باسمك اللهم
قدوس قدوس
How do we reconcile the fact that the Messiah of Nazareth على نبينا وعليه الصلوات والتسليمات is deceased and that the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم prophesied that he shall descend in the Latter Days?
I believe that the answer to this perplexity is in the figure of the promised Mahdi. Being a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم his appearance in the near future shall fulfill the prophecy of the second coming of Jesus of Nazareth عليه السلام. For this reason it occurs in a Hadith:
لَا الْمَهْدِيُّ إِلَّا عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ
The Mahdi is none but Jesus son of Mary
(Sunan Ibn Majah)
يُوشِكُ مَنْ عَاشَ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ يَلْقَى عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ إِمَامًا مَهْدِيًّا وَحَكَمًا عَدْلًا
Whoever lives long among you shall meet Jesus son of Mary, an Imam, a Mahdi, a just ruler
(Musnad Ahmad)
From among the Tabi’in we have the views of al-Hasan al-Basri رحمة الله عليه and Mujahid bin Jabr رحمة الله عليه
عَنِ الْحَسَنِ قَالَ الْمَهْدِيُّ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
al-Hasan said: “The Mahdi is Jesus son of Mary peace be upon him” (al-Fitan li-Nu’aim bin Hammad; v.1, pp.374, 376):
Mujahid said: “The Mahdi is Jesus son of Mary” (Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah)
In a sense the promised Mahdi عليه السلام being a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم through his daughter, the lady of light, sayyidatuna Fatimah سلام الله عليها is a second coming of the Prophet himself. This is why in the prophecies he is described as having the very name of the Prophet – Muhammad or Ahmad – and even his father’s name is Abd Allah according to some narrations. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is reported to have said about him:
رَجُلٌ يُسَمَّى بِاسْمِ نَبِيِّكُمْ يُشْبِهُهُ فِي الْخُلُقِ وَلَا يُشْبِهُهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ
A man named with the name of your Prophet, resembling him in manners but not resembling him in physical appearance
(Sunan Abi Dawud)
No comments:
Post a Comment