WHAT IS MAHDISM? The
concepts of the final times and Mahdism may not be too familiar
to many people, so it will be helpful to begin by defining
them. According to Islam, the final times will be a period
close to the Day of Judgment when the morality of the Qur'an
spreads widely and people turn to live by it.
 People
always dream of better things: a prettier view, better things
to eat, a better life with no social problems, well-being,
peace, plenty, beauty… The final times represents an
age that contains all of these “better” concepts.
They will be a holy age, when shortages are replaced by plenty
and abundance, injustice by justice, immorality by morality,
conflict by peace and security, and the Islamic morality that
all believers have yearned for down the centuries comes to
prevail.
The hadiths of our Prophet (saas) contain detailed
descriptions of that time and its salient features. A number
of prominent Muslims who came after the Prophet (saas) have
also made important statements regarding the final times.
When we look at these accounts, we see that the final times
will contain a number of important and consecutive events
or processes. The final times will be a period when the world
first undergoes terrible misfortune and chaos, but later finds
salvation by living by the true religion.
In the first stage of the final times, a number
of ideologies that deny the existence of Allah will give rise
to great world degeneration. People will move away from the
purpose behind their creation, and consequently suffer a great
spiritual and moral collapse. There will be terrible disasters,
wars and suffering, and people will seek an answer to the
question “How can we be saved?”
This period of the final times will also be one
in which religion is corrupted. Islam will have been diverted
from its true form by a number of superstitions incorporated
into it. Some people, who cloak their hypocrisy and conservatism
under a mask of piety, will try to spread these superstitions
even wider and to prevent the understanding of the proper
morality that lies at the heart of Islam. Philosophies that
encourage atheism and irreligion on the one hand, and these
conservative forces that try to destroy religion from the
inside on the other will have pushed mankind in the direction
of terrible darkness.
During the terrible chaos of the final times, Allah
will use a servant having superior morality known as the Mahdi
(the guide to the truth), to invite humanity back to the right
path. The Mahdi's first task will be to wage a war of ideas
within the Islamic world and to turn those Muslims who have
moved away from Islam's true essence back to true belief and
morality. At this point, the Mahdi has three basic tasks:
1. Tearing down all philosophical systems that
deny Allah's Existence and support atheism.
2. Fighting superstition by freeing Islam from the yoke
of those hypocritical individuals who have corrupted it,
and then revealing and implementing true Islamic morality
based on the rules of the Qur'an.
3. Strengthening the entire Islamic world, both politically
and socially, and then bringing about peace, security and
well-being in addition to solving societal problems.
According to many hadiths, Prophet 'Isa (as) will
return to Earth at the same time, and will call upon all Christians
and Jews, in particular, to abandon their current superstitions
and to live by the Qur'an. As the Christians harken to him,
the Islamic and Christian worlds will come together in one
faith, and the world will experience that period of great
peace, security, happiness, and well-being known as the Golden
Age.
The hadiths of our Prophet contain various accounts
of the portents that will accompany the beginning of the final
times. The Qur'an also contains a number of verses that refer
to this time. This section explains various signs of the final
times in the light of the hadiths and Qur'anic verses.
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