The Descent of the Messiah — Page 44
THE DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH and that, too, has occurred. It is naive to argue that, according to the Hadith, the earth shall open up at a certain place from which the creature will emerge and then spread out in the world. The fact is that most prophecies are dominated by metaphors. When the truth of something has become apparent, it is extremely ignorant to abandon it in favour of conjecture. It was this very habit that kept the unfortunate Jews from accepting the truth. The fourth piece of evidence supporting the notion that the creature of the earth refers to the plague is as follows: Sūrah Fatihah can be interpreted as a prophecy that foretells the rise of a faction of Muslims who will mirror the behaviour of the Jews during the era of Jesus, peace be upon him, ultimately meeting the same fate as them, which includes being afflicted with calamities like the plague. It is a long-standing tradition of God to preordain that some individuals will commit the very sins He has forbidden. For instance, the Jews were instructed in the Torah to not alter Divine scriptures, yet some still did. Conversely, the Holy Quran does not contain any explicit command prohibiting the alteration of its text. Rather, it states: إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحْفِظُونَ In the same way, in Sūrah Fātiķah, He has taught the Muslims to pray: اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ Authentic Ahādīth provide compelling evidence that the 1 "Verily, We ourself have sent down this Exhortation, and most surely We will be its Guardian. " Al-Hijr, 15:10 [Publisher] 2 "Guide us in the right path-The path of those on whom Thou hast be- stowed Thy blessings, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray. " Al-Fatihah, 1:6-7 [Publisher] 44