Topic: Buried In Kashmir

19:20.

3:40; 4:172.

Important Words:

کلمة (word) means, a word; an expression; a proposition; a sentence; a saying; an argument; an assertion; an expression of opinion (Lane); a decree; a commandment (Mufradat). See also 2:38.

المسیح (Messiah) is derived from مسح. They say مسح الشیء i.e. he wiped off the dirt from the thing with his hand; or he passed his hand over it. مسح الشیء بالماء means he passed his hand, wetted with water, over the thing. مسحه means he anointed him or it with oil. مسح فی الارض means, he set forth journeying through the land. مسح البیت means, he compassed or went round the House of God. مسحه بالسیف means, he struck him with the sword and killed him. مسحه الله means, God created him blessed and goodly; and contrarily, God created him accursed and foul. مسیح therefore, means: (1) one anointed, i.e. wiped over with some such thing as oil; (2) a king; (3) one beautiful in the face; (4) one who journeys or travels much; (5) one very truthful; (6) one erring greatly; (7) one created blessed and goodly; (8) one created accursed and foul (Lane). المسیح الدجال means, Antichrist; one erring greatly and created accursed and foul; one travelling much, spreading false ideas. المسیح is the Arabic form of Messiah which represents the Hebrew Mashiah, i.e. anointed one (Enc. Bib. and Enc. of Rel. & Eth.)

عیسی (Jesus) is probably a Hebrew name in which it has the form الیسوع or یسوع from which the inverted Arabic form is عیسی. In Arabic, the word may be considered to have been derived from the root عیس or عوس. The word العیس means, white camels, the whiteness of whose hair is mixed with a dark shade, and these are looked upon as particularly good animals. عاس الرجل ماله means, the man managed his property well. عاس معیشته means, he improved and bettered his life (Aqrab & Lisan). Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua and Jeshua (Enc. Bib.)

ابن مریم (Son of Mary) is a surname of Jesus known in Arabic as Kunyah. Jesus has been called Ibn Maryam probably because, being born without the agency of a male parent, he could not but be known after his mother. For the word Mary see 3:43.

Commentary:

The word کلمة (word) as used in this verse requires some explanation, particularly because it has been quoted by Christian missionaries in support of the ridiculous allegation that by using it the Quran has recognized the sonship of Jesus. The occasion on which the verse was revealed would throw some light on the significance of the word.

The first 83 verses of this Surah were revealed when the Christian deputation from Najran visited Medina and had a discussion with the Holy Prophet about the status and personality of Jesus. Being silenced on other points, they asked the Holy Prophet whether the word Kalimah had been used in the Quran concerning Jesus, and, receiving a reply in the affirmative, they triumphantly shouted that they had won and rose to depart without waiting for the explanation of this much misunderstood word. The occasion and circumstances of the revelation of the relevant verses show that they were revealed not in support, but in refutation and repudiation, of the Christian doctrine of the divinity of Jesus. The words کلمة (word) and روح (mercy) occurring together in 4:172 make it clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that they have been used to destroy and repudiate the doctrine of the divinity and sonship of Jesus rather than establish it. The full verse referred to above runs as follows: O People of the Book, exceed not the limits in your religion, and say not of Allah anything but the truth. Verily the Messiah Jesus, Son of Mary, was only a Messenger of God and a fulfilment of His word (کلمة) which He sent down to Mary and mercy (روح) from Him. So believe in Allah and His Messengers and say not, 'They are three. Desist, it will be better for you; verily Allah is the only one God. Far is it from His holiness that He should have a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and sufficient is Allah as a guardian. The words speak for themselves.

Curiously enough, some Christian writers have asserted that the Holy Prophet did not understand the real significance of the word Kalimah. The word is Arabic; and to say that an Arab of the Holy Prophet’s knowledge and intelligence did not know its meaning or significance is simply absurd. It is a fact that neither the Holy Prophet nor any of his followers ever attached to this word any extraordinary significance which might exalt Jesus over the rest of humanity. Large numbers of Christians have accepted Islam in the past. While studying the Quran, they must have come across this word several times but none of them ever took it in the sense in which our Christian critics pretend to take it, and none of them ever believed in the godhood of Jesus on account of this expression having been used in the Quran.

The great lexicographers, the author of Tajul-‘Urus, says that Jesus has been called Kalimatullah because his words were helpful to the cause of religion. Just as a person who helps the cause of religion by his valour is called Saifullah (the Sword of God) or Asadullah (the Lion of God), so is the expression Kalimatullah. According to the same authority, Jesus was called Kalimatullah also because his birth did not take place through the agency of a male parent, but by the direct "command" of God (19:21, 22).

Besides the literal meanings given above, the Quran has used this word in the following senses: (1) "a sign" as in 66:13 and 8:8; (2) "punishment" as in 10:97; (3) "plan" or "design" as in 9:40; (4) "glad tidings" as in 7:138; (5) "creation of God" as in 31:28 and 18:110; (6) "a mere word of mouth" or "a mere assertion" as in 23:101.

Taken in any of the above senses, the word کلمة (Kalimah) in no way gives to Jesus a status higher than that of other Prophets.

Again, if Jesus has been called Kalimah (word) in the Quran, the Holy Prophet has been called Dhikr, i.e. a book or a good speech (65:11, 12), which evidently consists of many Kalimat (words). In fact, if Kalimatullah is taken in the sense of "word of God," the utmost we can say is that God expressed Himself through Jesus just as He expressed Himself through other Prophets. Words are nothing but a vehicle for the expression of thoughts. They do not form part of our being nor do they become incarnated.

The personal pronoun in the expression اسمه (his name) occurring in the verse, being in the masculine gender, evidently cannot refer to Kalimah, which is in the feminine gender. It can only refer to the person about whom the glad tidings was given. The relevant clause of the verse may, therefore, also be rendered as, "O Mary, Allah gives thee glad tidings with a word, (i.e. by means of revelation) from Him; his, (i.e. the promised one’s) name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary."

Jesus has been called Masih (Messiah) in this verse and the word Masih, as given under Important Words above, means one who travels much. Jesus was given this name because he was to travel much. But if in pursuance of the Gospel narrative, Jesus’ ministry be admitted to have been confined to only three years and his travels to only a few Palestinian or Syrian towns, the title of Masih in no way fits him. Recent historical research has, however, established the fact that after having recovered from the shock and the wounds of crucifixion, Jesus travelled far and wide in the East and finally reached Kashmir to give his message to the lost tribes of Israel who lived in these parts. In this connection see also 23:51, where Jesus is spoken of as having been afforded shelter in a hilly tract of land. مسیح (Masih)also means "one anointed". As the birth of Jesus was out of the ordinary and was liable to be looked upon as illegitimate, therefore, to remove this possible accusation, he was spoken of as "being anointed" with God’s own anointment, even as all true Prophets of God are anointed. Jesus has also been so spoken of because, like a thing anointed with oil, the water of sin could not penetrate him. It could only just touch his skin but could not sink into it nor remain there (Matt. 4:1-11). In contrast to it, the high spiritual rank of the Holy Prophet of Islam may be judged from a well-known saying of his wherein he says that his Satan had turned Muslim and urged him to do nothing but good (Musnad & Muslim), meaning that not only could no satanic touch harm him but that Satan had become virtually non-existent for him. Nay, it means even more; for, the words signify that the Holy Prophet had been provided with such a powerful spiritual transformer that even satanic suggestions were converted into veritable forces of virtue in him.

The expression, of those who are granted nearness to God, also gives to Jesus no higher position than that of a righteous servant of God. All people advanced in righteousness have been spoken of in the Quran as being granted nearness to God (56:11, 12).

Important Words:

آویناھما (We gave them refuge) is derived from أوی. They say أوی البیت اوالی البیت i.e. he lodged in the house and found rest and satisfaction therein. آواہ البیت اوالی البیت (awa) means, he lodged him in the house, he gave him shelter, refuge or asylum in the house. أوی is used when a person finds protection, asylum, satisfaction and comfort in a place after he has been through hardships and privations (Lane & Arqab). See also 8:73; 11:44; 12:70 & 93:7.

ربوة (elevated land) is derived from ربی which means, it increased; it became high; he grew up. ربوة means, a hill or elevated ground or an elevated place (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:266; 22:6.

قرار (meadows) is inf. noun from قر. They say قر بالمکان i.e. he settled or became established; rested; resided in the place. قرار means, a state or place or time of rest, permanence or continuance; a secure dwelling; a place where water rests in a meadow. It is also a plural (or rather a coll. gen. n.,) of which the singular is قرارة. The word is also applied to low and fertile grounds (Lane & Aqrab).

معین (springs of running water) may be taken as derived from معن or عان. They say, معن الماء i.e. the water flowed. معن المطر الارض means, the rain constantly fell upon the ground and its thirst was satisfied. معن النبات means, the plant had plentiful irrigation. عان الماء اوالدمع means, the water or the tear flowed. عانت البئر means, the water of the well became plentiful. معینmeans, flowing water, a spring. ماء معین means, flowing water or the water which the eye sees flowing upon the surface of the earth (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse constitutes a befitting sequel to the subject dealt with in the few preceding verses, viz. that it is an invariable divine law that God’s Messengers are at first rejected and persecuted but eventually they succeed and their rejecters come to grief and that in consonance with this divine law, Jesus, the last Israelite Prophet also met with severe persecution at the hands of his opponents. They got him hung on the cross. But true to His law and promise God delivered him from the accursed death by crucifixion, and to offset his seeming failure in the early stages of his mission gave him shelter along with his mother in a land full of green meadows and running springs, where his mission prospered and where he lived to a ripe old age. As Jesus’ death, like his birth, has become a subject of great controversy, and some confusion and doubt still persist as to how and where he passed the last days of his crowded life, and as the question of the manner of his death forms a vital question with the Christian Faith, a somewhat exhaustive note on this very important, albeit baffling religious question is called for.

The Quran and the Bible, reinforced by authenticated facts of history, lend powerful support to our view that Jesus did not die on the cross. The following arguments substantiate and support this contention:

1. Jesus could not have died on the cross because he was a Divine Prophet and a righteous servant of God and according to the Bible "he that is hanged is accursed of God" (Deut. 21:23).

2. On the night before Jesus was nailed to the cross he had prayed to God in great agony to "take away this cup (of death on the cross) from me" (Mark 14: 36; Matt. 26:39; Luke, 22: 42); and his prayer was heard (Heb. 5:7).

3. Jesus had predicted that like Jonah who had gone into the belly of the whale alive and had come out of it alive (Matt. 12:40) he would remain in an excavated sepulchre for three days and would come out of it alive.

4. He had also foretold that after having delivered his message to the Israelites in Palestine he would go to seek out the lost ten tribes of Israel and would bring them back into the Master’s fold (John 10: 16). Even Jews themselves in Jesus’ time believed that the lost tribes of Israel had become dispersed in different lands (John 7: 34, 35).

5. Jesus had remained hung on the cross only for about three hours (John 9: 14) while persons of normal constitutions, had remained on the cross for as many as three to six days and then died from exhaustion, hunger and exposure

6. Immediately after he had been taken down from the cross Jesus’ side was pierced and blood and water flowed out of it which was a certain sign of life (John 19: 34).

7. The Jews themselves were not sure of Jesus’ death because they had asked Pilate to have a guard posted at his sepulchre "lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the people, 'He is risen from the dead' (Matt. 27:64).

8. There is not to be found in all the Gospels a single recorded statement of an eye-witness to the effect that Jesus had died on the cross or that he was dead when he was taken down from the cross or when he was placed in the tomb. The Jews had their own doubts and none of the disciples was present at the scene of crucifixion, all having fled when Jesus was taken to Calvary.

The fact of the case seems to be that, presumably due to the dream of his wife "to have nothing to do with that just man," Pilate had believed Jesus to be innocent and had therefore conspired with Joseph of Arimaethia, a respectable member of the Essene Order to which Jesus himself belonged before he was commissioned as a Prophet, to save his life. The trial of Jesus took place on Friday, Pilate having purposely prolonged it knowing that the next day being the Sabbath Day the condemned persons would not be left on the cross after sunset.

When at last he found himself compelled to condemn Jesus, Pilate gave his judgement only three hours before sunset, thus making himself sure that no person of normal health could die in such a short time by remaining on the cross. He took additional care to see that Jesus was given wine or vinegar mingled with myrrh to render him less sensitive to pain. When after three hours’ suspension Jesus was taken down from the cross in an unconscious state (probably under the influence of vinegar which was administered to him) Pilate readily granted Joseph of Arimaethia’s request and handed over Jesus’s body to him. Unlike those of the two malefactors who were hung along with him, his bones were not broken and Joseph had him placed in a spacious room hewn in the side of a rock. There was no medical autopsy, no stethoscopic test, no inquest with the aid of the evidence of those who were last with him ("Mystical life of Jesus" by H. Spencer Lewis).

9. "The Crucifixion by an Eye-Witness," a book which was at first published in 1873 in U.S.A. and which is an English translation of an ancient Latin copy of a letter written seven years after the Crucifixion by an Essene brother in Jerusalem to a member of this brotherhood in Alexandria lends further support to the view of Jesus having been taken down from the cross alive. The book narrates in detail all the events leading to the Crucifixion, the scenes at the Calvary and also the incidents that took place afterwards.

10. An ointment, the famous Marham-i-‘Isa, (the ointment of Jesus) was prepared and applied to Jesus’s wounds and he was tended and looked after by Joseph of Arimaethia and Nicodemus, a very learned and highly respected member of the Essene brotherhood.

11. After the wounds of Jesus had been sufficiently healed he left the tomb in which he was placed and met some of his disciples who "were horrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit." He assured them that he was no spirit but a man of flesh and bones and had his food with them and walked the whole distance from Jerusalem to Galilee on foot (Luke 24: 37-43).

All these authentic facts of history show that Jesus did not die on the cross. The story of his death on the cross and his having risen from the dead after three days and having bodily gone to heaven may deceive a gullible people holding fantastic beliefs, it cannot satisfy any reasonable person (Enc. Brit. article on "Ascension").

The fact having been established that Jesus survived Crucifixion, the question still remains, if Jesus did not die on the cross and there being no trace of his tomb in Palestine, the scene of his early missionary activities, where did he go and live and die after the great event? It is now a known fact established by reliable historical data that after the event of Crucifixion, Jesus, finding life unsafe in Palestine, forsook that country forever and went to seek the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel and to preach his Message to them. For this purpose he took a long and arduous journey to the East, where those Ten Tribes had lived after their great dispersion by the Assyrians and Babylonians, first to Assyria, Mesopotamia and Media and then to further East––Afghanistan, Kashmir and India. While yet in Palestine, Jesus had given sufficient indications, though in parables and proverbs, as was his wont, that in some future time he would have to leave Palestine for another country (John 8: 21; 10: 16; 13: 33).

After Crucifixion Jesus felt that he was a hunted man and that if he remained in his native place he would be arrested again and probably killed. He, therefore, went into hiding. The news having reached him of the cruel persecution of his disciples he was sorely distressed, and in extreme agony of spirit exclaimed; "the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matt. 8: 20). He decided to leave Palestine for all time. From Jerusalem he went to Nazareth and from Nazareth to Damascus where he stayed for some time at a place which is known to this day as Maqam-i-‘Isa. Finding himself insecure even in Damascus he left for Nisibin (Raudatus-Safa and Jami‘ut-Tawarikh). He did not feel safe even at Nisibin (Tabari) and left for far-off Kashmir. Finding it unsafe to travel under his real name he henceforward, travelled under the assumed name of Yuz Asaf (Yuz in Hebrew being the same as Yasu‘ and Asaf meaning the gatherer). Henceforward Jesus becomes Yuz Asaf and is known by this name till his death. On his way from Nisibin to Kashmir he passed through Iran and Afghanistan. At last he reached his destination.

The last vestiges of doubt as to Jesus’ travel to Afghanistan and Kashmir are dispelled by that very useful book "The Unknown Life of Jesus" written by Nicholas Notovitch, a Russian traveller, who visited the Far East in about 1877. He calls Kashmir "the valley of eternal bliss" which may be regarded as an apt rendering in English of the Quranic words ذات قرار و معین.

In this book Notovitch tells us that Jesus came to India, while he was only 14 years of age, lived there for some time, learnt the use of herbs, medicine and mathematics and studied also the Hindu religion and held religious discussions with the Brahmans who ultimately became his enemies. The fact having come to his knowledge that the Brahmans were seeking to kill him, he left India for Nepal and then went to Kashmir and Afghanistan and stopping on the way in Persia he went back to Judea. Sir Francis Young husband, who was at the time when Nicholas Notovitch visited Kashmir, British resident at the court of the Maharaja of Kashmir, met him near the Zojila Pass.

Recent research about Jesus’ travels in the East lends powerful support to Notovitch’s book. The following quotations are very significant:

In Srinagar we first encountered the curious legend about Christ’s visit to the place. Afterwards we saw how widely spread in India, in Laddakh and in Central Asia, was the legend of the visit of Christ to those parts ("Heart of Asia," by Professor Nicholus Roerich). All over Central Asia, in Kashmir and Laddakh and Tibet and even further north, there still exists a strong belief that Jesus or Issa travelled about there ("Glimpses of World History," by Jawaharlal Nehru).

One day Raja Shalewahin went to a country in the Himalayas. There he saw a Raja of Sakas (foreigners) at Wein, who was fair of colour and wore white clothes. The Raja asked him who he was. He replied that he was Yusashaphat(Yuz Asaf) and was born of a woman (according to another report, "born of a virgin"…) The Raja asked him about his religion. He replied, 'it is love, truth and purity of heart and on account of this I am called ‘Isa Masih’: (Sutta. Bhavishya Maha Purana, P. 282, translated by Dr. Shiv Nath Shastri and quoted by Robert Graves and Joshua Podro in "Jesus in Rome").

Finding it impossible to deny the fact of Jesus’ having been taken down alive from the cross and of his journey to the East, some scholars have taken refuge behind some obscure passages in Notovitch’s book to claim that Jesus came to East before and not after he was commissioned as a Divine Prophet. But this inference appears manifestly to be ill-founded. A mere boy of 13 or 14 years of age as Jesus is stated to have been when he came to India, he could not have conceived of undertaking so long and arduous a journey to a far-off land, and thus of exposing himself to mortal danger on the way. After all what attraction or motives Jesus had, at such an early age, in coming over to India and studying the Hindu religion and in having discussion with the Brahmans so as to make them his enemies, as we are told in Notovitch’s book. And if at all he came to India, what interest the people of India and Kashmir had in keeping a record of the activities, doings and wanderings of a boy of 13 or 14. It is only God’s great Prophets who in the discharge of their divine mission regard no sacrifice too great to suffer. It is, therefore, after Jesus had been entrusted with his divine mission and had been rejected by the Jews in Palestine, that he forsook that country to seek, in fulfilment of the old Biblical prophecies, the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel and undertook the long and dangerous journey to India and Kashmir. It is after he had come to Afghanistan and Kashmir and had preached his message to the Israelites living there and after hundreds of thousands of people had accepted him and he had lived an eventful life to the very ripe age of 120 (Kanzul-‘Ummal, vol. 6) that records came to be kept of his doings. Early Christian writers and dignitaries of the Church were forced to admit that Jesus had lived up to old age and died full of years. In his "An Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament" (p.610) the famous Biblical scholar, Dr. James Moffatt writes: "Irenaeas quotes from the presbyters who are claimed to have been in touch with the apostle John,... that Jesus died when he was in his aetasSenior, i.e. over forty or fifty."…"According to tales current in the days of Papies the Lord lived to a great age...aetas Senior [Early History of the Christian Church by Monsignor Louis Duchesne, vol. I, p. 105] "In the later he also includes the fact that Jesus must have passed through and been subjected to all the conditions of a complete human life from birth to old age and death" (History of Dogma by Dr. Adolf Harnack, vol. 11, pp. 277-278).

It is also in keeping with the time-honoured practice of God’s Messengers that they have to do migrate after and not before they are entrusted with a divine mission and Jesus too was true to this prophetic tradition. Other facts of unimpeachable historical evidence, to which we will presently refer, also prove and establish this event of outstanding historical importance. Jesus came to Afghanistan and Kashmir because "other sheep which are not of this fold" (John 10:16) lived there. His mission could not have become complete unless he should have brought those sheep into the Master’s fold. Here are some of the arguments to show that the lost ten tribes of Israel lived in Afghanistan and Kashmir, after the Israelites were dispersed by the Assyrians and Babylonian kings:

After the death of Solomon and in the reign of his cruel and worthless son whom the Quran calls "the worm of the earth" (34:15) a revolt headed by Jeroboam split the Jews into two perpetually hostile camps. The major section, the Ten Tribes assumed the name of Israel and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin came to be known as Judah. At the invitation of the King of Judah, the Assyrians, under Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser and Sargon invaded Samaria, the capital of the Ten Tribes, destroyed it and carried the Ten Tribes as captives to Assyria, Mesopotamia and Media. Later on the Assyrian Kingdom was destroyed by the combined armies of Babylonia and Media. When Zedekiah, the King of Judah, revolted against Nebuchadnezzar, the latter, laid siege to Jerusalem, completely destroyed the Temple and carried almost all the inhabitants into captivity. The ten tribes were forever lost to the Palestinian Jewry because when the Assyrians and the Babylonians extended their territories to the east, they carried their captives, the ten tribes of Israel, to Iraq and Persia for the purpose of colonization and later when the Persians under Darius and Cyrus extended their territories still further east, to Afghanistan and India, these Jewish tribes migrated with them to these countries and thus they became settled in the East—in Afghanistan and Kashmir and even in Samarkand and Bukhara, and were forever lost to western Jewry.

Thus as a result of their conquest first by the Assyrians and the Babylonians and then by the Persians the Jews became dispersed to Persia, Afghanistan and Kashmir and even to Khurasan, Samarkand and Bukhara. The Kashmiris and Afghans of today are the descendants of those 'Lost Tribes of Israel.' This fact is quite evident from the traditions, history and written records of these two peoples. The names of their towns and tribes, their physical features, their customs, habits, mode and manner of living, their dress, etc., all point in the same direction. Their ancient monuments and old inscriptions also support this view.

The fact that there are many places, persons and tribes in Afghanistan and particularly in Kashmir which are named after Israelite names, and that the customs, habits, manners, mode of life, form of dress of the Kashmiris, and their physical features resemble those of the Jews, coupled with the fact that their folklore is full of Jewish stories and that their language possesses hundreds of words which in pronunciation and meaning are identical with Hebrew words and that the name Kashmir is in reality Kashir meaning "like Syria" (or it seems to have been named after Kash or Cush, a grandson of Noah), impart a certainty to the view that the Afghans and Kashmiris are largely the descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel which is incapable of being assailed.

When it is established that Jesus did not die on the cross and that after having recovered from his wounds and being afraid of his life he left Jerusalem for the East, and when it is also established that the Afghans and the Kashmiris are descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel and that in fulfilment of the prophecies of the Prophets of yore, Jesus had to search for these tribes to reclaim them, there remains no manner of doubt about the fact that he did come to Afghanistan and Kashmir. But the greatest and best proof of his having come to Kashmir and of having lived and died there is the presence of his tomb in Khanyar street, Srinagar, Kashmir. There is a tomb in this street which is called Rauzabal and is variously known as the tomb of Yuz Asaf, of Nabi Sahib, of Shahzadah Nabi and even of ‘Isa Sahib. According to well-established historical accounts this Yuz Asaf came to Kashmir more than 1900 years ago and preached in parables and used many of the same parables as Jesus did. In certain books of history he is described as a Nabi (Prophet). Moreover, Yuz Asaf is a Biblical name meaning "Yasu‘, the gatherer," which is one of the descriptive names of Jesus as his mission was to gather the lost tribes of Israel into the Master’s fold as he himself says: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd" (John 10:16).

The following historical quotations shed some light on this subject:

The tomb next to that of Sayyid Nasirud-Din is generally known as that of a Prophet who was sent to the inhabitants of Kashmir, and the place is known as the shrine of a Prophet. He was a Prince who came to Kashmir from a foreign land. He was perfect in piety, righteousness and devotion; he was made a Prophet by God and was engaged in preaching to the Kashmiris. His name was Yuz Asaf and he was a descendant of Moses (Tarikh A‘zami pp. 82-85)... Yuz Asaf wandered about in several lands till he reached a country called Kashmir. He travelled in it far and wide and lived and stayed there till death overtook him (Ikmalud-Din... pp. 358-359).

Kashmir legend, I have been told, contains reference to a Prophet who lived here and taught as Jesus did by parables little stories that are repeated in Kashmir to the present day (John Noel’s article in Asia, Oct. 1930).

The flight of Jesus, therefore to India and his death in Srinagar is not foreign to the truth rationally or historically (Tafsirul-Manar, vol. 6).

The following facts clearly emerge from the above quotations and historical references:

1. The tomb in Khanyar street in Srinagar is variously described as that of Nabi Sahib, ‘Isa Sahib, Shahzadah Nabiand that of Yuz Asaf.

2. This Yuz Asaf was a Prophet of the People of the Book, being a spiritual descendant of Moses.

3. He came to Kashmir from a far-off land.

4. He was called a Prince (Jesus was also known as Prince of Peace).

5. He talked in proverbs and parables (so did Jesus).

6. He was not a follower of Islam as no prophet, according to Muslim belief, had appeared after the Holy Prophet.

7. He was a Jew, because the name Yuz Asaf is a Hebrew name.

In view of the above-mentioned facts it is not possible to deny that Jesus did come to the East to preach to the lost tribes of Israel, and that Yuz Asaf is Jesus and that the tomb in Khanyar street is that of Jesus. For a better and fuller treatment, however, of this subject see "Masih Hindustan Main" by Ahmad, the Promised Messiah. See also the well-known book, "Nazarene Gospel Restored," whose authors maintain that though officially crucified in A.D. 30, Jesus was still alive some twenty years after the Resurrection.

There could be no better description of the place, where Jesus and his mother, after his deliverance from accursed death on the cross, lived in peace and tranquillity and then went to their eternal rest, than in the Quranic words, viz. ذات قرار و معین (having meadows and springs of running water), which is quite an apt description of the beautiful valley of Kashmir which is full of green meadows and of springs and streams running with fresh, sweet water.