A Gift for Baghdad — Page 27
REPLY TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT & LETTER 27 Further, He says: وَحَرِّمُ عَلَى قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَهَا أَنَّهُمْ لَا يَرْجِعُونَ ) Moreover, He states: وَمَا مُحَمَّدُ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ 2 Meaning that: All of them [i. e. the Messengers] have died, just as the Great Şiddīq [i. e. Abu Bakr] concluded upon the death of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Thereafter, no doubt can remain regarding the death of the Messiah and the impossibility of his return-if indeed you are believers in Allah and His holy verses. Allah has set a seal upon Prophethood with our Messenger and prophetic revelation has ceased; how, then, can the Messiah come while there can be no Prophet after our Messenger? Will he turn up as one deposed and stripped of Prophethood? Our Messengersas has given us the glad tidings that the future Messiah will appear from among his community and that he will be a Muslim. In the authentic aḥādīth, there are ones that are marfu³ and muttasil, which bear witness to the death of Jesus, on whom be 1. And it is an inviolable law for a township which We have destroyed that they shall not return (Sūrah al-Anbiyā', 21:96). [Publisher] 2. Sūrah Al-e-Imrān, 3:145 [Publisher] 3. Lit. 'elevated. A hadith classification denoting that its chain of trans- mitters connects directly to the Holy Prophetsas. [Publisher] 4. Lit. 'connected. A hadith classification denoting that there is no inter- ruption in the chain of reporters. [Publisher]