PEACE AND SALVATION THROUGH THE MESSIAH

Peace and salvation: two things desperately sought by billions of human beings amidst a depressing reality of economic, social and political upheavals and what seems an unending avalanche of everything except peace and salvation. And yet, in a tantalizing divine promise of hope and redemption, all the world religions have prophesized -- and their followers fervently await -- the coming in the latter days of a divinely-appointed messiah to reform the people and usher in an era of peace and spiritual salvation.

The worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that the One and only God of the universe does not lie, nor does He promise something He does not deliver. It is for this reason that we believe in the prophecies of Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and other great spiritual teachers (peace be upon them all) who have all proclaimed the coming of just such a grand, unifying divine reformer and savior. The only question is: who is this person and has he come yet?

Christians and most every other religious group would answer: “He is: [ insert name of expected messiah / savior / prophet here ] and he will come. We just don’t know exactly when.” Fair enough. Waiting is part of the prophecy deal. But what if the waiting is over and has been over for nearly 125 years? What if the expected spiritual reformer and savior already came into the world like a thief in the night and most people failed to notice?

In this great reformer’s advent, God’s promise of the Second Coming of Jesus (and all other Second Comings expected in other religions) was fulfilled. Equally fulfilled was the promise to all Muslims of the coming of the Imam Mahdi, or guided spiritual leader. For Islam’s 1-billion Sunni Muslims, the Mahdi’s advent was eagerly anticipated at the beginning of the Islamic 14th century – a time which aligned perfectly with the expected Second Coming of Christ within the last quarter of the 19th century. The good news for both religions is that their expectations of the coming of the Messiah and Mahdi were fully manifested in one person: Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian, India.

In one of his more than 80 books in defense of Islam, Ahmad stated: “I am the Light of this dark age. He who follows me will be saved from the pit which is prepared for him by Satan.” Furthermore, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad stated that God would show countless divine signs in favor and support of his truth and his claims, and that these signs and the passage of time would clearly set forth the true reformer from God.

A singular objection to the claims of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is raised by both Christians and non-Ahmadi Muslims, because both believe Jesus is physically alive in heaven and will return in the latter days, albeit with different and opposing missions, depending on which religion you consult. For this reason, it is important to address this objection in detail. This involves understanding who Jesus was according to Christianity and Islam, and what are the general beliefs in both religions regarding the crucifixion of Jesus. It should be remembered that the Ahmadiyya Islam interpretation is significantly different from the standard Sunni or Shia Islam view. The Ahmadiyya view will be clarified in detail later. In general, though, the following perspective is true for all denominations of Islam.

Christianity and Islam share an acknowledgment and respect for Jesus and his mother Mary, differing only in the fact that Islam -- while accepting Christ as the messiah for the Israelites -- does not accord Jesus any form of Trinitarian divinity or godhood or physical sonship as do most forms of Christianity.

In that respect, Islam and Judaism are on the same page when it comes to their views on the nature and Oneness of God. Both Islam and Judaism define God as being indivisible, purely singular and completely non-corporeal, having no manifestations as God in the flesh in either human or animal form. As these were pagan religious beliefs, it is easy to see why they are universally condemned in Judaic and Islamic scriptures, and why such pagan beliefs are never advocated by Jesus himself.

As Jesus is a holy figure common to and revered in both Islam and Christianity, let me explain the Ahmadiyya Muslim take on Jesus (pbuh). We believe Jesus was the Israelite messiah sent by God 2,000 years ago to “gather the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel” which he states in Matthew 15:24 to be his only mission.

To Ahmadi Muslims, it is unthinkable that he could fail in that mission -- that God would not deliver him from his enemies but instead let him die on the cross as an accursed impostor and proven liar in his claim of being God’s messiah for the Israelites. This is precisely why his opponents wanted him crucified in the first place – to prove he was a false messiah! It is the main reason the Jews did not accept him. They even tell him when he is on the cross that if he comes down off it, they will believe in him. It is only later interpretations of the event by Paul and Pauline Christians that transforms the purported death of Jesus on the cross from being a sign of his failure to the sole reason for his advent!

There are two major differences between the standard Muslim and Christian beliefs about Jesus: the first is that non-Ahmadi Muslims believe Jesus was never put on the cross at all – thereby rescuing him from an “accursed” death -- but was instead miraculously raised bodily alive by God to heaven the night before the crucifixion. Another person (usually said to be Judas) was then made to resemble Jesus and it was this other person who was mistakenly arrested by the Romans, tried before Pontius Pilate (without once complaining that they had the wrong man) and then crucified instead of Jesus.

The other major difference between the Christian and Muslim versions of Jesus pertains to what he will be doing once he comes back down in his same physical body after 2,000 years. To the Christians, Jesus will be coming back to gather the faithful who believe in him and to “judge the quick and the dead” – presumably resulting in the dispensing of divine punishment to anyone who doesn’t believe in him as their Savior and as God incarnate and/or the literal Son of God. If you take Luke 19:27 at face value, Jesus commands that all those who will not have him reign over them as their king be brought before him and put to death at his feet.

The Muslim version isn’t much different except that Jesus will be a Muslim when he comes back – even though the Quran defines him as an Israelite messiah under the Mosaic Law – and the victims of his bloody wrath will be the Christians, the Jews and presumably everyone else who won’t convert to Islam at the point of a sword or the barrel of an AK.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim belief is that God sends prophets and messiahs as physicians for the soul, commissioned to cure the spiritually sick. All those who thirst for God’s truth and healing are drawn to such divinely-guided fountains of reformation and redemption, and are thus rewarded with a new spiritual rebirth. This has always been the way God works in the world to save mankind.

For this reason, Ahmadi Muslims do not believe that Jesus died an accursed death on the cross, nor do we believe that Jesus is God or the literal son of God or that he was raised bodily alive to heaven. Jesus is certainly in heaven, but his body is here on earth. In fact, there is ample evidence to support the contention that Jesus is buried in a Jewish-style sepulcher in Srinagar, Kashmir, where he was finally laid to rest after spending decades working to fulfill his mission to gather and preach to the Lost Sheep of Israel. (To learn more, go to YouTube and type in “10 Lost Tribes” and “Jesus in India” to see 75,000 entries combined on these two subjects alone. And watch the BBC video “Did Jesus Die?”)

As much as it may pain most Christians and Muslims, no one will ever see Jesus physically return to earth in his Second Coming for exactly the same reason the prophet Elijah never physically returned to earth in his Second Coming. Jesus made it clear to all who would listen that second advents occur metaphorically through other people, explaining that John the Baptist was the spiritual return of Elijah.

In exactly the same way, the spiritual return of Jesus has already happened through Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who founded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community on March 23rd, 1889. He came as a thief in the night, yet his advent started a movement of spiritual reform and regeneration within Islam that has reached over 200 countries and attracted tens of millions of devoted followers from all walks of life and virtually every religious and philosophical persuasion. The unifying ideas of Islam are simple: God is purely One, there is none worthy of worship except God, Muhammad is the messenger of God, and the Holy Quran is God’s final and complete guidance for all mankind.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi, came to reignite these truths in the hearts of Muslims and all mankind. These truths are epitomized in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community motto, which all sincere members strive to embody: “Love for All – Hatred for None.”

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