Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the Qur’an and the Beginning of History
The Amanah or Trust was a mission to rule justly
(in accordance with Truth)
The very first event to have occurred in human history following the creation of the human being and of the Divine Ruh being breathed into him, was Allah’s offer of an Amanah, or trust, that was made to all of creation—including the mountains—but which they all refused to accept out of fear, and which only mankind accepted. In accepting this Amanah, or trust, however, some of mankind have misused it while acting either unjustly or foolishly with it. Does the Qur’an identify any of those who betrayed the Amanah?
(Qur’an, al-Ahzab, 33:72)
Lo! Allah Most High offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it. Lo! man hath proved a tyrant and an ignorant fool.
The Amanah, or trust, which was divinely bestowed, and which was accepted by mankind, had to be something which, when misused, could lead to conduct which would be oppressive and wicked, or to a display of ignorance and stupidity, and it is the knowledge of precisely this betrayal of the Trust to rule with justice and Truth that the Angels had, and to which they referred, when they protested the Divine announcement that a Khalifah would be placed on earth.
At the very heart of the Amanah, therefore, there had to be the offer of a free-will or a self-directed will with which a person could make a free choice to either accept or to reject, to obey or to disobey, to be grateful or to be ungrateful, to be just or unjust, etc. Thus the bestowal of the Amanah resulted in the emergence of a moral being who possessed the capacity for ethically acceptable conduct, as well as for spiritual insight. Dr. Iqbal identifies the Amanah with what he calls ‘the trust of personality’ (see essay on ‘Knowledge and Religious Experience’ in his book: The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam’). There are many other distinguished scholars of Islam who hold the same view. Our differing view is based, however, on our study of Islamic eschatology.
The Jinn, who are a category of beings created from fire (while mankind was created from clay), also possessed a free will, and could choose to obey or disobey. However there is no evidence that they also possessed the capacity to receive knowledge internally, or directly from Allah Most High. There is no evidence that Allah’s Ruh was breathed into them, hence the Jinn did not possess the spiritual insight which only human beings possessed.
The Angels had to be aware of the Jewish belief that they were the chosen people of the Lord-God, and they had to also be aware that this belief would lead them to conclude that they had an exclusive claim to morality since they believed that they, alone, are moral beings. Our view is that it was precisely this false Jewish belief in exclusivity as a chosen people which led the Angels to declare that it would lead to bloodshed and Fasad (that which corrupts and destroys) on earth.
The Qur’an has exposed the falsehood of this Jewish claim to moral exclusivity. There are, says the Qur’an, among the Ahl al-Kitab, i.e., people of the Torah, those who, if you were to place a Qintar, i.e., a treasure of about 1200 gold Dinars, for safe-keeping with them, when you want your money returned, it would be returned to you. But if someone who was not from that group were to place even one Dinar for safe-keeping, when he wanted his money returned, it would not be returned to him unless and until he struggled to get it back. The Qur’an provided an explanation for this ethically repugnant double standard as follows:
(Qur’an, Ale ‘Imran, 3:75)
Among the followers of earlier revelation, i.e., the Torah, there is many a one who, if you entrust him with a Qintar, which is a treasure of about 1200 Dinars, will faithfully restore it to you; and there is among them many a one who, if you entrust him with a single Dinar, i.e., a gold coin, will not restore it to you unless you keep standing over him demanding your money back. The reason for this is because they, the Jews, claim: We have no moral obligations to these Ummiyun, i.e., Gentiles or non-Jews, but they tell a lie about Allah, being well aware that it is a lie.
Since they believed that the divinely-revealed Moral Law was applicable only to Jews, there was no sin on them if they were to rip-off, or exploit, the rest of mankind who were not Jews. It is remarkable that this same disease afflicted modern western civilization since the West has no sense of moral guilt at all in their exploitation and oppression of mankind through their endless wars of oppression and their bogus monetary and banking system which exploit, oppress and enslave all those who are targets.
