According to the second concept man is free from
compulsion of nature, environment and temperament. He is
the master of his destiny and righteousness. Human
values are inborn in him. He can use his reasoning power
and can implement his ideas. He need not be dictated to
by his environmental conditions. No doubt, man is
influenced by his environment but this is not a
unilateral process.
Environment, too, is affected by man. Being free and a
master of his environment, man's conduct and his
reactions to environmental conditions are often
different from that of an animal. Man's basic
characteristic which, in fact, is the criterion of his
humanity is his ability to control his passions and base
desires. This ability which is a very bright aspect of
the human life has been totally ignored by the
materialists.
No doubt the holy Qur'an interprets history on the basis
of the second view. From the Qur'anic point of view
there has been an eternal conflict between a group of
righteous people like Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad
and their faithful followers on the one hand and the
other group of evil-doers like Nimrud, the Pharaoh, the
Jewish tyrants, Abu Sufyan etc. on the other.
Against every Pharaoh there is a Moses, says an Arabic
proverb. In the words of the Persian poet, Mawlawi, two
banners have always been afloat, one white and the other
black. In the fight between the forces of right and the
forces of wrong sometimes the former has been victorious
and sometimes the latter. Anyhow, all victories and
defeats have been the outcome of a set of social,
economic and moral factors. The holy Qur'an emphasizes
the effect of moral factors and thus turns history into
a source of instruction.
If history is considered to be merely a string of
accidental happenings, having no definite cause behind
them, it will not be in any way different from fiction
which may provide an entertainment and serve as a
pastime, but it can have no instructional value.
In case we admit that history has definite rules by
which it is governed, but think that human will has no
part to play in determining its course, then history may
be regarded as instructive from a theoretical point of
view, but can have no practical value. In this case it
will only be as instructive as the farthest galaxy about
which we may know quite a lot, but can do nothing to
determine or change its course.
In case we concede that history is governed by definite
rules and man also plays an effective role therein, but
think that, despite all that, the determining factor is
money or force, then history will no doubt be
instructive, but only as an evil. The same will be the
result, if knowledge is looked upon, not as a
determining factor, but as an instrument for acquiring
power or force.
However, if we consider history to be subject to
definite rules and at the same time admit that human
will plays an effective and final role in determining
its course for the benefit of the society, then and only
then is history both instructive and useful and its
study is educative and rewarding. The holy Qur'an looks
upon history from this very angle.
The holy Qur'an has described those who are termed
reactionaries as the rabble, pleasure-seekers and
egoists and those who fight for the right cause as
the oppressed and the persecuted. From the Qur'anic
point of view the nature of the eternal struggle,
which has continued from the dawn of history and
which has helped the advancement of the society, is
moral and human, not material, nor is it a class
war.
Chapter nine
An ideal society
To hope for the appearance and revolution of the Mahdi
is an inspiring Islamic social idea. Besides being a
repose of trust in the future, it is an appropriate
mirror in which the nature of the Islamic aspirations of
mankind can be seen.
This prophecy comprise many elements, some of them
philosophical, others cultural, political, economic or
social and still others human or physio-human.
It is not possible in this short article to discuss the
subject in detail nor to quote extensively from the holy
Qur'an and the Sunnah, but, in order to make the nature
of "The Big Expectation" clear, we propose briefly to
throw some light on its salient features. They are as
below:
Optimism about the future of humanity
There are divergent views about the future. There are
some who believe that adversity, distress, disorder and
mischief are the lot of humanity and on that account
life has no value. In the eyes of such people the most
judicious action would be to put an end to life.
Some others think that human life has already been
thrown into disarray. They believe that, following the
marvellous technological progress and the accumulation
of huge stockpiles of the means of mass destruction,
mankind has reached a stage where its final annihilation
is Imminent.
The English philosopher, Bertrand Russell, says in his
book, 'New Hopes' that there are people, including
Einstein, who see the possibility of man having
completed his span of life and think that with his
wonderful scientific skill he may, in a few years,
succeed in completely exterminating himself.
According to this theory there is a great possibility of
the total extinction of the human race just when it is
on the threshold of attaining maturity. If we rely on
perceptible evidence only, such a possibility cannot be
ruled out.
According to a third theory distress and disorder are
not a part of human nature. Nor will the tragedy of
collective suicide ever take place. In fact, a very
happy and bright future awaits humanity. A great man
will appear who will uproot all corruption and mischief.
This is a religiously inspired theory and it is in this
context that Islam gives the glad tidings of Mahdi's
revolution. Its salient features will be:
-
Final victory of righteousness, virtue, peace,
justice, freedom and truth over the forces of
egoism, subjugation, tyranny, deceit and fraud.
-
Establishment of a world government (one government
in the whole world).
-
Reclamation and rehabilitation of the whole earth so
that no area remains waste.
-
Attainment of full sagacity by mankind, adherence to
ideology and emancipation from animal impulses and
undue social restrictions.
-
Maximum utilization of the gifts of the earth.
-
Equal distribution of wealth and property among all
human beings.
-
Complete eradication of all vices like adultery,
fornication, usury, use of intoxicants, treachery,
theft and homicide and total disappearance of
abnormal complexes, malice and ill-will.
-
Eradication of war and restoration of peace,
friendship, co operation and benevolence.
-
Complete coherence between man and nature.
All these points require detailed discussion and
analysis but here the idea is just to acquaint the
readers with the nature of the Islamic tidings and
aspirations.
Big expectations
It simply means hoping and aspiring for the
materialization of the order (referred to above) which
the Divine Will has destined for the world. Now let us
turn back to the point that the expectation is of two
kinds. One kind is constructive and dynamic which is an
act of virtue and the other is destructive and
paralysing which is a sort of licentiousness. We have
already mentioned that these two kinds of expectations
are the outcome of two divergent notions of the great
appearance of the promised Mahdi. These two notions have
sprung from the two approaches to the nature of
historical development. Now let us explain further the
two kinds of expectations.
Destructive expectation
The concept which some people have of the rising of the
Mahdi and the revolution which he will bring about is
only of an explosive nature. These people believe that
the appearance of the Mahdi depends solely upon the
spread of injustice, discrimination, frustration and
disasters. They are of the opinion that, immediately
prior to the appearance of the Mahdi, the forces of evil
will gain a complete hold and not a single good man will
be left in the world. They look forward to an explosion,
following which the divine forces will redeem the truth
but not the supporters of truth, for they would not be
existing. On this basis they would condemn every reform
and regard every sin, every excess and every injustice
as valid and proper, because, according to their idea,
corruption and tyranny bring the explosion nearer and
pave the way for the eventual betterment of a permanent
nature. They believe in the maxim that ends justify the
means and as such unlawful means become lawful if the
objective is desirable. That is how deadly sins besides
giving pleasures are supposed to help in bringing about
the final sacred-revolution. The following lines most
appropriately apply to their case:
"Win the heart of your beloved even by deceit and
treachery. Commit a sin if you are unable to perform a
good deed."
Such people naturally dislike the reformers and all
those who enjoin good and forbid evil, because they
think that their action is delaying the appearance of
the promised Mahdi. They, even if they do not commit the
sins themselves, at least appreciate the reprehensible
activities of the sinners who, according to them, are
preparing the ground for the appearance of the Mahdi.
This sort of notion may be called semi-dialectic,
because it regards corruption and distress as a prelude
to the sacred explosion. The dialectic thinking also
opposes partial reforms and allows the creation of
unrest, but it has some merit, because it does so with a
view to making the split wider and the fight hotter,
whereas the supporters of this outrageous notion simply
allow corruption and disorder and then do nothing except
to sit back and hope for the desired result to follow
automatically. It need not be added that this sort of
notion of the appearance of the promised Mahdi is
against the tenets of Islam and must be regarded as a
sort of licentiousness.
Constructive expectation
All the verses of the holy Qur'an, which form the basis
of the concept of the Mahdi and all the traditions cited
in support thereof go against the above notion. What is
inferred from the holy Qur'an is that the appearance of
the Mahdi is a link in the series of fights between the
righteous and the wicked and the Mahdi is the symbol of
the final and complete victory of the righteous and the
faithful. The holy Qur'an says:
Allah has promised the righteously striving believers to
appoint them as His deputies on earth, as He had
appointed those who lived before. He will make the
religion that He has chosen for them to stand supreme.
He will replace their fear with peace and security. They
will worship their Lord without fear and will not submit
to anyone other than Him and will associate nothing with
His worship and obedience.
(Surah al-Nur, 24:55)
The appearance of the Mahdi is Allah's favour for the
oppressed and the weak and is a means of their coming to
power and gaining the promised Divine succession in the
whole world. The holy Qur'an says.
We have decided to grant favour to the suppressed ones
by appointing them leaders and heirs of the earth.
(Surah al-Qasas, 28:5)
The appearance of the Mahdi means the realization of the
promise Allah made to the righteous in His sacred Book.
Verily We have written in the Psalms after the Torah had
been revealed: My righteous servants shall inherit the
earth.
(Surah al Anbia, 21:105)
The well-known saying of the holy Prophet that Allah
will fill the earth with justice after its having been
filled with injustice and tyranny testifies to the fact
that at the time of the appearance of the Mahdi there
will exist two classes. One will consist of the
oppressors and the other, howsoever small, of the
oppressed who are subjected to injustice and tyranny.
Shaykh Saduq narrates on the authority of Imam Ja'far
ibn Muhammad al Sadiq that the Mahdi would appear only
when the virtuous would become the most virtuous and the
wicked the most wicked. From this also it is evident
that both the virtuous and the wicked will be in
existence.
Islamic traditions make mention of a group of people who
will come forward and join Imam Mahdi immediately on his
appearance. From this again it is evident that the
virtuous will not be completely wiped out and though
their number may be insignificant, yet they will be best
in the quality of faith and comparable to the companions
of Imam Husayn ibn Ali.
According to Islamic traditions the rising of the Mahdi
will be preceded by other risings of the virtuous. What
has been mentioned as the Yamani's rising is an
instance.
In some Islamic traditions a mention has been made of a
government of the righteous people which will continue
to exist till the rising of the Mahdi (May Allah hasten
his solace) and, as we know, some Shi'ah ulama,
who held good opinions about some of their contemporary
Shi'ah governments, considered it probable that it would
be those very governments which would last till the
rising of the Mahdi.
It is gathered from the various Qur'anic verses and
traditions taken together that rising of the promised
Mahdi will be the last one of the chain of the battles
which have taken place between truth and falsehood since
the creation of the world.
The promised Mahdi will realize the ideal of all the
prophets, saints and fighters in the path of truth.
Chapter ten
Appendix
Belief in the Mahdi (the 'guided' latter-day ruler who
will establish justice) is deeply rooted in Islam, and
is an obligatory part of belief in the view of some
ulama. There may be differences of opinion on the
characteristics and the person of the Mahdi ,but all are
of the opinion that most of the traditions on the Mahdi
are right and that the tidings about him are
mutawatir.
In addition to the direct references to the Mahdi in
Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, there are also almost 50
traditions, with direct reference to the Mahdi, in other
well-known collections such as Abu Daud, Tirmizi,
Musnad-i Ahmad bin Hanbal, Ibn Maja, Tabarani (in all
the three collections: Al-Kabir, Al-Awsat
and Al-Saghir), Al-Hakim (Mustadrak), Abu
Ya'li, al-Bazzar, Ibn Hibban, Abu al-Shaykh (Kitab
al-Fitan), Ibn Asakir, Ibn Adi, Abu Na'im (Akhbar
al-Mahdi), Al-Royani (Musnad), al-Dailami,
Al-Dani (Sunan), Ibn Mandah, Na'im ibn Hammad (Kitab
al-Fitan), Al-Harith ibn Ali Usamah (Musnad),
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (Tarikh), Ibn Abi Shaibah (Musannaf),
Al-Darqutni, Abu Na'im (Dalail al-Nubuwwah and
al-Hilyah), Ibn al-Munadi (Al-Malahim), Abu
Ghannam al-Kufi (Kitab al-Fitan), Tammam (Fawaid),
Ibn Sa'd (Tabaqat), Ibn Jarir (Tafsir),
Al-Muhami (Al-Amali), etc.
These authoritative source books contain almost 50
traditions of the Prophet, (Peace and benediction be
upon him and his infallible progeny) which clearly
foretell the emergence of the Mahdi before the Day of
Resurrection. Many of these traditions are 'Sahih' and
directly narrated on the authority of the Prophet by 33
well-known companions, who include: Ali ibn Abi Talib,
Husayn ibn Ali, Abu Sa'id al-Khudari, Abdullah ibn
Mas'ud, Umm Salmah, Thauban, Abu Hurayrah, Anas ibn
Malik, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Awf ibn
Malik, Talha ibn Ubaidallah, Huzaifah ibn al-Yaman,
Umran ibn Husayn, Abdullah ibn Umar, Ayesha, Abdul
Rahman ibn Awf, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Ibn Abbas, Tamim
al-Dari, Umm Habibah, Abbas ibn Abdil Muttalib and Ammar
ibn Yasir. The most famous of these traditions is the
one narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud in which the Prophet
said: "Even if a (single) day is left in (the life of)
the world, Allah will lengthen that day to send a person
of my House whose name will be like my name and whose
Kunyah will be similar to mine. He will fill the
world with justice and equity just as it was previously
full of injustice and oppression". (Abu Daud, Tabarani,
Ibn Hibban, Hakim, Ibn Maja, Abu Na'im, Ibn Asakir etc).
This and many other traditions are in accordance with
the highest standards of scrutiny set by the
traditionists and therefore it is the consensus of
Islamic scholars of all ages that the tradition is true
and mutawatir (uninterruptedly conveyed on the authority
of the Prophet). Following is a selection of affirmative
references to the Mahdi by Muslim authorities from the
old to the modern times:
-
Ibn Taimiyyah, Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah
-
Al-Qurtubi, Al-Tazkirah
-
Al-Hafiz, Abul Hasan al-Abiri, Manaqib al-Imam
al-Shafi'i
-
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari
-
Al-Hafiz al-Sakhawi, Fath al-Mugheeth
-
Al-Suyuti, Al-'Urf al-Wardi and Al-Kashf
'an Mujawazat Hazihi al-Ummah al-Alf
-
Al-Zarqani, Sharh al-Mawahib al-Ladunniyyah
-
Abul 'Ala al-'Iraqi al Husayni, Al-Mahdi
-
Al-Shaukani, Al-Tawzih fi tawatur me jaa fi'l
Mahdi al-Muntazar wa'l Dajjal Masih
-
Siddiq Hasan Khan, Al-Izh'ah lima kana wa ma
yakunu baina yadai al-Sa'ah
-
Abu Abdillah Muhammad Jassis, Sharh Risalah ibn
Abi Zaid
-
Muhammad al-Arabi al-Fasi, al-Marasid
-
Abu Zaid Abd al-Rahman al-Fasi, Muhhij al-Maqasid
-
Al-Safarini, Al-Durrah al-Mudi'ah fi 'Aqidah al-Firqah
al-Murdiyah
-
Qutbuddin Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Kitabi, Nazm al-Mutanathir
min al-Hadith al-Mutawatir Abdullah ibn Muhammad
ibn al-Siddiq, Al-Mahdi al-Muntazar
-
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ghimari, Ibraz al-Wahm al-Maknun
min Kalam Ibn Khalladun
-
Ibn a1-Qayyim, Al-Manar
-
Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi, Al-Muntaqa
-
Abu al-Tayyib ibn Ali al-Hasan al-Hasani, Al-Iza'ah
lima kana wa ma yakunu baina yadai al-Sa'ah
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