The Heavenly Sign — Page 36
36 Nishan-e-Āsmānī oath of allegiance at his hand and join his followers and he (the Mahdias) will have the sword to punish the disbeliev- ers. If that were true, how would the Ulema, be they Muwahhid or Muqallid, dare denounce him an errant, unbeliever, infidel and Dajjal? Actually, this prophecy is about that humble Mahdias whose Kingdom is not of this world and who has nothing to do with swords. If, as Şiddīq Hassan Khan Şahib says, the blood-thirsty Mahdi will kill people for even trifling innovations, then how will the Ulema escape punishment at his hands after calling him an infidel, Dajjal and disbeliever? Do the Ulema have courage enough to write an edict about a powerful king and call him Kafir (disbeliever) and Dajjal, especially when they see blood dripping from his sword? The fact is that Ahādīth mention many kinds of Mahdīs and the Ulema have created a mess by amalgamating these Ahādīth. Amalgamation of Ahādīth coupled with lack of deliberation has made the matter obscure to them. Otherwise, the Mahdias of the fourteenth century, who is also called Sultānul Mashriqas, 33 has been distinctly mentioned in Ahādīth. His Jihad is spiritual and he has been sent as 'Isaas (Jesus) because domination of Dajjaliyyat. On page 387 of the Hujaj-ul-Kirāmah, there is a quotation of Hafiz Ibnul Qayyam from Manār, which says that there 33 The Monarch of the East. [Translator]