With Love to the Muslims of the World — Page 29
29 According to the mainstream non-Ahmad i ulema, this prophecy again is to be fulfilled literally. They are expect- ing a Mahdi who would resolve all economic problems of the Muslim world in particular. If this understanding is to be taken seriously, we should expect a complete collapse of the world economy and total chaos in the exchange system of values. If a people do not have to work to earn their living, why should they work at all? If people do not work, either on the land or in industries, the entire system of production would come to a grinding halt. There may be as many buyers as one can imagine, but who would sell and what would they sell? If someone requires to buy even an egg for billions of dollars or roubles, none would be mad enough to sell because he too would have mountains of wealth received from Imam Mahdi. T RUE I NTERPRETATION OF ‘D ISTRIBUTION OF W EALTH ’ BY I MAM M AHDI Ahmad i s, on the other hand, interpret these prophecies in a far more rational way. They consider the language of these prophecies as a religious metaphor which should be understood in the same allegorical way. They believe that what the Prophet of Islam sa said was that like all other prophets of God, Imam Mahdi would also distribute unlimited spiritual wealth and like the people of earlier history the people of Imam Mahdi’s time would also refuse to accept spiritual treasures.