The Rise of the Mahdi, and Advent of the False
Messiah
The circumstances of the second coming will
involve two other people from the end times, the Mahdi[1]
and the Maseeh ad-Dajjal, Arabic for the False Messiah, and the trials
and tribulations associated with them. The primary task of Jesus on his return
will be to save the world from the False Messiah and unite it once more under
the Rule of God.
The advent of the False Messiah, however, will
be preceded by a man who unites all Muslims under his leadership. Of this man,
the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said that before
the world ends, a person from his family with his name (Muhammad bin Abdullah)
will rule the Arabs, filling the earth with equity and justice where before
there had been oppression and injustice, for 7 years.[2]
He further said that he will be supported by the Muslim nation, of whom it was
said:
“A group of my people will not cease
fighting for the Truth and will prevail till the Day of Resurrection. And
Jesus son of Mary will descend and their (the Muslims’) leader will say, ‘Come
and lead us in Prayer.’” (Saheeh Muslim)
Thus, before the coming of Jesus, the Muslim
nation will defend the religion under a man directly descended from the prophet,
who will invite Jesus to lead the prayer interrupted by his coming. How long
he will have been leading the Muslim Nation will be less than 7 years, but how
much less is not known exactly. What is known is that he will be a reluctant
commander whom people will flock to, only after an army attacking Mecca is
swallowed up by the earth.
The Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God
be upon him, said:
“Disagreement will occur at the death of a
caliph and a man of the people of Medina will flee to Mecca. Some of the
people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out against his will and swear
allegiance to him between the Corner[3]
and the Maqam.[4] An
expeditionary force will then be sent
against him from Syria, but it will be swallowed up in the desert
between Mecca and Medina. When the people witness this, the most pious
men of Syria and the best people of Iraq will come to him and swear
allegiance to him between the Corner
and the Maqam.” (Abu Dawood)
“There will also be several campaigns, the
first against internal elements[5],
and then against external elements. An army consisting of the best Muslim
soldiers in the world will come from Medina to counteract the western invasion
of Ash-Sham[6].”
“When they arrange themselves in ranks, the
Romans will say: ‘Do not stand between us and those who took prisoners from
amongst us. Let us fight with them.’ The Muslims will say: ‘No, by God, we
will never stand aside for you or our brethren so that you can fight them.’”
(Saheeh
Muslim)
The fight would last three days with great slaughter on
all sides until, on the fourth day, the remnants of the Muslim Army will defeat
the Western forces and go on to conquer Istanbul. While the soldiers are
looting the city a false rumor that the False Messiah had arrived will reach
them, so they will make for Syria again. By the time they reach Damascus,
where the Mahdi will prepare them for war against the False Messiah’s
coming, the False Messiah will truly appear.
His stay on earth will be 40 days. However,
these 40 days will have something special about them. The first day and night
will last a full year, the second a full month, and the third a full week, and
the remaining 37 days would be normal.[7] It is in these final 37 days that
Jesus will
probably come, since he will kill the False Messiah shortly after his arrival.
The False Messiah will appear out of the east,
on the way between Syria and Iraq[8],
and his coming will spread great troubles and injustice right and left. He
will range far and wide, like a wind driven cloud, coming to first one people
and then another. He will invite people to follow him, rewarding the ones who
respond and affirm their faith in him by commanding the sky to rain, which will
cause the land and domestic animals to flourish and produce. Those who refuse
him will suffer drought, famine, and loss of wealth. Wherever he goes, he will
call forth the land’s treasures, which will gather before him like swarming
bees,
and he will even kill a man, cutting him in half and then bring him back to
life.
The Coming of Jesus and Death of the False
Messiah
As can be seen, the False Messiah will have been
given miracles to convince people to stray from the path, and many will follow
him. Some hadeeths mention that many people, especially the Jews[9],
will take him for the real Messiah, as he will announce himself to be God’s
representative. However, he will soon claim divine power himself, and
eventually claim to be the Lord.[10] He will
conquer most of the world and go against the Mahdi in Damascus, and this
will be the time the true Messiah, Jesus, will descend.
“God will send the Messiah, son of Mary,
who will descend at the white minaret on the eastern side of Damascus wearing
two garments, lightly dyed with saffron, his hands resting on the wings of two
Angels. When he lowers his head, beads of perspiration will fall from it, and
when he raises it up, beads like pearls will scatter from it. Every
non-believer who smells him will die, and his breath will reach as far as he is
able to see.” (Saheeh Muslim)
In another hadeeth it says,
“Certainly, the time of prayer shall come,
and then Jesus, the son of Mary, will descend and will lead them in prayer.
When sees he him, the enemy of God will [begin to] dissolve just as salt does in
water.” (Saheeh Muslim)
The first hadeeth continues to say that
he will meet him at Lydda:
“He (Jesus) will pursue the False
Messiah until he captures him at the gates of Lydda and kills him.” (Saheeh
Muslim)
Jesus will use a spear guided by God in this
killing,[11] by which
the forces of temptation will be vanquished.
“Then, a people whom God had protected will
come to Jesus, son of Mary, and he will wipe their faces and inform them of
their ranks in Paradise.” (Saheeh Muslim)
This information is not the Judgment of Judgment
Day, but knowledge given to Jesus by God. These people are not the elect of
the Christian rapture, but the survivors of the turmoil surrounding his
coming. And this is but the first episode of the Messiah’s life on his return,
which the next article will elaborate on, if God wills.
Footnotes:
[1] Al-Mahdi literally means ‘the paver of the way’ but
the meaning of the proper name is ‘the one who is directed by God to the truth’.
[2] Sunan Abu Dawood.
[3] The corner of the Kabah nearest the door. The
black stone is built into that corner.
[4] The station of Abraham is the rock upon which he stood
in order to build the walls of the Kaaba.
[5] The ‘Expedition of Kalb’, mentioned by Umm Salamah in Sunan
Abu Dawood.
[6] Ash-Sham is the geographical area
including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and parts of Iraq.
[7] Saheeh Muslim.
[8] The exact location has been variously reported in Musnad
Ahmad as being ‘Khorastan’or ‘Yahwadiah in Asbahan’, the latter being
associated with Shahrstan.
[9] Anas bin Malik said that the Messenger of God said, “The False
Messiah will be followed by 70,000 Jews from Asbahan.’ Saheeh Muslim.
[10] Saheeh Bukhari. The evidence for this is
indirect. In the hadeeth it is the followers of the False Messiah who
ask a man who denies him, ‘Don’t you believe in our Lord?’ Later, after killing
the man and restoring him to life, the False Messiah asks, ‘Now do you believe
in what I claim?’ In two other hadeeths from the same source, the
Prophet, may God praise him, says: ‘Verily, God is not blind in one eye!
However, the False Messiah is blind in his right eye, being an eye (like) a
floating grape.’ And: ‘There is not a prophet who has not warned his nation of
that lying one-eyed man (The False Messiah); for he is truly one-eyed, and,
verily, your Lord, Most Powerful and Sublime, is not one-eyed.’ The implication
is that we should not confuse the False Messiah with our Lord God, no matter
what he claims.
[11] Saheeh Muslim.
