Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page iii
INTRODUCTION The world of religion is familiar with the concept of the second advent of great religious teachers who have passed away, but curiously enough all those who are looking for- ward to the fulfilment of the prophecies relating to the second advent of a great teacher expect that he would return to the earth in his physical body. This concept has been responsible for great confusion, bewilderment and conflict. In 62:4, 'And among others, from among them who have not yet joined them', the Quran indicates a second spiritual. advent of the Holy Prophet. In this case, however, there has never been any expectation that the Holy Prophet would return to earth in his physical body. His second advent was expected to be fulfilled through the appearance of one so completely devoted to hims as to be a spiritual reflection of him. He was to be so completely identified with him spiri- tually, that the Holy Prophet said: 'He will be buried with me in my grave. ' This was no indication of the burial of a dead body along with the body of the Holy Prophet in his grave; that would be an unthinkable outrage. What it meant was that he would be spiritually identified completely with the Holy Prophet, as if in spirit he was the Holy Prophet himself. There are prophecies attributed to the Holy Prophet of the advent of a Mahdi and a Messiah, in the latter days. The Holy Prophet specified that these prophecies would be fulfilled in the appearance of the same person who would be both Mahdi and Messiah and thus there was no doubt left that the spiritual second advent of the Holy Prophet indicate~J in 62:4 would be fulfilled in that person. The Holy Prophet indicated that he would be of Persian descent. The bulk of the Muslims, however, being influenced by the traditions of the large body of Christians who entered the fold of Islam, gradually developed the entirely erroneous Vll