Will the expected Mahdi appear on an established caliphate, or is he the one who will establish the caliphate?
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The questioner : Will the expected Mahdi appear on an established caliphate, or is he the one who will establish the caliphate?
The Shaykh : This knowledge is with my Lord. Yes, but what I am not in doubt about is that the Mahdi will not emerge among the Muslims if they are in the state we are in now. Why? Because, as I told you earlier, rectifying the condition of the Muslims today requires a long time. The Mahdi remains, as it came in the hadith, between six and eight years. Six years, seven years—what can he rectify of the condition of the Muslims? These are the ones who need purification and upbringing. When will the Mahdi purify them, and when will the Mahdi raise them?
I imagine that when the Mahdi descends, when the Mahdi emerges, and then 'Isa follows him by his descent, the Muslims will have already accomplished the prerequisite that I call "purification and upbringing." They will have done that, but they will be lacking a Prophet, if there were a Prophet after the Messenger. So they will be lacking one who is on the level of the Prophet, so that what? He takes charge of their leadership and guides them to what is in the interest of their religion and their worldly affairs. For this reason, I said today, in our conversation with some of the brothers, that some of the truly reforming scholars, like Muhammad 'Abduh and his student who was more knowledgeable than his teacher, Sayyid Rashid Rida, used to deny the hadiths of the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of the Mahdi in the end times. Because they were afflicted in reality with what afflicted the Mu'tazilah in one of the correct Islamic beliefs. You know that the Mu'tazilah denied the belief in divine decree (qadar) and said: "The matter is new," meaning a new event. They said this in response to the Jabriyyah, whose school is represented by the saying of the poet who describes the relationship of the servant with the Lord, and how the Lord compels him to sin. The poet said:
"He threw him into the sea with his hands bound, then said to him: Beware, beware of getting wet by the water."
He threw him into the sea, and then what did he say to him? "Wake up and be smart." This is the school of the Jabriyyah, a school that is obviously false, let alone according to the Shari'ah. Yes, when the Mu'tazilah saw the saying of the Jabriyyah, they said: Compulsion is false. Where did compulsion come from? They said: From the belief in divine decree. So there is no divine decree! They claimed that reform comes by denying the divine decree, so they fell into the same evil, or an evil like the one their opponents fell into. Those people exaggerated in the belief in divine decree and fell into false compulsion, and these people exaggerated in affirming the will and freedom of man and denied the divine decree. Both are at opposite extremes;. This is exactly what afflicted these reformers. They participated, I forgot to say something regarding the Mu'tazilah: the Mu'tazilah participated with the Jabriyyah in the Jabriyyah's understanding of compulsion from the divine decree; they shared this understanding with them. That is: their unspoken words said: Yes, the texts coming in affirming the divine decree imply compulsion, but compulsion is false; so these texts are false in themselves; so there is no divine decree! And they were at ease!
Also, these reformers, like Sayyid Rashid Rida, participated with the general Muslims in their understanding of the hadiths that give glad tidings of the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of the Mahdi. There is no salvation for the Muslims, they have no revival, they have no honor, they have no strength, they have no security, except until 'Isa (peace be upon him) descends and the Mahdi emerges. So what about work? We wait, we become distracted by our worldly affairs from our Hereafter and from our state and so on. So this wrong understanding of the authentic hadiths led to reliance on others (tawakkul) rather than reliance on Allah (tawakkul). Those reformers looked and said: This understanding is correct; that the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of the Mahdi gives this understanding. So what is the cure? We rid the Ummah of the belief in the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of the Mahdi so that they work for themselves and their strength and security return to them. So my previous statement returns.
"Sa'd led them, and Sa'd was wrapped in a cloak. It is not so, O Sa'd, that camels are led."
O people, these are hadiths that give glad tidings. These are hadiths that give glad tidings that 'Isa (peace be upon him) and the Mahdi will lead the Ummah to their honor and strength, and they will fight the Romans (Christians), and they will fight the Jews, and this is known to you. But where did this understanding come from that the general people understood and these claimants of reform approved them of? Where did they understand that there is no way for us to rise except if the Mahdi descends, 'Isa descends, or the Mahdi comes? Rather, where did they get the idea that the Mahdi tries to reform, as this poet said:
"Can the perfumer repair what time has spoiled?" This corruption that has been there for a long time, how can it be repaired overnight? It is not possible. So I take these hadiths in the opposite of what the general people understood and the special people supported them with, with a great difference: that they denied these hadiths to be at ease from this wrong understanding. I say the opposite: these hadiths give us, if we understand them with a correct understanding, that it is obligatory for us to work for Islam, to work for Islam and to restore the rule of Islam on this earth. If we succeed and restore the caliphate, that is good and excellent. And if we are not able, then when 'Isa descends and the Mahdi emerges, they will find the land prepared, it does not need anything but a skilled farmer who knows how to plant, and he will find the land ready, so it does not need anything but a righteous leadership. This is what I believe regarding the hadiths of the descent of 'Isa (peace be upon him) and the emergence of the Mahdi.
Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Ah? We are at ease? Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You.
The questioner : Is there a possible comment? No harm.
The Shaykh : I bear witness that there is no god but You, I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
Please proceed.
The Shaykh : This knowledge is with my Lord. Yes, but what I am not in doubt about is that the Mahdi will not emerge among the Muslims if they are in the state we are in now. Why? Because, as I told you earlier, rectifying the condition of the Muslims today requires a long time. The Mahdi remains, as it came in the hadith, between six and eight years. Six years, seven years—what can he rectify of the condition of the Muslims? These are the ones who need purification and upbringing. When will the Mahdi purify them, and when will the Mahdi raise them?
I imagine that when the Mahdi descends, when the Mahdi emerges, and then 'Isa follows him by his descent, the Muslims will have already accomplished the prerequisite that I call "purification and upbringing." They will have done that, but they will be lacking a Prophet, if there were a Prophet after the Messenger. So they will be lacking one who is on the level of the Prophet, so that what? He takes charge of their leadership and guides them to what is in the interest of their religion and their worldly affairs. For this reason, I said today, in our conversation with some of the brothers, that some of the truly reforming scholars, like Muhammad 'Abduh and his student who was more knowledgeable than his teacher, Sayyid Rashid Rida, used to deny the hadiths of the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of the Mahdi in the end times. Because they were afflicted in reality with what afflicted the Mu'tazilah in one of the correct Islamic beliefs. You know that the Mu'tazilah denied the belief in divine decree (qadar) and said: "The matter is new," meaning a new event. They said this in response to the Jabriyyah, whose school is represented by the saying of the poet who describes the relationship of the servant with the Lord, and how the Lord compels him to sin. The poet said:
"He threw him into the sea with his hands bound, then said to him: Beware, beware of getting wet by the water."
He threw him into the sea, and then what did he say to him? "Wake up and be smart." This is the school of the Jabriyyah, a school that is obviously false, let alone according to the Shari'ah. Yes, when the Mu'tazilah saw the saying of the Jabriyyah, they said: Compulsion is false. Where did compulsion come from? They said: From the belief in divine decree. So there is no divine decree! They claimed that reform comes by denying the divine decree, so they fell into the same evil, or an evil like the one their opponents fell into. Those people exaggerated in the belief in divine decree and fell into false compulsion, and these people exaggerated in affirming the will and freedom of man and denied the divine decree. Both are at opposite extremes;
on the brink of a collapsing cliff
عَلَى شَفَا جُرُفٍ هَارٍAlso, these reformers, like Sayyid Rashid Rida, participated with the general Muslims in their understanding of the hadiths that give glad tidings of the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of the Mahdi. There is no salvation for the Muslims, they have no revival, they have no honor, they have no strength, they have no security, except until 'Isa (peace be upon him) descends and the Mahdi emerges. So what about work? We wait, we become distracted by our worldly affairs from our Hereafter and from our state and so on. So this wrong understanding of the authentic hadiths led to reliance on others (tawakkul) rather than reliance on Allah (tawakkul). Those reformers looked and said: This understanding is correct; that the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of the Mahdi gives this understanding. So what is the cure? We rid the Ummah of the belief in the descent of 'Isa and the emergence of the Mahdi so that they work for themselves and their strength and security return to them. So my previous statement returns.
"Sa'd led them, and Sa'd was wrapped in a cloak. It is not so, O Sa'd, that camels are led."
O people, these are hadiths that give glad tidings. These are hadiths that give glad tidings that 'Isa (peace be upon him) and the Mahdi will lead the Ummah to their honor and strength, and they will fight the Romans (Christians), and they will fight the Jews, and this is known to you. But where did this understanding come from that the general people understood and these claimants of reform approved them of? Where did they understand that there is no way for us to rise except if the Mahdi descends, 'Isa descends, or the Mahdi comes? Rather, where did they get the idea that the Mahdi tries to reform, as this poet said:
"Can the perfumer repair what time has spoiled?" This corruption that has been there for a long time, how can it be repaired overnight? It is not possible. So I take these hadiths in the opposite of what the general people understood and the special people supported them with, with a great difference: that they denied these hadiths to be at ease from this wrong understanding. I say the opposite: these hadiths give us, if we understand them with a correct understanding, that it is obligatory for us to work for Islam, to work for Islam and to restore the rule of Islam on this earth. If we succeed and restore the caliphate, that is good and excellent. And if we are not able, then when 'Isa descends and the Mahdi emerges, they will find the land prepared, it does not need anything but a skilled farmer who knows how to plant, and he will find the land ready, so it does not need anything but a righteous leadership. This is what I believe regarding the hadiths of the descent of 'Isa (peace be upon him) and the emergence of the Mahdi.
Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Ah? We are at ease? Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You.
The questioner : Is there a possible comment? No harm.
The Shaykh : I bear witness that there is no god but You, I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
Please proceed.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.