debatable, because the Hadith in general are speculative except that portion which is confirmed by the continuous prac- tice of the believers. Had the a ha d i th that are recorded in al-Bukh a r i and other books been certain, like the Holy Quran, then whoever would reject them would become liable to disbelief, just as denying the verses of the Quran makes one liable to disbelief, as is known by those who are well acquainted with the Firm Shariah. If this was the case, then it would necessarily mean that all Muslims should be deemed disbelievers, and it would be unavoidable for any of the Muslims, whether distinguished or ordinary, to escape from the dilemma of disbelief; nay, not even the foremost among our imams would be safe from this predicament. Because it is a gen- eral affliction which all fuqah a ’ [jurists], imams, and mu h addith i n