Posted by Salma Javid Khan
Messiah & Mahdi for Muslims
A'ouzo billahi min-aash-shaitan-ir-rajeem… Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
(I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed… In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful)
World was in dire need of revelations from God for spiritual guidance at the time when our Holy Prophet (saw) had appeared inArabia. All the laws & teachings of the previous prophets had been forgotten and man was living in the worst possible way. The great and marvelous revolution which was brought about by the Holy Prophet (saw) among his people is called 'resurrection' in the Qur'an. This 'resurrection' was to take place twice, first by the advent of the Holy Prophet himself and then by his Second Advent in the person of a great Deputy of his – the Promised Messiah – The Mahdi.
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PROPHET Mohammad (saw)'s LETTERS TO VARIOUS KINGS @ http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/02/religion/islam/prophet-mohammad-saws-letters-to-various-kings
Read & Spread the Holy Qur'an – God's Message to Mankind – In 53 Languages @ http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/06/religion/islam/read-the-holy-quran-gods-message-to-his-creation-in-english
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The Holy Prophet (saw) himself had predicted the ruining of Islam in the latter days and said, 'A time would come when there would remain nothing of Qur'an but its words and nothing of Islam but its name, meaning, On the whole: the true spirit of Islam would be lost' (Baihaqui)
The advent of the Messiah is described in Muslim Traditions as the advent of a new era in the advancement of Islam. The coming of the Messiah has seemed like the coming of the Holy Prophet himself [by inference] as is referred to (in Quran Ch. 62: V. 3-4) and he will come to fulfill the prophecy of re-advent of Jesus as well. Indeed a very incredibly blessed soul was to come in the person of The Promised Messiah. … the first believers in the Messiah like the first believers in the Holy Prophet (saw).
Descriptions of this kind created a great longing for the second coming in the hearts of the Holy Prophet's devotees.
Almighty God tells us that in the last ages when the faith of Islam would be severely shaken, so much so that there would be fear of its extinction and of its being swept off wholly; then He would re-establish it with firmness upon the earth, and grant the Muslims a security after that great fear.
The Promised Messiah is supposed to come in the latter days or more specifically at the start of 14th century according to the Islamic calendar. Signs of the Later Days when coming of The Promised Messiah would happen are found in abundance in the Holy Qura'an:
The second renaissance of Islam at the hands of the Promised Messiah and the great changes which were to take place in his time are dealt in Surah [Al-Takwir].
It opens with a description of those changes and follows it up with a fleeting reference to the moral degeneration of Muslims at that time and to the causes thereof, and ends by Striking a note of optimism and cheerfulness to them, holding out to them the promise that eventually the night of the degradation of Muslims will give place to the dawn of their success, because Islam, being God's last Message for the whole of mankind, has come to stay.
Let me quote few verses from Surah Al-Takwir [81 Chapter]
*[81:1-30] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. When the sun is folded up, And when the stars are obscured, And when the mountains are made to move, And when the she-camels, ten-month pregnant, are abandoned, And when the wild-beasts are gathered together, And when the rivers are drained away, And when various people are brought together, And when the girl-child buried alive is questioned about, 'For what crime was she killed?' And when Books are spread abroad. And when the Heaven is laid bare, And when the Hell-Fire is caused to blaze up, And whenParadiseis brought nigh…
Interpretation of the above verses are discussed in detail in the latter part of this message.
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Now that we know the background related to the coming of The Promised Prophet, let us proceed to know the signs which would mark the coming of The Promised Prophet.
Divine prophecies relating to his advent (The coming of The Promised Messiah):
[Sign1]
The prophecy in Surah Al'Jumah:
Let me remind you the scene when the prophecy was told (right from the Holy Qur'an, the last Law from the Lord)
Abu Hurairah, a companion of The Holy Prophet (PBUH) relates: One day we were sitting with The Holy Prophet (PBUH) when this was revealed.
"He it is Who has raised among the unlettered people a Messenger from among themselves who recites unto them His Signs, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and Wisdom though before that they were in manifest error; And He will raise Him among others of them (again in the later times) who have not yet joined them*. He is the Mighty, the Wise." Surah Al-Jummah 62:3-4
*refers to a, community which had not yet come into existence then, but was sure to appear in the future, to "join" the companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. It is important to note that the companions of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who were listening to the verse were intrigued and one of them even asked him as to who those lucky ones of the future would be.
I enquired from Mohammad (PBUH), "Who are the people to whom the words '…among others of them who have not yet joined them' refer? Salman (as) a Persian was sitting among us. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) put his hand on Salman (as), the Persian and said:
"Lau kaanal imaanu mu'allaqan biththurayya lanaaluhu rajulun min haa'ulaai"
Meaning:
Even If Faith Disappeared From The Earth And Moved Up To The Zenith, A Man From These Will Bring It Back To The Earth (Bukhari).
And there's this Hadees-e-Nabwi (saw):
"I give you the glad tidings of Mahdi who will be raised in my Ummah (people) at a time of digression and distress of people. He will fill the earth with equity and justice as it is filled with oppression and violence." (Musnad Ahmad Bin Hanbal, Vol. 3, p. 37)
There are traditions in Shia'a Islam contained in the text Biharul Anwar: 'The Mahdi will have a double name. One will be Ghulam and the other Ahmad and still another Muhammad and he will also be called Isa (Jesus) Masih'. (Biharul Anwar, Vol.13, pp.7-8)
The Holy Prophet had said:
Arabic: Fa Iza Ra'aitomooho FaBayioohoWa Lau Habwan Alas Salji Fa Innahoo Khalifatullahul Mahdi
English: "When you hear the advent of Mahdi it is then enjoined on you to enter into his Bait (i.e. to enter into his fold) even if you have to walk on snow by crawling and creeping to reach him." (Kanzul Ummal; also footnotes to Musnad Ahmad Bin Hanbal, Vol. 6, p. 29-30)
Abu Huraira (May Allah be pleased with him) states that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) proclaimed that between him and the advent of the Messiah there will be no other prophet. The Messiah is bound to come and when he does, you should promptly recognize and offer allegiance to him
Confirming the fact this this Mahdi is none another than the re-advent of Jesus (pbuh), the Holy Prophet had said, "There is no Mahdi (reformer) except Isa (Jesus)." (Ibn Maja, Bab Shiddatuz Zaman)
Mahdi and 'Isa (as) would not be two separate persons. (Ibn-e-Maja, Kitabul Fitan, Babu Shiddatizzamani)
"It is just possible that he who lives of you might meet Jesus the son of Mary who is the Mahdi and a just judge. He will break the cross and kill the swine…" (Masnad Ahmad Bin Hanbal, Vol. 2, p. 411)
An eminent Muslim divine Hadhrat Shaik Nematullah Wali wrote:
'He will be both Mahdi of the time and Jesus: I see him blessed with both the attributes. I see both the moon and the sun obscured.' (Musleh Akhir Zaman)
Confirming the fact that this Jesus wouldn't be the same Jesus of Nazareth, but that as another person with his essence, "His descent in later ages will be with a different body" (Tafsir Araisul Bayan, Vol. 1, p. 262)
He had also said this about Jesus, "And I swear by the Lord who holds my life in His hands that the son of Mary shall surely appear among you as just arbiter and shall break the cross, annihilate the swine and abolish Jazia" (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab Bad'ul Khalq, Bab Nazooli Isa Bin Maryam)
Beware; there will be no prophet or messenger between Jesus, the son of Mary, and me. Remember, he shall be my Caliph after me to my people. (Translated from Tabrani al-Ausat was-Sagheer 6. Al-Baqarah, 190)
"… Ummah (My people) can never die which has me (Mohammad) at one end, and the Messiah, son of Mary, at the other." (Ibn Maja, Bab Al-I'atisam Bis-Sunnat)
"What will be your condition when the son of Mary will descend among you and he will be your Imam from among yourselves?" (Sahih Bukhari, Kitabul Anbiya, Bab Nazool Isa)
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[Sign2]
There is a tradition of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (saw) recorded by Hadhrat Imam Muhammad bin Ali(ra) regarding heavenly signs of the advent of the Mahdi:
There are two testimonies for our Mahdi which have never occurred since the creation of this universe and that is a lunar eclipse would occur on the 1st night in a month of Ramadhan, and the sun would be eclipsed in the middle of the same month (of Ramadhan).
Didn't we see this Sun & Moon earlier in the section prophecies of Promised Messiah in other religious concepts? Let me remind you:
Mahatma Surdasji has mentioned the prophecy that when Kalki Autar would appear, the moon and the sun would be eclipsed. He wrote: "Both the moon and the sun will be eclipsed and there will be much violence and death."
In the holy book of the Sikhs, Sri Guru Garanth Sahib, it is written: "When Maharaj will come as Nahkalank, the sun and the moon will be his helpers."
And, didn't we read earlier that at the time of re-advent of Jesus as well … the moon will not give its light…remember?
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[Sign3]
Division of Muslims: Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) among many of his prophecies has mentioned, in one hadith, a prophecy which many of us have seen fulfilled in our life time. More than 1400 years ago, our beloved master, Muhammad (peace be upon him) made a prophecy in the following words:
Abdullah bin Amar (RA) relates that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said "Surely things will happen to my people as happened earlier to Israelites, they will resemble each other like one shoe in a pair resembles the other…, verily the Israelites were divided into 72 sections but my people will be divided into 73 sections, all of them will be in the fire except one." (Trimizi, Kitabul Eeman)
The companions asked, 'Who are they O Messenger of Allah,' Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "They are those who will be like me and my companions."
The Holy Prophet (on whom be peace) has said:
'He who keeps away from a divine Jama'at (community) by so much as a step is not one of us.'
"A time will come when my followers (Muslims) will become divided into seventy-three sects. All of them except one will deserve the fire."
[Sign4]:
Time of Birth: Promised Messiah will be born in the thirteenth century and will appear in the fourteenth century.
The Messiah (Jesus) son of Mary was a restorer of faith who appeared 1300 years after Moses (as);
at a time when the Jews had become very weak in faith.
So naturally next about 1300 years after Prophet Mohammed (saw)'s advent, Muslims are also suffering from the same evils from which the Jews had come to suffer. So, for this age also, a Messiah similar to the first Messiah has to be raised to restore to them their faith.
[Sign5]
Place of Birth:
"Mahdi will appear in a village the name of which will be called Kadi'ah." (Jawahirul Asrar, p. 55) [Arabic: Yakhrojul Mahdiyo Min Qaryatin Yoqalo Lahaa Kad'ha]
A Hadith says: The Mahdi will descend near a white minaret in the east of Damascus. (Muslim).
The Holy Prophet (saw) has said that the Messiah will be raised in the East. (Ibn Majah).
Jesus had said the very same: Regarding the place of the appearance of the Promised Messiah, Christ states:
"For as lightening cometh from the east and shineth unto the west, so shall the coming of the son of man be." (Math.24:27)
Prophet Confucius (as) had said about the Messiah that…
… his fame and name will spread and fill all the civilized world, extending even to savage countries, wherever ships and carriages reach, wherever the labor and enterprise of man penetrate, wherever the heavens overshadow and the earth sustain, wherever the sun and the moon shine, wherever frost and dew fall."
Quetzalcoatl in Mexico
A great teacher with olive skin and bearded will come from the direction of the rising sun,
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Life of the expected Messiah prophesized:
There is a saying of the Holy Prophet (saw) in which he said:
He [The Messiah], in the beginning, will be like poor stranger unknown and uncared for, and Islam then will be in the hopeless and helpless plight of an exhausted camel who has laid down its head and is wagging its tail. With such a start he will establish an empire of God in this world. He will be the final demonstration and proof of God's merciful Wish to acquaint man with the right ways of life. (sorry I forgot copying the reference …can anybody help?, please)
According to this saying then, the Messiah would appear to have a small and powerless community, but will try to bring the world together under the banner of truth and justice, i.e. Islam
The Promised Messiah was mocked at having been born in a simple, small, rejected village, twelve miles from the nearest seed of civilization, with no railway or telegraph.
Bitter enemies of Mahdi
When Mahdi appears, the divines and the jurists will be his bitterest enemies.' (Futuhati Makkiyyah, vol.2 p.242)
When the Mahdi (peace be on him), starts his campaign for the revival of the practices of the Holy Prophet (saw) and to put down innovations in Islam, the contemporary divines who are committed to following the jurists and are devoted to their leading men of the past and to their ancestors, will say that he seeks to ruin their faith and the Muslim community. They will rise up in opposition to him and according to their custom they will declare him a disbeliever.' (HuJajul Karamah, p.363 by Nawab Siddique Hasan Khan)
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We shouldn't forget that our Loving Prophet Mohammad (saw) had also Prophesied Re-Advent of Jesus: "And I swear by the Lord who holds my life in His hands that the son of Mary shall surely appear among you as just arbiter and shall break the cross, annihilate the swine and abolish Jazia" (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab Bad'ul Khalq, Bab Nazooli Isa Bin Maryam)
Hadhrat Ali (ra), one of the great Caliphs of Islam is reported to have said: 'The Mahdi shall resemble the Holy Prophet in character and not in personal appearance. The Promised Messiah will point out the errors of Christianity and it is on this count that he is called Jesus son of Mary. He will restore Islam to its pristine glory and lustre and is called Ahmad.' (Hadithul Ghasia)
"… Ummah (My people) can never die which has me (Mohammad) at one end, and the Messiah, son of Mary, at the other." (Ibn Maja, Bab Al-I'atisam Bis-Sunnat)
From this it seems that belief requires two stone walls for safety. He who rejects the Promised Messiah is outside the bounds of safety.
"What will be your condition when the son of Mary will descend among you and he will be your Imam from among yourselves?" (Sahih Bukhari, Kitabul Anbiya, Bab Nazool Isa)
And to confirm that the expected Promised Messiah, the Imam Mahdi and the person in re-advent of Jesus are all One, the Holy Prophet adds:
"There is no Mahdi (reformer) except Isa (Jesus)." (Ibn Maja, Bab Shiddatuz Zaman)
"It is just possible that he who lives of you might meet Jesus the son of Mary who is the Mahdi and a just judge. He will break the cross and kill the swine…" (Masnad Ahmad Bin Hanbal, Vol. 2, p. 411)
An eminent Muslim divine Hadhrat Shaik Nematullah Wali wrote:
'He will be both Mahdi of the time and Jesus: I see him blessed with both the attributes. I see both the moon and the sun obscured.' (Musleh Akhir Zaman)
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…more coming soon, Insha'Allah
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