``First, it should be known that belief in the descent of the Messiah is not a belief which is one of our fundamentals of faith or one of the pillars of the religion. In fact, it is a prophecy among hundreds of prophecies, which has nothing to do with the basis of Islam. Islam was not an incomplete religion till the time this prophecy was explained, nor did it become more complete when this prophecy was explained. It is not necessary that prophecies should be fulfilled in the literal sense.''

(Izala Auham, p. 140)

``I do not claim that Messiahship has ended with me, and no Messiah shall come in the future. Nay, I say repeatedly that, let alone one, more than ten thousand Messiahs can come. It is possible that one may come with worldly power and glory, and also possible that he may first arise in Damascus [according to the prophecy literally]. But, my friends, excuse me from believing and accepting that the very same Messiah, son of Mary, who died, shall descend from heaven with his physical body.''

(ibid., pp. 294--295)

``My belief, and the belief of my followers, about Mahdi and the Promised Messiah is that all the hadith of this sort about the Mahdi are unreliable and untrustworthy. In my view these may be divided into three classes, within which they all fall.

``Firstly, those hadith which are unsound and wrong…Secondly, there are those hadith which are weak, and due to mutual contradiction and conflict are removed from the level of reliability…Thirdly, there are those hadith which are authentic, whose authenticity is proved by repeated occurrence, and which have either been fulfilled in some previous age…or they are such that they do not speak of physical rulership and warfare, but indicate and even state clearly that he shall not have worldly kingship and rule, nor would he fight or shed blood or have an army, but that he would re-establish faith in the hearts by spirituality and power of the heart, as is the hadith `There is no Mahdi except Jesus' recorded in the Hadith book of Ibn Maja…This hadith means that no Mahdi shall come except the man who shall come with the temperament and disposition of Jesus, i.e., he shall be the Promised Messiah as well as the Mahdi. He shall come with the temperament of Jesus, following his technique of teaching, i.e., he shall not return evil for evil, nor shall he fight; rather, he shall spread guidance by means of a pure example and heavenly signs…His teaching shall be, do not fight for the faith, but spread it by means of the light of truth, and the miracles of good morals and Divine nearness. I say truly that he who now fights for the religion…he disobeys God and His Prophet, and goes outside the instructions, limits and duties set by them. I wish to inform our benevolent government that the Promised Messiah who has received guidance from God, and who follows the path of Jesus, is myself.''

(Haqiqat al-Mahdi, pages i--iii)