Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 133
133 pursuit of their mission, do not only carry their books with them but also other things that might attract people and promote their trades wherever they go. The Dajj a l is also described as ‘the Deceiver’. 74 To whom would this description be more applicable than to the Christian missionaries of our time who portray a poor mortal as God? As for the prophecies that the Dajj a l would be one-eyed, that he would have with him a donkey of inordinate size, that clouds of smoke would go with him where he went, all these beg interpre - tation. Being one-eyed means that the Dajj a l would be weak on the spiritual side because in dreams the right side is interpreted as faith and righteousness. The donkey of the Dajj a l symbolizes the railway which feeds on fire and water and clouds of smoke accom - pany it wherever it goes, and it is used by Christian missionaries to travel to different parts of the world. It would not be right to reject these as mere interpretations because we learn from the Holy Prophet s as that all such prophecies require interpretation. It is related in a Hadith that one day the Holy Prophet s as went to see Ibn Sayy a d, a man to whom strange things were attributed. In talking to him it became evident that he was the recipient of some Satanic whisperings. Hadrat ‘Umar ra , who accompanied the Holy Prophet s as , at once drew his sword and wanted to kill Ibn Sayy a d, swearing that he was the Dajj a l. The Holy Prophet s as stopped him and said, ‘If he is not the Dajj a l , it is wrong to kill him. And if he is, then it is not for you but for the Messiah to kill him. ’ 75 This shows that all the prophecies regarding the Dajj a l are subject to interpretation, for when Hadrat ‘Umar ra declared Ibn Sayy a d to be the Dajj a l , the Holy Prophet s as did not contradict