Malfuzat – Volume II — Page 169
169 they bore the responsibility that was given to them, and for as long as God willed, they continued to rule. Until an individual understands this concept of buruz, i. e. manifestations in the metaphoric sense, the reality of this prophecy cannot be understood and ultimately one will have to reject this prophecy. When the actual Quraish lost their ability and another people become more worthy, God gave the responsibility of leadership to them. This is precisely the reason that people have followed the Ottoman empire and have accepted its rule with sincere love, not out of pretext or hypocrisy; and their hearts have given the verdict that the Ottomans are the custodians of the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. There have always been examples of such metaphoric concepts, and there shall be in the future as well. This is the meaning of ٍ َئِمَّۃ ُ مِن ْ قُر َیْش ْ اَل (The leaders are from among the Quraish). Therefore, both these appellations belong to one man. One title referred to his rank as a restorer of virtue and the other alluded to his duty of repelling evil. Since the cultivation of goodness is greater than simply repelling evil, this is the reason that the Mahdi has been given a great status and was conferred the ti- tle ‘Vicegerent of Allah’. Therefore, just as there were two manifestations of evil, there were in contrast to them the two manifestations of virtue just mentioned. Now, I would like to state one more point in this regard and then I shall bring my discussions to a close. The name Isa ( Jesus) possesses the meaning of repel- ling evil. The name Ahmad sa or Muhammad sa alludes in one sense or the other to the giving of goodness. The meaning of Muhammad is ‘one who is praised abundantly’ (and Ahmad means ‘one who praises abundantly’). When a person is beneficent, those who are in receipt of the person’s favour will naturally praise them. The giving of praise is intrinsically tied to the receipt of favour. The Holy Prophet sa was named Muhammad because he showered favour upon mankind at large. Ahmad is the ‘one who praises’ and Muhammad is the ‘receiver of praise’; the word Isa ( Jesus) means ‘one who is saved’ and this connotes the repelling of evil. This is why God has reminded us of the incident mentioned in the following verse: 1 ً الْاَرْضِ خَلِيْفَة اِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةِ اِنِّيْ جَاعِلٌ فِي And when thy Lord said to the angels: ‘I am about to place a vicegerent in the earth. ’ 1 al-Baqarah, 2:31