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The Mahdi-Messiah issue is an issue that has not only long been abused, but
also one that has been exploited by unbelievers who try to slander sincere
believers. Some of those who make such claims are pushed to the fore by certain
powers and they are used against Muslims.
I believe the descent of Messiah as a spiritual personality is not too
distant a future. It may indeed take place that this spirit, or meaning, may
descend, and nobody should oppose this possibility. The coming of the Messiah as
a spiritual personality simply means that a spirit of compassion or a phenomenon
of mercy will come to the foreground, a breeze of clemency will waft over
humanity, and human beings will compromise and agree with each other. The signs
of such a phenomenon are already present: Muslims are sometimes invited to
churches to read the Qur’an, it is now an accepted fact that Prophet Muhammad is
a Messenger of God, and that the Qur’an is a divine revelation. Some people as
well may come to declare themselves as “Muslim-Christians.” It does not seem
improper to me to regard these as an introduction to the spirit of Messiahhood.
Abusing the Expectation of the Mahdi and the Messiah:
Many individuals throughout Islamic history can be listed to have attained a
rank near to that of the Mahdi. To cite an example, Mahdi of the Abbasids, may
God’s mercy be upon him, can be considered as a mahdi in a sense if we take into
account his significant reforms, the straight path he was following, his respect
for his predecessors, his reverence for the Companions, as well as his moderate
and upright ideas about religious issues. Among the Umayyads, Umar ibn Abd
al-Aziz was a mahdi in this sense. It is also possible to refer to some
prominent figures from Abu Hanifa to Imam Rabbani Faruq al-Sarhandi, and from
him to Imam Ghazzali and Mawlana Halid Baghdadi; for they are considered to have
had the characteristics of the Mahdi. Such people served Islam sincerely,
without making false claims or pursuing personal interests, and they never
claimed to be the Mahdi. The people who noticed their virtues gathered around
them, forming a circle of benevolence. However, there have always been some
opportunists, who desired exploit such considerations.
Even while the Messenger of God was still among us, many liars like
Musaylima, Tulayha, Aswad al-Ansi, and Sajah claimed to be prophets. In
addition, in every epoch some have asserted to be “the person who will come at
the end of time.” Similar to the people mentioned above and to the eight Dajjals
who uttered that “I, too, am a prophet” soon after the death of the Messenger of
God, there have been some people with sick souls in every era who state “I am
the Messiah” and go even further to produce the evil claim that the Messenger of
God was sent to the Arabs, while they have been sent for the world community.
Moreover, it is reported in the Traditions concerning the Mahdi that the Prophet
said “Someone from my family will appear and his name will be similar to my
own”; that is, it has been indicated that the Mahdi’s name will be similar to
the names of the Prophet, for example, Muhammad or Ahmad; a number of people
have changed their names to fit in with this fact.
According to what was reported by Shatibi for instance, Abu Mansur, the ruler
of the sect called Mansuriya, honored himself with the name “Kisf,” which
literally means “piece,” claiming to be the Messiah and that the Holy verse “Were
they to see a piece of the sky falling (on them), they would (only) say: ‘Clouds
gathered in heaps!’” is referring to himself (Tur, 52:44). Indicating this
passage and claiming that he was the Kisf he soon gathered supporters around
him, as if he had indeed descended from Heaven. Ignoring the actual meaning of
the verse, and only taking into account the action of descending from the sky,
he argued to be the Kisf mentioned in this verse thinking of himself as a stone
that had descended upon humanity. Similarly to what Shatibi reported, Ubaydullah
of the Rafizis, who thought of himself as the Mahdi, had two councilors,
Nasrullah and Fath. Nasrullah in Arabic means the “help of God,” while Fath
means “victory.” As if to justify his status, this so-called Mahdi assured them
with the argument that “You are the ones the chapter Nasr in the book of God
refers to; as the verse surely addresses us, the promise that Islam will be
embraced by people in crowds will come true via our own efforts”:
When comes the Help of God, and Victory, and you see the People enter God’s
Religion in crowds, celebrate the Praises of your Lord, and pray for His
Forgiveness: For He is All-Forgiving” (Nasr, 110:1-3).
These two examples, reported by a man of significance like Shatibi, are
sufficient in terms of providing evidence for how names and attributes can be
abused, how they are used in the service of disorder, and how they cause
bloodshed in a particular geographical area.
The issue of awaiting a savior and the abuse of this expectation has not
remained restricted only to religious life. Some people, for instance, awaited a
savior in economical terms while others did so in a social context. Those who
awaited a savior for economy focused their attention upon Karl Marx during a
chaotic time of Europe which was mired in blood by the uprising of workers. Such
people have highly regarded his works Das Kapital and The Communist
Manifesto which he wrote with Engels, and thus regarding him as the savior
of humanity, and in particular, the working-class (the proletariat). Dr. Ikbal
stated the following words about Marx in Payam Mashrik (News from the
East): “a prophet without a holy book (!), who is voicing the people’s
viewpoint”; he further depicts Marx as an ignorant, impolite, and impious
character who is after various kinds of expectations; and this Marx was indeed
greeted by some as the Messiah. Likewise, from Lenin to Trotsky, many others
have been applauded as saviors. At times in the Islamic world, too, some have
been viewed as saviors in nearly every country: from Egypt to the Sudan and from
Syria to Somalia. Some have even gone to such an extreme in apostasy, ignorance,
heedlessness and unbelief that they even said, “Muhammad was the Prophet of the
Arabs, or Madina; yet, this one is ours.”
Several mahdis emerged among the followers of the Rafizi thought throughout
history. Similar to the argument that the person who founded the Muwahhideen
State was the Mahdi, many political groups that emerged during the times of the
Umayyads and Abbasids were convinced that their leaders were Mahdis. The first
sovereign of the Shiite (Ismaili) Fatimid State, which was established in North
Africa and exercised power over Egypt later on, was believed to be the Mahdi by
those who founded and sustained this state. Placing a child on the throne, they
would gather around this pseudo-savior whom they considered to be the grandson
of the Prophet, thus abusing the Mahdi—Messiah issue. Furthermore, the Fatimids
declared independence causing further disorder as well as segregation in the
Muslim community during a phase in which the Muslims suffered at the hands of
both the Crusaders and the Mongols.
As for recent history, it is as if the Mahdi-Messiah issue has provided a
playground in which disorder can frolic. It has been abused to a great extent by
a number of people, from the Mahdi of Somali to the great Mahdi in Sudan; the
latter was killed and cremated by the English and his ashes were then scattered
on the Nile—Dr. Ikbal wrote a great deal about this matter. There is also
Bahaullah, who was applauded as the Promised Messiah, and Gulam Ahmad, who was
engaged in Hindu yoga and meditation, having a tendency toward revealing the
power of the soul and seeing hallucinations when he felt dizzy, due to his
asceticism. This last person called himself respectively a mujaddid
(reviver of religion), the Promised Mahdi, the Expected Imam, and finally the
Promised Messiah. Later came Elijah Muhammad, who declared himself to be a
prophet.
A particular case in point is the Shiite’s attempt to keep the idea of the
Mahdi on their agenda by announcing that “One of the Twelve Imams has been
hidden somewhere while still alive, so as to be able to appear at a later date.”
It is very ironic that they expect the savior who kept cover from the evil of
the Abbasids will suddenly make his appearance as if from behind Kaf,[1]
during the time of the Dajjal (Anti-Christ), which is a much greater evil than
was present under the rule of the Abbasids. This expectation should be
investigated in terms of the essentials of faith as well.
The expectation of a perfect Heracles has always been an everlasting
characteristic of the oppressed and victimized nations. Many lazy, passive, and
weak souls, who have completely sealed themselves to abolishing false beliefs
through their own efforts, are busy awaiting such a Heracles who is to descend
from the sky. As a matter of fact, there exists such a reality and there is a
tendency to await a Mahdi in Sunni thought as well; however, the Mahdi, as
understood by the Ahl al-Sunna, has not been attributed supernatural features at
all. On the contrary, he is believed to be a ruler who will lead the society to
Islam, and a man of science, heart, and spirit.
It Is Necessary To Watch Out for Abuses:
Having been subject to abuses throughout the history, the belief in the
Messiah and Mahdi might still be open to exploitation, while liars who claim to
be prophets as well as imitators of the Mahdi and so-called shaykhs may well
spring up. If a person can claim to be the Messiah, as Gulam Ahmad did, it is,
then, necessary to study and analyze the issue in terms of the essentials of
faith. What does he mean by such a claim? If he is trying to say that the
Messiah has entered into him, as have some people attributed divinity to Jesus,
and that he regards himself in this way, this is unbelief according to Muslim
faith; the word “deviation” is too mild a term for such a situation. Yes, such a
claim is blatant unbelief.
By this utterance and claim such a person may mean to say that he is on a
spiritual journey in the orbit of Jesus the Messiah, and that those who observe
him are able, in some way, to see a (kind of) Messiahhood through him, due to
the level he has attained. If this is what is meant, it is a paradox, as a
person who has actually reached that level would never make such a claim. In
addition, claiming to be a person of such a spiritual rank is the height of
vanity.
Abd al-Qadr al-Jilani may have really been a Mahdi, though he had never
claimed such a thing. Likewise, Muhammad Bahauddin Naqshbandi might also have
been a genuine Mahdi; yet, he had never associated himself with that rank.
Though he equally deserves to be addressed as Mahdi in this sense, Imam Rabbani
did not even consider himself to merit the quality of being human. To speak more
frankly, those who belong to the horizon mentioned above are surely the ones who
avoid claims and quests for high spiritual rank and status.
Perfect analysis is required for such claims: Is it a wrong association
arising from sharing the same level of spirituality?[2]
Is it an error which stems from an overestimation by society? Is it the voicing
of the confusion of that same society? Or is it rather that this person truly
thinks that he is a chosen one? If they really believe so and claim to be the
Mahdi, then this is an obvious sign of vanity, deviation, and a groundless claim
that should be refuted. If, in the same way, they argue that they are the
Messiah, then this is nothing less than the worst kind of unbelief. Nobody can
claim “I am the Messiah,” as Jesus the Messiah came, and took his leave of us,
going as prophet. This being the case, anyone who claims to be the Messiah is
without a doubt performing an action that is as grave as claiming to be a
prophet, that is, they are blaspheming. If a person born of certain parents
claims to be the Messiah, it means that they have been reincarnated as well, an
idea that finds no place in Islamic belief, where such a claim is regarded as a
deviation, or even unbelief. From this perspective, one would never attempt such
an argument if following the way of Ahl al-Sunna and walking in the light of the
Prophet.
As I have mentioned earlier, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi put forth the idea that
“If there is a need for Islam, the manifest religion, to express itself in
various places in the world again, the Messiah will come back right away, even
from the remotest corner of the other world.” However, in order to shed light
upon his general outlook, he interpreted the descent of Jesus as a spiritual
personality. He further stated that the Messiah would be represented by a group
or a section of the society. Yet, in this context, giving a particular name, or
perceiving the personality of Jesus epitomized in another person, or declaring
that a specific person is the Messiah, be he the great Conqueror Mehmed II, or
Imam Rabbani, are all in essence unbelief. It is an evil claim that genuine
believers are afraid to utter; rather they are on constant alert to avoid it.
Some naïve people might easily call those whom they overestimate as “the
Mahdi.” As we have tried to emphasize, however, even if the Messiah were to come
and descend in person, he would not do so as a prophet. The fact that he will
obey the current guide of Muslims in addition to the fact that the Messenger of
God, Muhammad, was the last prophet, both indicate that he will neither descend
as a prophet nor will his spirit pass into another. If he were to appear as
spiritual personality, neither those involved in this spiritual personality nor
the leading figure would never come up with such a claim. Similarly, the person
in question, or rather the spiritual personality, who bears the attributes of
the Mahdi, would not claim to be the Mahdi nor would they ever make such an
assertion. Thus, even if they do not believe themselves to be the Messiah, if a
person remains silent against the overestimation of others regarding him who
proclaim him the Messiah or the Mahdi, this means that he is keeping silent
against deviation or unbelief, depending on the gravity of the claim.
Accordingly, such a person would deserve more to be called “a mute devil,” based
on the statements of God’s Messenger. Indeed, if one is addressed as “the
Messiah” but, on the other hand, remains silent purposefully, not attempting to
warn others against making this deviation, then such a person is no less than a
mute devil. If the person in question wanders around claiming that “I am the
Mahdi,” they indeed float on misery, and have gravely deviated from the path. It
is out of the question that a Muslim would approve of any such claims.
This issue, which was destined to be abused throughout time, has
unfortunately become a tool exploited by the enemies of the religion, used to
defame sincere believers. Moreover, some other people are backed by certain
powers to emerge with such claims to use against Muslims. Such cases may well
come to the fore in the near or distant future, just as they did in the distant
and recent past. In Turkey, people who have deviated, as well as those who do
not believe at all, the ignorant with diplomas, and representatives of violence
who rule over the fate of the Turkish nation or Muslim nations around the world
might well take advantage of the expectation of the Mahdi-Messiah and exploit
the meaning of such a title on behalf of their plots. This will be done in the
name of deceiving Muslims through the exploitation of Islamic concepts and by
condemn sincere Muslims to annihilation. This is a particular danger during the
current phase in which Muslims around the world are suffering under oppression;
the masses are depressed. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that care
and caution be adopted against such plots and against the exploitation of such
concepts.
[1] Islamic theology acknowledges the existence of this mountain called Kaf,
however, there is no recorded information about its nature. Bediuzzaman briefly
explains in his Muhakemat (First Article, 12th Introduction, 3rd
Issue) that the horizon itself might be this mountain as it is believed that the
world is surrounded by this mountain. He further asserts that it might be a
mountain that will appear in the Hereafter, but its foundations are in this
world. It is used in eastern tales to denote unreachable distances, impossible
missions, and mysterious destinations.
[2] Here we can give the example Khidr, who is a beloved servant of God and
an important figure in Sufism. He holds a high spiritual rank and those who
reach this rank through spiritual journeying are sometimes confused with the
Khidr himself (for further reading, see Nursi, S., The Letters, Kaynak,
Izmir: 1998)
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