The Descent of the Messiah — Page 50
THE DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH Even Zaid is better than him, as his name is mentioned in the Holy Quran. To consider him [Imam Hussain] to be the son of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is against the categorical injunctions of the Holy Quran, as is understood from the verse مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ اَبَا أَحَدٍ مِّنْ رِجَالِكُمْ . Of course, Hadrat Imam Hussain was one of the men and not one of the women. The truth is that the relationship that Imam Hussain had with the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as the son of his daughter has been made very insignificant by this verse. To then elevate his status to the extent of saying that he is superior even to the Respected Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is to go beyond the Holy Quran. Every person should only be given the status that is warranted by the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran does not even acknowledge him as the son [of the Holy Prophetsas], and yet the Shiites regard him as the intercessor of all the Prophets. What absurdity! How shameless to assert that all the Prophets, peace be upon them, are beholden to Imam Hussain and that without him it would be difficult, if not impossible, for them to find salvation. Alas! Where is the Islam of these people who, like the Chris- tians for the sake of Hussain-vilify the Messenger who is superior to all the Prophets? Is it not strange that while the Quran praises Abu Bakr and gives the glad tidings of his Khilafat in categorical terms, it does not at all mention Hussain, the sup- posed intercessor of all the Prophets? Stranger still is the fact that Hussain did not have the privilege of being buried close to the tomb of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, whereas Abu Bakr and Umar, whom the Shiites call disbelievers-nay, rather worse than infidels-had the honour of 1 "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men. " Al-Ahzāb, 33:41. [Publisher] 50