Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 251
POSTSCRIPT-SIGN NUMBER II 251 This prophecy tells about the Promised Messiah who was to appear in the Latter Days. According to Prophet Dāniāl, his sign is that the Jews will give up the rite of making burnt offerings,¹" and will fall victim to corrupt practices. The Promised Messiah is destined to appear after 1,290 years. This was the exact time of the advent of this humble one, for my book Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya was printed and published only a few years after I was appointed and commissioned. It is amazing and I consider this to be a Sign of God—that I was blessed with converse and discourse with God Almighty exactly in the year 1290 Hijrah; seven years thereafter, Barāhin-e-Ahmadiyya— in which my claim is recorded-was compiled and published. Accordingly, the following couplet is written on the opening page of the book: 1. Footnote: In accordance with the teaching of their Scriptures, the Jews were required to make burnt offerings. They would slaughter goats and burn them in front of the temple. What the law intended was that people should, similarly, sacrifice their own self before God and should burn their selfish passions and rebellion. The Jews had abandoned this practice, in letter and spirit, during the blessed days of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and had fallen prey to other loathsome practices as is quite well known. Thus, when the Jews stopped offering this real burnt sacri- fice, i. e. sacrificing their ego in the path of God and burning their selfish pas- sions, then God Almighty's wrath deprived them even of physical sacrifice. This, in fact, was the period of rank misconduct on the part of the Jews which coincided with the advent of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the uprooting of the Jews. As a matter of fact, the Islamic custom of sacrifice offered during the Hajj of the House of Allah, the Ka'bah, is a substitute for the sacrifices which the Jews used to perform in front of Baitul-Muqaddas. The only difference is that there is no burnt sac- rifice in Islam. The Jews were a rebellious people. Deeming it necessary for them to burn their selfish passions, this symbolic sacrifice was prescribed for them. Islam, on the other hand, does not stand in need of such a sign; instead, it is enough to surrender oneself in the path of God. (Author)