Truth About The Crucifixion — Page 202
a tradition attributed to the Holy Prophet of Islam (on whom be peace and blessings of God) according to which the Holy Prophet in a vision saw that Jesus Christ had been to the land of Hijaz, that he entered the valley of Mecca for pilgrimage to the Kaaba, and that he used his own words of Response (Talbih) for the occasion. (Akhbar-i-Mecca, 223 A. H. p. 39: by Al-Azraqi) Jesus had been telling some of his followers that he was due to come back to them again. He exhorted them to stay in Jerusalem. He did return for a while but migrated again, this time for ever. His special mission in fact was to reach the nine and a half tribes of Israel who had become lost among the people of the east. The lost sheep of Israel had to be traced. They had travelled from Babylon to Iran, Afghanistan, North-West India and to Kashmir and Kashghar. They had become dispersed and were now living in far flung places. Jesus entered Iran from Babylon. On the way he stopped in Herat and from Herat he made his way into Afghanistan. He passed through the Khyber Pass and entered Gandhara Valley. He roamed over places around Taxila and over the Punjab, entered Kashmir and went as far as Ladakh, Tibet and Nepal. There were Israelite pockets, spread over the north-west of India. Jesus reached all of them and did whatever he could to have them settled properly. Gondaphorus, the Parthian king and the king of the Sakas, honoured Jesus one after the other and made obeisance to him. The result of all this was that the political climate became congenial for Jesus and the Israelites. Plans were thought out for their settlement. This work of settlement was completed under the care and leadership of Jesus himself. The people of Israel began to prosper. They became more settled, and gathered from all directions in the valley of Kashmir, which had been chosen for them. 194