Al-Imam
al-Mahdi, The Just Leader of Humanity
The Signs
of the Appearance (Zuhur) of the Mahdi
The
session began promptly at 8 p.m. at Dr. Jalali's
residence. He also opened the session by asking the
first question.
Dr.
Jalali: Mr. Hoshyar, could you please tell us, how will
the Master of the Command appear?
Mr.
Hoshyar: On studying the hadith reported by the ahl
al-bayt, it appears that when the world has become
psychologically ready to accept the government of God
and when general conditions have become favorable to the
idea of the rulership of the truth, God will permit the
Mahdi to launch his final revolution. He will suddenly
appear in Mecca and the caller of God will announce to
the world that he has alighted. A few selected
individuals, whose number has been fixed to 313 in some
traditions, will be the first ones to respond to his
call, and will be drawn to him like iron to a magnet in
that first hour of his appearance.
Imam
Sadiq relates: "When the Master of the Age appears, the
young among his followers (shi'a), without any prior
appointment, will rouse themselves and reach Mecca that
very night."[1]
At that
time the Mahdi will call upon the entire world to join
his movement. Those who have suffered and lost all hope
that their situation could improve will rally around him
and will pay allegiance to him. In a short time a vast
army made up of courageous, sacrificing, and
reform-seeking peoples of the world will be prepared to
be led by him. Imams Baqir and Sadiq (peace be upon
them), have described the Qa'im's helpers thus:
They will occupy the east and the west of the world,
will bring everything under his command. Each one of
these soldiers will have the power of forty strong men.
Their hearts will be harder than iron pieces so much so
that in their march to the goal should they encounter
mountains made of iron they will overcome them with
their inner strength. They will continue their struggle
until God's pleasure is acquired. [2]
At that
time, the imperious, sinful rulers, lacking any
conscience yet sensing the threat, would come out in
defense, calling out the oppositional forces made up of
their own followers. But the soldiers of justice and
reform, having been disgusted with the injustice and
persecution of those evil forces, will take the ultimate
decision of attacking them in unison and with total
effort. With God's help and sanction they will wipe them
out. Awe and fear will descend upon the survivors who
will finally surrender to the rightful, just government.
On seeing
the fulfillment of many of the signs promised in the
traditions, a large number of unbelievers will turn
towards Islam. Those who persist in their disbelief and
wickedness shall be killed by the soldiers of the Mahdi.
The only victorious government in the entire world will
be that of Islam and people will devotedly endeavor to
protect it. Islam will be the religion of everyone, and
will enter all the nations of the world.
The
Destiny of the Unbelievers
Dr.
Jalali: What will happen to the unbelievers (kuffar) and
those who associated partners with God (mushrikin)?
Mr.
Hoshyar: From the readings in the Qur'an and the hadith
literature it appears that during the Mahdi's rule the
government and the power will be taken away from
non-monotheistic[3] and materialistic disbelievers, and
will be vested in the hands of the Muslims and other
worthy people of the world. Let us, for example, look at
certain verses from the Qur'an:
It is He who has sent His Messenger with the guidance
and the religion of truth, that he may uplift it above
every religion, though the unbelievers be averse. (Saff
[61], 9)
God has promised those of you who believe and do
righteous deeds that He will surely make you successors
in the land, even as He made those who were before them
successors, and that He will surely establish their
religion for them that He has approved for them, and
will give them in exchange after their fear security:
'They shall serve Me, not associating with Me anything.'
(Nur [24], 54)
Yet We desired to be gracious to those that were abased
in the land, and to make them leaders, and to make them
the inheritors, and to establish them in the land.
(Qasas [28], 4)
These
passages from the Qur'an give the glad tidings of that
which will come when world power and government are in
the hands of the qualified and worthy believers and
Muslims, and the religion of Islam ("submission to the
will of God") overshadows all other religions and
actually eclipses them all.
The
traditions speak about the period of the Mahdi's rule
and assure the believers that the forces of disbelief
and hypocrisy will be annihilated from the face of the
earth. Everywhere there will be a true believer in God's
unity. Thus, for example, the Prophet (peace be upon him
and his progeny) said:
Even if there remains one day in the life of the earth,
God will bring forth a man from among my progeny whose
name and character will be like mine, and whose
patronymic will be Abu 'Abd Allah. Through him God will
revive His religion and bring it back to its early
glory. God will also endow him with victory and there
will remain on earth none other than the ones who will
declare the Unity of God (tawhid).
The
Prophet was asked as to which of his children's
descendants he would be. The Prophet struck his hand on
Husayn, and said: "From his [descendants]."[4]
Imam
Baqir has related a hadith in which he says: "The Qa'im
and his companions will fight so much that there will no
longer be those unbelievers who associate partners to
God."[5]
The
Destiny of Jews and Christians
Dr.
Jalali: Since Jews and Christians are the followers of
the heavenly books that teach monotheism, what will
happen to them when the Mahdi appears?
Mr.
Hoshyar: The apparent sense of some of the verses of the
Qur'an seems to suggest that they will be around until
the Day of Judgement occurs. God says in the Sura
Ma'ida, 14:
And with those who say 'We are Christians' We took
compact; and they have forgotten a portion of that they
were reminded of. So We have stirred up among them
enmity and hatred, till the Day of Resurrection.
In the
Sura Al 'Imran, 55, He says:
When God said, 'Jesus, I will take thee to Me, and I
will purify thee of those who believe not. I will set
thy followers above the unbelievers till the
Resurrection Day.'
Again, in
Sura Ma'ida, 64, He says:
The Jews have said: 'God's hand is fettered.' Fettered
are their hands, and they are cursed for what they have
said. Nay, but His hands are outspread; He expends how
He will. And what has been sent down to thee from Thy
Lord will surely increase many of them in insolence and
unbelief; and We have cast between them enmity and
hatred, till the Day of Resurrection.
As you
can see, the literal reading of these verses suggests
that the religions of the Jews and the Christians will
be around until the Day of Judgement. Some of the
hadith-reports corroborate this observation. Thus, for
instance, Abu Basir asked Imam Sadiq: "What will the
Master of the Command do to the 'protected peoples' (ahl
al-dhimma)?" The Imam said: "Like the Prophet he will
negotiate terms with them, and they will pay the jizya
(poll tax), while accepting their inferior position [in
the Muslim society]."[6]
In
another tradition Imam Baqir says:
The Master of the Command was named as the Mahdi because
he will dig out the Torah and other heavenly books from
the cave in Antioch. He will judge among the people of
the Torah according to the Torah; among the people of
the Gospel according to the Gospel; among the people of
the Psalms in accordance with the Psalms; among the
people of the Qur'an in accordance with the Qur'an.[7]
There are
traditions that speak just the opposite of what the
Qur'an and above-cited hadith speak. These traditions
relate that during the rule of the Mahdi there will no
other communities except the Muslims. The Mahdi will
offer the religion of Islam to the Jews and the
Christians; if they accept it they will be spared,
otherwise they will be killed. Thus, for example, the
following tradition in which Ibn Bukayr asks Imam Rida
the interpretation of the verse: "To Him submits
everything that is in the heavens and the earth, in
obedience and in aversion." The Imam relates:
The particular verse is revealed in reference to the
Qa'im. When he appears he will offer the religion of
Islam to the Jews, Christians, Sabians, and the
disbelievers in the east and the west. Any one who
willingly accepts Islam will be asked to pray, give
alms, and perform all the obligatory acts; and any one
who refuses to do so will be killed. This will continue
until there remains none but a believer in and
worshipper of One God everywhere on the earth.
Ibn
Bukayr said to the Imam that in that case there would be
far too many people who would be killed. The Imam said:
"Whenever God desires something to increase or decrease
He can do so."[8]
In
another tradition, Imam Baqir related that God will open
the east and the west for the twelfth Imam. He will put
up the fight until there is no other religion than the
religion of Muhammad.[9] In his commentary on the verse
that says: "He (God) will manifest it (Islam), even if
the disbelievers are averse to it," The Imam said: "He
will do it in such a way that there will be no one left
except that he will have accepted the religion of
Muhammad."
Hence,
there are two kinds of hadith: one in favor and the
other objecting. However, it must be pointed out that
those traditions that agree with the Qur'an have
preponderance over those that do not, and therefore the
latter must be of necessity rejected as unreliable.
Accordingly, the Jews and the Christians will remain
under the government of the twelfth Imam, but they will
have abandoned their belief in the trinity and all forms
of disbelief connected with associating partners to God,
and become worshippers of One God. They will continue to
live under the protection of the Islamic government. At
the same time, the corrupt and tyrannical governments
will come to an end, and power will be exercised by the
well qualified Muslims. Islam will be the world's
religion, gaining precedence over all other religions
and the call of the Unity of God (tawhid) will be heard
all across the world. In this connection Imam Sadiq has
said: "When our Qa'im rises there is no place on earth
where one will not hear the testimony: I bear witness
that there is no deity except God, and Muhammad is the
Messenger of God."[10] According to Imam Baqir: "When
the Qa'im takes the command all the godless governments
will become permanently extinct." Furthermore, in
explaining the verse "when they will be consolidated
they will establish worship and give alms," the Imam
said: "This verse was revealed to describe the Imams,
the Mahdi and his loyal followers. God will make them
the commanders of the east and the west, and through
them God will fortify the religion and eliminate
innovation and false [interpretations in it]. Indeed the
ignorant people have ruined the truth. All this will be
accomplished in such a way that there shall remain no
trace of injustice. He will execute the duty of
commanding the good and forbidding the evil."[11]
In
another report Abu Basir says that he asked Imam Sadiq:
"Who is the Qa'im of the ahl al-bayt?" He said:
O Abu Basir, he will be the fifth descendant of my son
Musa, the son of the best among the slave girls. His
occultation will be prolonged so much so that a group
will fall into doubt. Afterwards God will cause him to
appear and will make him conquer the entire world.
Jesus, the son of Mary, will descend [from heaven] and
will perform his prayer standing behind him. In that
afternoon the earth will brighten up with the Light of
God and all spots on earth where other than God was
worshipped will become a prayer house dedicated to God.
Religion will be entirely God's, even though the
disbelievers may be averse to it. [12]
Engineer
Madani: I recall another related topic but, since the
time is running short, I will raise it when we meet next
time.
The
session was concluded for that evening and it was
decided that the group would meet in a week's time at
Dr. Jalali's residence. |