Ikhwan-e-Rasool
I
N
THE
LAST
phase of human history, the role to be played by
Mahdi,
or
Masih,
will not be a personal feat of a mysterious kind.
This will unfold according to the same principle of cause and
effect as it did with the previous prophets. For instance, the
great historic role performed by the Prophet of Islam had its
success ensured by God’s granting to him a strong team
composed of his own companions. Similarly, to enable
Mahdi
/
Masih
to play his role, God will grant him special support by
providing him with a powerful team. Probably it is this team
which in a hadith is called
ikhwan-e-rasool
(brothers of the
Prophet).
As narrated by Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet of Islam said, ‘I
want to see my brothers.’ The companions of the Prophet said,
‘O! Prophet of God, are we not your brothers?’ The Prophet
replied, ‘You are my companions. My brothers have not yet
come. They will come in later times.’
There is nothing mysterious about the companions of the
Prophet or his ‘brothers.’ The nature of these two groups can
be understood by a study of the Quran and Hadith. The nature
of the Prophet’s companions can be judged from a verse of the
Quran which begins: ‘Mohammad is the Messenger of God.
Those who are his companions in the true sense...’ (48:29) It
then goes on to enumerate a number of other noble qualities
which they possessed. From this, we infer that the secret of the
high degree of faith with which the Prophet’s companions were
imbued was attributable to the companionship of the Prophet
and the training which he imparted to them. In consequence,
his companions became ‘the best community that has ever been
brought forth for the good of mankind.’ (3:110).
Ikhwan-e-rasool
is also indirectly alluded to in a verse of the
Quran which reads: ‘We shall show them Our signs in the
universe and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them
that this is the truth.’ (41:53). This verse is in the nature of a
prediction that a time will come when the signs latent in nature
