Jesus Christ The Son of Mary and His Blessed Mother (Part 2)

THE INVINCIBILITY OF MADINA

It was related that the Dajjâl would roam the earth and that when he reaches Madîna the Radiant - upon its dweller the best blessings and greetings of peace! - and desires to enter it, the angels will stand in front of him at the gates of Madîna and bar his passage. They will stand in front of him at a place the Messenger of Allâh - upon him blessings and peace - has named for us - al-Jurf - a place known today in Madîna al-Munawwara. He will stand on a mountain there and look toward the Mosque of the Beloved and his grave, saying: "Look there, at that white building: that is the palace of Ahmad." He will try to enter but will be unable. Some of his followers will bring some people. The Prophet - upon him blessings and peace - said that when the Dajjâl stands at the gates of Madîna, Madîna will shake three times; at that time, anyone in whose heart remain hypocrisy and dissemblance or other than firm attachment to God Most High shall be corrupted and follow the Dajjâl. One of the narrations specifies they will reach eighty thousand. God is our refuge from that!

THE RIGHTEOUS WITNESS

Some of the soldiers of the Dajjâl will seize a man from among the righteous whom they think to be a common person. They will stand him before the Dajjâl who will say to him: "Do you believe that I am your Lord?" He will reply: "No! You are none other than the Arch-Deceiver." He will say: "I am your Lord!" "No! You are the Dajjâl!" He will say: "I am your Lord!" "No! You are the Dajjâl!" He will then order for a saw to be brought. The saw will be placed in the middle of the righteous man's head and he will be sawed in half until he becomes two separate pieces and the horses will pass between the two. Then the Dajjâl will give an order. He will be brought back together again and the Dajjâl will pass his hand over him, after which he will live a second time, by the power of God. When he comes alive the Dajjâl will look at him, thinking that he has definitely gained control over him, and say: "I have caused you to die and caused you to come alive again. Do you now believe that I am your Lord?" The man will reply: "My certitude has only increased that you are the Dajjâl of whom the Messenger of Allâh - upon him blessings and peace - told us!" He will order him to be killed but will be unable to do so anymore.

THE KILLING OF THE DAJJAL

Just as the Dajjâl orders the righteous man to be killed he will hear a voice crying out: "The Spirit from God, Jesus, has descended!" When the Dajjâl hears the name of our liege-lord `Isâ he will shake and tremble in fear. He will rush to Palestine . There, the army of our liege-lord Jesus and our liege-lord al-Mahdî will meet the army of the Dajjâl at the gate of Ludd. When the Dajjâl looks and sees our liege-lord Jesus, upon him peace, surrounded with a halo of light, the Dajjâl will melt - as mentioned in the hadîth - just as salt melts in water. Our liege-lord Jesus will approach him and so will our liege-lord al-Mahdî. They will strike him with their two swords and kill him.

O nations of the Believers, this matter is not just a story we hear for our hearts to be moved a little. This is about living, this is a method one follows, a path one takes, this is a transaction that is going to take place and in which we are going to be involved. AT THIS VERY MOMENT THE ARMIES OF THE CHRIST ARE GETTING READY AND SO ARE THE ARMIES OF THE DAJJAL. THE MEANING OF THIS PREPARATION IS THAT CERTAIN ATTRIBUTES IN THE HEARTS ARE RISING AND TAKING FIRM ROOT IN THE ARMY OF TRUTH AND RIGHT WHILE CERTAIN ATTRIBUTES ARE ALSO FORMING IN THE ARMY OF FALSEHOOD.

CHRIST, ANTI-CHRIST, AND THE JEWS

It is also said that the wisdom for which God has the killing of the Dajjâl take place at the hands of our liege-lord the Christ is that the Dajjâl is the manifestation of the oppression of materialism while our liege-lord the Christ is the manifestation of the supremacy of the spirit in this existence. The Dajjâl is also named "anointed" (masîh), but "the anointed arch-liar and deceiver" (al-masîh al-kadhdhâb al-dajjâl). He was named masîh because at some point in his career he will claim that he is our liege-lord the Christ.

This is because when the Jews fought the Christ - the spirit from God - and refused to believe in him and submit to his mission, they then denied that the Christ had appeared even as it was written in their books that the Christ would appear. Therefore, they claimed that our liege-lord Jesus was a great liar - and he is far exalted beyond their claim! - and they opposed him and tried to kill him. But God saved him, {They did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a likeness of that was shown to them} (4:157).

Then our liege-lord the Christ was raised up to the near heaven - upon him peace - and the Jews remained as they were, in their belief that the Christ had not yet come out. They are now waiting for a Christ to come, and their Christ is the Dajjâl. About ten years ago or more a manifestation took place in Tel-Aviv in which a large placard was hoisted, saying: "Welcome to the impending appearance of the Prince of Peace." This is the one they claim to be the Christ, but he is the Arch-Deceiver.

THE SECRET OF THE CREATION OF JESUS AND MARY

The entire matter is connected to the days in which God caused our liege-lord Jesus to exist.

The time in which our lady Mary was born - the purest and most blessed, upon her peace! - was a time in which the tyranny of materiality held full sway over the Jews. The interests of the world dominated them completely. They even altered the word of God for the purpose of their buying and selling - the rulings of the sacred Law. God forbade usury in all the dispensations, so they altered the rulings and made usury permitted to themselves. They made permitted to themselves much of what God had forbidden them. They made up clouds to obscure the order of the heavenly call which had been directed to them for the purpose of running after material concerns. They became slaves of materialism.
Among the Jews there remained some righteous souls such as the Prophets and their entourage and those that affiliated themselves to them. Among these righteous souls was our lady Hanna the mother of our lady Mary, upon both of them peace. Hanna was one of the righteous women, one of the Godwary, worshipful, devoted to prayer and good works. She had great love for Prophets, saints, and the devotees that were in Jerusalem . When she became pregnant from her husband, she felt that she might give birth to a boy and so she vowed that what she carried in her womb would be dedicated to the service of God. {Lord, I have vowed to You, in dedication, what is in my womb} ( 3:35 ). She vowed that the newborn would serve the temple of Jerusalem so as to become prepared for the service of the Religion.

HANNA'S VOW

Look at the effect of intention. What is our goal when we want to have children, what is our intention? The very deliverance which the Community awaits, at the hands of our liege-lord Jesus, upon him peace! - there will be for Hanna an ample portion of its reward and benefit. For she possessed an intention with God! Look at this fortunate woman who, when she intended that in her offspring there would be someone who serves God, someone who would serve this Religion, when she was truthful in such an intention, God honored her because of her intention, but not in the way she thought. For she gave birth to a female child.

(And when she gave birth to her she said, Lord, I have given birth to her, a female. And God knows very well what she had given birth to; the male is not as the female. And I have named her Mary, and commend her to You with her seed, to protect them from the accursed Satan( ( 3:36 ). What was the reply? (Her Lord received the child with gracious favor(. The sum total of what the hearts of the truthful seek is that their Lord receive them with gracious favor! {Her Lord received the child with gracious favor, and by His goodness she grew up comely. Zachariah taking charge of her} ( 3:37 ). The intention of Hanna made the one she bore to be accepted, even though it was other than what she had envisaged and wished for, since she had wished for a boy and she got a girl.
RIGHTEOUS AND TRUTHFUL INTENTIONS ARE NOT IN VAIN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD REGARDLESS OF THE JUDICIAL CALCULATIONS OF HUMANKIND AND EVEN IF HUMAN HOPE AND HUMAN PLANS DID NOT MATERIALIZE. A girl came, but intentions are never lost in the presence of God - and thousands upon thousands of men are not worth Mary's foot!

SECLUSIONS AND MIRACLES OF MARY

She gave birth to our lady Mary. Our Lady Mary grew up, fed with purity, light, Godwariness, and righteousness. Those of the Prophets, saints, and hermits that were in Jerusalem drew lots to see who would take charge of her. The lot fell to Zachariah. He was a relative of Mary. Zachariah placed her in a mihrab. The mihrab back then was not the prayer-niche we know today but consisted in an isolated cell or tower that had no door nor opening except from the top. It could be entered only with a ladder from the outside and another ladder down into it. Zachariah placed her in it. He would bring her food and go. She practiced her devotions and worship in absolute dedication and chastity, orienting herself wholly to her Lord in her cell.

God showed our liege-lord Zachariah certain wonders. {Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence comes unto you this (food)? She answered: It is from God. God gives without stint to whom He will. There Zachariah prayed unto his Lord} ( 3:37 -38). Consider the saying of God, {There}. Zachariah is a Prophet and therefore better than our lady Mary who is a truthful saint (Siddîqa). However, because of the high rank which our lady Mary gained, upon her peace, she became in a position to teach one of the Prophets! At that point, one of the Prophets actually became her pupil in the Religion.

They said that our liege-lord Zachariah wondered from where the fruits he found there came. They said he would find with her the fruits of winter in the summer season and the fruits of summer in the winter season. He knew full well that no one other than he entered that place which was shut tight and inaccessible - but, more importantly, such fruits were not to be found in the land since they were out of season! She said, {It is from God}.

Yes, O Prophet of God, the fact of the matter is the certitude that sustenance is from my Lord and not from any created cause. We do know that we are commanded to deal with created causes and effects - however, if created causes and effects have been suppressed, then the sustenance of God Almighty can never be suppressed!

{There Zachariah prayed unto his Lord}. He asked for a pious offspring. God gave him our liege-lord John, upon him peace.

Then came the tremendous event in which God manifested Himself and for which He had prepared our lady Mary. {And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East} ( 19:16 ). The Ulema said that {East} was an allusion to the Orient from where the sun rose - that is, to the East from her perspective. The people are accustomed to praise the East because it is the place from the direction of which the light comes. {When she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East and had chosen seclusion (hijâb) from them} ( 19:16 -17). They said that the hijâb meant she hid herself from mankind to dedicated herself to the Divine worship. After she tasted the sweetness of worship in her cell she wished to taste the sweetness of worship in her travelling on the earth.

ANNUNCIATION

{Then We sent unto her Our spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man} ( 19:17 ). When she saw our liege-lord Gabriel, he assumed for her an excellent likeness, the likeness of a human being. {She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from you, if you are God fearing. He said: I am only a messenger of your Lord} ( 19:18 -19). She realized the secret behind his presence - the receiving of the manifestation (tajallî) that dawned upon her from God. {That I may bestow on you a faultless son} ( 19:19 ). What is behind such a gift? {She said: How can I have a son when no mortal has touched me, neither have I been unchaste! He said: So your Lord said} ( 19:20 -21).

Consider now the presence of food for our lady Mary as she was in her cell, dedicated to her worship, without means nor sensory cause. THIS WAS A PREAMBLE SO THAT OUR LADY MARY WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF THE NEWBORN, ALSO, THERE WAS NO PRE-CONDITION OF MEANS. The matter was not, for our lady Mary, merely a mental apprehension. Rather, it was a discernment of certitude and of the heart (dhawq yaqînî qalbî). For she witnessed and saw with her very eyes the Divine gift with which human custom and cause-and-effect were breached right in front of her! After that, she did not consider it strange that a customary cause be breached in the occurrence of a newborn child for her.

BIRTH OF JESUS AND FURTHER TESTS OF MARY

Then came the time for giving birth. It was said that the spirit [of the child] was breathed into her, the pregnancy took place, and the time of birth came all at one and the same time. Do not think this strange. The matter, from beginning to end, violates custom. The matter is one of the manifestations of the power of God Almighty!

When she felt the time of birth had come, {And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten!} ( 19:23 ). When she reached this stage, the Ulema pondered why she had asked for death while she was in the very midst of Divine generosity. One of them said: "Because she knows that the Israelites had reached such a lowly state of vile attachment to the world and its overwhelming lusts and materialism that they would never accept the sight of God's favor and the breach of customary laws that took place with Mary." Someone else said, "No, she wished that she had not lived to see that day only because God had shown her that her son might one day be worshipped together with God Almighty."

She gave birth to our liege-lord Jesus - upon our Prophet and upon him the best blessings and salutations of peace! The lights of Jesus dawned upon this earth. When he saw the [distraught] state of his mother he addressed her even as he was in her womb or from below her [after birth]. He caused her to apprehend another meaning that reminded her of the magnificence of God Who is with her - High and Exalted! {And shake the trunk of the palm tree toward you, you will cause ripe dates to fall upon thee} ( 19:25 ).

Here we tend to recite this verse without pausing. The palm tree is solid. It is difficult for a human being to shake it. A strong and mighty man would hardly budge a palm tree, even a number of men! The palm tree trunk at the bottom is very large while its top is thin so that the wind can move it. Try to move a fully grown palm tree at the bottom of its trunk, you will not be able. How then can a woman in the weakness of giving birth be able to shake it? Yet this act is demanded of her and it is not sufficient for her to merely see the Divine bounty.
In the first two phases, she saw the Divine gift before her. The first time was for her schooling. Lo and behold, fruits and sustenance descended from the heaven and were laid before her without her asking. The second time she was told that she would give birth without outward nor sensory cause and without connection to any man, again, without her asking. Now, it is asked of her that she herself move the palm tree.

Some of the Ulema said that this was an allusion to the world of cause and effect and to the fact that mankind is not to leave aside material means even though they rely on their Causator. This is a fine explanation. However, there is another meaning. THE CERTITUDE THAT HAD BUILT UP IN OUR MOST BLESSED LADY MARY - UPON HER PEACE - THE VIRGIN, HAD TAKEN ROOT IN HER CONSCIENCE WITH SUCH STRENGTH THAT IT WAS NOW ASKED OF HER TO DO WHAT NO MIND WOULD ACCEPT TO DO WHATSOEVER.

LESSONS FROM MARY'S CERTITUDE

The mind says that in such a state there is no way for her to move the trunk of the palm tree. However, the order or directive came to her from her own child - a breach of custom in its own right, a newborn infant speaking - and with this same breach of custom she was ordered to stretch her hand to do what she knew she was unable to do of her own power howsoever! And this is a meaning from certitude to which our lady Mary ascended.

We own a share of this certitude which we ought to grasp and follow. When God Most Glorious and Exalted asks us to do something from which we find our strength falling short, we ought not to procrastinate obeying the Divine order with the excuse that we are too weak or that others are stronger. The day the Umma reaches the certitude that when they are true in helping God, God will help them [47:7] - at that time the palm trees of existence shall shake for this Community!

JEALOUSY OF THE ISRAELITES

Our pure lady the Virgin rose with her newborn child and returned to the Israelites. The Jews received her and saw her whom they knew to be chosen. Some of them might well have harbored jealousy in their souls against her because of her special station. Those whose hearts have muddied or become diseased find it difficult to watch those that are hale respected and honored in the society.

This is what is called jealousy (hasad). The mark of jealousy is recognized in the heart of the jealous person by the fact that when he sees markers of distinction before him - whether in Religion or anything else - something takes hold in his heart; after this he bides his time patiently, patiently, until, when he hears the smallest suspicion or accusation, he shouts "Yes!" loud and clear in its confirmation and is overjoyed at its news. Why? Because in his heart there is filth and turbidity.

When such filth and turbidity had taken root in the hearts of those people, they felt that in the special distinction of our liege-lord Mary - upon her peace - lay an implicit address to themselves. They seemed to hear the message: "You ought to return to purity, O those who have polluted yourselves with the world and its lucre and its show to which you should never have attached yourselves! Here, before your eyes, is a weak woman that has been honored with this high station of purity while you, who lead your society, how far behind you have left purity!"

THE GREAT ADMONITION TO MARY AND JESUS' NATION

Thus, the state of purity of the Virgin Mary was a state of admonition that had been overturning the beds of those possessed of insight among the worshippers of money and materiality. Now, as soon as they saw the nursing infant in her arms, they became overjoyed. {They said: O Mary! You have come with an amazing thing!} ( 19:27 ). Why did they not ask when they had a chance to learn something? But their muddied hearts could not bear to see the purity of the Virgin before their eyes. This is the wont of those who have polluted themselves with the worship of Mammon. It is too much for them to see purity revered and followed among the people.

{Then she pointed to him. They said, How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, an infant?} ( 19:29 ). God did not give them pause for her to answer them. Lo and behold! our liege-lord the Christ replied to them and spoke although he was a nursing infant: {He spoke: Lo! I am the slave of God. He has given me the Scripture and has appointed me a Prophet} ( 19:30 ). He listed the meanings which God Most High had especially bestowed upon him and the ranks with which He had honored him. He made the key to that list the affirmation that he was the slave of God, his servanthood to God Most High. Then, proceeding from the secret of his servanthood to God Most High, came the ranks: {He has given me the Scripture and has appointed me a Prophet}.

Then he described himself as blessed, then he described himself as dutiful so we would know that the secret of dutiful piety is not binding merely upon those who possess it but also applies to others. THE SOCIETIES THAT RECOGNIZE THE DEGREES OF PIETY AMONG ITS PEOPLE OF MERIT ARE THE SOCIETIES THAT RISE UP IN THE RANKS OF MERIT.

God had said to her before she went back out to her people: {And if you meet any mortal, say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal} ( 19:26 ). Ponder this meaning. The rule would have been that He tell her: "Get ready to answer them. Say to them, God is able over all things. Give them the proof and the evidences: I carried and gave birth in a very brief time, you saw me just before and I was not pregnant, if this had been a falsehood or a sin, this should have taken the normal span of time, nine months...." But He did not give her permission to speak nor to prove her innocence. {Say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal}. Meaning, in facing this [trial] I have turned entirely to my Lord Almighty and Glorious.

{Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! You have come with an amazing thing. O sister of Aaron! Your father was not a wicked man nor was your mother a harlot} ( 19:27 ). Ponder this here. It was said that {O sister of Aaron} implied parentage. It was also said that Aaron was proverbially known for integrity and purity. That is: You who have reached, because of your purity, a proverbial level. {Your father was not a wicked man nor was your mother a harlot}. This is a preamble for the charge that is coming up. After falsehood settles firmly in the heart of the dishonest person, he becomes refined in the art of bringing out that falsehood. "We know so well that you are righteous and goodly, but this - this terrible thing you have done!!" They seem happy to see evil.

JESUS' ATTRIBUTES

{Then she pointed to him. They said, How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, an infant?}. The answer came. {He spoke: Lo! I am the slave of God. He has given me the Scripture and has appointed me a Prophet and has made me blessed wheresoever I may be} ( 19:29 -31). So then blessing is with our liege-lord Jesus wherever he is. When he walked upon the earth blessing was with him wherever he walked, and after he ascended to the heaven blessing ascended wherever he ascended.

{And He has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive and has made me dutiful toward her who bore me, and has not made me arrogant, unblessed} ( 19:31 -32). And now the fruit of what preceded: {Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary: a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt?} ( 19:33 ). When this meaning came into broad daylight they were crestfallen and remained unable to say anything.

JESUS' MISSION

Our liege-lord Jesus grew up, fed with purity. When God willed to send him forth, his mission among his people was the mission of the spirit: to link the hearts back with their Lord and revive values and morals. This is the reason we do not find, in the Evangel, much talk about rulings and laws but instead find that the Evangel focuses on morals, parables, and spirituality. For our liege-lord Jesus said, as is mentioned in the Evangel: "I was sent for the lost sheep of the Sons of Israel." That is, God sent me to those whom the world has so overwhelmed that they have become as dumb beasts, unconcerned by other than food, drink, and lusts, without the least heed to rising to any Divine connection.

When they did not accept that magnificent mission, denying its truth, plotting against it, denigrating it and defaming our liege-lord Jesus while some of them believed in him, God desired to cleanse him and raise him up to the second heaven. He raised him up - upon him peace - and the days passed while they remained in their disbelief, defacing the creed, far from spirituality and connection, and so until the time came when our liege-lord Muhammad appeared - upon him and his House blessings and peace! Our liege-lord Jesus had given the glad tidings about him in the Evangel.

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD AND HIS INHERITORS

Our liege-lord Muhammad appeared! God gave him a Book and He gave him rulings. He guaranteed that they would not be altered nor changed. The people then remained, on this earth, in the fold of true submission (Islâm) and belief (îmân). The spirituality of our liege-lord Muhammad's proofs pointing to God rose and became disseminated in his Companions and the people of his House as well as all those that followed. The entire Community rose up in the levels of their connection to God and showed such wonders that the onlooker can hardly believe that such deeds took place at the hands of human beings other than the sinless Prophets.

These wonders appeared in many of the individuals of this Community and in their human transactions. Their spirits are intimately connected with the One True God, Most High and Exalted - monks by night and knights by day. And so the centuries passed. The world began to enter many of the hearts of the followers of this religious Community. The Prophet had predicted - upon him blessings and peace - that every Community had its [golden] calf. That is: a calf that is worshipped apart from God Most High. He said: "And the calf of my Community is the dinar and the dirham." He also said, upon him blessings and peace, as narrated in al-Bukhârî: "I do not fear that you will commit idolatry after me" - because the creed is well-preserved - "but I fear for you the lure of the world."

One day, the zakât funds came from al-Bahrayn, the poor among the Companions came from the outer limits of the city, hoping for the generosity of the Prophet - upon him blessings and peace - with something from that zakât. The Beloved Prophet - upon him blessings and peace - turned around after the dawn prayer and saw that the mosque was full. He said: "Have the news reached you that the zakât of al-Bahrayn has arrived?" They said, "Yes, O Messenger of God!" He said, "Receive the good tidings and be glad, then! By God! I do not fear poverty for you. However, I fear that the world will be laid wide open before you just as it was laid open for those before you, and you will compete in it just as they competed in it, and it will destroy you just as it destroyed them."

He also said to some of his Companions one day: "What will you do when a dish is brought to you in the morning and another dish in the evening?" That is: what will you do when you start eating twice in the same day? For some of our liege-lords the Companions might have spent three days without eating, yet they took up their swords and fought in the way of God. Yet they prayed at night and fasted by day, learned and taught and called people to God! They owned hearts that had become completely disconnected from material concerns in the sense of followership. They remained connected to material concerns only in the sense of worshipping their Lord. They treated such concerns purely as ways and means, without any attachment to them.

As a result, one of them saw no harm in facing an entire army alone. It should come as no surprise that Ja`far ibn Abî Tâlib took up the flag in his right hand, then his right hand was cut off, but his soul did not allow him to let the flag go down because his heart had lifted up the flag well before his hand! The flag was in his heart. So the left hand took it up, then the left hand was cut off, then he carried it up with his two limbs, then he fell on the ground but the flag never fell from him. In his body there were over eighty cuts from sword-blows, spears, and arrows. All these cuts were in the front of his body for he had been facing the enemy at all times and never thought of fleeing. Stranger yet is that when water was presented to him so that he could relieve his thirst in the throes of death, lips parched, completely exhausted, he said: "I am fasting."

These are the attributes with which God granted them victory. "I am fasting." They said: "In such a time, on such a day? Break your fast today and you will fast again tomorrow!" He replied: "I long to break my fast in Paradise ." Such was his state. Then he gave up the spirit [in Mu'ta, Jordan ], and the Beloved Elect - upon him blessings and peace - was sitting in the presence of his Companions [in Madîna] when he described the entire battle in detail. After this, he - upon him blessings and peace - rose his head and said: "Wa-`alayk as-Salâm, wa-rahmatullâh, wa-barakâtuh, O Ja`far!" The Companions expressed surprise, whereupon he said: "That was Ja`far, the angels carried his spirit to Paradise and he refused to enter it until he first greeted me!"

Such were those who owned spirits attached to the highest realities - love and its heartfelt discernment. Their spirits were not dedicated to pleasures nor motivated by them. Rather, they reveled in and tasted the love of God and His Messenger. Since these were their states, God exalted their lights. `Umar ibn al-Khattâb, God be well-pleased with him, who used to nap or sleep under a tree on the dirt, then would get up and dust himself off, is the one at whose hand the two greatest empires of corruption at the time were conquered - the Romans and the Persians.

THE END OF THE TYRANNY OF MATERIALISM

Such was the state which the Messenger of God - upon him blessings and peace - left behind when he left us. Then the Community began to go backward. Love of the world crept forward. The calf held sway over the hearts. The people hanged back from true guidance. Materialism captured their hearts. The people stood in need of those that would return them to their spiritual realities. Since the faith was preserved from corruption through the Divine guarantee that it would never be altered exclusively of other faiths, the rulings of the Law remained intact - in the books.

These rulings still have to be transformed into rules of living practiced by the hearts. THE UMMA NEEDS, IN THIS AGE IN WHICH MERCILESS MATERIALISM RULES, THE APPEARANCE OF MASSIVE SPIRITUALITY CONNECTED TO THE ALMIGHTY GOD WITH AN UNBROKEN LINK TO THE HEAVEN. THROUGH IT GOD WILL RETURN THE COMMUNITY TO ITS SPIRITUALITY, AND THAT EVENT IS LINKED TO THE DESCENT OF JESUS, UPON HIM PEACE.

At that time, the manifestation of spirituality will descend, in this age of utter materialism, and will link back the individuals of this Community to their Book, their Religion, and the guidance of our liege-lord Muhammad - upon him blessings and peace. He will walk the earth, not with the dispensations of previous times that were in use before him - since they have been corrupted - but he will orient the people and spread goodness, peace, faith, and Islâm in the earth through rules and rulings taken from the noble Qur'ân and from the guidance of our liege-lord Muhammad because these were not corrupted. The rulings remain the rulings but our liege-lord Jesus will come in order to transform them into living rules that will reach to the hearts of all people.

After the manifestation of absolute spirituality appears in this existence in the face of absolute materiality, the latter will crack and cave in before the former, because materiality comes second to the spirit. Materiality was created only as a servant to the spirit, were it not for the foolishness of the people and their covetousness that caused them to make of themselves servants of materialism! WHEN THE MANIFESTATION OF THE TYRANNY OF MATERIALISM LOOKS AT THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SUPREMACY OF THE SPIRIT IT SHALL MELT AND BE POWERLESS TO RESIST. AT THAT TIME THE DIVINE VICTORY WILL APPEAR IN PLAIN SIGHT, AT THE HAND OF OUR LIEGE-LORD JESUS, UPON HIM PEACE.

CONVERSION OF THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS

Jesus will kill the Dajjâl and the earth will be filled, from east to West, with the lights of Islâm and faith. There will not remain a single house in existence except the lights of belief and guidance will enter it. Those truthful and sincere followers of Jesus that love him and are connected to him will enter Islâm at his hands at that time. It is among the great wonders that Jesus will descend "at the site of the white minaret East of Damascus" while at the very side of this minaret there is a Christian church, as if, upon his descent, he will be greeted both by the Muslims and the Christians.

The Muslims will welcome him in their Salât so that he will pray among them. Then he will receive his followers that lived their lives believing in him and loving him so that he will join them into his Godly troops. After this, they will march one and all to fight the oppression and the enmity of the Jews at that time. Then God will raise up His light-tower over this world.

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS

We must remember that what we just heard is not merely a story for our souls to be moved a little or for our thoughts to perk up temporarily or become joyful or shed tears. The discourse about our liege-lord the Christ is a method to be followed. Those that possess this guidance and this discernment and taste for the spirit and for their connection to spirituality will be the ones at whose hands God will open the gates of deliverance for this Umma. We must know that even if the greatest manifestation of the deliverance we await will take place at the descent of our liege-lord the Christ, nevertheless, it is not part of our Religion that we should wait until our liege-lord the Christ descend and be content with the evil which we are experiencing.

The story of the Christ was assigned, and news of it came from the mouth of our liege-lord Muhammad, only so that we would know that this is the path of right guidance. Namely, that the linkage of hearts must be to their Almighty and Glorious Lord and that materiliality belongs underhand and underfoot. Putting God first, before anything else, is the way of safety and success.

It would have been possible for the Messenger of God ( never to tell us anything about this. He could have said, You will be victorious, end of the matter. But why, O Messenger of God, did you teach us and remind us of all this, that salvation and victory will be at the hands of our liege-lord the Christ? So that we would live this right here and now and be prepared for this victory. Let each of you rise in the morning and reach the night as he is preparing the Umma of the Prophet ( for this final victory.

Let each rise in the morning and reach the night with his heart bound to his Lord with hoops of steel, preferring God to everything else. When the world comes to him with its pomp, trying to delay him from his connection to his Lord, he prefers his Lord to everything else. He does not accept for the world to enroll him. He refuses to cheat or deceive in his buying and selling, in his trading, in his property. He is not a slave to the dinar and the dirham.

The Messenger of God Muhammad said: "Perish the worshipper of gold and silver and silk, who agrees when given and, if he does not get anything, becomes angry. He has perished and failed! [Or: Perish, and failure to him!] If adversity come to him, may it not go away." That is, his state is a state of affliction. Consider the words of the Prophet, "If adversity come to him [literally: If he gets pricked by a thorn], may it not go away [literally: he does not remove it]." That is: when a thorn pricks him, he can very well remove it with pincers, but no! It is not the case. What is the meaning of these words? Worldly people, when disease afflicts them, go to the physician and undergo an operation in the best hospital, end of story. The meaning is that the thorn, as trivial as it may be, spoils one's serenity. It embitters him and troubles his peace. A thorn! Ouch! What! But! He feels disturbed, afflicted. The Messenger of God says, in this context, that the one who is a worshipper of gold and silver, living for appearances - a silk shirt - when a problem happens to him, he sips its sequels and treats it as a disaster, so that even when the disaster is gone, its agony lingers in himself.

But the one who is connected to God, God honors him. Even in the worst affliction, God causes to descend upon his heart the coolness of contentment so that he is at peace with God Most Glorious and Exalted and accepts His Decree that came to pass.

Reflect and nourish your feelings with such high meanings. Ask for your connection and your portion of the meaning of your affiliation to the army of truth and the rallying-place (fustât) of belief so as to come out of the predicament in which we are. Whoever neglects the purification of his heart and the correction of his character, his heart will be overcome by hypocrisy - our refuge is God! - little by little until he leans to the rallying-place of disbelief which is devoid of all faith.

The battle of disbelief and belief is coming whether we like it or not. However, preparation for that battle is not merely with weapons or swords or strategy! Rather, preparation for that battle is by getting ready hearts whose fill is God - hearts that do not become full except with the magnification of the Almighty. This is the real preparation for what is coming upon this Community.