Authentic Hadith: Jesus will Descend from Heaven

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا خاتم النبيين

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Salat and Salam upon you, Seal of the Prophets

In my post immediately preceding this one, I mentioned the Hadith reported by Ibn Asakir in his Tarikh Dimashq to the effect that Jesus, peace be upon him, shall descend from Heaven upon Mount Afiq. The Antichrist Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian cited that Hadith but omitted the words “from Heaven” as he taught that Jesus had died and would not literally descend in the latter days. The Qadianis argue that another Hadith reported by al-Bayhaqi about Jesus descending has been distorted by Muslim publishers, adding the words “from Heaven”, whereas they don’t occur in several manuscripts of the text al-Asma wal-Siffat. Whatever the merits of their argument, here I shall quote yet another Hadith from the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, as narrated by Abu Hurayrah which clearly states that Jesus shall descend from Heaven:

يَخْرُجُ أَعْوَرُ الدَّجَّالِ مَسِيحُ الضَّلَالَةِ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ ‌فِي ‌زَمَنِ ‌اخْتِلَافٍ ‌مِنَ ‌النَّاسِ ‌وَفُرْقَةٍ فَيَبْلُغُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَبْلُغَ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ فِي أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ مَا مِقْدَارُهَا فَيَلْقَى الْمُؤْمِنُونَ شِدَّةً شَدِيدَةً ثُمَّ يَنْزِلُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَيَؤُمُّ النَّاسَ فَإِذَا رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ مِنْ رَكْعَتِهِ قَالَ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ قَتَلَ اللَّهُ الْمَسِيحَ الدَّجَّالَ وَظَهَرَ المؤمنون

The one-eyed Dajjal, the Messiah of misguidance, will emerge from the east at a time of disagreement and division among the people. He will reach as much of the Earth as Allah wills him to reach in forty days—Allah knows best how long that will be. The Believers will encounter severe hardship. Then Jesus, son of Mary, may Allah bless him, will descend from Heaven and lead the people in prayer. When he raises his head from his bowing, he will say, “Allah hears the one who praise Him. Allah has killed the Dajjal, and made manifest the Believers!” (Musnad al-Bazzar, v.17, p.96, #9642)

Al-Haythami authenticated the narration, saying,

رَوَاهُ الْبَزَّارُ وَرِجَالُهُ رِجَالُ الصَّحِيحِ غَيْرَ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْمُنْذِرِ وَهُوَ ثِقَةٌ

Al-Bazzar reported it and its narrators are narrators of the Sahih, except Ali bin al-Mundhir and he is thiqah (Majma al-Zawaid, v.15, p.507, #12578)

Likewise, a Salafi scholar from Yemen, Muqbil bin Hadi, graded the Hadith sound

هذا حديث حسنٌ

(Al-Sahih al-Musnad Mima Laysa Fi il-Sahihayn, v.2, p.379, #1383)