The Reality of Khilafah — Page 160
SIRRUL-KHILAFAH— 160 would become obvious that Jesus was not a true Prophet, as Elijah was supposed to have descended from heaven prior to his coming. This objection by the Jews was a great hurdle for Jesus in prov- ing his prophethood. Had the story of Elijah been a fabrication, Jesus would surely have told the Jews that there is no truth to the claim that Elijah must return to the earth in his physical body before the appearance of Christ. Instead, he accepted the verses as authentic and declared that Elijah’s descent was supposed to be a spiritual one. It was on account of these interpretations that the Jews called him an apostate and unanimously declared him to be irreligious and a disbeliever because he had distorted the apparent meaning of categorical verses of the Torah. If Jesus had explained that the said passages in the scriptures had been distorted, while this would not have silenced the Jews, many would have believed him after witnessing his miracles. Seeing that he was helped by God and received Divine revelations and worked miracles, people would have accepted his claim. However, Jesus did not do so and he instead acknowledged the authenticity of the verses that prom- ised the return of Elijah. This has caused the Christians no end of trouble as they have nothing to say to the Jews who taunt them that Jesus could be a Prophet only if all Divine scriptures were rejected. So far, Christians have not been able to prove that these verses were interpolated so as to get rid of this nuisance. Indeed, it is not possible for them to go against the words of Jesus, peace be upon him, after a passage of 1900 years. This is a very impor- tant point for our Muslim brothers to ponder. They should real- ize that if the apparent meanings they are emphasizing are true, then Jesus cannot be a Prophet in any way. He can only be the