Testimony of the Holy Quran — Page 4
4 TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY QURAN supported by others] therefore, they lack certainty. That is why he does not regard the prophecy about the Promised Messiah, which is confirmed by aḥādīth, as an established fact. In his view, prophecies based on ahādīth alone are worthless and unfounded and, therefore, cannot qualify as substantial proof. So, it seems necessary that I answer his queries in keeping with his way of thinking. Let it be clear that in this matter there are three issues calling for investigation: FIRST: Whether the prophecy regarding the advent of the Promised Messiah, which is recorded in the ahādīth, is unreli- able because the accounts of ahādīth are far from and entirely outside the level of certainty; SECOND: Whether or not this prophecy finds any mention in the Holy Quran; THIRD: If this prophecy is a proven fact, what proof, then, is there that it has been fulfilled in the person of my hum- ble self? Let me begin with addressing the FIRST OF THESE THREE ISSUES. Let it be clear that no one denies that the ahādīth contain an explicit prophecy about the Promised Messiah. Rather, there is a consensus among almost all the Muslims that, as per aḥādīth, a person is sure to come who will be named 'Isā ibn Maryam [Jesus Son of Mary]. And this prophecy finds such repeated mention in the books of Hadith-Bukhārī, Muslim, Tirmidhi, etc. that it is enough to satisfy a fair-minded person and compels us to believe in their common theme that a Promised Messiah is to come. It is true that most such aḥādīth, taken individually, are no more