ثورة فلسطين - أسبابها ونتائجها
The Palestine Revolt: Its Causes and Consequences

Page 468

Normalized
transcript

Printed page 468

ولكن هذا كله قد كبح جماح ذلك الغرور، وتغلب حزب العمال المعتدل على حزب المحافظين المغرور، وجنح حزب الأحرار إلى العمال، فمن ثم قويت الآمال بمراعاة هذه الدولة العظيمة لمقتضى الحال، وطول بقائها في أوربة كلسان الميزان.

بشارات أنبياء اليهود في المسيح والمُلك

(13) اليهود الماديون واللادينيون يتكلون على إنكلترة في إعادة ملك سليمان وهيكله إليهم كما تقدم؛ ولكن دين الإنكليز وشرفهم ومصالحهم المرتبطة بأربعمائة مليون من المسلمين ومن العرب غير المسلمين أيضًا تأبى عليهم ذلك، على تقدير قدرتهم عليه.

واليهود المتدينون يعتمدون على بشارات أنبيائهم، وهذه البشارات مبهمة ومشروطة باتباعهم لوصايا التوراة كلها، وقد تركوا هذا عندما كان ممكنًا، وقد أصبح غير ممكن، ثم إنه مقيد بمجيء المسيح وجريان ذلك على يديه، وقد جاء المسيح الحق عليه السلام فكفر أكثرهم به، فأيد الله تعالى من آمن به على من كفر كما قال عز وجل في آخر سورة الصف فَآمَنَت طَّائِفَةٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَكَفَرَت طَّائِفَةٌ فَأَيَّدْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَى عَدُوِّهِمْ فَأَصْبَحُوا ظَاهِرِينَ (الصف: 14) وقد كتبنا مقالاً طويلاً في بيان تلك البشارات وما كان من قيودها وشروطها وما تقتضيه من حرمانهم من أرض الميعاد والمُلك إلى الأبد، سننشرها في الجزء الآتي إن شاء الله تعالى.

أنباء خاتم النبيين في أمر اليهود مع المسلمين

(14) إن عندنا معشر المسلمين بشارات من خاتم النبيين وواسطة المرسلين محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم أوضح وأفصح وأصرح من بشارات أنبياء اليهود، كأخبار المسيح الدجال الذي يظهر فيهم، فيتعصبون له ويقاتلون المسلمين والنصارى في فلسطين وغيرها، فيُخذلون ويغلبون على أمرهم، ومنها ما رواه البخاري ومسلم وغيرهما من حديث عبد الله بن عمر عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: (تقاتلكم اليهود فتُسلَّطون عليهم حتى يقول الحجر يا مسلم هذا يهودي ورائي فاقتله) وله روايات أبسط من هذه الرواية، فاحذروا أيها الصهيونيون المتهورون أن تعجِّلوا بفتح باب البلاء على أنفسكم، بل احذروا وقد فتحتموه أن تصروا عليه، وأرجئوه إلى مجيء مسيحكم، فإنا له مرجئون، وانتظروا فإنا منتظرون.

English
translation

But all this has curbed that arrogance. The moderate Labour Party overcame the arrogant Conservatives, and the Liberals inclined toward Labour. Hopes therefore rose that this great state would heed present needs and long remain the balancing weight in Europe.

The Jewish prophets' promises concerning the Messiah and rule

(13) Materialist and irreligious Jews rely on England to restore Solomon's kingdom and Temple to them, as explained above. But the English people's religion, honor, and interests, linked to four hundred million Muslims and to non-Muslim Arabs as well, would prevent this even if they had the power to do it.

Religious Jews rely on their prophets' promises. These promises are unclear and depend on their keeping all the commandments of the Torah. They abandoned this when keeping them was possible, and now it is no longer possible. The promises are also tied to the Messiah's arrival and their fulfillment through him. The true Messiah, peace be upon him, has come, but most of them rejected him. God supported those who believed in him against those who did not, as He said at the end of Surat al-Saff: “A group of the Children of Israel believed and a group disbelieved. We supported those who believed against their enemies, and they became victorious” (Qur'an 61:14). We have written a long article explaining these promises, their limits and conditions, and why they require that the Jews be denied the Promised Land and rule forever. God willing, we shall publish it in the next issue.

Reports of the seal of the prophets concerning the Jews and Muslims

(14) We Muslims have promises from Muhammad, God's blessing and peace be upon him, the seal of the prophets and intermediary of the messengers, that are clearer and more explicit than those of the Jewish prophets. Among them are reports of the false Messiah, who will appear among the Jews. They will rally to him and fight Muslims and Christians in Palestine and elsewhere, but will be defeated and overcome. Another is what al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others reported from Abd Allah ibn Umar, from the Messenger of God, God's blessing and peace be upon him: “The Jews will fight you, and you will be given power over them, until a stone says, 'Muslim, there is a Jew behind me, so kill him.'” There are versions of this report longer than this one. Rash Zionists, beware of hastening to open the door of calamity upon yourselves. Indeed, now that you have opened it, beware of persisting in it. Defer it until your Messiah comes, for we too defer it until then. Wait, and we shall wait.

Analysis

Riḍā ends by arguing that political change in England may restrain British policy. The 1929 election record confirms that Labour won 287 seats to the Conservatives' 260, formed a minority government, and faced 59 Liberal members who held the balance. This supports his political sequence, but not his description of Labour as moderate or his hope for a change in British policy toward ארץ ישראל EREẒ YISRAʾEL. He then claims Jewish promises of restored rule were forfeited because most יהודים YEHUDIM rejected Jesus. This is a supersessionist claim about Jewish scripture and the homeland, not a finding about Jewish rights. Riḍā did publish the promised follow-up article in the next issue. Its publication confirms that he fulfilled the promise, while its hostile and supersessionist argument does not verify his claims. Finally he cites a report about killing Jews and warns Zionists to delay their plans. The core report appears in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3593 and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2921 from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, which verifies Riḍā's collection attribution. The passage remains an explicit anti-Jewish threat in his argument. The source match does not establish prophetic truth, justify the threat, or predict future events.

Riḍā accurately quotes the latter part of Qur'an 61:14, which says that one group among the Children of Israel believed, another disbelieved, and the believers received support and prevailed. The verse does not say that Jewish promises concerning land or rule were forfeited forever. Riḍā adds that supersessionist conclusion.

Riḍā's figure of four hundred million Muslims was much higher than nearby published estimates. A 1922 survey used 250 million. A 1937 discussion described published totals ranging from 230 to 300 million, proposed 280 million, and carried an editorial note that the total was no more than 250 million. Population data were incomplete and definitions differed, so these figures are not exact. They still show that four hundred million was outside the checked contemporary range. Non-Muslim Arabs were a separate addition in Riḍā's sentence and are not counted by these estimates.

Deuteronomy 30 also limits Riḍā's account of the Torah promises. The chapter links return to God and obedience with gathering from exile and renewed possession of the ancestors' land. It therefore supports his point that commandments matter. It also describes restoration after blessing, curse, and dispersal, and it does not make that restoration depend on the coming of a messiah. Riḍā's claim of permanent forfeiture through rejection of Jesus is a Christian and Islamic supersessionist interpretation, not the direct meaning of this Torah passage.

Another report in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim says that seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan will follow the Dajjāl. This identifies one source tradition behind Riḍā's reference to Jewish support for the Dajjāl. The report names a limited group and does not state that all Jews will follow him, that Jews will fight Christians, or that the event will occur in ארץ ישראל EREẒ YISRAʾEL.

Maimonides presents the expected Jewish messiah as a Davidic king who restores Jewish sovereignty, builds the Temple, and gathers the dispersed. His legal account therefore contradicts Riḍā's assertion that the relevant Jewish expectation was fulfilled by Jesus. It also shows that Riḍā's conclusion belongs to Christian and Islamic supersessionist interpretation rather than the Jewish source tradition he is describing.

Riḍā's absolute statement that observance of all Torah commandments had become impossible is also too broad. Many commandments tied to the Temple, sacrifices, agriculture in the land, or institutions that no longer operate cannot currently be performed in their original form. Many other commandments remain active in Jewish law and practice. The practical limits do not amount to abandonment of the Torah as a whole.