The Rapture in Islam: Cool Breeze that takes the Soul of Every Believer

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا خاتم النبيين

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا رحمة للعالمين

As in some denominations of Protestantism, there is a prophecy concerning the Rapture in Islam. The Holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said:

ثُمَّ يُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ رِيحًا بَارِدَةً مِنْ قِبَلِ الشَّأْمِ فَلاَ يَبْقَى عَلَى وَجْهِ الأَرْضِ أَحَدٌ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ خَيْرٍ أَوْ إِيمَانٍ إِلاَّ قَبَضَتْهُ حَتَّى لَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ دَخَلَ فِي كَبَدِ جَبَلٍ لَدَخَلَتْهُ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى تَقْبِضَهُ فَيَبْقَى شِرَارُ النَّاسِ فِي خِفَّةِ الطَّيْرِ وَأَحْلاَمِ السِّبَاعِ لاَ يَعْرِفُونَ مَعْرُوفًا وَلاَ يُنْكِرُونَ مُنْكَرًا فَيَتَمَثَّلُ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَيَقُولُ أَلاَ تَسْتَجِيبُونَ فَيَقُولُونَ فَمَا تَأْمُرُنَا فَيَأْمُرُهُمْ بِعِبَادَةِ الأَوْثَانِ وَهُمْ فِي ذَلِكَ دَارٌّ رِزْقُهُمْ حَسَنٌ عَيْشُهُمْ ثُمَّ يُنْفَخُ فِي الصُّورِ

Then Allah will send a cold wind from the direction of the Levant, and there will not remain on the face of the Earth anyone in whose heart there is an atom's weight of goodness or faith except that it will take him away, to the extent that if one of you were to enter the heart of a mountain, it would enter upon him until it took him away. Then the worst of people will remain as light as birds and as dreamy as wild beasts, not recognizing good and not denouncing evil. Then Satan will appear to them and say, “Will you not respond?” They will say, “Then what do you command us?” So he will command them to worship idols, while they are in that abode, their provision is good and their life is good. Then the Trumpet will be blown (Sahih Muslim)

إِذْ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ رِيحًا طَيِّبَةً فَتَأْخُذُهُمْ تَحْتَ آبَاطِهِمْ فَتَقْبِضُ رُوحَ كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ وَكُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ وَيَبْقَى شِرَارُ النَّاسِ يَتَهَارَجُونَ فِيهَا تَهَارُجَ الْحُمُرِ فَعَلَيْهِمْ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ

When Allah sends a pleasant wind, and it seizes them under their armpits, and it seizes the soul of every Believer and every Muslim, and the worst of people remain, fighting therein like donkeys fighting, and upon them the Hour will come (ibid)

These and other Ahadith indicate that the Hour, meaning Judgment Day, when the Trumpet is blown and the Resurrection begins, shall come upon the worst of mankind who have not a grain of faith or goodness in them. And the reason for this is that prior to the Hour, and some time subsequent to the Second Coming of the Messiah through which the Antichrist is vanquished, there shall be the Rapture that takes only the souls of the believing Muslims while leaving everyone else behind. Such a scenario has been described by Jesus too, as mentioned in the Bible: “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Matthew 24:40-41, KJV)

Yet, we should not expect this Rapture to occur until the Dajjal has already emerged and until the Messiah Jesus عليه السلام has already descended from Heaven. Some of the extremists and Takfiris, who consider Muslim society today to be Jahiliyya, in a state of Ignorance, and put forward a false narrative that the Ummah has reverted to idolatry, specifically the idolatry of grave worship, say that these prophecies from the Sunnah have already transpired. Concerning the Rapture by the cool breeze that comes from the direction of the Levant, Shah Isma’il of Delhi wrote:

اللہ تعالی ایک ایسی ہوا بھیجے گا کہ سب اچھے بندے مر جائیں گے جن کے دل میں تھوڑا سا بھی ایمان ہوگا اور وہی لوگ زندہ رہ جائیں گے جن میں کچھ بھلائی نہیں ہوگی۔

اس حدیث سے معلوم ہوا کہ آخر زمانہ میں شرک قدیم بھی رائج ہوگا وہ رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم کے فرمانے کے مطابق ہوا۔

Allah Most High will send such a wind that all the good people who have even a little faith in their hearts will die and those who have no good will be left alive.
From this Hadith it is known that in the end times the old polytheism will also be prevalent. It already happened according to the saying of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace (Taqwiyat ul-Iman, p.75)

Muslims should tread with caution, and beware of the false interpretations of the deviants and extremists. Many cults and false religions, like the Qadianis, argue that the Signs of the Hour such as the emergence of the Dajjal, the Second Coming of the Messiah, the Sun rising from the West, the coming of the Beast and so on have already transpired. Yet none of these Major Signs of the Apocalypse have yet occurred. For Shah Isma’il to have apparently claimed that the Rapture already occurred, the cool and pleasant breeze that shall take the souls of all the Believers leaving behind only the most wicked humans on Earth, is indicative of a Takfiri mindset which considers the main body of the Muslims today apostate or at the very least severely misguided.

Mirza of Qadian was a Wahhabi

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا خاتم النبيين

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا رحمة للعالمين

One of the malicious lies circulated by the Ghair Muqallidin or so-called Ahli Hadith of the Subcontinent is that the false prophet and antichrist Mirza of Qadian was a Hanafi and a Sufi. They argue that the Qadiani heresy is therefore an offshoot of the Ahnaf and of Sufism. The aim of this false propaganda is to discredit normative, mainstream Islam in the Subcontinent, which is Sunni, Hanafi and attached to Sufism. The notion that Mirza was a Sufi is absurd. Who was his Sufi master and which Tariqa or Silsila was he initiated into? As for being a Hanafi, yes, Mirza was born into a Sunni, Hanafi Muslim family, like the vast majority of Indian Muslims. Though his family were not particularly known for their religiosity and piety, they professed the normative, mainstream Islam which the vast majority of this Ummah adheres to. However, what is significant is that there was a phase in Mirza’s life, between his youth growing up a Sunni Hanafi, and inventing a new sect and movement he called “Ahmadiyya” based on his claim of being the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, in which Mirza fell under the influence of non-Sunni ideologies, namely, Wahhabism, Sir Syed’s naturalism and the Ghair Muqallidin (non-conformists). Mirza married the daughter of a Ghair Muqallid, Mir Nasir Nawab, and the rites of this marriage were consecrated by the greatest Ghair Muqallid, so-called “Ahli Hadith” scholar in India, Nadhir Husain of Delhi. Mirza’s two most senior henchmen, Hakim Nuruddin and Abd ul-Karim of Sialkot (the former became his first successor after his death in 1908), were both Ghair Muqallids prior to swearing fealty to Mirza. Not only were they Ghair Muqallids, they were heavily under the influence of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and his naturalist, modernist ideas. The most prominent of these matters where Mirza and the Qadianis took from Sir Syed is the belief, in opposition to mainstream Sunni Islam, that the Messiah Jesus عليه السلام is deceased and shall not return in person to this world before the Apocalypse. Along with this Sir Syed denied the well-known miracles mentioned in the Holy Quran, and attempted to rationalize them so that they could be understood differently and in tune with the natural laws. This apparently had an impact on Hakim Nuruddin, and is reflected in his commentary of the Quran entitled Haqa’iq ul-Furqan. We also see the unmistakable influence of Sir Syed’s naturalist interpretation in the standard Qadiani commentary of the Quran called Tafsir al-Kabir attributed to Mirza’s son and second successor, Mirza Mahmud. Today, Ghair Muqallid propagandists make much fuss out of the fact that the Qadianis do not make repeated Raf al-Yadain (raising of hands) in the Salah, according to the Hanafi method. Yet they conveniently ignore other features of the standard Qadiani way of offering Salah, such as placing the hands above the navel and considering it incumbent upon the one offering Salah behind an Imam to recite the Fateha. Qadianis recite the shortened version of the Iqama unlike the Ahnaf. They consider it valid to combine the Salah during travel (Zuhrain and Maghribain), offer funeral prayers in absentia, wipe over ordinary socks (Masah), deliver the Friday Sermon in the vernacular language and not necessary that it be delivered exclusively in Arabic, offer eight raka’at of Tarawih rather than twenty, and to verbally say سبحان ربي الاعلى after the Imam recites the first Ayah of Surat al-Ala سبح اسم ربك الاعلى and to verbally say بلى وانا على ذلك من الشاهدين after the Imam recites the last Ayah of Surat al-Tin اليس الله باحكم الحاكمين

This latter practice isn’t even associated with ordinary followers of the Ahli Hadith sect, but the more rigorous among them known as Ghuraba Ahl al-Hadith based in Karachi (Jami’a Sattariyya). And there are countless other masa’il in which the Qadianis adopt the position of the so-called Ahli Hadith or Ghair Muqallidin in opposition to the Hanafis. Mirza Qadiani himself acknowledged that he was a Wahhabi:

اس شخص کا مجھ کو وہابی کہنا غلط نہ تھا

That person calling me a Wahhabi was not incorrect (Malfuzat, 1984 edition, v.9, p.302)

Mirza’s inclination toward Wahhabism is also apparent in his defense of Shah Isma’il’s book Taqwiyat ul-Iman, considered objectionable because of the disrespect it contains toward the Prophets:

اور تمہارے جیسے عقل والوں نے صاحب تقویت الایمان کو بھی اِسی خیال سے کافر کہا تھا کہ بعض کلمات ان کو اس کتاب میں ایسے معلوم ہوئے کہ گویا وہ انبیاء کی توہین کرتا ہے اور چوڑوں چماروں کو ان کے برابر جانتا ہے.ہماری طرح ان کا بھی یہی جواب تھا کہ انما الاعمال بالنیات

(Ruhani Khaza’in, v.9, p.35; Anwar ul-Islam, p.34)

Not only did Mirza praise Shah Isma’il of Delhi, author of Taqwiyat ul-Iman, Mansab-i-Imamat and Sirat-i-Mustaqim, defending those works from the charge of blasphemy, he highly praised Syed Ahmad of Raebareli. Mirza went to the extent of comparing the latter to the Prophet Elias عليه السلام and considered him his forerunner:

کیا تعجب ہے کہ سید احمد بریلوی اس مسیح موعود کے لۓ الیاس کے رنگ میں آیا ہو۔ کیونکہ اس کے خون نے ایک ظالم سلطنت کا استیصال کر کے مسیح موعود کے لۓ جو یہ راقم ہے راہ کو صاف کیا۔ اسی کے خون کا اثر معلوم ہوتا ہے جس نے انگریزوں کو پنجاب میں بلایا اور اس قدر سخت مذہبی روکوں کو جو ایک آہنی تنور کی طرح تھیں دور کر کے ایک آزاد سلطنت کے حوالے پنجاب کو کر دیا اور تبلیغ اسلام کی بنیاد ڈال دی۔

Is it any wonder that Syed Ahmad Barelvi has come in the color of Elias for this promised Messiah. Because his blood cleared the way for the promised Messiah, who I am, by destroying an oppressive empire. The effect of his blood is known; he who invited the British to Punjab and removed such strict religious restrictions which were like an iron oven and handed over a free government to Punjab and laid the foundation for the propagation of Islam. (Ruhani Khaza’in, v.17, p.296, footnote)

Likewise, Mirza of Qadian compared Syed Ahmad of Raebareli to the Prophet Yahya عليه السلام (John the Baptist) and declared him the Twelfth Caliph as prophesied in the Hadith:

سید احمد صاحب بریلوی سلسلہ خلافتِ محمدیہ کے بارھویں خلیفہ ہیں جو حضرت یحییٰ کے مثیل ہیں اور سید ہیں

Syed Ahmad Barelvi is the Twelfth Caliph in the chain of the Mohammedan Caliphate, being the resemblance of Hadrat Yahya and a Syed (Ruhani Khaza’in, v.17, p.194)

And like the so-called Ahli Hadith and Salafi movement, the Qadianis consider many matters practiced by mainstream Sunni Muslims to be Bid’ah (innovative), such as commemorating the Mawlid, offering Esal ath-Thawab for the deceased, collective Du’a after the mandatory, congregational Salah, counting Dhikr and Tasbih on beads and hanging Ta’widh (amulets containing Quranic inscriptions) for protection. Now it is established that neither Mirza of Qadian nor the Qadianis till this day are an offshoot of mainstream Sunni Muslims, nor bear any similarity to the mainstream Sunni Muslims in any way, shape or form. Rather, the Qadiani heresy is clearly an offshoot of Wahhabism and the Ghair Muqallidin so-called “Ahli Hadith” of the Subcontinent. As a matter of fact, Mirza of Qadiani may be considered an extreme Wahhabi for he even denied the Hadith:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ حَرَّمَ عَلَى الأَرْضِ أَنْ تَأْكُلَ أَجْسَادَ الأَنْبِيَاءِ

Verily, Allah has forbidden the Earth from eating the bodies of the Prophets

Mirza taught that the Earth did indeed consume the body of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and that if his grave were to be exhumed only his skeletal remains would be unearthed معاذ الله

اور یہ کس قدر لغو حرکت ہے کہ رسول مقبول کی قبر کھودی جاوے اور پاک نبی کی ہڈیاں لوگوں کو دکھائی جاویں

And how ridiculous an act to exhume the grave of the Rasul and show the Holy Prophet’s bones to the people (Ruhani Khaza’in, v.3, p.478; Izala Auham, part 2, p.701)

Sun Never Stopped Except for Joshua

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Prayers and Peace upon you, O Apostle of Allah!

In the Quranic account of Moses journeying to the junction of the two seas, there is mention made of his “boy-servant”:

فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَا قَالَ لِفَتٰٮہُ اٰتِنَا غَدَآءَنَا

So when they had gone further, he (Moses) said to his boy-servant: “Bring us our breakfast”

(Surah 18, Ayah 62)

None other than the Holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم identified Joshua son of Nun as Moses’s boy-servant intended in this passage:

فَتَاهُ يُوشَعُ بْنُ نُونٍ

His boy-servant was Joshua son of Nun (Sahih al-Bukhari)

The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم likewise informed us that Joshua himself was a Prophet:

غَزَا نَبِيٌّ مِنَ الأَنْبِيَاءِ

A Prophet from the Prophets went on an expedition...

فَغَزَا فَدَنَا مِنَ الْقَرْيَةِ صَلاَةَ الْعَصْرِ أَوْ قَرِيبًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ لِلشَّمْسِ إِنَّكِ مَأْمُورَةٌ وَأَنَا مَأْمُورٌ اللَّهُمَّ احْبِسْهَا عَلَيْنَا‏ فَحُبِسَتْ حَتَّى فَتَحَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ

So he went on the expedition and approached the town during Salat al-Asr, or close to it, and said to the Sun: “You are commissioned and I am commissioned. Allahumma! Hold it back for us.” So it was held back until Allah granted him victory over it (Sahih al-Bukhari)

And this event is mentioned in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua as part of the Battle of Gibeon: “Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel (Joshua 10:12-14, KJV). In another Hadith the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم made it clearer that the Prophet for whom this miracle occurred was Joshua son of Nun:

‌إِنَّ ‌الشَّمْسَ ‌لَمْ ‌تُحْبَسْ ‌عَلَى ‌بَشَرٍ إِلَّا لِيُوشَعَ لَيَالِيَ سَارَ إِلَى بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ

The Sun never halted for any human except for Joshua during the nights he campaigned in the Holy Land (Musnad Ahmad)

The Hadith I quoted from Sahih al-Bukhari seems to have combined both the story of the Sun halting at Gibeon for Joshua and Achan’s transgression at the Battle of Jericho. While the Hadith suggests that Fire descended from Heaven to consume the booty, including the recovered stolen items (a golden head like the head of a cow), the seventh chapter of the Book of Joshua says that the Israelites themselves set fire to and stoned Achan, along with all of his family and property: “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones” (Joshua 7:24-25, KJV)

Those who deny such miracles as the Sun staying put for the duration of an entire day until Joshua and the Israelites defeated the coalition of their Canaanite enemies at Gibeon, argue that such miracles defy rationality, logic and science. They have been brainwashed by the false philosophical teachings of materialism and naturalism. The truth is that Allah Most High is Omnipotent, and has absolute control over time and the motion of the various bodies in the cosmos. He is able to suspend time at certain locations, or cut certain locations off from synchronicity with its surrounding areas.

The Warrior Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا رسول الله

Apparently, the earliest known Christian reference to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is recorded in a Greek polemical tract called the Teaching of Jacob which says: “And they said that a prophet appeared, coming with the Saracens and he is proclaiming the arrival of the coming Anointed One and Christ. And when I went out into Sykamina I communicated it to a certain very scriptural old man and I said to him: ‘What do you say to me about this prophet who is appearing with the Saracens?' And with a great groan he said: ‘He is a deceiver. Do prophets come with swords and chariots? Really these are works of disorder set in motion today, and I fear that the Christ who came earlier, whom the Christians worship, was the one sent by God and instead of him we shall accept Hermolaos. For Isaiah said that we Jews have a mistaken and hardened heart, until all the land is made a desert. But go forth, Mr. Abraham, and learn about this prophet who is appearing.' And I, Abraham, thoroughly investigating, heard from those who met him that you find nothing true in this so-called prophet, except shedding human blood. For he says that he has keys of Paradise which is unbelievable.” From this brief excerpt we learn a few matters concerning the Prophesy of Muhammad, peace be upon him, firstly, that he preached the imminent coming of the Messiah, and therefore his Prophesy was apocalyptic and Millenarian. Secondly, one of the claims of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, which had apparently reached the Christians was that he was in possession of the keys of Paradise. This may likely correspond to one of the Ahadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him, such as:

اللهُ أَكْبَرُ أُعْطِيتُ ‌مَفَاتِيحَ ‌الشَّامِ

Allahu Akbar! I have been given the keys to Sham (Musnad Ahmad)

The blessed region of Sham, where Jerusalem is located, is indeed to be the place of gathering at the Resurrection. The New Earth and the New Jerusalem are terms for Paradise. In another Hadith:

مَفَاتِيحُ الْجَنَّةِ شَهَادَةُ أَنْ لَا إِلَه إِلَّا الله

The keys of Paradise are to testify that there is no god except Allah (ibid)

According to this, the meaning of the Prophet, peace be upon him, possessing the keys of Paradise would mean that he is the one who has brought the teaching, or more accurately restored the teaching, that there is no god except Allah and that this is the key to Paradise, to salvation. In another Hadith:

وَبَيْنَا أَنَا نَائِمٌ رَأَيْتُنِي أُتِيتُ بِمَفَاتِيحِ خَزَائِنِ الأَرْضِ فَوُضِعَتْ فِي يَدِي

While I was sleeping I saw that the keys of the treasures of the Earth were give to me and placed in my hand (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Like the first Hadith quoted, it is a prophecy that the Ummah of Muhammad, peace be upon him, particularly his immediate Successors, shall have the Earth opened for them and in particular they will enter into Jerusalem, the Holy Land, which is also called Paradise.

However, the excerpt about our Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon, from the Teaching of Jacob is clearly hostile to him, calling him a “deceiver”, God forbid. Yet the argument behind such an allegation is that only a false prophet comes with a sword, or riding on a chariot, meaning that Prophets are not men of war, violence or bloodshed. This polemic is laughable since many of the Prophets spoken of in the Old Testament did come with a sword and were indeed violent. Consider Moses at the Battle of Rephidim (Exodus 17:8-13). Joshua, who would later become a Prophet himself, served as his general. According to the Book of Joshua, the Prophet Joshua, who was Moses’s successor, initiated the campaign for the Conquest of Canaan, and led his Israelites into no less than thirteen battles. The Prophet Samuel instructed King Saul to utterly decimate Amalek, but when Agag, King of Amalek, was spared, Samuel personally had him cut to pieces (1 Samuel 15:33).

There is no doubt our Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was what one may term a “warlord”, defined as: “a military commander, especially an aggressive regional commander with individual autonomy”, “a military leader of a nation or part of a nation, especially one who is accountable to nobody”. Therefore, I have no objection to our Prophet, peace be upon him, being considered a warlord, nor is the word itself inherently negative in connotation. Although the precise number is contested, the Prophet, peace be upon him, led dozens of military expeditions known as Ghazwat.

Prophet Elijah was Raised up to Heaven and Lives

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا رسول الله

The belief that the Prophet Elijah is alive is held by many Christians and Jews, and stems from the following passage in the Bible: And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven (2 Kings 2:11). Incidentally, many non-Muslims, including Christians and Jews, ridicule the Islamic belief that the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, ascended to Heaven seated on the Buraq, a celestial white creature whose size is described as larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule. Yet they conveniently overlook that according to the Bible, the Prophet Elijah ascended to Heaven on a chariot of fire driven by horses of fire. The Bible also teaches that the Prophet Elijah will return before the Final Judgment: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5). Jewish folklore is filled with legends of the Prophet Elijah appearing to certain rabbis especially. There is the tradition of Elijah’s Chair, when an empty chair is set aside for Elijah to sit upon and witness the rite of circumcision, and during the Passover Seder it is customary to set aside an extra cup for Elijah and leave the door open for him hoping he may appear.

But what does Islam teach about this subject? There isn’t any explicit, unambiguous proof in Islam that the Prophet Elijah ascended to Heaven physically and is alive till this day. However, the Ayah in the Quran:

وَّرَفَعۡنٰہُ مَکَانًا عَلِیًّا

And We raised him to a high place

(Surah 19, Ayah 57)

This Ayah is in reference to a Prophet called Idris, whom some identify as Elias (Elijah):

يُذْكَرُ عَنْ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ وَابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّ إِلْيَاسَ ‌هُوَ ‌إِدْرِيسُ

It was mentioned from Ibn Mas’ud and Ibn Abbas that Elias is Idris (Sahih al-Bukhari)

If indeed Idris and Elias are one and the same then Surah 19:57 is likely a reference to Elijah’s ascension to Heaven as described in 2 Kings 2:11.

Ka’b al-Ahbar said:

‌أَرْبَعَة ‌أَنْبيَاء ‌الْيَوْم أَحيَاء اثْنَان فِي الدُّنْيَا إلْيَاس وَالْخضر وَاثْنَانِ فِي السَّمَاء عِيسَى وَإِدْرِيس

Four Prophets are alive today, two in the world, Elias and Khidr, and two in Heaven, Jesus and Idris (Tarikh Dimashq; v.9, p.207)

Now if Elias is Idris then this reduces the number to Prophets who are said to be alive down to three. Even then, there isn’t any strong evidence to prove a worldly life for Khidr, whose status as a Prophet is disputed as many believe he was a saintly non-Prophet, and some even say he may have been an Angel. Furthermore, when the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said:

أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ لَيْلَتَكُمْ هَذِهِ فَإِنَّ عَلَى رَأْسِ مِائَةِ سَنَةٍ مِنْهَا لاَ يَبْقَى مِمَّنْ هُوَ عَلَى ظَهْرِ الأَرْضِ أَحَدٌ

Do you see this night of yours? No one who is on the surface of the Earth shall remain at the head of a century from it (Sahih Muslim)

The apparent meaning of the Hadith would discount any notion of a Prophet being alive, in the apparent sense, who was upon the Earth on that night. So we are left with Jesus and Idris, who is identified as Elijah, being alive in Heaven. I strongly believe that of the Prophets these two are for sure alive without having tasted death yet, though they reside in Heaven for Allah physically raised them up.

The Messenger of Allah is Among You (Surah 3:101; 49:7)

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا رسول الله

The idea of the Twelver Shi’a that they have an Imam but that he is gha’ib (absent) is plainly ridiculous. What is the purpose of having an Imam if he is totally inaccessible and not performing any function of Imamate? The Twelvers claim their Twelfth Imam initially went into hiding, the Ghaibat al-Sughra, to escape detection by the Abbasid government at the time which would have been inclined to murder him. But during this initial period of absence and concealment from the general public, the Twelfth Imam maintained contact with a select number of authorized deputies or representatives, who conveyed his instructions to the Twelver Shi’a community. This state of affairs continued for seventy years, all the while the Twelvers were eagerly expecting his reappearance. But their hopes were dashed when after such an extended period of time the Imam had not yet resurfaced and it was clear that if he even existed and was still alive he had reached the end of his natural lifespan. So the elders of the Twelver community invented a new doctrine, the Ghaibat al-Kubra. According to the Twelvers, after seventy years the circumstances were still not appropriate for the Twelfth Imam to reappear and now he had gone into a sort of supernatural occultation whose duration is indefinite, and neither would it be possible for any one to act as his authorized agent and envoy to serve as a medium between him and the community. Now over a thousand years have gone by yet the Twelvers claim their Twelfth Imam is still alive somewhere, biding his time in concealment from the public. Yet the Abbasid government is long gone and no more. There is no more question of security given that the Twelvers have several places in the world under their control and influence, especially Iran and Iraq, in the former having established a State in his name. What then is preventing the Twelfth Imam from appearing and assuming his responsibilities of Imamate? If he is still fearful for his safety, does it not indicate his impotence, yet the Twelver Shi’a expect him to accomplish incredible feats and bring about a worldwide transformation.

Consider also the doctrine of the Tayyibi Isma’ilis known as Satr (concealment). It is a little different than the Twelver conception of Ghaiba. According to the Isma’ili doctrine, there were times when their Imam’s life was in danger so went into hiding and was concealed from the public. Before going into such a concealment, he would authorize an agent to represent him and act on his behalf to lead the community. Such a state of affairs apparently existed after the death of their Imam, Muhammad bin Isma’il (grandson of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq) until the establishment of the Fatimid government in Egypt when the Isma’ili Imam reappeared and took charge of his leadership responsibilities. But when their twenty-first Imam, al-Tayyib, was born, he had to be taken into concealment due to his life being jeopardized by a rival Isma’ili faction (the Nizaris). The Imamate of the Nizaris has remained present till this day, and they consider the Aga Khan their living, present Imam. But the Tayyibis have, since the concealment of al-Tayyib, been led by the Da’i al-Mutlaq, the authorized representative of the concealed Imam. According to the Isma’ili doctrine, the Da’i al-Mutlaq is relatively autonomous, and appoints his successor of his own prerogative, as he is not in contact with the concealed Imam. Furthermore, the Isma’ili doctrine of Satr differs from the Twelver doctrine of Ghaiba in that the Isma’ilis say their line of Imams continues in concealment, with Imams dying naturally and being succeeded by their sons, though all of this is in concealment, and their identity remain unknown to all. Compared to the Twelver doctrine of Ghaiba, it has to be said that the Isma’ili doctrine of Satr is relatively more logical and coherent. Yet for the Tayyibi Isma’ilis, for all intents and purposes, the Da’i al-Mutlaq has essentially usurped the role of the Imamate, and the existence of a concealed Imamate seems useless.

As for us Sunni Muslims, we do not have a conception of an infallible Imamate. For us, the Prophets are the only infallible, inerrant guides that Allah raised up for the benefit of mankind, and the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the last Prophet after whom the institution of Prophesy has concluded, having reached its pinnacle in beauty and perfection. For us, an Imam is a pious, male Muslim who wields leadership over the people, though not necessarily the entire Ummah, either formally or informally. Here formally means in the sense of being in charge of the affairs of the government, meaning a ruler, and informally means wielding considerable influence over the people without temporal authority. So we Sunnis consider sayyiduna Husain, Ali al-Sajjad, Muhammad al-Baqir and Ja’far al-Sadiq our Imams, though none of them were rulers, and we do not consider them infallible and divinely appointed as Prophets are, unlike the Imamiya Shi’a. Yet it is necessary that if someone is actually an Imam that he is a public figure accessible to the public, someone who is practically leading and guiding them. An Imam that is invisible, concealed, hidden or inaccessible for a long duration of time defeats the very purpose of him being an Imam.

So the Isma’ili doctrine of Satr is strange because according to it many Imams have come and gone whose identity no one knows and who practically didn’t perform the function of Imamate for even a single day.

But here I would like to reveal a subtle truth that among us Sunnis there is a conception of Satr that many may be unaware of. It is that the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, after having passed away from this world, is nevertheless alive with a higher form of life except that now he is concealed from us. Therefore, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is Mastur (concealed), despite being alive and present in Medina. The basis for this doctrine is the Holy Quran:

وَکَیۡفَ تَکۡفُرُوۡنَ وَاَنۡتُمۡ تُتۡلٰی عَلَیۡکُمۡ اٰیٰتُ اللّٰہِ وَفِیۡکُمۡ رَسُوۡلُہٗ

And how can you disbelieve while upon you are recited the Signs of Allah and among you is His Messenger

(Surah 3, Ayah 101)

وَاعۡلَمُوۡۤا اَنَّ فِیۡکُمۡ رَسُوۡلَ اللّٰہِ

And know that among you is the Messenger of Allah

(Surah 49, Ayah 7)

The Hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him, makes plain the meaning of the reality described in these Verses for the time subsequent to his passing away:

‌الأَنْبِيَاءُ ‌أَحْيَاءٌ ‌فِي ‌قُبُورِهِمْ يُصَلُّونَ

The Prophets are alive in their graves, praying (Musnad Abi Ya’la; v.6, p.148, #3425 & Musnad al-Bazar; v.13, p.299, #6888)

In his checking of this Hadith, Husain Salim Asad has graded it “Isnaduhu Sahih”.

However, the Satr of our Prophet, peace be upon him, is somewhat different than that Isma’ili conception of Satr of their Imams. Firstly, the Prophet, peace be upon him, is theoretically accessible at his grave, as we known from the practice of some of the Salaf who would go to his grave and ask him to pray for them. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, would usually appear in the dream of such an individual who requested his intercession at his grave. So we also know the exact location of our Prophet, peace be upon him, despite him being concealed from us. The Prophet, peace be upon him, is exactly alive as he was alive before he tasted death, the only difference is that we are unable to perceive his life subsequent to his having tasted death:

بَلۡ اَحۡیَآءٌ وَّلٰکِنۡ لَّا تَشۡعُرُوۡنَ

Rather, they are alive but you do not perceive

(Surah 2, Ayah 154)

Furthermore, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, completed his mission of Prophesy and conveying the Message of Allah during his apparent lifetime. His therefore still being alive, while located in his grave and concealed from us, does not elicit the objection we Sunni Muslims have concerning the Shi’a conceptions of the Ghaiba and Satr of their Imams.