The Prophet Isa (as) in Continuum to the Prophet Muhammad The Return of Prophet Isa, the Dajjal, and the End of Days

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1 The Prophet Isa (as) in Continuum to the Prophet Muhammad The Return of Prophet Isa, the Dajjal, and the End of Days Bismi-Llāhi-r-Rahmāni-r-Rahīm. As Muslims, we believe that Isa (as)/jesus was sent down by Allah (swt) as a rasūlu-llāh of Allah (swt). But of course we do not accept this idea that he is God or Lord in the sense that he is the son of God. We don t believe that Isa (as) is dead or was every crucified. We believe that he was raised to Paradise, to the heavens, that he is still there and will descend at an appointed time. When he descends, all wars will end and peace will come to this world. Like Isa (as), the Prophet Muhammed is the messenger and the final messenger of Allah (swt). Islam, consequently, becomes the last religion revealed by Allah (swt) complete. Allah says in the last transmission to the Prophet: On this day, I have completed your religion. Of course, we understand that the Qur an is not an interpretation, but a Holy Revelation that has remained unchanged, perfect, for over 1434 years. As Allah promised in Qur an, He said it would be preserved until the last day for all in time, unlike the other sacred texts of other religions that have been revised over a period of time. Allah is Divine, and the Supreme Being has revealed this text in its perfect form and was kept in this same form. What is interesting, of course, is though we know the Holy Qur an speaks of Isa (as), what is not as well known is that the Bible also speaks of Prophet Muhammed (sal). In Qur an, it says in Surah an-nisā, āyat 157: They slew him not, nor did they crucify him but it was made dubious (questionable) to them. Hazrat Isa (as) told of the coming of the Prophet Muhammed (sal) in the Bible. He says in the Injīl, in John, If you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray to the Father, and He shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. 1

2 We will get to this word comforter. Again, he says, in John: When that comforter has come, who I will send onto you from the Father, even the spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me and he will also bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. So he tells not only that the Prophet Muhammed (sal) will come but that he will also testify of Isa (as). Then he continues even more: I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the spirit of Truth, will come and he will guide you into all Truth, for he shall speak not of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, he shall speak. He will show you things to come. He shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and he shall show it unto you. Many of the ulema of Islam have said that the person described, obviously, by Hazrat Isa (as) is the Prophet Muhammed (sal). In this case, the comforter he mentions is the Prophet Muhammed (sal), and the laws that he mentions, the ways of Sharī ah, the way of life, and the book, are those that Hazrat Isa has asked his followers to abide by. He says, the person who Isa has prophesized will come is called pargalita in the Bible. The word was deleted by interpreters and it was deleted by translators and changed to spirit of truth or comforter or holy spirit. But the original Greek word and its meaning is one whom people praise exceedingly. Then it is applicable to the Prophet Muhammed, since Muhammed means one who is praised. So even the name is anticipated and told. Isa says in the Bible, In a little while you shall not see me. Then in a little while, you shall see me, because I go to the Father. Qur an says, And surely they slew him not but Allah (swt) raised him unto Himself. So Muslims believe that Isa (as) was raised to the heavens. According to Hadith, he is in the second heaven. Rasūlu-Llāh (sal) mentioned that during the Miraj, I met the Prophet Isa (als) in the second heaven. I found him of medium stature, reddish white. His 2

3 body was so clean and clear, that it appeared as though he had just performed ghusul. In another hadith, Prophet Muhammed (sal) mentioned to the Jews that Hazrat Isa (as) is not dead. He will most certainly return to you before the Qiyama. May Allah guide all these people to the Truth, inshā a-llāh. Of course, I am not starting with the birth, the conception. I am starting with the ascension and the descension. It is said that in physical features he resembles the famous Sahabi, Hazrat Urdwar bin Masoodi (ra). He will be of average height, and red and white in color, his hair spread to the shoulder, shining, neat and straight as if after a bath. On bending his head, it will seem as if pearls are falling. He will have an armor on his body, and he be wearing two pieces of cloth light yellow in color. He will descend on a jamat/group that will be righteous at the time, and compromising 800 men and 400 women. The people will be preparing for war at that time against the dajjal/the antichrist. It will be time for the fajr prayer, and Imam Mahdi will be the emir/leader. From the darkness of the dawn, a sound will suddenly be heard that one who listens to your pleas has come. The righteous people will look everywhere and their eyes will fall on Hazrat Isa. Briefly, at that time of fajr, Isa (as) will descend. While descending, Isa s hands will be on the shoulder of two angels, and a cloud will carry him. On their insistence, Hazrat Isa (as) will introduce himself. He will inquire about their enthusiasm and their thoughts about jihad against the dajjal. Hazrat Isa will descend on the eastern side near the minaret in Damascus or in Batal Mukades by Imam Mahdi. At the time, Imam Mahdi will have proceeded forward to lead the fajr salat. The iqamah for the salat will have already been recited, and Imam Mahdi will call Hazrat Isa (as) to lead the prayer. But he, Hazrat Isa, will tell Imam Mahdi to lead the prayer, since the 3

4 iqamah of that salat has already been said for him. Thus Imam Mahdi will lead the prayer and Hazrat Isa will follow him. After the ruku, he will make this statement: Allah has killed the dajjal and the Muslims have appeared. After the completion of the fajr salat, Hazrat Isa will open the door behind him where the dajjal, accompanied by 70,000 Yehudis (Jews), will be. He will indicate with his hand to move a way between them (Hazrat Isa and dajjal). Dajjal will then see Hazrat Isa, and at that time, every kafr on whose breath of Hazrat Isa will reach, will die. His breath will reach upon the distance of the eyesight. The Muslims will come down from the mountains and break loose on the army. There will be war. Dajjal will retreat, and Hazrat Isa will pursue the dajjal. Hazrat Isa will have two flexible swords and one shield with him. With these, he will kill dajjal at the gate of Huud. He will show the Muslims the blood of dajjal, which he will get on his shield, and eventually certain of his army will be selected and die. It is said that The swine will be killed and the cross broken. People will revert to Islam; the wars will end, and people will return to their respective countries. One jamat of Muslims will remain in the service and companionship of Hazrat Isa. (A little controversial, wouldn t you say? I can t wait to get the letters on this one). Hazrat Isa will go and perform Hajj or Umrah, or both. He will go to the grave of Rasūlu-Llāh (sal) and present his greetings, and Rasūlu-Llāh (sal) will reply. People will live comfortable lives. The wall of Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) will then break. Hazrat Isa left his many blessings to everyone. He will descend and stay on the earth. It will be the last era of the ummah. He will be a just ruler and a fair judge. His ummah will be the khalifa of Rasūlu-Llāh (sal). He will act himself 4

5 and instruct others in Qur an and Hadith. He will lead people in salat. He will stay on the earth for a period of 40 years after descending, and this will be the best era of the ummah after the first era of Islam. Allah will protect the companions. Those who will save the Deen of Islam by staying themselves with Isa will be among the most loved. During this period, all other religions (madhabs) will perish, and there will be no kufars (disbelievers), in the world. Everyone will become a believer. There will be no protection tax (jiza); wealth and property will be in surplus. Zakat will be given and sadaqa will be discarded, because there will be no more poor people. The people will love the prostration more than the world that it consists in, and all types of Deen. Blessings will descend on the earth and many good (halal) things will be created. There will be peace, harmony, tranquility during the time of Hazrat Isa. There will be no animosity for a period of seven years, even between two persons. All hearts will be free from miserliness, envy, hatred, malice, and jealousy. For a period of 40 years, no one will fall ill, and no one will die. Venom will be taken out of the snakes, and scorpions will not harm anyone, to the extent that even if a child puts his hand in its mouth, he will not be bitten. Wild animals will not harm anyone. If a man passes a lion, he will not be troubled or harmed. The camels will graze among the lions, the cheetahs with cattle, the jackals with goats. The fertility of the land will increase to such an extent that even if a seed is planted in the hard rock, it will sprout. A pomegranate will be so huge that a jamat will be able to eat it, and the people will use its peel for shade. There will be so much baraka in milk that a camel will suffice for a huge jamat, a cow for a tribe, and a goat for a family. In short, life will be pleasant after the descension of Hazrat Isa (als). 5

6 Hazrat Isa will marry, and have children. He will remain on the earth 19 years after marriage. Then he will pass away, and Muslims will perform janazah salat and bury him next to Rasūlu-Llāh (sal) some say in the tomb of Aisha. From Hazrat Isa the truth will be revealed. This is what is related to us. Yes, I know. It raises a lot of questions. We ll get to that. Try to think of Isa (as) within a series of sanctuaries placed there by Allah Swt in unnatural ways, to come to do natural things. Think of him as being in a sanctuary. In other words, he s protected by a covenant of Allah Swt from the moment his mother conceived of him, through his birth, until he reached the presence of Allah, and until the Day of Awakening. Think about the fact that he was an affirmer of tawhid: lā ilāha illa-llāh, either by the truth that he spoke, or by his seeking of forgiveness from Allah, or his seeking of forgiveness from others. Understanding of course that lā ilāha illa-llāh means that there is no other deity other than Allah. His life is a kind of security bond, a protection, provided by an agreement with Allah that this prophet will come twice. He will come to the Jewish people, the Israelites, and he will affirm the unity of God once again. And he will come again at the end of days for that same unity. For every contract that is made; there has to be consideration, and one who executes the contract. Otherwise, why have it? The executor of this contract is one person, his mother, Maryam. No one is born without the presence of a mother. Even the Prophet Isa (as) was born from a mother. Allah could have made a miracle to fashion this child out of clay, like he fashioned Adam, or like Ibrahim (as) fashioned the bird out of clay and gave it life. A difficult, painful, confusing childbirth, in a strange place, which wound up causing her to be doubted, ridiculed, and accused, with the suffering that brought why that? 6

7 It says in Qur an that we should believe that women, and Maryam, are the bridge upon which all men walk toward Allah a rite of passage. All human beings come to Allah through the womb of the mother. Hence the Prophet Muhammed (sal) says,.the mother, the mother, the mother. From the moment his mother gave birth until he reaches Allah, he crosses this bridge literally, you could say majaz / tunnel. We all pass from the spirit world to this world through a tunnel. Those who pass from this world often describe going through a tunnel and coming out into light. Not one prophet was born without a mother, though one was born without a father. We know genetically the birth of a female is different than any other creature, and that it is a special process by which a female is created. We can see that all these prophets pass through this corridor, this sacred place, to come to this world from a place of hujub / veiled to a place of unveiling. These veils, I guess you can say, are veils that are drawn over in a stage by stage process. We know that the Prophet Mohammed (sal) in the Isra Miraj opens these veils, step by step; goes level by level, until comes purified and cleansed before the throne of Allah. No one can enter into this area of revelation or seeing without it overpowering them. So the metaphor of this passage into this world is a passage of closing behind you veils, and then leaving this world, opening, and unveiling again. We use this metaphor all the time in terms of realization, as Sufis. That s one thing. The other thing is there is a certain adab that is required of each of us toward the mother the politeness, the courtesy, the respect. The adab to the mother is to try to maintain a relationship of humility and gratitude toward the vehicle and the person through which you come to this world, and in this world through which you learn about the next world and transcend this world. The story of Isa (as), as we well know as presented in the Injil, is a story also of the mother s devotion to the child. The pain and suffering of childbirth, and the pain and suffering at his demise 7

8 (as the Christians tell it; we don t accept that he was dead). You see that Mary undergoes a constant role of the mother. There is always the worry and concern for the child. There is also the adab of the mother toward the child. The mother may discipline the child, but doesn t defame the child, or curse the child. The mother doesn t talk behind the child s back, is not jealous of the child, or make false accusations, or make fun of the child, or taunt the child. There is a necessity for an adab between the mother and the child, and the child and the mother. These are all symbolic for all of us. You don t see this relationship with the Prophet Mohammed (sal) with the mother. We see it in Isa (as). You see the relationship between the Prophet (sal) and the community, the tribe, and the Sahabah. You see a small bit of his relationship with his nursemaid, but not to the degree you see it with Isa (as). Each of these prophets have to tell us something. Adam and Hawa tell us about deception, and the relationship between man and woman. Ibrahim shows us the relationship between Hajar and Sarah, and his affirmation and sacrifice that a parent has to make. The Prophet Nuuh shows the loss of the family, and the inability of the family to accept prophecy. Prophet Musa (as) shows us the unique relationship with the mother also, the son of two mothers. Now we are at Prophet Isa, and that shows the relationship of purity between the mother and the child. The Prophet Muhammed (sal) shows you a transcendent human being, a person who s role in life transcends any single relationship. Hence, you see the relationship he has with his mother, his wet nurse, Khadija, and a unique and different relationship with every single one of his wives, and his daughter, and in the constant, continuing relationship he has with all of his jamat as the means (wasila) through which everyone reaches Allah. I hope you see the building on that. 8

9 There are certain miracles that are associated with him as there were with Prophet Muhammed (sal). Isa (as) spoke as a child, Indeed, I am the slave of Allah who gave me this Divine Book, in Surah Maryam. And again, I am the slave of Allah. These are isharat (hints, pointers) toward a very fundamental principle or Divine awareness. He says that Hu /Allah/He gave me the Divine Book. It points toward another level of knowledge. Isa s need for the Divine Book is a statement that there is a need for commandments and laws, and a means through which people can recognize and become aware of the Attributes of Allah Swt. It s not just a personage; it is the commandments, the prescriptions, the prohibitions that are trying to be revived. Where are they revived? In the Prophet Muhammed (sal). The Prophet (sal) comes with that very simple message that everyone is bringing, which is lā ilāha illa-llāh, the message of unity and tawhid that begins with the early prophets. Then he has another message, which is there has to be a form and a process by which people stay on the siratal mustaqim. Later on, we find out or what the Christians are taught, and we can take it from another point of view that the Prophet Isa (as), as all the other prophets, seeks forgiveness of Allah Swt, as the Prophet Muhammed (sal) seeks forgiveness. Prophet Isa (as) comes as a perfect being, and seeks forgiveness. Why? All of these things are models for us. Now you can get back to the wars you don t like to hear about, the Jews that are killed, and all the other things that will bother you and you will write to me about. They are defined as who they are. It s not a statement against a religion. It s a statement that people who have been misguided, who have been disabused of their faith, people who have lost their way, align themselves with evil over good, wrong over right, selfishness or whatever it is. So? Nobody gets too uptight about the moneylenders in the temple that Jesus supposedly kicked out. Who were they? Baptists? Native Americans? They were people who were overcome by greed, who 9

10 used religion in the wrong way. What would you call them? Jerusalemites? You would call them Yehudis, Jews. That s who they were. Who are the Taliban? Are they Jews? (Some say they might be a lost tribe, due to some genetic studies that have been done ) They are Muslims. What are we going to call them, Buddhists? No, they are Muslims by their own identification. Who are the people who did the Inquisition, who threw people into the fire, impaled them on stakes, and killed them? Who were they, Buddhists, Amazonian shamans? They were Christians. Who were the people who had human sacrifice and threw virgins into the fire? They were Aztecs. What else are you going to call them? So don t get so uppity, upset, when these things are said. See, here s the proof that the Muslims hate the Jews. No, the Muslims don t hate the Jews. The people who accept the end of days, the Mahdi coming, and the Prophet Mohammed, and Prophet Isa are the believers. Who are the other people? The kufar/disbelievers. They had to have a name before they had something to disbelieve, so you call them by their names. Bani Israel in this case, what we would call Jews today, people of Judea. Who did Prophet Isa come to serve? What did he come to do? Establish a kibbutz? I don t think so. He came to try to make believers out of people who became disbelievers. What did the Prophet (sal) do? He came to try to make believers out of people who were disbelievers. What were they called before he came? Quresh, Bani this, Bani that. They were called Meccans, Medeans, Ansars, whatever. They had names. He tried to make them into Muslims. Who were Muslims? People who came with the Prophet Muhammed and believed him? Wrong. They are the people who believed in Allah every time a prophet came. They were Muslims, in submission to Allah, to one Truth. In Arabic language, they are called Muslims. I know this is very basic, but I m trying to avoid a few letters. 10

11 Don t get too uptight about all of this. Also, there were stories that the Prophet Muhammed (sal) would come and Isa (as) would pray behind him, and all these other stories. But this story is probably the best story. He represents the teachings of Prophet Muhammed (sal). These are not in Qur an in such detail; they are stories that come down from generation to generation, as Shaykh Nooruddeen said in the last talk. They are stories that are authoritative and come from many sources, but nobody knows for sure. We only know for sure what is said in Qur an, and what the Prophet Muhammed (sal) said. These are put together, gathered from what people have said in their lives. Is it just a good story? Yes, it s a good story. Is it a meaningful story? Yes. It tells you about a progression and about things that happen at the end of time. It tells you something else also. It tells you what these prophets represent. Prophet Isa had many virtues. Very few people, even prophets, ever achieved such perfection a perfect human being, a great teacher, a pure human being who came from a very pure state. To those of us in tariqah, not only is he the example of that purity, but he is also a person in whose presence people were transformed, healed, uplifted, brought back to life. You don t see that, though there were karamat associated with Prophet Muhammed (sal). This is not what you focus on with the Prophet Mohammed (sal). You don t focus on miracles. You focus on the character of the human being who has to go forward in life in everyday life. You focus on the jamat, on the character of individuals. The Prophet Isa precedes this by showing you the power of faith and belief. These two are like brothers. Love between them is like brothers. One is the one hand; the other is the other hand. This is how we are asked to accept that. Many Christians say the Muslims took the stories from the Bible, and incorporated them into Islam so they will be accepted. But there is meaning in every story in the Bible. 11

12 It s not just a story you tell so you will like Jesus and accept him as your one and only savior. No, there is allegorical meaning in all of these things about each human being s life. A person who yearns to know the Prophet Muhammed (sal) is a person who eventually has to understand that they yearn to refine their character to such a degree that the words of the Prophet become meaningful to them. A person who yearns to meet Jesus, Prophet Isa (as), is a person who yearns to be pure, kind, good, loving, and sacrificing also. A person who loves the Prophet Ibrahim, etc as we talked in previous talks. When you are talking about the Prophet Isa (as) from an Islamic point of view, you are talking about his life in one context, but really you are talking about the end of time. You are talking about him coming back and the End of Days. That s how it leads to speaking on the Mahdi, obviously. You are speaking about dajjal and the anti-christ. You have to think about how to you recognize the true Christ from the anti-christ, and what are the conditions, and all these things. It s a very complicated story. The back side of the story is how do you get yourself to a position where you recognize these things and see the truth, where you as an individual accept the light of these prophets, accept the baraka / blessing of these prophets, and the power of these ambiyā that is to say, the power of Allah as it comes through them. Each one comes through a different lens: the power of sacrifice, of trust, of transformation, of doubt, the power of knowledge, of submission, of repentance, and the blessings that go along with this power, the power of patience and tolerance, the power of passivity and strength, the power that comes from the capacity to make miracles, the power of one who suffers, and in that suffering finds the truth. How do we as human beings find each one of those elements in those prophets in our own lives? 12

13 The answer for us is you find it in the latā if. You find it through the lens of each latifa, and it starts to make sense. Each latifa has its prophet, and each prophet has its role in the formation of our completeness as a human being. Also, each one of us has the dajjal within us. Or shall I say, each one of us has a place where the dajjal would like to reside within us. Let me just say it this way: the killing of the dajjal is about killing that place. The killing of the dajjal that I described where he has the blood on his shield and all that is about killing the nafs. (There are people who disagree with me; let them.) You might be thinking, Another war analogy with a lot of people dying, and why is religion all about killing people? It s about killing that place. It s about destroying the home of the dajjal within you. It s about killing that darkness within you, and blood plays a very important role. You know there is the blood on the doorposts for Prophet Musa; the blood of sacrifice for Sidna Ibrahim; the blood of the lamb (which the Christians spend a lot of time on also); Cain and Abel; the taking of life and sparing of life in the wars of the Prophet Muhammed (sal). How about the blood of the Ahl al Bayt? Well, I m glad we have grown so far beyond that; and that we have become so enlightened as human beings over these thousands of years that people only die of natural causes in the world today, and in the name of good no blood is every spilled. Aren t you glad? There is work to be done. We may disdain, and we may be terribly put off by such violence while we walk through our lives every day, relatively safe and secure; but look around you. The mission of these prophets is nothing compared to what goes on in the world today. In all the wars of the Prophet Muhammed (sal), some way less than a few hundred died. Some say less than 2,000. How many people are killed a day in Syria these days? And what about the places we don t count because the people aren t white? Our sensibilities may be upset by such stories as this, because we focus on them in a 13

14 dars. But are our sensibilities not more upset by what goes on every day? 900 people killed by guns in this country every month? When your back gets up, and you think about this and that in religion, think about the other side of it. Think about what are the values, the thoughts and concerns, behind these events. If they could take hold in the hearts of human beings, what would be possible? What would dajjal take the form of - a North Korean rocket that would drop on Guam that was threatened today? North Korea threatened today to nuke America or Hawaii, and nobody is going to say they are not crazy enough to do it. Do you think they are not crazy enough to do it? People thought Hitler was not crazy enough to do it. They are. Why? They are crazed, so isolated, so paranoid, so fearful, so indoctrinated. Now, some young man so power hungry; do you think he would not make that miscalculation today, tomorrow? Dajjal lives. What is the anti- Christ? It is whatever is against the teachings of Christ (we may not call him Christ, but for the sake of this talk we will) anti-peace, anti-compassion, anti-mercy, antipatience, anti-tolerance. What is the anti-christ of the time of the Prophet Muhammed (sal)? Why do you think they didn t call it the anti-muhammed or anti- Prophet? The Prophet Muhammed (sal) said, I existed before Adam. The Prophet Isa (as) said, I will return. Does that strike any kind of a resonance with anyone? The Prophet Mohammed (sal) existed as light before he existed as a human being, and his light is still in this world as Nuri Mohammed. It s the light in all the prophets. The Prophet Isa came as a virgin birth. Jibreel breathed upon the womb of Maryam, and then what? I want you to think about what it means. Who is coming back? If you can grasp the Light of Rasūlu-Llāh as light (get rid of the person for a second), and that is a thread of light that goes through every human being and has a special 14

15 quality in these prophets: who is coming back? The Light of Rasūlu-Llāh is coming back. Why in the form of Isa (as)? That s a question you have to answer. Why not in the form of Prophet Muhammed (sal)? It s simple. I will give you one part of the answer. What did Prophet Muhammed (sal) say? He said I m just a man. I didn t come to make a new religion; I m just like the rest of you. It s the light that is different. His role is not to come back as a physical being, because then he would become supernatural. Whatever he accomplished, and whatever his message was, now you can discount or discard it, because it was the message of a supernatural being. The whole story of Isa has a supernatural, transcendental quality to it. It s all set up that he comes back, and he goes and visits Prophet Muhammed (sal). Saudis don t like this, because they don t like people to come visit the Prophet Muhammed (sal) as if he is still alive. We don t go there to as if he is still alive; we go there for exactly the reason why he says: for the Nur, the Light that is always there. The Light came before Adam; should it die with the physical death? Question: Does it have to do with the fact that the Prophet Muhammed (sal) said that there will come a time when the only thing that will remain of religion will be its name, and this would be brought on by Christians and Muslim and Jewish religions? Shaykh: The Hour of Doom will not come until the Qur an will return to where it came from. The Qur an will be lifted up in one night, so that not one verse will be left in anyone s mushaf (book of Qur an). The first thing that will be lost from your religion is faithfulness, and the last thing that will remain is prayer. Although some will pray, they will have no faith. This Qur an which is amongst the most eminent of you will 15

16 suddenly disappear, and be lifted up. Then they said, How can this be, since Allah has established it in our hearts and has written in our mashaif? The answer is it will be lifted up in one night and disappear, all that is in your hearts and your books. The Prophet Muhammed (sal) recited, If We willed, we can take away that which We have revealed to you. (Q17:86) Allah says: And We sent down from the Qur an that which is healing and a mercy for the believers, and it only adds to the ruin of the oppressors themselves. And when We bestow favor on one person, he turns away and draws aside; and when evil touches him, he is in despair. Say, everyone acts according to his nature, and your Lord is best aware of who is rightly guided on the way. And they ask you about the rūh. The spirit of revelation comes by the order of my Lord, and you have been given but little knowledge of it. And if We willed, We could take away what We had revealed to you, and then you would find no guardian for yourself against Us save mercy from your Lord. Surely, His favor upon you is great. This hour of doom will not come until the Qur an will be considered a disgrace, and Islam becomes like a stranger (You (the questioner) are right on target. Good for you.) And there will be lack of cooperation, people who will be arguing. The guilty will be trusted, and the honest will be suspected. Rain will increase, but the fruit of the earth will decrease, it is said. Knowledge will be rare, and ignorance will overflow, and abominations will be open to a public thing, and there will be false preachers who will change the truth for the benefit of the wicked people of any nation. 16

17 The hour of doom will not come until the Qur an returns to where it comes from. And there will be an echo like that of a beehive, and the majestic and powerful Lord will say, What is the matter? So the Qur an will say, From You I have come, and to You I return. I am being read, but no one acts by me. At that time, the Qur an will be lifted up; Islam will fade like the color of a garment, and the Book of God will be lifted up in one night so that not one verse of it will remain on earth. And the old and aged of some remaining groups will say, We heard there is no God but Allah from our forefathers, so we say it. Not only will the Qur an be lifted up, but according to some hadith, the false Christ will come only after the appearing of divisions in Islam, and Islam becomes like a stranger on the earth. And before you, the people of the Book were divided into 72 groups. But the people of Islam will be divided into 73 groups. The strongholds of Islam will be knocked down, one after the other, and then there will be many deceiving guides. Faith will crawl back to the Medina like a snake crawls back to the hole. By Him who holds my soul in His hand, people will leave their religion in throngs just as they entered it in throngs. Islam will crawl back to the land of Hejaz like a snake crawls back to his hole, or like a herd of wild goats huddling on top of a mountain. Islam came a stranger, and will return as a stranger, blessed are the strangers who restore what people ruined. There will come a generation who will recite the Qur an, but it will not go beyond their collarbones (meaning they won t know what it means). Whenever a horn appears, it will be cut off. Then the false Christ will appear amongst them. We can talk about what will happen then. I don t want to talk about Armageddon; I don t want to say it s tomorrow. But you can see the signs: they are very, very clear. 17

18 You can take it as literal, as allegorical, as a metaphor, or as a commentary on what is happening before your very eyes with people as individuals. Does it really matter whether it s universal, or does it matter that it is deeply personal? What the Christians try to do and what the Muslims try to do is to have a personal relationship with Isa (as) and the Prophet Muhammed (sal). The Christians made a tragic error; they associate him with God, so then it goes off in the wrong direction. The Muslims make a tragic error also. Not that they associate the Prophet Muhammed (sal) as God what s the error? They break almost every single rule. Don t compel people. They ve divided themselves into sects. They disdain and fight amongst themselves we. We have a deteriorating relationship with Qur an. We have the Qur an recited by people who don t understand what it means. We have it interpreted by people who don t have the authority to interpret it. You have no khalifa rashidun; there is no one at the head of the community. And where people have to take responsibility themselves, they defer that responsibility to other leadership. This is where that is headed, which leaves only the Sufis. Question. Abdun Nasr: Was the Prophet Isa (as) chosen to come back because he was the manifestation of love and light, and the Prophet Muhammed s (sal) light needs to come at that time as love and not as character, as it manifested in Prophet Muhammed (sal)life? Shaykh: There are things we can never know; this is Allah s choice. We are told this is the way Allah chooses what to do. I ask you to contemplate why only to make you think about it, not necessarily to come to an answer to the question. Who is this person? When you think about the Prophet Muhammed (sal), you can think about a person who did a lot of things for a long lifetime. When you think about Jesus, it s not so easy to think about a person. You don t know much about his life. He disappears for 33 years; we don t know what happened during that period of time. 18

19 He returns for a very short period of time to a very politicized world as an outsider. Then he gathers around him a group of people who themselves you don t know much about not like you know about the Sahabah. Then you have a text that is not really a clear text, despite what they say. It s not the word of God; we know it has been interpreted and re-written many, many times. The way you can relate to him is by his qualities, like love or peace, and a few quotations. But he obviously evokes love in the hearts of 1.2 billion Catholics, let alone all the rest of the Protestants, and then the Orthodox. He obviously evokes love and respect. Part of it is the stories that are taught, and the way they have been told so beautifully and consistently. When you speak of the Prophet Muhammed (sal), you speak about principles and character. In a sense, this is at the forefront, but at the same time, it is in the background. It is focusing you back on yourself, not on miracles, but on yourself and on Allah. It s a very complicated relationship. The relationship between these two prophets is a very complicated relationship. It s as if it is like one person, a continuum. Somehow the Prophet Isa (sal) morphs into the Prophet Muhammed (sal); but it is the Light of Rasūlu-Llāh that carries this out. It is not because I or other say so; you have to come to realize it yourself. I find it very difficult my whole life to try to get people to understand how to realize it, other than to say, You do your practices. You sit. You refine the latā if, and eventually you come to start to see that light and feel that light. That s all I know. Question. Isa: I find it interesting that Adam (as) in his mission gave words to everything; and at the end of days, the words will be taken away. Shaykh: That s the point: the Qur an will go to where it came from. 19

20 Isa: And I guess you return with it or you don t. It s a whole different thought process about the apocalypse. Shaykh: Allah doesn t take the religion away; He takes the meaning away, the understanding. Asalaamu aleykum. 20