Menahem the Essene and Jesus son of Ananias

 

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا سيدي يا نور الله

The Hasmonean dynasty ruled the Holy Land during the Hellenistic Era from the mid 2^nd century BCE to the mid 1^st century BCE. It originates in the Maccabean Revolt, named for the brave warrior Judas Maccabeus, against the evil Antiochus IV “Epiphanes”. The Hasmoneans were unique in that they were Jewish kings despite being from the priestly caste of Kohens (Aaronides). Hence, they served a dual function of being both kings and priests. However, not all of the Hasmonean rulers were righteous. Alexander Jannaeus brutally suppressed the Pharisees and favored their rivals, the elitist Sadducees. The Sadducees were heretics who rejected the Resurrection, the Afterlife and were a Hellenizing influence upon the Jews. I am not aware of any Prophet who appeared during the Hasmonean era though it is certainly possible that God raised one or some concerning whom we are unaware of today. The historian Josephus mentions an Essene named Menahem who supposedly prophesied that Herod, while he was still a child, that one day he shall reign as king: “Now there was one of these Essens, whose name was Manahem, who had this testimony, that he not only conducted his life after an excellent manner, but had the foreknowledge of future events given him by God also. This man once saw Herod when he was a child, and going to school, and saluted him as king of the Jews; but he, thinking that either he did not know him, or that he was in jest, put him in mind that he was but a private man; but Manahem smiled to himself, and clapped him on his backside with his hand, and said, ‘However that be, thou wilt be king, and wilt begin thy reign happily, for God finds thee worthy of it. And do thou remember the blows that Manahem hath given thee, as being a signal of the change of thy fortune. And truly this will be the best reasoning for thee, that thou love justice [towards men], and piety towards God, and clemency towards thy citizens; yet do I know how thy whole conduct will be, that thou wilt not be such a one, for thou wilt excel all men in happiness, and obtain an everlasting reputation, but wilt forget piety and righteousness; and these crimes will not be concealed from God, at the conclusion of thy life, when thou wilt find that he will be mindful of them, and punish them for them.’ Now at that time Herod did not at all attend to what Manahem said, as having no hopes of such advancement; but a little afterward, when he was so fortunate as to be advanced to the dignity of king, and was in the height of his dominion, he sent for Manahem, and asked him how long he should reign. Manahem did not tell him the full length of his reign; wherefore, upon that silence of his, he asked him further, whether he should reign ten years or not? He replied, ‘Yes, twenty, nay, thirty years;’ but did not assign the just determinate limit of his reign. Herod was satisfied with these replies, and gave Manahem his hand, and dismissed him; and from that time he continued to honor all the Essens. We have thought it proper to relate these facts to our readers, how strange soever they be, and to declare what hath happened among us, because many of these Essens have, by their excellent virtue, been thought worthy of this knowledge of Divine revelations.” (The Antiquities of the Jews; Book XV, Ch.10:5) Likewise, Josephus claimed the righteous King John Hyrcanus, who demolished the Samaritan temple at Mount Gerizim in the beginning of the 2^nd century BCE, possessed the gift of prophesy: “John Hyrcanus, who, as Josephus says, was endowed with three godly gifts—the temporal power, the dignity of a high priest, and the gift of prophecy” (Jewish Encyclopedia; v.6, p.517). But during the Roman period, Josephus mentions another “prophetic” figure, Jesus son of Ananias, who like Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him, before him prophesied doom and destruction for Jerusalem: “But, what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian and a husbandman, who, four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to cry aloud, ‘A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!’ This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city. However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes; yet did not he either say any thing for himself, or any thing peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before. Hereupon our rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator, where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, ‘Woe, woe to Jerusalem!’ And when Albinus [for he was then our procurator] asked him, Who he was? and whence he came? and why he uttered such words? he made no manner of reply to what he said, but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed him. Now, during all the time that passed before the war began, this man did not go near any of the citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so; but he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow, ‘Woe, woe to Jerusalem!’ Nor did he give ill words to any of those that beat him every day, nor good words to those that gave him food; but this was his reply to all men, and indeed no other than a melancholy presage of what was to come. This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, ‘Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!’ And just as he added at the last, ‘Woe, woe to myself also!’ there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.” (The Wars of the Jews; Book VI, Ch.5:3)

If what Josephus has related about Jesus son of Ananias is accurate, the latter was indeed a remarkable figure who had received the Holy Spirit. But was he a Prophet in the technical sense? My Master the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said:

أَنَا أَوْلَى النَّاسِ بِابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَالأَنْبِيَاءُ أَوْلاَدُ عَلاَّتٍ لَيْسَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَهُ نَبِيٌّ

I am the nearest of the people to the Son of Mary and the Prophets are paternal brothers. Between me and between him (Jesus son of Mary) there was no Prophet

(Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim)

It is argued that there was no Prophet raised by God in the interval between Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them both, and since Jesus son of Ananias appeared some decades after Jesus son of Mary he could not have been a Prophet. However, the Hadith could also be interpreted to mean that no Prophet shall appear in the interval between the passing away of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, from this world and the Second Coming of the Messiah Jesus. If Jesus son of Ananias was indeed a true Prophet of God, it is necessary that he believed in Jesus son of Mary as the Messiah, though this has been omitted by Josephus. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, explained that some individuals appeared in ancient Israel who conversed with God despite not being Prophets. These are termed Muhaddaths, and the Prophet Muhammad’s second Successor, Umar al-Faruq, is one of them from among this Ummah.