The Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw stated:
إِذْ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ الْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ فَيَنْزِلُ عِنْدَ الْمَنَارَةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ شَرْقِيَّ دِمَشْقَ بَيْنَ مَهْرُودَتَيْنِ
“Allah would send Christ, son of Mary, and he will descend at the white minaret East of Damascus ” (Sahih Muslim 2937 a) (Not in Damascus. Rather to the East of Damascus. Qadian is directly to the East of Damascus)
The first confusion the non Ahmadi Muslims have is with the word nazul. We need to focus on this word, and see how it has been used in the Holy Qur’an. Allah States:
يَا بَنِي آدَمَ قَدْ أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ لِبَاسًا يُوَارِي سَوْآتِكُمْ وَرِيشًا ۖ وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ {27}
O children of Adam! We have indeed sent down to you raiment to cover your shame, and to be an elegant dress; but the raiment of righteousness — that is the best. That is one of the Signs of Allah, that they may remember.(Chapter 7 Verse 27)
Now it is quite obvious that the clothing we wear does not physically come from the heavens. Allah further States:
خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَأَنْزَلَ لَكُمْ مِنَ الْأَنْعَامِ ثَمَانِيَةَ أَزْوَاجٍ ۚ يَخْلُقُكُمْ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ خَلْقًا مِنْ بَعْدِ خَلْقٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ ثَلَاثٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ ۖ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُصْرَفُونَ {7}
He created you from a single being; then from that He made its mate; and He has sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs. He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in threefold darkness. This is Allah, your Lord. His is the kingdom. There is no God but He. Whither then are you being turned away?(Chapter 39 Verse 7)
Allah has even used the word nazul for the Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw, which shows us that when Nazul is used on human beings it refewrs to them being born on earth:
أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا ۖ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ يَا أُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ۚ قَدْ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكُمْ ذِكْرًا {11}
رَسُولًا يَتْلُو عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ مُبَيِّنَاتٍ لِيُخْرِجَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ ۚ وَمَنْ يُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ وَيَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا ۖ قَدْ أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ لَهُ رِزْقًا{12}
Allah has prepared for them a severe punishment; so fear Allah, O ye men of understanding, who have believed. Allah has indeed sent down to you a Reminder —A Messenger, who recites unto you the clear Signs of Allah, that he may bring those who believe and do good deeds out of every kind of darkness into light. And whoso believes in Allah and does good deeds — He will make him enter Gardens, through which rivers flow, to abide therein for ever. Allah has indeed made excellent provision for him.(Chapter 65 Verses 11-12)
Now there is no Muslim that believes the Holy Prophet Muhammadsawphysically descended from the heavens, rather we all believe that he was born on earth. Allah has Stated that everything from Him, descends:
وَإِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِلَّا عِنْدَنَا خَزَائِنُهُ وَمَا نُنَزِّلُهُ إِلَّا بِقَدَرٍ مَعْلُومٍ {22}
And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures thereof and We send it not down except in a known measure.(Chapter 15 Verse 22)
Now we all know that the Holy Prophet, Muhammadsaw was born on earth and also descended which makes it clear what descending really means. Why use nazul and attribute it to Isaas to mean that he would come from the skies, but ignore that this word means something totally different when used for Muhammadsaw, cattles, clothes, and everything else?
It is evident that the word Nazul being used itself shows this Latter day messiah would be someone from among us and a Imam from our ummah as other ahadith prove. Now one might ask what the significance of a minaret might be. Firstly, this cannot be literal as who would reject a Messiah that makes such an entrance? It is clear that all prophets are mocked so it is not possible for one to come from the skies since that would invalidate the purpose of faith all together and would contradict the Law of Allah. If Allah wanted to make everyone believe, He would have shown Himself and stated that I am Your Creator and Your Lord but there is no reason for this as faith is important. Now the significance of a minaret is also extremely clear when one gives some thought to it. A minaret is used for announcements many times, for example the call for prayer is given on top of the minaret which causes the voice to reach all around the area. The meaning of the messiah descending near a white minaret shows that the Messiah would invite people to slam from all around the world.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas states:
“As such, where it is written with relevance to the Promised Messiah that he would descend near a white minaret, the true purport was that it is a sign of the time of the Promised Messiah that at that time due to the mutual interaction of the world, the opening of passages, and due to the ease of meeting one another, the propagation of religion and the dissemination of its light would become so easy as if this person is standing atop a minaret. This was an indication towards trains, telegrams, steam boats and the system of mail, which has turned the entire world into a single city. Therefore, the use of the word minaret for the era of the Messiah was to indicate that his light and voice would quickly reach the ends of the earth.”(Khutba Ilhamiyah Ruhani Khazain Volume 16 page 16-17)
This also shows that the Messiah would cause Islam to be dominant over all religions through his service and beautiful defense of Islam. Furthermore, Qadian is directly East of Damascus, but there is a deeper meaning to why the Prophetsaw stated “East of Damascus”. This is where Paul claimed to have received his first vision and where the trinity originated from. The non Ahmadi interpretation is that he would descend on the top of the minaret by the angels and be left there. What is the wisdom of the Angels bringing him all the way from the heavens and leaving him on the top of a minaret? Clearly such a interpretation has no basis and is made out of ignorance.
Secondly, some ask why Ahmadas wanted to build a physical minaret. The reason was simply to give the prophecy a symbolic meaning as well. The non Ahmadis should keep in mind that during the time of the Prophetsaw there was no minaret East to Damascus, so it would also have to be built. This further shows that the prophecy was indeed metaphorical.
Ahmadas also stated:
“Rather, there are secrets and signs hidden beneath them, because all of the words of God the Exalted are replete of signs and secrets. Now, our opponents read this Hadith of Damascus again and again but they cannot answer that where it has been mentioned that the Promised Messiah would descend to the East of Damascus near a minaret, what is the mystery in this? Rather, they have merely understood this to be a tale. However, it should be remembered that this is not a tale and Allah is pure from those things which are in vain. Rather, in the words of this Hadith, firstly where Damascus has been mentioned and then, to the east, a minaret has been alluded to, there is a magnificent secret, and it is precisely what we have just mentioned. In other words, trinity and the foundation of three gods was set in Damascus. What a wretched day it was when Paul the Jew entered Damascus with the scheme of a vision and expressed to various innocent Christians that he saw Lord Jesus and instructed me to propagate the teaching that he is also a god. Hence, it was that very dream which was the plantation of the seed of the religion of trinity. As such, this colossal field of polytheism first grew and flourished from Damascus, and then this poison spread to other places as well. Therefore, since God knew that the foundation stone of making a man into God was placed in Damascus, for this reason, whilst alluding to the era in which divine indignation would annihilate this false teaching, God alluded to Damascus again. And in doing so He said that the minaret of the Messiah, i.e., the place of the manifestation of his light would be to the east of Damascus. This text does not mean that the minaret is a part of Damascus and situated within it, as it has been misunderstood by some, unfortunately. Rather, the purport was that the light of the Promised Messiah would rise like a sun from the east and dispel the darkness of the west.(Khutbah Ilhamiyya, Ruhani Khazain Volume 16 page 23-27)
And:
“The Sahih Muslim relates that the Messiah would descend near the white Minaret in the east of Damascus…. It has been disclosed to me by Allah that the interpretation of Damascus in this context is a town the dwellers of which have the temper of Yazid and the habits and thoughts of the wretched Yazid… It has been conveyed to me that by Damascus, therefore, is meant the place which possesses this well known characteristic of Damascus. By specifying Damascus as the place of the appearance of the Messiah, Allah the Almighty has indicated that by the [word] Messiah is not meant the first Messiah to whom the Gospel was revealed, but it refers to someone from among the Muslims who, in his spiritual aspect, would resemble the Messiah [Jesus] and also Imam Husain, for Damascus is the capital of Yazid and is the centre of the Yazidis from which proceeded thousands of tyrannical commands…. God Almighty, therefore, mentioned Damascus specifically for the purpose of indicating that whereas Damascus was the source of such tyrannical commands and was the city of such hard-hearted and black-minded people, now a city like Damascus will become the headquarters for spreading justice and faith, for most Prophets have appeared in towns whose people were wrongdoers and yet God has been converting the accursed places into homes of blessings.” (Izala-e-Auham, Pages 63-70 Footnote, Ruhani Khazain Volume 3, Pages 134-136)
And:
“It has been conveyed to me that the words of the hadith concerning the descent of ‘Isa as [Jesus] near the minaret of Damascus indicate the time of his appearance inasmuch as the value of the letters of those words indicate the year of Hijrah in which Allah raised me. The word ‘minaret’ was chosen to indicate that the land of Damascus will be illuminated and brightened in consequence of the supplications of the Promised Messiah after having been darkened by all sorts of innovations. You are also aware that the land of Damascus has been the source of the mischief of the Christians.” (Hamamatul-Bushra, Page 37, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 7, Page 225)
It is also important to note that Ahmadas decided that the minaret should be built based on divine revelation:
” ‘Aziz Din narrated through Ida Sahib gumhar 1256 of Kandailah that (after performing the ‘Id Prayers in Aqsa Mosque) the Promised Messiahas made a drawing of a minaret on a piece of paper and said: God has directed me to have a minaret like this one constructed.” (Register Riwayat-e-Sahabah, Volume 8, Page 345, Also recorded in Tadhkirah Page 1039)
We should keep in mind that Qadian is directly East of Damascus and that The Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw clearly told us that the Mahdi would be from Qadian. The Holy Prophetsaw stated:
يخرج المهدي من قرية يقاله كدعه
“Mahdi will appear in a village the name of which will be called Kadi’ah” (Jawahirul Asrar, Page 55)
This name is identical with Qadian, or Kadi, which was what Qadian was formerly known as. This further makes it clear that The Prophet Muhammadsaw was indeed referring to the blessed village of Qadian when he stated that the Messiah would descend East of Damascus.