The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 480
AT-TABLIGH―TO THE NOBLE AND PIOUS OF THE ARABS 479 Verily Allah tries all peoples with His tidings of the unseen and He tried even Hadrat Fārūq and others like him. Are you superior to them? What is the matter with you that you do not fear the trial of Allah? It is possible that the prophecy about the descent of the Messiah is a trial for you. What is the matter with you that you do not practice righteousness? Are you wiser than those who have passed before you, or have you been exempted from the trials of Allah? What is the matter with you that you do not reflect? Indeed, many trials have passed before so blessed are those who open their eyes and take heed from them. They contend, 'How can they come to believe in this Messiah while we have been informed that he would descend near a minaret in Damascus, would slay the Dajjal, and would fight and defeat the enemies?' They present this kind of flawed argumentation. They have lost their understanding and have erred. Do they not know that the Promised Messiah would put an end to war?² Do they not read Ṣaḥiḥ Bukhārī or have they forgotten it? From where have they been apprised of, and by which piece of evidence have they come to believe, that the Messiah would descend in Damascus,³ the capital of Syria? Did the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, accom- pany them to Damascus and show them the minaret and his place of descent or display its picture on a piece of paper that they so recognize it and could not deny it? Or is this a city holier than Makkah, or does it hold superiority over all other cities, there living only the pure? They are misled merely by the word 'Damascus' used in the sayings of our Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. In fact, it has a general meaning, and it also carries various connotations as is known to the men of knowledge. Among these meanings are, 'a town', 1. Ṣaḥiḥ Muslim, Kitābul-Fitan, Bāb Dhikrud-Dajjāl, Hadith 7373 [Publisher] 2. Şahih al-Bukhārī, Juzw 1, Kitābul-Anbiyā”, Bāb Nuzūl ‘Īsā ibn Maryam, pub- lished by Maktabah Raḥmāniyyah, Urdu Bazar, Lahore [Publisher] 3. Sahih Muslim, Kitābul-Fitan, Bāb Dhikrud-Dajjāl, Hadith 7373 [Publisher]