The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 175
The Messiah and his Second Coming 175 will wage wars, and the one-eyed Antichrist will die at his hands. The Jews will also be killed by his command. . They assert that he will be the same Jesus, son of Mary, who was a Prophet of God and who was bestowed the. Gospel through Gabriel, and yet they allege that on his descent upon earth he will have lost his status of. Prophethood and will only be a follower of the Holy. Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and will be bound by the law of the Holy Qur'ān, like the. Muslims, and will join them in their prayers. Some say that he will be a follower of the great Imam Abū Ḥanīfa, but it is not specified which of the four Sufi orders,. Qādrī, Chishti, Suharwardī or Naqshbandī he will identify himself with. In short, they begin with describing him as a Prophet and then reduce him to a degree that no sensible person can ever contemplate. Then, converting his functions from their metaphorical description into physical activities, they allege that he will break crosses and slaughter swine. They do not explain what he will gain by breaking crosses. Even if he broke one or two million crosses, would the Christians, who are devoted to the worship of the cross, not make new ones in place of the broken ones? If the slaughtering of swine is also to be taken literally, will the principal occupation of the Messiah be that of hunting swine with a pack of dogs? If that is so, it will be a great day for Sikhs and some nomadic tribes like the Chamārs, Sānsīs, Gondelas, etc. , who are fond of hunting swine. But this activity of his will not in any way benefit the Christians, who are already very skilful in hunting swine. There are up to a thousand shops in London that sell the flesh of swine, and up to twenty-five thousand pigs are daily sent to the outlying areas of the city. The question is: is it worthy of a