``The term messiah is applied to that righteous one whose touch (mas-h) has been blessed by God, and whose breath, preaching and words are life-giving. Then this word was applied particularly to that prophet who did not fight wars, but reformed people through spiritual blessings only.''

(Ayyam as-Sulh, p. 69)

``It is written in the Lisan al-`Arab, p. 431 [Dictionary of Arabic] that Jesus was called the Messiah because he travelled in the earth, and was not settled anywhere. The same is given in Taj al-`Arus and Qamus [Dictionaries]. It is also written that Messiah is he who has been touched (mas-h) with good and blessing; i.e. good and blessing have been placed in his nature, so much so that his very touch gives blessings. This name was given to Jesus, and is given by God to whom He pleases.''

(Masih Hindustan Main, p. 71)

``Messiah is a title which was given to Jesus, meaning `one who touches God', `partakes of Divine favours', the `vicegerent of God', and `one who adopts truth and righteousness'.''

``Mahdi is a title given to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, meaning rightly-guided by instinct, heir to all guidance, and the full reflection of the Divine attribute Guide.''

(Zameema Jihad, p. 6)

``I have definitely not claimed that I am Jesus, son of Mary. The person who levels this allegation against me is a liar and a fabricator. On the contrary, I have been constantly publishing for seven or eight years that I am the like of the Messiah. That is to say, God has put in my nature some of the spiritual characteristics and habits and morals of Jesus, peace be upon him. And there are many other aspects, which I have explained in these books, in terms of which my life bears a great similarity to that of Jesus. It is not a new development on my part that in these books I have considered myself to be that Promised one whose advent is prophesied implicitly in the Holy Quran and explicitly in Hadith.''

(Izala Auham, pp. 190--191)

``The name `Promised Messiah', which has been given to me from heaven, means nothing more than that God has made me to follow the example of Jesus in terms of moral conditions, so that I may breathe spiritual life into people by peace and gentleness. It is not just today that I have given this interpretation of the name `Promised Messiah', but I gave the same meaning nineteen years ago in Barahin Ahmadiyya.''

(Kashf al-Ghita, p. 12)

``I believe in all those things that are recorded in the Holy Quran and authentic Hadith. I do not claim to be Jesus, son of Mary, nor do I believe in re-incarnation. I only claim to be the like of the Messiah. In the same way as sainthood in Islam (muhaddasiyyat) bears a resemblance to prophethood, my spiritual condition bears a similarity of the highest degree to the spiritual condition of Jesus. I am a Muslim…I have come from the Lord of the heavens and the earth as a Reformer (mujaddid) of the religion, for the fourteenth century, having the characteristics and disposition of Jesus.''

(Majmu`a Ishtiharat,vol. i, p. 231)

``In some Sayings of the Holy Prophet, which are replete with metaphors, there is a prophecy of the return of the Messiah to this world. The context of these Sayings, however, shows that in fact the return of Jesus is not meant here. It is, in fact, a subtle metaphor, meaning that in some age which would resemble the time of Jesus, a man shall arise for the reform of mankind who will resemble Jesus in his nature, faculties and appointed work. Just as Jesus regenerated the religion of Moses, and disclosed to the Jews the significance of the real intention of the Torah which they had forgotten, similarly the second Messiah will restore the religion of the `like of Moses', who is the Last of the Prophets --- Muhammad, peace be upon him. This Messiah granted to the `like of Moses', shall in terms of his life and all the consequences to befall his people due to their obedience or rejection, bear total similarity to the Messiah granted to Moses. What God has now disclosed to me is that I am that Promised Messiah.''

(Izala Auham, p. 37)

``In a metaphorical and spiritual sense, this humble servant is that Promised Messiah the news of whose advent is given in the Quran and Hadith.''

(ibid., p. 261)

``By using the words `from among you' in the chapter The Light, the Holy Quran has given the verdict that all khalifas [successors to the Holy Prophet] of the Muslim nation shall arise from within the nation itself. These khalifas will be similar to the chain of Israelite prophets after Moses. Only one of them --- the one at the end --- will be the Promised one, being the like of Jesus. The rest would not be promised ones, i.e. there is no specific prophecy for any of them by name.''

(Tazkira Shahadatain, p. 30)

``Although I have explained this point in many of my books, that my claims that I am Jesus, the Messiah, and Muhammad, the Mahdi, do not mean that I am actually Jesus, peace be upon him, and actually Muhammad, peace and the blessings of God be upon him, but still those people who have not read my books properly can be labouring under the misconception that I have made this claim in the sense of re-incarnation, or that I am claiming that the souls of these two great prophets are actually within me. This is not the case.''

(Zameema Jihad, p. 1)

``So God saw this injustice from heaven, and for its correction he sent a man having the nature and temperament of Jesus. He named him Messiah in the same sense as when the image of a figure is reflected in water or glass, and that image may metaphorically be referred to as the person himself.''

(ibid., p. 3)

``The interpretation I have given to the descent of the Messiah is not a new one. In fact, it is the same interpretation that Jesus himself expounded [when explaining the descent of Elijah as the coming of John the Baptist], because the case of the descent of Jesus is exactly analogous to the case of the descent of Prophet Elijah.''

(Kitab al-Barriyya, p. 195)

``Raising me at the head of the fourteenth century, God disclosed the logic behind this prophecy and made it clear that the second coming of the Messiah to this world was destined to have been in the same sense and manner as the second coming of the prophet Elijah which had been prophesied in the book of Malachi [in the Old Testament]. This book explicitly mentioned that the Promised Messiah awaited by the Jews would not come into the world until the Prophet Elijah had returned. If our opponents had any element of goodness or truth-seeking in them, they would have benefitted much by this prophecy of Malachi, upon which both the Jews and Christians are agreed…As the re-appearance of the prophet Elijah in person in this world was a pre-requisite to the coming of the Messiah, under this condition Jesus would not be proved to be a true prophet. He can only be proved to be true if some other interpretation is given to the return of the prophet Elijah. In other words, by the second coming of Elijah it should be taken to mean the arising of someone like him, and that `like' was John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias. This was the interpretation given by Jesus when challenged by the Jews. This interpretation, which is proved to have come from a prophet's lips, shows plainly that the second coming of the Messiah to this world is on the same lines as the return of Elijah. To ignore a precedent that has been established and to adopt the literal meaning, leading to many inconsistencies in one's beliefs, is the work of people who have very little sense and understanding. Metaphors and allegories predominate in prophecies, and there would be no stupidity greater than taking a word in a prophecy literally when such literal interpretation leads to many contradictions. It was this attitude for which the Jews met their destruction.''

(ibid., p. 194)

``God has repeatedly favoured me with His exclusive word, saying that He has sent me in the likeness, and with the qualities, of Jesus in order to remove the Jewishness [i.e. Pharisaical attitude and behaviour of Muslims] of the latter days. Hence, I am the promised son of Mary in a metaphorical sense, who had been promised to appear at a time of `Jewishness' and supremacy of Christianity. I have come devoid of material means, with spiritual power and weaponry, as opposed to the wrong conception of physical warfare that prevailed among the Muslims about [the second coming of] Jesus. My war is spiritual and my kingdom is not of this world. I have nothing to do with the battles and offensives of the world. My life is one of humility and meekness, like that of Jesus. I have come to re-establish humility, meekness, righteousness, civility, and inner purity in the Muslims, and to teach the path of high morals. If Muslims do not accept me, I shall not be grieved at all because before me the Israelites did not accept Jesus.''

(Majmu`a Ishtiharat, vol. i, pp. 232--233)

``Why should one turn one's face away from the unanimously acknowledged belief of all the prophets, that sometimes God's prophecies are fulfilled literally and sometimes in a metaphorical sense.''

(Supplement to Barahin Ahmadiyya, Part V, p. 93)

``When God, having seen the condition of the present age and finding the earth filled with sin, impiety and misguidance, appointed me for the propagation of the truth and reformation, it was also such an age that…the people of the world, having finished the thirteenth century Hijra had reached the head of the fourteenth century. In obedience to this command I began to announce to the ordinary public, through printed posters and speeches, that the man who was to come from God at the head of this century for the revival of the religion was myself, so that faith which had disappeared from the earth, I should re-establish, and, having obtained strength from God, I should draw the world by the power of His Hand towards reform, piety and righteousness, and correct errors in belief and weaknesses in deeds. Then, after a few years had passed, it was disclosed to me clearly by Divine revelation that the Messiah who had been promised to the Muslim nation from the beginning, and the last Mahdi who was to be guided by God directly at a time of the decline of Islam and the spread of evil, the good news of whose advent was given thirteen centuries ago by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, was myself. The Divine communications and revelations about this matter came with such clarity and persistence that there remained no room for doubt.''

(Tazkira Shahadatain, p. 1)

``With great respect and humility I send this notice to Muslim ulama, Christian divines and Hindu pundits, informing them that I have been sent into the world to remedy and correct weaknesses and errors of morals, doctrines and faith. I follow the same lines as Jesus. On account of this I am called the Promised Messiah, for I have been commanded to spread the truth in the world by means of supernatural signs and holy teachings.''

(Majmu`a Ishtiharat, vol. iii, p. 342)

``The case of the second coming has already been decided in the court of Jesus, and the verdict has been pronounced in our favour. Jesus rejected the belief of the Jews that the prophet Elijah would re-appear in the world, declaring the prophecy to be metaphorical, and considered John the Baptist to be the fulfiller of the prophecy. Look how clearly this verdict of Jesus resolves the issue in contention…Tell us, if two parties have a dispute on an issue, and one of them puts forward the decision of a prophet as a precedent while the other party is unable to give a precedent, which of the two is more worthy of being believed?''

(Tuhfa Golarwiya, p. 6)