Among the signs of the Day of Judgment are the second coming of Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him) and Imam Mahdi at the end of time. No one knows when they come. It is only Allah and Allah alone Who knows when they come. So, no one should wait for their coming to save the Ummah from its sorry state.
Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi , former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states the following: “First of all, let me briefly explain what are the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah on the Second Coming of Jesus.
Concerning Jesus Allah says in the Qur’an, “And when the son of Mary is quoted as an example, behold! the folk laugh out. And say: Are our gods better, or is he? They raise not the objection save for argument. Nay! but they are a contentious folk. He is nothing but a slave on whom We bestowed favor, and We made him a pattern for the Children ofIsrael.” (Az-Zukhruf: 57-60)
abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, quoted the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as saying: “By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, son of Mary (Jesus) will shortly descend amongst you people (Muslims) as a just ruler and will break the Cross and kill the pig and abolish the Jizya (a tax taken from the non-Muslims, who are in the protection, of the Muslim government). Then there will be abundance of money and nobody will accept charitable gifts.”
then, Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘Read if you wish, “There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.” (An-Nisaa’: 159)
Imam Muslim has reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “How (happy) will you be when the Son of Mary will come down among you and your Imam will be from amongst you.”
In another Hadith it is said: “A group of my Ummah will continue fighting for the truth and will be victorious until the Day of Resurrection. Then Jesus son of Mary will come down and their (Muslim’s) leader will say, ‘Come and lead our prayer’, but he will say, ‘No, you have your leaders among you. This is the honor of Allah for this Ummah.” It is also reported by Imam Muslim that Jesus will fight the Dajjal (Antichrist) and will kill him at the gate of Ludd near the city of Jerusalem.
the Second Coming of Jesus is clearly established from the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah. We Muslims should not have any doubt about this matter. The Prophetic Hadiths make it very clear that:
1- Jesus will descend (yanzil) and will not be born. Thus any one who will be born and will grow up in front of the eyes of his contemporaries and then will claim that he is the Promised Masih, will be misusing these Hadiths and misleading the people.
2- Jesus’ coming will be “a sign of the approaching Day of Judgment”. If any one made a claim of being the Masih, while the portents of the Day of Judgment in which Jesus will appear did approach, neither in his life nor soon after him, then it is proved that he was a false pretender and not a true Messiah.
3- Jesus will not come to add or subtract anything from Islam. He will not claim himself to be a new Prophet or Messenger. He will not even lead a prayer of Muslims, he will follow in prayers the Ameer or Imam of Muslims. If any one claimed to be the Messiah and
led the prayers of Muslims then that person, according to the Hadiths, will not be a true Masih.
4- Jesus will be a just judge. He will make right judgment between the truth and falsehood. He will break the cross, kill the pig and will remove the Jizyah. This means that he will correct the false doctrines and beliefs that are spread about him and about his teachings among his followers and many of them will follow him and thus the followers of the Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Jesus, peace and blessings be upon both of them, will be united into one Ummah and there will be no need for Jizyah.
5- Jesus will fight the Dajjal and will kill him near Jerusalem. He will not say that Qital or fighting is abolished and is not necessary any more.
We do not know when Jesus will come, but he will surely come. It is important to believe whatever Allah has said in the Qur’an, and whatever is explained in the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.”
As for the coming of Mahdi, we would like to start with the words of the prominent Muslim scholar Dr. Taha Jabir Al-`Alwani, president of the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences and president of the Fiqh Council of North America, that go as following:
“I think we should not wait for somebody to give us hidayah (guidance). Allah has given us all the hidayah that we need in the Qur’an. He, Glory be to Him, says: “Lo! this Qur’an guideth unto that which is straightest, and giveth tidings unto the believers who do good works that theirs will be a great reward.” (Al-Isra’: 9) We should read the Qur’an and take its hidayah and see how the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, implemented the teachings of the Qur’an in his actual example, by which he became the Qur’an in his ethics and way of life. With this, we are all responsible before Allah and accountable before Him. We can’t say that we didn’t do our job because we were waiting for the Mahdi or for somebody else to lead us to the straight path.”
Delving into the issue of the coming of Mahdi, Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi lecturer and author states the following:
“There are more than one authentic hadith indicating that the Mahdi, may Allah be pleased with him, will appear at the end of time. His appearance is one of the portents of the Last Day. Among the hadiths are the following:
1- Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reports that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “At the end of the time of my Ummah, the Mahdi will appear. Allah will grant him rain, the earth will bring forth its fruits, he will give a lot of money, cattle will increase and the Muslim Ummah will become great. He will rule for seven or eight years.”
2- `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, says: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The Mahdi is one of us and a member of my family. Allah will guide him in a single night.” (Reported by Ahmad)
3-Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri states that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon, said: “The Mahdi is of my lineage, with a high forehead and a long, thin, curved nose. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice as it was filled with oppression and injustice, and he will rule for seven years.” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi)
4- Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, says that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘‘Jesus, son of Mary, will descend, and their leader, the Mahdi, will say, ‘Come and lead us in prayer.’ But he will say, ‘No, one of them should lead them as an honor to this Ummah from Allah.” (Reported by Muslim)
You should be aware that some people have lied and fabricated hadiths about the Mahdi. Some of those “false Mahdis” have tried to deceive the servants of Allah for some worldly gain and distort the picture of Islam. Some have started movements and revolutions and gathered support from the people they deceived. But they were destroyed, and their lies and falsehood were exposed.”
Editor’s Note:
Regarding Mahdi, we can say that we have a firm belief in all the previously mentioned hadiths. However, such hadiths have nothing to do with legislation and Islamic rulings pertaining to Halal and Haram.
A Muslim should strive hard to adhere to the teachings of Islam amidst all these material trappings and temptations.
We can not expect a Muslim to suffer humiliation and failure in facing the realities of life, and then anxiously await the appearance of the Mahdi who may appear after 1,000 years or more. No one knows the exact time of his appearance except Allah. If Salahud-Deen, `Imadud-Deen Zenki, Qutuz , Nourud-Deen Mahmoud and Muhammad Al-Fateh had adopted the same policy of retreat, the Muslim Ummah would have been subjected to endless suffering at the hands of Crusaders, Tartars and others.