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Awaiting the Mahdi - Covenant or Creed? (Part 1)
By Sheikh
Salman al-Oudah, Saudi Arabia
This article was taken from
IslamToday
A friend wrote to me recently asking about
the Mahdi and my assessment of what is presently being circulated on the
Internet regarding his appearance, his signs, and the dreams that people have
about him. He also urged me to deal with the particulars of this topic.
I responded to this brother that what is
being circulated about the Mahdi is baseless and has no bearing on reality
whatsoever. These reports amount to nothing more than rumors and wishful
thinking on the part of those who have fallen into despair.
I promised him that I would deal with this
topic, since it pertains to an ordeal that the Muslim nation has to undergo. In
order to approach this topic – that of awaiting the Mahdi – I first embarked
upon a study of how the word “to wait” is used in the Qur’an.
I believe that referring back to the Qur’an
is a sensible approach, since it is the book that contains guidance and light
for all such matters whenever and however they occur. I looked at every verse of
the Qur’an that contained the term “to wait” or any of its synonyms and found
that these verses can be classified into three categories:
The first category: verses that threaten
the unbelievers by telling them to await their punishment in the Hereafter.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) would tell
the unbelievers to wait until their punishment arrives, as is mentioned in the
following verses of the Qur’an: “They say: ‘When will this decision be, if you
are telling the truth?’ Say (O Muhammad): ‘On the Day of Decision, no profit
will it be to the unbelievers if they then believe, nor will they be granted a
respite.’ So turn away from them and wait. They too are waiting.” [Surah al-Sajdah:
28-30] The “Day of Decision” is – and Allah knows best – the Day of
Resurrection, since it is described as a day that “no profit will it be to the
unbelievers if they then believe, nor will they be granted a respite”. The
Prophet (Peace be upon him) is commanded to wait. What he must wait for is the
final outcome and the fulfillment of the promised resurrection, judgment, and
recompense that also awaits the unbelievers. A similar verse is: “On the day
that certain signs of your Lord appear, no good will it do a soul to believe in
them if they believed not before or earned righteousness through faith.” [Surah
al-An`am: 158] It would be correct to understand that the sign referred to
here is the Sun rising in the West, for on that day, faith will be of any
benefit for a person who had not believed from before.
It may also be correct to say that what is
meant here is a certain type of sign from Allah and for this reason, the verse
refers to “certain signs of your Lord”. There are other signs of Allah; for
example, the throes of death, since Allah accepts the repentance of a person
before they are overtaken by the throes of death, but not afterwards.
Therefore, they await the Great Hour. After
its signs appear, like the Sun rising in the West, a person will not benefit by
embracing the faith. They might also be awaiting the lesser Hour which is death,
for when a person dies, his day has come. The signs of this day are the throes
of death and the sight of the angels who come to take away his soul. At that
point in time, it is to no avail for that person to start believing. This is why
the verse calls to works, faith, and reform before the coming of the end –
regardless of which end it is – when these things will no longer be possible.
When Allah says: “…no good will it do a soul to believe in them if they believed
not before or earned righteousness through faith” He is referring to that
specific time and encouraging people to earn good through faith and works before
it is too late.
The meaning of “waiting” here is not to
place your cheek in your hand and wait for something to happen. The meaning here
is to strive and try to get ahead of something that you dread is going to
happen.
The second category: verses that threaten
the unbelievers to await their punishment in this world. Sometimes, the
unbelievers seek to hurry on the punishment as a way of expressing their
skepticism about it and lack of concern for it. This can be seen in the story of
Prophet Hud (peace be upon him) and his people: “They (Hud’s people) said: ‘Do
you come to us that we should worship Allah alone and give up what our fathers
used to worship. Bring us what you threaten us with if you are telling the
truth’. He said: ‘Punishment and wrath have already come upon you from your
Lord. Do you dispute with me over names that you have made up, you and your
fathers, without any authority from Allah. Then wait. I am amongst you, also
waiting’.” [Surah al-A`raf: 70-71] Those people asked for punishment,
requesting it to be hastened upon them, and they were commanded to wait. The
same situation can be seen in the following verse about the people of Yunus
(Jonah, peace be upon him): “Are they waiting for anything except for the days
that befell those who passed away before them? Say: ‘Then wait. I am amongst
you, also waiting’.” [Surah Yunus: 102] The “days that befell those who
passed away” refers to the punishments and hardships that had descended upon
them in this world.
Also: “Say to those who do not believe:
‘Act according to your own way, and we shall act in our way. And wait! We too
shall be waiting’.” [Surah Hud: 121-122] Look at how waiting and acting
are placed together. The disbelievers are given the following challenge: “Act
according to your own way, and we shall act in our way and await what Allah will
decree between us.” Allah says elsewhere: “Be patient until Allah decides
between us, for He is the best to decide.” [Surah al-A`raf: 87] “Say (O
Muhammad): ‘Wait, for verily I will wait with you’.” [Surah al-Tur: 31]
This is the wait for Allah’s punishment to descend upon the unbelievers in this
world. The third category: verses that refer to waiting for a sign from Allah.
The unbelievers used to demand the Prophet (peace be upon him) to bring them a
sign from Allah. They wanted Mount Safa to be turned into gold for them or have
a piece of the sky fall upon them among other miracles. Allah’s Messenger (peace
be upon him) would say to them what Allah ordered him to say: “The Unseen is
only for Allah to know.” This comes in the Qur’an: “They say: ‘Why is not a sign
sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say (O Muhammad): ‘The Unseen is only for Allah
to know. So wait. I too will be waiting with you’.” [Surah Yunus: 20]
There are important lessons to be learned from these three types of verses: 1.
Matters of the Unseen must be left to Allah. This is why He said: “The Unseen is
only for Allah to know.” The descent of Allah’s wrath and the Day of
Resurrection are matters of the Unseen that Allah does not reveal to anyone.
Allah says: “Verily the Hour is coming. My design is to keep it hidden for every
soul to receive its reward by the measure of its endeavor.” [Surah TaHa:15]
The Unseen is Allah’s domain. He reveals it to no one “except a Messenger whom
He has chosen.” [Surah al-Jinn: 27] There are some matters of the Unseen
that He does not even reveal to the angels and Messengers. Allah keeps them
completely to Himself. No one is allowed to delve into these matters in any way.
A person might sometimes find within himself an inspired thought or feeling and
construe it to be something, but he must never believe it with conviction. He
might have a vision of something good for the Muslims or something horrible for
the unbelievers, but it remains a mere speculation nonetheless.
We see this to be the case even with the
Prophet Yusuf (Joseph, peace be upon him). Allah says: “And he (Yusuf) said to
the one who he thought was about to be saved…” [Surah Yusuf: 42] Though
he was a prophet who received revelation from Allah, he did not speak with
certitude about his interpretation of the dream, but only conjectured.
Likewise, when a man came to Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) and told him about a dream that he had. Abu Bakr
interpreted it and then asked: “O Messenger of Allah, I swear that you are as my
father. Did I get it right or wrong?”
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him)
replied: “You were right in some of it and wrong in some.”
Abu Bakr said: “I swear by Allah, inform me of what I got wrong.”
Allah’s Messenger replied: “Do
not swear.” [Sahih al-Bukhari (7046) and Sahih Muslim (2269)]
Expectations, possibilities, speculations, and hopes have a wide scope but do
not offer a person certainty of any kind when it comes to the Unseen. Allah
says: “The Unseen is only for Allah to know” [Surah Yunus: 20] because
they are waiting for is something that will only occur in the future.
2. Allah has given no human being, not even
the Prophets, any involvement in His punishments that await His servants. This
is why Allah addresses His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the
following manner: “You have nothing to do with the matter. Whether he turns to
them in mercy or punishes them, for they are indeed the wrongdoers.” [Surah
Al `Imran: 128]
“Whether We show you some part of what We
promised them or We take up your soul before that, to Us is their return” [Surah
Yunus: 46]
These verses point to the fact that these
matters are the affairs of Allah alone. People must submit and accept the decree
of Allah as well as His will and His command. People must not delve into matters
that do not concern them. These verses indicate that those people who ask for
signs should be informed that such things are purely Allah’s concern and He does
not share them with any of His creatures.
3. We are encouraged to work and to set
things right and hurry in our efforts before the end overtakes us, whether that
end be death or the Day of Resurrection. We are not supposed to just wait. We
are supposed to engage in diligent, fruitful work. We must base our work on both
the causes established by Islamic teachings as well as the natural causes set
forth by Allah in His Creation.
We find no text in the Qur’an or in the
Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) that places us in a state of
waiting and anticipation, not even for the Hour itself. Every believer must
believe in the Hour and know that it is coming. Nevertheless, we are not
supposed to wait in anticipation for it or seek to hurry it on.
Anas b. Malik relates that the
Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “If the Hour arrives and one of you
is holding a date palm sapling, then he should go ahead and plant it before
getting up from his place if he is able to.” [Musnad Ahmad 12981]
Note that he did not say: “..and if one of you is praying he should complete his
prayer” but mentioned a worldly matter “…if one of you is holding a date palm
sapling…” and still said that he should not to get up from what he was doing.
Worldly work is blessed if it is performed with a noble intention, even more so
if it brings good to others, like assisting the downtrodden and weak or being
kind and compassionate to children or giving to the needy and hungry. How much
more a person’s work will be blessed and rewarded if it is for the good of the
religion? What if a person guides someone who is astray or in unbelief or
deviance? What if he teaches another Muslim who is ignorant of his religion, or
reconciles between Muslims who are divided or reforms a sinner?
There are even some variations of this
hadith that read: “If you hear the Antichrist and you are holding a
date palm sapling…” [al-Bukhari, al-Adab al-Mufrid (480)]
Some people live in expectation of these
events, and this inspires within them a kind of laziness and lethargy that
produces only silence and languid inactivity.
The issue at hand is that of diligent and
earnest work. The value of work is one of the most important values that Islam
advances and inculcates in the hearts of the believers.
There is an event related in the hadith
that has great bearing on what we are discussing. Yasir b. Jabir relates [Sahih
Muslim: 2899] that a red wind stirred up in al-Kufah. A man came who had
nothing better to say than: ‘O `Abd Allah b. Mas`ud, the Hour has arrived.” `Abd
Allah b. Mas`ud, who had been reclining sat up straight . This was a sign of his
concern, but it could also have been an indication of his anger and disapproval.
He said: “The Hour will not arrive until inheritance stops being divided and
receiving war spoils is not a cause of happiness.” Then he made an indication
with his hand towards Syria and mentioned some of the major signs that must come
to pass right before the Hour.
Ibn Mas`ud condemned that other man’s hasty
conclusions and bad estimation of events. This is because Ibn Mas`ud was erudite
and sharp and had acquired his knowledge directly from Allah’s Messenger (peace
be upon him). He made it clear that the Hour would not arrive until the signs
occurred that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) had informed us about.
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Awaiting the Mahdi...(Part
2)
Awaiting the Mahdi...(Part 3)
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