A Search for the Historical Jesus by Fida Hassnain - Book Review

Author: Fida Hassnain

Recommended to: People interested in knowing about Jesus, Christians (although some might find the author's findings to be blasphemous), people who are idle and are just curious (I had to mention this only because I couldn't put myself in any of the above mentioned categories).

Rating: 8/10

Publisher's write-up:

'Millions of people have been brought up with the idea that Jesus' life-mission ended with Crucifixion, to redeem our sins. This is becoming an untenable proposition. Professor Hassnain, a leading cross-cultural researcher of the life of Jesus, presents another story.

Jesus came to teach the known world, not just the Roman Empire. Professor Hassnain has uncovered manuscripts and evidence to demonstrate that:

• the secretive Essene Order raised and protected Jesus;
• Jesus' missing youth was spent in Persia and India;
• many obscured Gospels reveal that Jesus' work was backed by Essene operations involving far more than twelve male apostles;
• Jesus survived the Cross, in an undercover operation which fooled many;
• Jesus ministered to Jews in Persia, Afghanistan, India and Central Asia, with Thomas and Simon Peter;
• Moses, Jesus and mother Mary, were buried in Kashmir – amongst people of Jewish faith and origins;
• the Church in the West, over centuries, has gone to great lengths to remove evidence of this, to strengthen its position as the representative of Christ on earth.

Citing many historical sources, Professor Hassnain, himself a Sufi, respectfully questions what we have been taught – and argues that Jesus was a greater man than we realise.

Professor Hassnain, as Director of Museums and Antiquities for the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India, discovered records of Jesus in Ladakh, and subsequently used his position to research what is presented in this long-awaited book.'.

Jesus, the son of Mary, who was a preacher and a prophet, whose teachings led to the birth of a new religion, Christianity, who was eventually crucified, and was miraculously resurrected and then ascended to heaven are the facts known by most people who are reading this review. However, the author challenges Christ's resurrection and talks about how he spent his life preaching in the east after the crucifixion.

Review

This book mainly concentrates on the lost years of Jesus that the Church is totally silent about and also about how Jesus survived his crucifixion and his life after that at Persia and Kashmir. Hassnain has his sources from Apocryphal, Buddhist, Islamic and Sanskrit texts. He begins his narration by telling his readers on how some of the places found in the Bible aren't found anywhere in Israel and nearby areas but are found in Kashmir, such as (Kashmiri name - Biblical name) – Asham – Ashema, Amairah - Amairah, Bethpore – Bethpoer, etcetera. He also talks about the close links between the Jews and the Kashmiris.

A good thing about this work is that he had given immediate references for all his claims which are very important in any non-fiction, particularly on a controversial topic like this. There were also illustrations, on the route which Jesus took to various places and also several relevant pictures, which managed to rid the burden off her / his burden of having to visualise the locations based on the description.

Any work which deals with a particular subject is difficult to read, especially the start but the author has to be appreciated for considering that, and starting with his personal experiences at Ladakh and how his interest on the topic aroused before going deep into the topic.

However, I did find some of his claims to be absolutely wild without any basis, such as his conversations with Hindu and Buddhist monks during the lost years (although, I do agree that some were backed with Tibetan scripts).

The author ended the book in a very positive manner, saying, 'I submit the results of my own work for the unbiased consideration of all people interested in the life of Jesus and the roots of Christian cultures, in the hope that this contribution be useful for future researchers in uncovering the truth about this important matter.'.

Summary

I don't follow any religion as such and my stand on any mythological / religious figures is that even if they had existed, they were just normal humans, whose deeds, over the course of time, considering the human nature to exaggerate everything, has become miracles and they've become legends. Probably in 4000 AD, today's philosopher's may be worshipped and a religion may exist in their name.

I just read this book out of idle curiosity and I did find it to be informative maybe because my knowledge on this subject was next to nothing and I might have been able to enjoy this book more if I had known a little more on the subject but however I can assure anyone in the position that was in a week ago that this isn't very difficult to understand and is informative. I always knew that the Muslims had deep respect for Jesus after reading it in a Turkish pamphlet received at Hagia Sophia but Hassnain, being a Sufi himself  cleared these two queries; 'why and to what extent'.I found some of the things written book to rather strange which I enjoyed, such as 'in Mylapore near Madras (currently known as Chennai)' and that was the situation during Saint Thomas' time although this review that you're reading was typed at Mylapore which today is considered to be the heart of Chennai (Madras). 

'Many in the West might question my credentials, because I happen to live in the East, and I am a Muslim. It is certainly not my intention to undermine the faith of any Christian.'.

-Fida Hassnain - Introduction

He certainly kept up his work. I don't find a point in rating non-fiction but as a matter of principle, that is, to rate any book that I review, I'd give this wonderful work an 8. 

Have a nice day,

Andy