Question 327 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 4

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them abundant peace. Know that Allah remembers whoever remembers Him and gives much in return for little. You remembered Him, Glorious is He, sincerely in His House, so He remembered you, aided you, and made your affair easy. I ask Allah always to grant you sincerity toward Him, Glorious is He, and success in acting according to what pleases Him. As for the servant of Allah who aided you, he aided you through Allah’s power and strength. When Allah commanded him to aid you, all bounty belonged to Allah, Glorious is He. So thank Allah, Glorious and Exalted, who bestowed this upon you. Had Allah commanded him to tell you his name, he would have told you. As for this servant saying ‘Allah is the Greatest’ when he reached the Stone, that was his own duty. Your duty and that of other people, when reaching the Stone, is to say: ‘O Allah, I have delivered my trust and renewed my covenant, so that it may testify for me that I fulfilled it. O Allah, affirming Your Book and following the practice of Your Prophet, I testify that there is no god except Allah alone without partner, that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, that Ali and the Imams from his descendants are Allah’s proofs, and that the Mahdi and the Mahdis from his descendants are Allah’s proofs’-and count them through the Proof of Allah in your time-‘I believe in Allah and disbelieve in al-Jibt and al-Taghut, al-Lat and al-Uzza, the worship of Satan, and the worship of every rival invoked apart from Allah.’ The whole religion of Allah is nearly a single matter with which He opened the creation of the earthly human being, mentioned in the words of the Exalted: ‘Indeed, I am placing a vicegerent upon the earth.’ The entire Quran is in al-Fatihah, al-Fatihah is in the basmala, the basmala is in the letter ba, the ba is in the dot, and the dot is Ali (a). The Commander of the Believers said, ‘I am the dot’ (^[62]). What was the Commander of the Believers Ali (a) other than Allah’s vicegerent upon His earth? Thus the dot, the ba, the basmala, al-Fatihah, the Quran, and the entire religion are Allah’s vicegerent upon His earth. The Quran and the entire religion are the covenant and pledge taken from the servants to obey Allah’s vicegerents, which Allah deposited in the Foundation Stone, the Black Stone, the Cornerstone, or the Stone cut from Muhammad (s) to demolish the sovereignty of Satan and al-Taghut. This Stone has been mentioned in the heavenly books and narrations. When Quraysh differed over who would carry the Stone, they knew that it indicated a momentous matter; therefore they differed over who would carry it. Allah willed that Muhammad (s) be the one who carried the Stone and placed it in its location, so that Allah’s sign and indication would be completed: the Riser of truth, the servant in whom Allah deposited the covenant and pledge indicated by this Stone, would emerge from Muhammad (s), who carried the Stone. Said ibn Abdullah al-Araj narrated from Abu Abdullah (a), who said: ‘During the Age of Ignorance, Quraysh demolished the House. When they wanted to rebuild it, they were prevented from doing so and terror was cast into their hearts, until one of them said: Let every man among you bring the best of his wealth, and do not bring wealth you acquired by severing kinship or through what is unlawful. They did so, and the barrier between them and rebuilding it was removed. They built until they reached the place of the Black Stone, where they quarreled over which of them would place the Black Stone in its location, until evil nearly occurred between them. They appointed the first person to enter through the mosque’s gate as judge. The Messenger of Allah (s) entered. When he came to them, he ordered that a garment be spread out, then placed the Stone in its middle. The tribes took the garment’s edges and lifted it; then he (s) took it and placed it in its location, and Allah singled him out for it’ (^[63]). Muhammad (s) carried the Black Stone. This indicates that the Riser, the bearer of sin, and the bearer of the black banner that indicates it would emerge from Muhammad (s). Muhammad (s) is also the one who carries him in his loins, because he is deposited within Fatimah daughter of Muhammad (a). Thus the true bearer of sin is the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s). The black color with which Allah willed this Stone to be clothed indicates the servants’ sins and reminds them of their errors, perhaps they will repent and seek forgiveness while in the House of Allah. It is also the color of the black banners of the Riser of truth, the Riser of the family of Muhammad. The black banners indicate the Stone, and the Stone indicates them. Through their black color, both indicate the sin of breaking the covenant and pledge taken from creation in the World of the Atom. They also indicate the hardship borne by the bearer of this sin-and the bearer of the black banner that indicates the sin-the servant entrusted with the document of the covenant and pledge, namely the Black Stone and the Riser of the family of Muhammad. The Stone is connected to the matter of sacrifice present in the divine religion throughout its blessed course, for Allah’s religion is one because it is from One. Sacrifice appeared in its clearest form in Islam through al-Husayn (a). Before Islam, you find sacrifice in the monotheistic religion of Abraham (a) through Ishmael; you also find it through Abdullah, father of the Messenger Muhammad (s); you find it in Judaism, the religion of Moses (a), through John son of Zechariah (a); and you find it in Christianity through the crucified one. Irrespective of Christians mistakenly supposing that the crucified one was Jesus (a) himself, they believe the crucified one to be the bearer of sin. Although their beliefs contain alteration, this does not mean all of them arose from a complete void and have no origin in Allah’s religion from which they were altered. Many corrupt beliefs are in reality based upon a religious origin that the non-working scholars of misguidance took, altered, and upon which they built a corrupt belief. The matter of messengers bearing some of the sins of their nations so that they may lead the nation as a whole toward Allah exists in Allah’s religion and did not arise from nothing. You may consult the Torah’s texts, for example, to see Moses (a) bearing additional hardship because of the sins his people committed. The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) bore the sins of the believers. The Exalted said: ‘So that Allah may forgive for you what preceded of your sin and what followed, complete His blessing upon you, and guide you to a straight path’ (^[64]). Its outward interpretation is that he bore the sins of his nation, and Allah forgave them for him. Umar ibn Yazid, seller of Sabiri cloth, said: I asked Abu Abdullah (a) about Allah’s words in His Book, ‘So that Allah may forgive for you what preceded of your sin and what followed.’ He said: ‘He had no sin and did not intend a sin, but Allah placed upon him the sins of his Shia and then forgave them for him’ (^[65]). The messengers’ bearing the sins of their nations does not mean they bear the sin of breaking the covenant and pledge on behalf of deniers of Allah’s vicegerents who die upon that denial. Rather, they bear the sin of one who was heedless of remembering the covenant and pledge and broke it for a period in this worldly life. Nor does bearing their nations’ sins mean that they become the persons guilty of sin instead of their nations. It means they bear additional burdens and hardship in conveying their messages to people in this world. This is, of course, by their own will, because they are the ones who request it. A merciful father often bears the consequences of his children’s mistakes, even when this causes him hardship, difficulty, pain, and perhaps death in the way of Allah, as in the case of al-Husayn (a), because the father hopes for his children’s rectitude in the end. Perhaps many will not remember the covenant until the blood of their father, the guardian of Allah, is shed and becomes a cause for their remembering the covenant and pledge. For this reason, you find that al-Husayn (a), whom Allah willed to make a cause for a large number of creation to remember, left the pilgrimage and hastened toward the place of his slaughter (a). As for the Stone’s relationship to Adam’s sin, the Imams (a) undertook to explain it, although in the past it may have been hidden from people for a reason Allah, Glorious is He, intended. They also undertook to explain the Stone’s relationship to the sins of creation. The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) explained this matter most clearly through action-when he kissed the Stone-but it was an explanation for those who have hearts and comprehend the actions of Muhammad (s), the wise one who acts with wisdom. It was not like Umar ibn al-Khattab, who declared that he did not understand why the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) kissed the Stone, and declared that his own self and reality did not accept kissing the Stone, but that he did it only because he saw the Messenger Muhammad (s) do so before thousands of Muslims and could not contradict Muhammad (s), since he claimed to be his successor. Thus he regarded Muhammad’s action as foolish while following his practice under compulsion-what scheming is this? Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Ahmed narrated: ‘Umar came to the Stone, kissed it, and said: I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits. Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah-may Allah bless him and grant him peace-kiss you, I would not have kissed you.’ Ahmed narrated with his chain from Suwayd ibn Ghafalah, who said: ‘I saw Umar kiss the Stone and say: I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits, but I saw Abu al-Qasim-may Allah bless him and grant him peace-treat you with great care.’ When Umar ibn al-Khattab kissed the Stone, he declared that he disliked and rejected this action, belittled this Stone and its being the witness over the servants that they fulfilled the covenant and pledge taken from them in the World of the Atom: ‘And when your Lord took from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves: “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we testify”-lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were heedless of this”’ (^[66]). This is a clear indication for those who have hearts with which they understand that Umar ibn al-Khattab denied the covenant and pledge taken, and thus his soul recoiled from the witnessing Stone. Consequently, Umar tried to deny that the Stone was a real witness, addressing the witnessing Stone, the Foundation Stone, the Black Stone, with his words: ‘I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits.’ Since the people surrounding Umar in this situation had seen the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) treat this Stone with great care, kiss it, and prostrate upon it-and had themselves inherited from Abraham’s monotheistic religion veneration for this Stone and concern for it-Umar remedied his statement through his action and kissed the Stone. But after what? After Umar had declared kissing the Black Stone foolish because it was a stone that neither harmed nor benefited, so there was no wisdom in kissing it. Umar thereby intended through his statement and action to marginalize the Black Stone, deny that it was a witness, and make the Messenger’s kissing the Stone and prostrating upon it an obscure, incomprehensible matter devoid of wisdom. The truth is that if the Black Stone neither harmed nor benefited, the action of the Messenger (s)-far be it from him-would have been devoid of wisdom. The Messenger’s action cannot have meaning and be wise unless this Stone harms and benefits by Allah’s permission and through His power and strength, Glorious is He. Thus Allah willed to reveal what Umar concealed concerning the Stone, the servant entrusted with the covenant and pledge, or the Riser of the family of Muhammad. Glory be to Allah: a person conceals no evil except that Allah reveals it in slips of his tongue. The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) undertook to explain the Black Stone’s importance and virtue through his statements and actions. It is enough to know that the Messenger (s) kissed it and prostrated upon it, while he did not prostrate upon any other part of the Kaaba. The gravity and importance of this matter reached such a point that the Messenger (s) said: ‘Touch the Corner, for it is Allah’s right hand among His creation, through which He shakes hands with His creation as a servant or a newcomer is greeted, and it testifies for whoever touches it that he fulfilled the covenant’ (^[67]). By ‘the Corner,’ the Black Stone is meant, because it is placed within it. The Imams (a) followed the Messenger’s approach in explaining the Stone’s importance through their statements and actions. They explained that the Stone bears the document of the covenant and pledge; that Adam wept for forty days and established a mourning gathering near the Stone to expiate his sin of breaking the covenant: ‘We had already made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found no resolve in him’ (^[68]); and that the Stone had been a white pearl that shone, but on earth it turned black because of the servants’ sins. These blessed words and actions, which they repeated many times before their companions, all confirm and explain the importance of the Black Stone and the Stone’s relationship to the first sin-indeed, to sins throughout humanity’s course on this earth. Bukayr ibn Ayan said: ‘I asked Abu Abdullah (a): For what reason did Allah place the Stone in the Corner where it is and not somewhere else? For what reason is it kissed? For what reason was it brought out of the Garden? For what reason was the servants’ covenant and pledge placed in it and not in something else? What is the cause of this? Tell me-may Allah make me your ransom-for my reflection upon it has caused me wonder. He said: You have asked, posed a difficult question, and pursued it fully. Understand the answer, empty your heart, and listen attentively, and I will tell you, Allah willing. Allah, Blessed and Exalted, placed the Black Stone-which is a jewel brought out of the Garden to Adam (a)-in that Corner because of the covenant. When He took from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, Allah took the covenant from them in that place. In that place He appeared to them, and from that place the bird will descend upon the Riser (a). The first to pledge allegiance to him will be that bird, and by Allah, it is Gabriel (a). The Riser will lean his back against that station. It is the proof and evidence for the Riser, the witness for whoever comes to it in that place, and the witness over whoever delivers to it the covenant and pledge Allah, Glorious is He, took from the servants. ‘As for kissing and touching it, they are because of the covenant: to renew that covenant and pledge and renew the pledge of allegiance, so that they deliver to it the covenant Allah took from them in the pledge. They come to it every year and deliver to it the covenant and trust that were taken from them. Do you not see that you say, “I have delivered my trust and renewed my covenant, so that you may testify for me that I fulfilled it”? By Allah, no one delivers that except our Shia, and no one has preserved that covenant and pledge except our Shia. They come to it and it recognizes and affirms them. Others come to it and it rejects and denies them, because no one but you preserved it. By Allah, it testifies for you, and by Allah, it testifies against them concerning betrayal, denial, and disbelief. It is Allah’s conclusive proof against them on the Day of Resurrection. It will come with a speaking tongue and two eyes in its original form; creation will recognize and not deny it. It will testify for whoever came to it and renewed the covenant and pledge before it, that he preserved the covenant and pledge and delivered the trust; and it will testify against everyone who denied, rejected, and forgot the pledge, concerning disbelief and denial. ‘As for the reason Allah brought it out of the Garden, do you know what the Stone was?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said: ‘It was an angel among the greatest angels before Allah. When Allah took the covenant from the angels, that angel was the first to believe in and affirm it. Allah therefore appointed it trustee over all His creation, made it swallow the covenant, deposited it with him, and required creation to renew before him each year their affirmation of the covenant and pledge Allah, Glorious is He, had taken from them. Then Allah placed him with Adam in the Garden to remind him of the covenant and so that Adam would renew his affirmation before him each year. When Adam disobeyed and was expelled from the Garden, Allah made him forget the covenant and pledge He had taken from him and his offspring concerning Muhammad (s) and his successor (a), and left him wandering in bewilderment. When Allah accepted Adam’s repentance, He transformed that angel into the form of a white pearl and cast him from the Garden to Adam (a), who was in the land of India. When Adam saw him, he felt comforted by him, knowing him only as a jewel. Allah, Glorious is He, made him speak, and he said: “O Adam, do you recognize me?” He said, “No.” He said, “Indeed, Satan has gained mastery over you and made you forget the remembrance of your Lord.” He then transformed into the form he had possessed with Adam in the Garden and said to Adam: “Where is the covenant and pledge?” Adam sprang toward him, remembered the pledge, wept, humbled himself before him, kissed him, and renewed his affirmation of the covenant and pledge. Then Allah, Glorious is He, transformed him into the substance of the Stone, a pure white shining pearl. Adam (a) carried him upon his shoulder in veneration and glorification. Whenever Adam tired, Gabriel (a) carried it for him, until he brought it to Mecca. Adam continued to find comfort in it in Mecca and renewed his affirmation before it every day and night. Then, when Allah, Glorious is He, built the Kaaba, He placed the Stone in that location, because when He-Blessed and Exalted-took the pledge from Adam’s descendants, He took it in that place, and in that place He made the angel swallow the pledge. For this reason it was placed in that Corner. He moved Adam from the House’s location to al-Safa and Eve to al-Marwah, and placed the Stone in that Corner. When Adam looked from al-Safa and saw the Stone placed in the Corner, he declared Allah’s greatness, declared His oneness, and glorified Him. For this reason, the practice of declaring Allah’s greatness and facing the Corner containing the Stone from al-Safa was established. Allah deposited the covenant and pledge in him rather than any other angel, because when Allah, Glorious is He, took the covenant concerning His lordship, Muhammad’s prophethood, and Ali’s successorship, the angels’ shoulders trembled. That angel was the first to hasten to affirm it. None among them loved Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (a) more intensely than he. For this reason, Allah chose him from among them and made him swallow the pledge. He will come on the Day of Resurrection with a speaking tongue and a seeing eye, testifying for everyone who came to him in that place and preserved the pledge’ (^[69]). The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) entered the House of Allah, began with the Stone, ended with the Stone, and commanded his companions that their last covenant with the House be touching the Stone. Indeed, it is recommended to touch the Stone during every circumambulation. Touching the Stone causes sins to be forgiven and errors removed. The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) even prostrated upon the Black Stone and placed his forehead upon it after kissing it. What can you understand from this other than that the Stone is the most important thing in the House? Abdullah ibn Sinan said: Abu Abdullah (a) said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (s) mentioned the pilgrimage and wrote to everyone whom his letter reached among those who had entered Islam, informing them that the Messenger of Allah (s) intended to perform the pilgrimage so that whoever was capable might perform it … When he reached the mosque’s gate, he faced the Kaaba-and Ibn Sinan mentioned that it was the gate of Banu Shaybah-praised and extolled Allah, and sent prayers upon his father Abraham. Then he came to the Stone and touched it. When he had circumambulated the House, he prayed two units behind the Station of Abraham (a), entered Zamzam, and drank from it. Then he said, “O Allah, I ask You for beneficial knowledge, abundant provision, and healing from every illness and ailment.” He continued saying that while facing the Kaaba. Then he said to his companions: “Let your final covenant with the Kaaba be touching the Stone.” He touched it and then went out toward al-Safa’ (^[70]). Al-Bayhaqi narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said: ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah-may Allah bless him and grant him peace-prostrate upon the Stone’ (^[71]). One must take note of a very important matter: the Messenger (s) instituted the two circumambulation units at the Station of Abraham. The Messenger (s) and the Imams (a) prayed at the Station of Abraham (a). The one who stands in prayer at the Station of Abraham (a) has the Black Stone before him and in the direction of his prayer. This makes completely clear that this verse applies to the Riser of the family of Muhammad, the Joseph of the family of Muhammad, or the Black Stone: ‘When Joseph said to his father, “O my father, indeed I saw eleven stars and the sun and moon; I saw them prostrating to me”’ (^[72]). I previously explained what this prostration means when I explained the interpretation of this verse concerning Imam al-Mahdi (a). But when the prostration here is interpreted concerning the Riser, it is to Fatimah and the secret deposited within her together, exactly as prostration is toward the Kaaba and the Black Stone deposited within it. Here the sun is Muhammad (s), the moon is Ali (a), and the eleven stars are the Imams (a) from the descendants of Ali (a) and Fatimah (a): al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Ali, Muhammad, Jafar, Moses, Ali, Muhammad, Ali, al-Hasan, and Muhammad. Their prostration means that they prepare the way for the Riser, the establishment of justice, and giving redress to the wronged-especially obtaining the right of the woman who suffered the first and greatest injustice from the time Allah created creation until the Hour rises. As for the prostration of the rest of creation, who were obliged to prostrate toward the Kaaba and therefore toward the Black Stone, it is a clear indication and explanation that all of them prepare the way for the Riser, whether they wish it or not. The Exalted said: ‘Do you not see that whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on earth prostrates to Allah, as do the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the creatures, and many people? Yet for many the punishment has become due. Whoever Allah humiliates has none to honor him. Indeed, Allah does whatever He wills’ (^[73]). All prepare the way for the Inheritor, or the Riser, whether they wish it or not. The sun, moon, and stars prepare the way for the Riser, and those upon whom punishment has become due also prepare the way for the Riser, each according to his condition. The movement of creation and its general course prepare the way for the Riser, who gives redress to the wronged, although most creation is ignorant of this-exactly like their circumambulation of the Kaaba and the Black Stone deposited within it, while they scarcely understand anything of their circumambulation. The Stone was also mentioned in the earlier religions, in the Torah and Gospel: ‘Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: The stone the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore I tell you: the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation that produces its fruits. Whoever falls upon this stone will be broken, and upon whomever it falls, it will crush him”’ (^[74]). The Stone of which Jesus (a) spoke is in another nation, not the nation he was addressing. The kingdom is taken from the nation Jesus (a) addressed: the Children of Israel and those who believed in Jesus (a), since with these words he addressed his disciples who believed in him as well as others among the people. It is given to the nation connected to the Stone, which produces the fruits of the kingdom. Jesus’s words (a) are perfectly clear in explaining the virtue of the Cornerstone and that in the end the kingdom will be taken from those who claim to follow Jesus and given to the nation of the Stone: the nation of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (a). Jesus (a) wisely connected the Stone to the nation that is ultimately given the kingdom. He also contrasted this nation with the Children of Israel and those who claim to follow him, and explained that they will not attain the kingdom in the end. Thus Jesus (a) made the Stone the reason the kingdom is given to another nation, other than the nation claiming to follow Moses (a) and Jesus (a). In other words, those for whom the Stone testifies that they fulfilled the covenant and pledge, and those who support him, are the ones who will inherit the kingdom: whether upon this earth through establishing Allah’s sovereignty; in the heavens when Allah unveils His kingdom to them and allows them to look within it; or in the end when Allah settles them in the Gardens in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever wants to interpret these words differently, says Jesus intended himself, and insists upon this statement is engaging in sophistry and does not seek to know the truth. Otherwise, let him read the original statement, which belongs to David (a) in the Psalms. The Jews can likewise say that David meant himself, and thus the debate never ends. The truth is that David (a) and Jesus (a) meant the Savior who comes in the name of the Lord at the end of time. Jesus (a) gave glad tidings of him elsewhere in the Gospel and called him the Comforter and the wise servant; here he called him the Cornerstone. The question therefore is: who was known, or can be known, as the Cornerstone? Were David or Jesus-peace be upon them-known as the Cornerstone in the Lord’s House, or mentioned elsewhere as the Cornerstone in the Lord’s House? Is there a stone placed in a corner of the Lord’s House, or the temple among the Jews and Christians, that indicates David or Jesus-peace be upon them? The truth is that this does not exist, but it does exist in the other nation descended from Abraham (a), in the Lord’s House built by Abraham (a) and his son Ishmael (a), in the corner-and specifically the corner called the Iraqi Corner. All these matters indicate one thing: the Savior who comes at the end of time, or the one David indicated in the Psalms to be the Cornerstone and the one coming in the name of the Lord. ‘… 19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them and praise the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous enter through it. 21 I praise You because You answered me and became my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. 23 This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, save; O Lord, deliver. 26 Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the House of the Lord …’ (^[75]). To confirm further that the Cornerstone intended in the Torah and Gospel is the Savior who comes at the end of time in Iraq and is the Riser of truth, I present this vision seen by the king of Iraq in the time of the Prophet Daniel (a) and interpreted by the Prophet Daniel (a). It scarcely needs clarification. These are the words of the Prophet Daniel (a) to the king of Iraq, relating his vision and its interpretation as stated in the present Torah: ‘… 31 You, O king, were looking, and behold, a great statue. This great, exceedingly splendid statue stood before you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched until a stone was cut without hands and struck the statue upon its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floor. The wind carried them away, and no place was found for them. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 This is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are king of kings, for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, authority, and glory. 38 Wherever the children of humankind, the beasts of the field, and the birds of heaven dwell, He has given them into your hand and made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold. 39 After you another kingdom will arise, inferior to you, and another third kingdom of bronze will rule over the whole earth. 40 A fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, because iron crushes and breaks every thing; like iron that breaks, it will crush and break all these. 41 As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom will be divided, but some of the iron’s strength will be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, part of the kingdom will be strong and part brittle. 43 As you saw iron mixed with clay, they will mingle with the seed of people but will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 In the days of these kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Its dominion will not be left to another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever. 45 For you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain without hands and crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God has made known to the king what will come after this. The dream is true and its interpretation certain’ (^[76]). Thus the Stone, or Savior, who demolishes the structure of falsehood and the rule of al-Taghut and Satan upon this earth, and under whose rule truth and justice spread through the earth, comes at the end of time and comes in Iraq, as is clear in Daniel’s vision. He is the Stone that destroys the idol, or the rule of al-Taghut and the ego. Neither Jesus (a) nor David (a) was sent in Iraq and at the end of time, so neither can be the mentioned Cornerstone. Rather, all the preceding makes clear that the Cornerstone in Judaism and Christianity is the same Black Stone placed in the corner of Allah’s Sacred House in Mecca. The Black Stone placed in the Corner of Allah’s House, which is a manifestation and symbol of the one entrusted with the covenant and pledge, is the same Cornerstone mentioned by David and Jesus-peace be upon them. It is the same Stone that demolishes al-Taghut’s government in the Book of Daniel (a). It is the same Riser of the family of Muhammad, or First Mahdi, who comes at the end of time, as narrated from the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) and his household (a). Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. Ahmed Alhasan Shawwal, 1430 AH