Will the expected Mahdi appear on a possible caliphate, or is he the one who will establish the caliphate?
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The questioner : Will the expected Mahdi appear on a possible caliphate, or is he the one who will establish the caliphate?
The Shaykh : This is knowledge 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, and the Mahdi remains, as came in the hadith, between six and eight years. Six years, seven years. What does he need to rectify of the condition of the Muslims? These are the ones who need purification and upbringing. When will the Mahdi purify, and when will the Mahdi raise them? I imagine that when the Mahdi descends, when the Mahdi emerges, and then Jesus follows him by his descent, the Muslims will have already accomplished this prerequisite that I call purification and upbringing. They will have done that, but they will be lacking the Prophet, if there were a Prophet after the Messenger. So they will be lacking the one who is on the level of the Prophet, so that he takes charge of their leadership and guides them to what is in the interest of their religion and their worldly affairs. And for this reason, I said today that I had a 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 Jesus and the emergence of the Mahdi in the last times. This is because they were afflicted in reality with what afflicted the Mu'tazilah in one of the correct Islamic beliefs. Do you know that the Mu'tazilah denied the belief in divine decree and said that the matter is created... 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 bound, then said to him: Beware, beware of being wet by the water." He threw him into the sea, overpowered him, and then says he should not get wet. This is the school of the Jabriyyah, a school that is invalid by common sense, let alone by the Shari'ah. Yes, when... The Mu'tazilah said the Jabriyyah said that compulsion is invalid. Where did compulsion come from? They said it came from the belief in divine decree. So there is no decree. They claimed that reform is by denying the decree, so they fell into the same abomination, or something like the abomination, that their opponents fell into. Those people exaggerated in the belief in divine decree and fell into invalid compulsion, and these people exaggerated in affirming the will and freedom of man and denied the decree. Both are... two 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 decree. They shared this understanding with them. That is, their unspoken words said: It is true that the texts coming in affirming the decree imply compulsion, but compulsion is invalid, so these texts are invalid in themselves. So there is no decree, and they were at ease. Also, these reformers, like Sayyid Rashid Rida, participated with the general Muslims in their understanding of the hadiths promising the descent of Jesus and the emergence of the Mahdi. There is no salvation for these Muslims, they have no revival, they have no honor, they have no strength, they have no protection, except until Jesus (peace be upon him) descends and the Mahdi emerges. Why? The work is left, we wait, we are distracted by our worldly affairs from our hereafter and from our state and so on. So this wrong understanding... led the authentic hadiths to reliance on others rather than reliance on Allah. Those reformers looked and said: This understanding, it is true that the descent of Jesus and the emergence of the Mahdi will give this understanding. So what is the cure? We conclude the Ummah from the belief in the descent of Jesus and the emergence of the Mahdi so that they work for themselves and their strength and protection return. So my previous saying returns.
"Sa'd brought them in, and Sa'd was wrapped up *** This is not, O Sa'd, how camels are brought in"
O people, these are hadiths of glad tidings. These are hadiths of glad tidings that Jesus (peace be upon him) and the Mahdi will lead the Ummah to their honor and strength, and they will fight the Christians, the Romans, and they will fight the Jews. This is something known to you. But where did this understanding come from that the general people understood and these claimants to reform approved them on? Where did they understand that there is no salvation except if the Mahdi descends, Jesus descends, or the Mahdi comes? Rather, where did they get that the Mahdi tries to rectify, as this poet said: "And can the perfumer rectify what time has corrupted?" This corruption that has been for a long time, how can he rectify it between evening and morning? It is not possible. So I take these hadiths contrary to what the general people understood and the special people supported them, 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, then that is good and blessed. And if we are not able, then when Jesus descends and the Mahdi emerges, they will find the land prepared. It does not need except a skilled farmer who knows how to plant, and he will find the land ready. So it does not need except a righteous leadership. This is what I believe regarding the hadiths of the descent of Jesus (peace be upon him) and the emergence of the Mahdi. Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Hmm? Are we 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 deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You. Please.
The Shaykh : This is knowledge 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, and the Mahdi remains, as came in the hadith, between six and eight years. Six years, seven years. What does he need to rectify of the condition of the Muslims? These are the ones who need purification and upbringing. When will the Mahdi purify, and when will the Mahdi raise them? I imagine that when the Mahdi descends, when the Mahdi emerges, and then Jesus follows him by his descent, the Muslims will have already accomplished this prerequisite that I call purification and upbringing. They will have done that, but they will be lacking the Prophet, if there were a Prophet after the Messenger. So they will be lacking the one who is on the level of the Prophet, so that he takes charge of their leadership and guides them to what is in the interest of their religion and their worldly affairs. And for this reason, I said today that I had a 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 Jesus and the emergence of the Mahdi in the last times. This is because they were afflicted in reality with what afflicted the Mu'tazilah in one of the correct Islamic beliefs. Do you know that the Mu'tazilah denied the belief in divine decree and said that the matter is created... 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 bound, then said to him: Beware, beware of being wet by the water." He threw him into the sea, overpowered him, and then says he should not get wet. This is the school of the Jabriyyah, a school that is invalid by common sense, let alone by the Shari'ah. Yes, when... The Mu'tazilah said the Jabriyyah said that compulsion is invalid. Where did compulsion come from? They said it came from the belief in divine decree. So there is no decree. They claimed that reform is by denying the decree, so they fell into the same abomination, or something like the abomination, that their opponents fell into. Those people exaggerated in the belief in divine decree and fell into invalid compulsion, and these people exaggerated in affirming the will and freedom of man and denied the decree. Both are... two extremes.
on the brink of a crumbling cliff
على شفا جرف هار"Sa'd brought them in, and Sa'd was wrapped up *** This is not, O Sa'd, how camels are brought in"
O people, these are hadiths of glad tidings. These are hadiths of glad tidings that Jesus (peace be upon him) and the Mahdi will lead the Ummah to their honor and strength, and they will fight the Christians, the Romans, and they will fight the Jews. This is something known to you. But where did this understanding come from that the general people understood and these claimants to reform approved them on? Where did they understand that there is no salvation except if the Mahdi descends, Jesus descends, or the Mahdi comes? Rather, where did they get that the Mahdi tries to rectify, as this poet said: "And can the perfumer rectify what time has corrupted?" This corruption that has been for a long time, how can he rectify it between evening and morning? It is not possible. So I take these hadiths contrary to what the general people understood and the special people supported them, 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, then that is good and blessed. And if we are not able, then when Jesus descends and the Mahdi emerges, they will find the land prepared. It does not need except a skilled farmer who knows how to plant, and he will find the land ready. So it does not need except a righteous leadership. This is what I believe regarding the hadiths of the descent of Jesus (peace be upon him) and the emergence of the Mahdi. Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Hmm? Are we 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 deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You. Please.