The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 249
The Messiah and his Second Coming 249 that God, to whom he was dear, would safeguard him against an accursed death, he had, under Divine revelation, prophesied in this manner in order to convey that he would not die on the cross but would become unconscious like the Prophet Jonas. In this prophecy Jesus had also indicated that after emerging from the belly of the earth he would meet his people and would be honoured by them as. Jonas had been honoured by his people. This prophecy was also fulfilled, inasmuch as after emerging from the belly of the earth, Jesus travelled to his people who were settled in Kashmir, Tibet and other Eastern countries. These were the ten lost tribes of Israel which had been captured from Samaria by Salamendor, King of Assyria, seven hundred and twenty-one years earlier, and who had migrated towards India and had settled in various countries. . It was necessary that Jesus should have undertaken this journey because the ultimate purpose of his Prophethood. Iwas to meet the lost tribes who were settled in India and other countries. They were indeed the lost tribes of Israel because after they had settled in these countries they had given up the religion of their ancestors and most of them had become Buddhists, and, in course of time, they had become idol worshippers. . . . . Moreover deliverance from the cross was also necessary for Jesus because scripture says that he who dies upon the rood is accursed. The meaning of curse is such that its application to Jesus for even a moment would be the height of cruelty and injustice. Curse is related to the heart. A person is called accursed when his heart, being alienated from God, becomes black and is bereft of His mercy, becomes a stranger to His love, is emptied completely of His comprehension, becomes blind and is filled with the poison of misguidance like Satan; and not a ray