Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 236
236 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad In respect of his exemplary morals, his spiritual influence, his firm resolve, the excellence and perfection of his teaching, his perfect example and the acceptance of his prayers, in short, in every respect, the Holy Prophet sas is distinguished with shining examples and signs. Even the most foolish and dull person, provided that their heart is not filled with unjust obstinacy and enmity, can easily accept that the Holy Prophet sas was a perfect example of the words: ِ َاُہلل ِقِ َ َْخْاَل ْا ِبِ َا ُْوْ ْق َ � ٰل َتََخَ Develop within yourselves the attributes of Allah. They will accept that he was the perfect man. However, when a person observes the life of the Messiah, a wise and just individual feels reluctant to accept that a man who responds to respectful and civilised comments with expletives, and refers to those who call him a worthy teacher as vipers, the brood of vipers and adulterers, could even be a Prophet, let alone God. The Challenges Faced by the Jews in Believing in the Messiah Aside from all of these points, the Jews were faced with another strange predica - ment, and apparently one can see how they could have been right. They had read in the book of Malachi that it was necessary for Elijah as to descend from heaven before the advent of the Messiah. Until he comes, the Messiah would not appear. Now, the Jews had no previous example before them of any second advent, and they had always read in their scriptures that Elijah as would descend from heaven. They did not witness Elijah as descend from heaven, so when the Messiah made his claim, on what basis would the Jews have accepted him? While the Messiah gave the verdict that John as had appeared as Elijah as , the Jews had reasons, on face value, to reject this suggestion, because they were given the promise of Elijah as , not the ‘likeness’ of Elijah as. They had no previous precedent of this sort before them. Therefore, they felt compelled to reject the Messiah. I have a book in my possession written by a Jew, who has vigorously argued this point and then makes an appeal saying, you tell me, what should we have done in such a case? In fact, he has gone so far as to write that if God Almighty calls us to account on this, we will open the book of Malachi and place it before God. So this was one of the challenges faced by the Jews. The second difficulty that they confronted was that the Messiah was crucified, and the curse of death on the cross further reinforced their denial. For they had read in the Torah that p. 501