The Descent of the Messiah — Page 45
HADRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMADAS phrase الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ refers to the transgressive and wicked Isra- elites who denounced Jesus as a disbeliever, plotted to take his life, subjected him to ruthless humiliation and scorn, and, as is written in the Holy Quran, were cursed by him. الضَّالِّينَ ] Those who have gone astray] refers to the misguided Christians who took Jesus to be God, believed in the Trinity, put their faith in Jesus' blood for their salvation, and placed him on the throne of the Living God. Hence, the meaning of this prayer is, "O God! Bless us so that we may neither become like the Jews who de- clared Jesus to be a disbeliever and were bent upon killing him, nor should we take Jesus to be God and believe in the Trinity. " Since God knew that, in the Latter Days, the Promised Messiah would arise from within this Ummah—and that certain Jew-like Muslims would declare him a disbeliever, seek to kill him, and subject him to scorn and humiliation—and He also knew that the religion of the Trinity would be on the rise in those days, and that many unfortunate Muslims would turn to Christianity, He therefore taught the Muslims this very prayer. The words مَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ ]those who have incurred displeasure] proclaim that in the sight of God, those who would oppose the Islamic Messiah are counted among those who incur His wrath similar to those who opposed the Israelite Messiah. In the Gospels, Prophet Je- sus himself indicates that those who reject him shall be afflicted with [a disease of] the oesophagus, meaning the plague¹, and 1 It is written in Zechariah, Chapter 14, that in the latter days during the time of the Promised Messiah, there shall appear a severe plague. At the time, all the sects of the world shall unite in order to destroy Jerusalem. Then shall the plague breakout. Then on that day it shall so occur that liv- ing water shall flow from Jerusalem-meaning the Messiah of God shall appear. Here Jerusalem does not refer to Baitul-Maqdas, rather refers to the place where the fountain of divine knowledge shall surge forth in order to revive religion-it is Qadian which is an abode of peace in the eyes of God. As God Almighty named the Khatamul-Khulafa' of this Ummah, the Mes- siah, so did he name the place from where he would emerge as Jerusalem, furthermore, he named those who shall oppose him as the Jews. (Author) 45