Roza Bal
[4][5][6][7][8] Locals believe a sage is buried here, Yuz Asaf,[2] alongside another Muslim holy man, Mir Sayyid Naseeruddin.
[2][3] This view is maintained by Ahmadis today,[1][2][3] though it is rejected by the local caretakers of the shrine, one of whom said "the theory that Jesus is buried anywhere on the face of the earth is blasphemous to Islam.
Muhammed Azam states that the tomb is of a foreign prophet and prince, Yuzasuf, or in modern local Kashimiri transcription Youza Asouph.
[18] David Marshall Lang (1960) notes that the connection of the Buddhist Yuzasaf with Kashmir in part results from a printing error in the Bombay Arabic edition referencing the legend of the Wisdom of Balahvar which makes its hero prince Yuzasaf die in "Kashmir" (Arabic: كشمير) by confusion with Kushinara (Pali: كوشينر), the traditional place of the original Buddha's death.
Verdict: Now this Court, after obtaining evidence, concludes that during the reign of Raja Gopadatta, who built and repaired many temples, especially the Throne of Solomon, Yuz Asaph came to the Valley.
[23] In the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and continuing Hindu-Muslim and Muslim-Muslim tensions and incidents the Ziarat Rozabal was desecrated and the grave dug up on 27 October 1965.
The Quran saying that "We...prepared an abode for them in an elevated part of the earth, being a place of quiet and security, and watered with running springs";[25] Ahmad says, may very fittingly apply to the Valley of Kashmir.
[36] Gerald O'Collins states that no historical evidence has been provided to support Ghulam Ahmad's theory that Jesus died in India.
[45] His book (1952) contained a translated section of the Ikmal al-din of Shia authority Ibn Babawayh (d. 991, called "as-Saduq") where Yuzasaf (Ahmad "Yuz Asaf") is mentioned.
Ahmadiyya claims that this section of the Ikmal al-din of Ibn Babawayh relates to Isa (Jesus) is rejected by Shia Muslims.
[47] Ahmadi websites and print sources cite various local documents and traditions in support of Ghulam Ahmad's identification of the Srinagar shrine as Jesus's tomb.
[54] Wilhelm Schneemelcher a German theologian states that the work of Kersten (which builds on Ahmad and The Aquarian Gospel) is fantasy and has nothing to do with historical research.
[55] Gerald O'Collins an Australian Jesuit priest, states that Kersten's work is simply the repackaging of a legend for consumption by the general public.
[57][58] Ahmadis claim that this is supported by the reference from Ibn Babawayh's version of the Yuzasif-Gautama Buddha story in Ikmal al-Din "Then he stretched out his legs and turned his head to the west and his face to the east.
It is narrated by Bernard Hill and features Elaine Pagels, Peter Stanford, John Dominic Crossan, Paula Fredriksen, Father Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Tom Wright, Thierry LaCombe (French Knights Templar conspiracy theorist), Richard Andrews, James Tabor, Steve Mason, and Ahmadi editor Abdul Aziz Kashmiri.
[63] Gerald O’Collins criticised several aspects of the documentary, and stated that Hassnain "showed how he lives in an odd world of fantasy and misinformation.
After Howard Walter visited the shrine in 1913, investigating Ghulam Ahmad's claims, he reported that local Muslims were of the opinion that the shrine had previously been a Hindu grave until the 14th century when Sayyid Sharfud'-Din 'Abdur Rahman, (d. 1327 CE, popularly known as Bulbul Shah) had brought Islam to Kashmir, and declared the grave to be not of a boddhisvatta but of a Muslim saint.
