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.