RELIGION 
The
terrors which will precede the Day of
Judgement will be horrible, but the worst
calamity for the believers will be the
appearance of the Anti-Christ. The
temptations of the false messiah will be
the final and most difficult test for the
believers. He will spread turmoil by
performing wonders which will mislead the
weak-minded and faithless. This deceiver
will pretend to be the returning Christ,
to take advantage of the prophecy of
Jesus' return to Earth. This false prophet
will even go so far as to pretend to be
the divinity.
But
the true Prophet will return to vanquish
him. Several Hadith indicate that Jesus
shall appear first at the hour of dawn, in
Syria on the eastern side of Damascus, at
the site of the white minaret. (If we are
to take this literally, we can guess that
this location would be the Umayyad Mosque,
one of the most famous mosques in the
Moslem world.)
The
Chapter of the Golden Adornments
(Surat
az-Zukhruf)
61.
And Jesus shall be a sign for the
approaching hour of Judgement. Therefore
have no doubt about that hour, and follow
Me. What has been revealed is a straight
way.
62.
Let not Satan hinder you, for he is your
avowed enemy.
63.
When Jesus came with clear signs, he said
to the people, I have come to you with wisdom, in order to make clear to
you some of the points on which you
dispute. Therefore I say to you, fear God
and obey me.
64.
For
God is my Lord and your Lord. Worship Him,
that is the only route you should take.
65.
Sects from among his followers themselves
fell into disagreements. Woe to the wrong-doers,
for they will be chastised on a grievous
day.
66.
Do these wrong-doers only wait for
that Day (to repent)? What if it should
come upon them all of a sudden, without
their being aware of it?
67.
Friends on that Day will be foes, one
against the other, except the righteous.
In a famous Hadith reported by Muslim, a
disciple of Mohammed, it is reported that
the Prophet indicated that Jesus, the son
of Mary, would soon descend and would
judge the people fairly. It was said that
the true Messiah will break the cross and
slaughter the unclean pigs, which
expressions anticipate the final
fulfilment of God's Law. He will cause
camels to be freed from their burdens.
There will be no enmity or hatred or envy,
and money will be in abundance.
The indications of material plenty
underline an interesting proposition of
Islam. There is no wrong in riches, but
only insofar as the priority of the
believer is placed in God. Adoration of
wealth essentially sets another god before
the One God.
Islamic commentary about the breaking of
the Cross indicates that Jesus, upon his
return, will correct his followers who
have erred by corrupting his message and
by appointing him as a divinity. He will
guide them back to the uncorrupted message
of the servants of God.
Various Hadith predict that the defeat of
the Anti-Christ will come about in the
following manner. After the return of
Jesus to Earth, the Prophet will go to
pray at the AI Aqsa Mosque (next to the
Dome of the Rock) in Jerusalem. There he
will be invited by the presiding imam to
lead the prayer. Jesus will decline and
will ask the congregation leader to
proceed with the prayer. After devotions
have been completed, the doors of the
mosque will be opened to reveal the
Anti-Christ at the head of a mighty army,
waiting to confront Jesus.
Despite the power of arms and men massed
behind him, the DaJal will wilt in front
of the greater power of Jesus, the true
messenger of God. The false messiah will
escape to El Lod, in Palestine. There
Jesus will pursue him and slay him,
whereupon the pretender will disintegrate
just as salt melts in water. Those
believers who forsook the straight path to
follow the Dajjal will then flee in
terror. There will be a conflict between
good and evil, and the evil doers will be
defeated in the end.
The righteous will be rewarded, and the
evil banished. The victorious Prophet will
rule, according to some Hadith, for forty
years, from the cities of Mecca and
Medina. (May this span of forty be like
eternity compared to the measure of forty
during the reign of the false prophet, the
Dajjal.) Some Hadith then predict further
that Jesus will marry and have children.
He will eventually die and be buried by
the believers in their greatest place of
honour.
Is this prediction of the human destiny of
death for the Prophet Jesus a shock for
our Christian brothers? He was no less and
no more than a Messenger of God.
The
Chapter of the Women
(Surat
an-Nisaa)
171.
0 People of the Book! Commit no excesses
in your religion, and do not say of God
anything except the truth. Christ Jesus
was the son of Mary and was no more than a
Messenger of God and His Word. That Word
had been bestowed on Mary, and God's
spirit proceeded from Jesus. Believe
therefore in God and his Messengers. Do
not say Three.
Desist from such ideas, it will be
better for you, for God is but One. Glory
be to Him. He is far too exalted to
require having a son. To Him belong all
things in the heavens and on Earth. It is
enough for God to be the disposer of all
affairs.
Jesus will appear among us for the second
time to finally fulfil the lineage of
Prophets who have been generously granted
to the believers. The law of God which was
gradually revealed by these Prophets and
documented in the Holy Books, (the Torah,
the New Testament, and the Koran), will be
also fulfilled. Jesus will rule according
to this ultimate Law and Word, and ordain
the same religion which was granted to
Abraham and Noah and Moses and Mohammed,
peace be upon them all.
Chapter
of the Consultation
(Surat
ash-Shura)
13.
The same religion He has established for
you as that which was granted to Noah, the
same which We have sent by inspiration to
you (the Muslims). And that which We
granted to Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
You must remain steadfast in religion, and
make no more divisions.
To those who worship other things than
God, hard is the straight way to which
they have been called.
God chooses to Himself those whom He
pleases, and guides to Himself those who
turn to Him.
When
will the Day of Judgement actually occur?
The Hadith only state that righteousness
will prevail during Jesus' reign over the
Earth, but upon the predicted death of the
Messiah, the Word of God will suffer
another wave of corruption. Large and
small signs will point to the approach of
the Day of Judgement. The righteous will
be mightily tested in the steadfastness of
their faith. God will open the doors to
the Day of Judgement at the appointed
hour, which only He can anticipate.
to
be continued
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