Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 97
97 If these signs are taken as complete in themselves, then we might be led to think that whenever honestly disappears or whenever knowledge becomes lost, the Mahdi must appear. This is not so. The fact is that during its 1300 year history, Islam has gone through many ups and downs, wherein at times honesty disappeared and at times knowledge was lost, and yet the Mahdi did not appear. This shows that these signs are not to be applied singly, rather all the signs (which have been described by the Holy Prophet s as on the basis of Divine revelation and have not been concocted by human beings) together constitute the signs of the coming of the Mahdi. Individually, these signs might appear at different times, but only at the time of the Mahdi were they all to appear together. The means of identifying a time or age are the same as for iden - tifying a person. When we want to describe a person to someone who has not met him and does not know him, we describe his fea - tures, his height, his complexion, his habits and traits, his friends, relations, where he lives, etc. We may say the man is tall, fair, medi - um-built, has a broad forehead, a sharp nose, large eyes, thick lips, broad chin, etc. We might further say that he is a scholar of Arabic, a Muslim by faith, that his community is against him and that he is a man of noble character. We might even describe his house and his neighbourhood. Whoever goes into a village with such a description will easily find this person even if some people try to mislead him. Similarly, in order to identify a time or an age, one will point out the position of heavenly bodies; changes that would occur within the earth; political, social, religious, moral and eco - nomic conditions of the time; relationships between nations; the prevalent means of communication and transport, etc. Whoever