Page 144 - New English Book L

143

Muhammad (pbuh) in the New Testament

Chapter I

Islam and Ahmadiyat Announced by Angels

Two very extraordinary events have been recorded by
two Evangelists in connection with the birth of Sayyidina
Jesus Christ (upon whom be peace and the blessings of
Allah). The Evangelist Mattai (Matthew) has left to us an
account of the wonderful pilgrimage of the Magi, who were
guided by a star from Persia to the manger at Bethlehem,
where the new-born Jesus (pbuh) ,whom they “worshipped”
and presented with rich gifts of gold, myrrh, and incense,
was lying. The condensed material in this historical event
or fictitious story of the “Wise Men” from the East is in
itself a plausible legend consisting of more than half a
dozen miracles, which the Christian Church alone has
been able to create and to believe in. The Church has
preserved the very names of the Magi, who, headed by the
King Caspar, were “inspired by God,” and knew that the
little Babe of Bethlehem was God, Lamb, and King, and
therefore they offered him incense as to a deity, myrrh for
his burial as a sacrifice, and gold for his royal treasury! That
the Zoroastrian magicians, or the astrologian Chaldees,
through the astral divination and guidance, traversed all
that distance to Jerusalem, and there lost the sight of the
star; that the Jewish reigning sovereign Herod and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem shook and trembled at the news
of the birth of a new king; that only an incoherent passage
in the writings of the Prophet Micah (v. 2) could solve
the problem of the locality where the nativity had taken
place; and finally that the astrologers were informed by
God in a dream not to return to Herod, are indeed some
wonderful miracles which only the Christian superstition
can swallow. The royal retinue of the pilgrims proceeds to