How can the Divine Spirit be bestowed on all

  

Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the Qur’an and the Beginning of History

How can the Divine Ruh be bestowed on all and

sundry when we are the Chosen People of the Lord-God?

 

We tried the patience of the readers in offering the above explanation of the subject of the Ruh, in order that they might understand the question that must now be asked: How could it be possible that Allah Most Wise could choose a people as His chosen people with a status far superior to all the rest of mankind, and then bestow this supreme Divine gift of the Ruh to all of mankind while making no distinction between the so-called chosen people and the rest of mankind?

 

The Rabbis were convinced that such was not possible, and they wanted to know whether Nabi Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam would confirm it; and that is why they asked the third of three questions: Ask him about the Ruh? (See my book entitled Surah al Kahf and the Modern Age p. 91).

 

A study of the subject in the Qur’an indicates that at no time did Allah Most High ever declare that the Divine Ruh was breathed into only the Israelite people, to the exclusion of all other human beings. Rather, all human beings possess the Divine Ruh within them. However, when the Divinely-revealed answer to that third question was sent down in the Qur’an, it was humiliatingly curt, and it must have left the world of Jewish scholarship in a state of agony and frustration:

(Qur’an, al-Isra’, 17:85)

And they, the Jews, question you Oh Muhammad, about the Ruh. Say to them in reply that the Ruh is by Allah’s command, and you, the Jews, have been granted but little knowledge of this subject. 

 

This revelation was sent down while the Prophet was still in Makkah, i.e., prior to the Hijrah or migration to Yathrib. It represented the initial response in the Qur’an to the questions posed by the Rabbis. Subsequent revelations which came down after the Hijrah to Yathrib, delivered more information of the subject. The Qur’an went on to inform us, for example, that Allah Most High not only created every human being at the dawn of creation, and breathed into each of them of His Divine Ruh, but also endowed them with the capacity to recognize Him as their Lord-God:

 

After having disclosed all of the above (perhaps for the first time in a divinely-revealed Book that could be read by all, rather than by a select few) the Qur’an then proceeded to deliver the coup-de-grace in demolishing the claim of a so-called chosen people to have a special status with the Lord-God to the exclusion of the rest of mankind. It did so when it declared that Allah Most High honored all the progeny of Adam ʿalayhi as-salām, hence all of mankind (without exception—and this includes the Africans who were enslaved by the West, and the native Indians who were to be robbed of their land, in order for bright and shining America to be established in that land) were honored, and that they had all thereby been raised to a status above most of Allah’s creation. Here is the declaration honoring all human-beings: 

(Qur’an, al-Isra’, 17:70)

Now, indeed, Allah Most High has conferred honor and dignity on the progeny of Adam, hence all of mankind without exception, and borne them over land and sea, and provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life, and favored them far above most of His creation.

 

The honor that was bestowed on all of mankind had to be the Ruh which was breathed into every human being. This had to be so since it was after Adam ʿalayhi as-salām had received that divine gift that the Angels were ordered to prostrate (in honor and in respect) before him. This subject is explained in greater detail in the chapter which follows.

 

Before we proceed further with this discussion however, it is interesting to observe the remarkable similarity which has existed between this Jewish claim to be the chosen people of the Lord-God, and hence their preoccupation with the subject of whether non-Jews possessed a Divine Ruh, and a modern western civilization which emerged in history with the jingoistic agenda of civilizing non-European humanity.  When the West declared its manifest destiny in waging wars of continuous territorial expansion (and military dominance) which continue to this day, and in dragging all mankind into an age which they described as one of unprecedented progress, democracy and freedom, their undeclared belief which explained that manifest destiny was that they were the chosen people of the Lord-God.

 

While Popes in Rome issued (infallible) ‘Bulls’ concerning the possession of a soul by American Indians (and Africans) and then revoked them, the enslavement of Africans in the western slave trade flourished because of the general western Christian belief that slavery was religiously permitted since the slaves were not truly human beings. They did not possess the divinely-bestowed Ruh or spirit which made them truly human. Not only was it permissible to enslave the Africans and sell them to plantation-owners in the Americas, but it was similarly permissible to enslave the American Indians since they, also, did not possess a Ruh.  In addition, since the divine Ruh was conferred on Adam, who was male, there were many who believed that women did not have a Ruh or soul.

 

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Jesus, the Jews and the Chosen People

  

Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the Qur’an and the Beginning of History

Jesus, the Jews and the Chosen People

 

The Jews had a major problem with Nabi ‘Isa, i.e., Jesus ʿalayhi as-salām, because he condemned them with very powerful language while dismissing their claim to have a special status with Allah Most High as His chosen people.  

 

Jesus declared of the Jews that the Devil was their father. In other words, instead of recognizing them as the chosen people of the Lord-God, he declared that they were, in effect, the chosen people of Satan since their conduct was satanic. He considered them to be one-eyed, i.e., internally blind, and declared them to be “a nation of vipers”:

 

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44  

 

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  Matthew 12:34

 

For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' Matthew 13:15

 

The Qur’an supported the response of Nabi ‘Isa, i.e., Jesus ʿalayhi as-salām. In fact, it not only rejected the Jewish claim to that special status with the Lord-God as false, but went on to challenge them to seek or desire death if they were convinced of the truth of their claim:

(Qur’an, al-Jumu’ah, 62:6–8)

Say: O you who follow the Jewish faith! If you claim that you alone are close to Allah, i.e., chosen by Allah Most High, to the exclusion of all other people, then you should be longing for death—if what you say is true!  But never will they long for it, because they are aware of what their hands have wrought in this world, i.e. their sinful evil conduct; and Allah has full knowledge of evildoers.  Say: Behold, the death from which you are fleeing is bound to overtake you—and then you will be brought back unto Him Who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind, whereupon He will make you truly understand all that you were doing in life.  

 

The Qur’an again challenged them concerning their belief that heaven is reserved for them:

(Qur’an, al-Baqarah, 2:94–5)

Say: If an afterlife with Allah, i.e., the abode of heaven, is to be for you alone, to the exclusion of all other people, then you should long for death—if what you say is true! But never will they long for it, because (they are aware) of what their hands have sent ahead in this world: and Allah has full knowledge of evildoers.  

 

The Qur’an asked with great logical compulsion, if the Lord-God chose you to be His ‘special’, ‘chosen’ and ‘beloved’ people, why then, does He punish you for your sins?

(Qur’an, al-Maidah, 5:18)

And both the Jews and the Christians say: We are Allah’s children, and His beloved ones. Say: Why, then, does He cause you to be punished for your sins? Nay, you are but human beings of His creating. He forgives whom He wills, and He causes to be punished whom He wills: for Allah’s is the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and with Him all journeys end.

 

The Qur’an laid this alleged Divine preference for the Jews to rest when it declared that the Divine classification of human beings is based on piety rather than on lineage:

(Qur’an, al-Hujurat, 49:13)  

O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another, i.e., in respect of classification of humankind. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most pious. Behold, Allah is all-knowing, all-aware.

 

Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam also dismissed that Jewish claim to a special (birth right) status with Allah Almighty when he declared:  that all of mankind are as equal in His sight as are the teeth of a comb”. (Sahih Bukhari)

 

We must now ask, —where from came this arrogant Jewish claim to a birth right of superiority over all of mankind? 

 

The Qur’an confirms that the Israelite people descended from Nabi Ibrahim, i.e., Abraham ʿalayhi as-salām, and also confirms that Allah Most High conferred on Abraham alayhi as-salām the status of Imam, i.e., spiritual or religious leader, of mankind. Abraham alayhi as-salām responded, however, with a request that his seed should also share in that status conferred upon him. As a consequence, the Jews came to the conclusion that since they were from the seed of Abraham alayhi as-salām, they had a special status divinely conferred upon them. But the Qur’an explained that Allah’s response to Abraham’s request was to grant it conditionally:

 

(Qur’an, al-Baqarah, 2:124)

And remember that event when his Lord-God tried Abraham by His commandments and the latter fulfilled them. He said: Behold, I shall make thee an Imam, i.e., leader, of men. Abraham asked: And will You make leaders of my offspring as well? Allah answered: My covenant does not embrace the wicked. 

 

The condition was that this status would not be conferred on those of his seed who were unjust, wicked in conduct, or oppressors. Allah Most High went on to fulfill that favor unto Abraham alayhi as-salām, by choosing Imams from his seed, hence the phenomenon of a continuous line of Prophets chosen from the seed of Abrahamalayhi as-salām, who were all sent to the Israelite people. The most that the Jews could claim, therefore, is that Allah Most High accepted the request of Abraham alayhi as-salām and blessed his righteous seed by choosing a continuous line of Imams or Prophets from that righteous seed. Believing Israelites, who are righteous, can therefore claim that Allah Most High chose Prophets from ‘our’ ranks.  

 

Hence it was that Prophets of Allah were always chosen and appointed from the righteous seed of Abraham (since the Covenant excluded those who were wicked). This continued uninterruptedly until the birth of the Messiah, Jesus the son of the Virgin Mary ʿalayhi as-salām. Mary’s mother is referred to in the Qur’an as a woman of the House of ‘Imran, and Mary herself is called “sister of Harun” who, himself, is the son of ‘Imran. 

 

It is very strange indeed that there is no evidence of ‘Imran having the status of a Nabi, i.e., Prophet of Allah Most High. Yet he is a father of two Prophets—Musa, i.e., Moses, and Harun, i.e., Aaron ʿalayhi as-salām. The Qur’an mentioned the names of Adam ʿalayhi as-salām and Noah ʿalayhi as-salām as Prophets who were raised to a special status over all of mankind. It then mentioned that the same status was conferred on the progeny of Abraham ʿalayhi as-salām, but it then went on to provide the additional information that this status was also conferred, strangely so, on the progeny of an unknown Israelite named ‘Imran, who resided in Egypt. The Qur’an is otherwise silent on this strange subject.

 

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The Beginning, the End, and Dajjal

  

Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the Qur’an and the Beginning of History

The Beginning, the End, and Dajjal

 

The main events that occur in our subject of the advent of al-Masih al-Dajjal, or Dajjal, the false Messiah (some refer to him as the Anti-Christ), and the return of Nabi Isa, i.e., Jesus the true Messiah ʿalayhi as-salām, are both located at the end of history. Muslims and Christians are the only two people among mankind who believe in these two events as a matter of religious faith. As a consequence, both Muslims and Christians must seek to determine whether these End-time events are in any way connected with events which may have occurred at the beginning of history. 

 

Muslims can embark on that effort with confidence of positive results since Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu taʿālā ʿalayhī wa-sallam declared that “every Prophet before him (and he is the last of them all) warned his people about Dajjal, or the Anti-Christ”. He even went on to make it quite clear that he included the Prophets who were located at the beginning of history. He did so when he made specific mention of Nabi Nuh, i.e., Noah ʿalayhi as-salām, in that connection:

 

Abdullah ibn 'Umar said: .  .  .  .  The Messenger of Allah then stood up in front of the people, praised Allah with words worthy of Him and then he mentioned Dajjal and said: I warn you about him, and there is no prophet who has not warned his people about him. Noah warned his people about him  .  .  .  (Sahih Bukhari) 

 

If every Prophet warned his people about Dajjal, it follows that there must be information about him, or connected to him, at the beginning of history. Let us therefore turn to the first pages of history in an effort to understand a most momentous event located close to the end of history and without which there would be no Dajjal.

 

If there had been no Jewish rejection of Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary, as the promised Messiah, no demand for his crucifixion, and no boasting when they saw him crucified before their very eyes, there would have been no need for an advent of a false Messiah or Anti-Christ prior to a return of the true Messiah, or of a world-order of Gog and Magog to work for the Anti-Christ to assist him in realizing his mission, and no return of the true Messiah, at the end of history. 

 

Since the return of the true Messiah, and the advent of a false Messiah prior to that miraculous return, are located at the very heart of the end of history, the implication for Christians and for Muslims, i.e., the two people who believe that Jesus will one day return, is that the dramatic conclusion of the historical process itself cannot be explained unless we can locate the explanation for the Jewish rejection of Jesus ʿalayhi as-salām.  Our view is that the main reasons for that rejection are located in the beginning of history—hence the need for us to address this subject. 

 

Jesus ʿalayhi as-salām was born into an Israelite community, and hence belonged to a people who claimed, and still claim to this day, that they are a special people with the Lord-God who chose them from amongst all of mankind and conferred upon them a special status with Himself. They were expecting a Messiah who was promised to them by the Lord-God, and who when he came, would restore the golden age when Jews ruled the world. When Jesus claimed to be that Messiah, and it was well-known that he was born to a mother who was not married, they rejected his claim to be the Messiah on the basis of their charge that he was a ‘bastard’ child. They were also very angry when they saw him performing miracles as a boy despite his alleged ‘bastard’ status; for example he took mud, shaped it in the form of birds, blew into them, and, by Allah’s leave, they became living birds (Qur’an, Ale ‘Imran, 3:49). But they were also very angry with him for other reasons. The Qur’an has consistently accused them of having corrupted Divine revelation by changing and rewriting the word of the One God. It has identified, for example, a change which made Halal, i.e., permissible, what Allah had made Haram, i.e., prohibited. They took Riba or usury, even though they had been prohibited from doing so (Qur’an, al-Nisa’, 4:161). 

 

It was also a scriptural crime for them to claim, arrogantly so, that they are the chosen people of the Lord-God to the exclusion of the rest of mankind, and hence no gentile could ever be the equal of even the lowest of the Jews. They do not believe that they will be judged individually on Judgment Day, but rather believe in their unique collective judgment as a people (all others being judged individually), and that heaven is  reserved for them.

 

Here is what the Torah has to say concerning their status as a chosen people:

“For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and God has chosen you to be His treasured people from all the nations that are on the face of the earth.”    (Deuteronomy, 14:2)

 

“Now therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me from all the peoples, for all the earth is mine.”   (Exodus, 19:5)

 

“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.”   (Genesis, 17:7)

 

“And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a Holy nation.”   (Exodus, 19:6)

 

“The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you, and because he would  keep the oath which he had sworn unto your ancestors.”   (Deuteronomy, 7:7–8)

 

“You only have I singled out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities.”  (Amos, 3:2)

 

It is quite strange and, indeed, mysterious, that modern western civilization emerged in history with unprecedented power, and then went on a rampage of oppression around the world, subjugating untold millions to western colonial and imperial rule while raising the same claim to superiority over the non-European peoples of the world. They also used this same claim to justify western slavery over Africans. The outstanding West Indian scholar and politician, Dr. Eric E. Williams, has documented and  exposed the western slavemaster’s claim to racial superiority in his masterly-written book entitled ‘British Historians and the West Indies’ (Andre Deutsch, London. 1966). 

 

It was because Jesus challenged this Jewish belief that they firmly and vehemently rejected him as the promised Messiah, and demanded his execution by crucifixion. When they saw him crucified before their very eyes, it conclusively validated their rejection of his claim to be the true Messiah since the Torah itself had declared that “anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse (Deuteronomy, 21:22–23). Since he was the “cursed of the Lord-God” it followed logically that he could not have been the Messiah.

 

If history is to end with a validation of the Jewish claim to Truth, and if that Truth recognizes the Jews as God’s chosen people, chosen eternally and unconditionally to the exclusion of all of mankind, then this astonishing and ethically questionable supposedly Divine preference must find support in the beginning of history. If it has no support in the beginning of history, then this claim to truth must be questioned! If the Jewish claim to truth is to be validated, then history must end  with the advent of a Messiah other than Jesus ʿalayhi as-salām since they rejected him as the Messiah.

 

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