Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 482
B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 482 may peace be upon him, the Promised Messiah would also appear in the 14th century,1 ٭ and so my advent took place in the fourteenth century. That is to say, just as Hadrat ‘ I s a , may peace be upon him, was born in the fourteenth century after Hadrat M u s a, may peace be upon him, so have I appeared in the fourteenth century from the time of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Regarding these Latter Days, God had also given the news in the Holy Quran that books and magazines would be published extensively throughout the world at that time, ways of interaction between nations would open up, many canals would be dug out of rivers, new mines would be discov- ered, many disputes in religious matters would arise between people, and one nation would attack another. And while all this is happening, a trumpet will be blown from Heaven; i. e. God—through sending the Promised Messiah—will manifest Himself for the propagation of Islam. Then an inclination towards Islam will develop in the pure-hearted people of every country throughout the world, and God will gather the blessed people of the entire earth into Islam to the extent He wills. Then will be the end. So, all the above have come to pass. Similarly, it was written in a ha d i th that 1. ٭ Although the Christians have erroneously written that Yas u ‘ Mas ih [Jesus, the Messiah], appeared in the fifteenth century after M u s a [Moses], this is a mistake they have made. From Jewish histories it is unanimously established that Hadrat ‘ I s a [Jesus], appeared fourteen centuries after M u s a , and this statement is correct. Even though perfect similarity is not necessary to prove resemblance, for instance if we called someone a lion it does not necessitate that he must have the claws and hide and a tail too like a lion and should have the voice of a lion too. Rather a degree of similarity is enough to liken one person to another. Thus, it wouldn’t matter even if we were to accept the Christian view that Hadrat ‘ I s a appeared fifteen centuries after Hadrat M u s a , because the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are adjacent and this much dif- ference in time would not take anything away from the mutual resemblance. But I give preference to the Jewish statement in this regard who say that Hadrat ‘ I s a had claimed Prophethood exactly in the fourteenth century after Hadrat M u s a because the Hebrew Torah they go by is more authentic than the Christians’ translations. (Author)