The appearance of false Messiahs foretells
the coming of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh)
Those who are unwilling to prepare the coming of the worthy
messenger of God may be those who wish to encourage believers
towards slackness. With various pretexts they will seek to
portray preparations for the coming of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh)
as unnecessary. One of the ruses they will employ will be
the appearance of false messiahs. From time to time, those
who were not of sound mind or who had various agendas of their
own have claimed to be the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). Some groups
have sought to use the ignorance of these people for their
own ends. They have made statements to the effect that “Declarations
that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will come have led to the emergence
of false messiahs.” By means of these statements they have
sought to slow down, or even put an end to preparations for
the Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) return to Earth. However, God will
allow nobody to delay this sacred time which He has promised.
They are unaware of one most important fact: “The appearance
of false messiahs is a portent, the glad tidings, of the coming
of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh).”
The above hadiths remind us of developments in our own day.
By taking advantage of the hopes of Muslims and Christians
about the second coming of Jesus (pbuh), a number of deceivers
have claimed prophethood and at times caused great suffering.
Experts have noted that there
has been a proliferation of so-called messiahs that began
to appear in the 1970's and which has since increased substantially.
According to these experts, there are two basic reasons for
this increase. First is the collapse of communism, and the
other is the possibilities afforded by Internet technology.1
The following excerpts have been selected as examples to help
us better understand this phenomenon:
The tension that lasted for 51
days between the federal agents and the members of the sect
ended in a tragedy. The fiery demise of the Branch Davidian
compound in Waco, Texas, that claimed the lives of David Koresh
and at least 74 of his followers.2
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Time, May 3, 1993
Hadiths reveal that before the Prophet Jesus’ (pbuh)
sojourn, fake prophets will appear. During the last
30-40 years many examples of such people appeared. David
Koresh (picture above) who went to death with his 80
followers in 1993. (The two photographs above)
At the end of the 1970s, Jim Jones, the founder of The
People’s Temple, a perverted sect that went to history
as the sect that led greatest number of people to mass
suicide, is one of these examples. (Below left) Jim
Jones, who poisened himself with his 900 followers,
is the foremost of these examples.The followers of Jim
Jones among whom there are also children.
(left above) Takvim, April 06, 2002, "False Prophet
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Last week at two sites in Switzerland
and one in Canada where 53 of Jouret's followers and their
children died. Police in two countries are trying to find
out whether the deaths were mass suicide, mass murder or some
bizarre combination of the two.3
Grim evidence of the worst cult
slaughter… Up to1000 followers feared dead as more graves
found in Uganda4
It was an event that sent shock
waves worldwide-the worst mass suicide in modern history.
More than 900 people, members of a cult, were found clustered
together in a South American forest. The dead were followers
of Rev. Jim Jones, the leader of the Peoples' Temple in San
Francisco.5
The Qur'an also points to the advent of false prophets. One
verse pertaining to this topic is the following:
Who could do greater wrong than someone who invents
lies against God or denies His Signs, or who says, "It
has been revealed to me," when nothing has been revealed
to him, or someone who says, "I will send down the same
as God has sent down?” If you could only see the wrongdoers
in the throes of death when the angels are stretching out
their hands, saying, "Disgorge your own selves! Today
you will be repaid with the punishment of humiliation for
saying something other than the truth about God, and being
arrogant about His Signs." (Qur’an, 6:93)
As it is stated in that which follows this verse, these people,
who may have committed the sin described in the verse, will
surely receive their recompense for the lies they have fabricated.
There is no doubt that the days when all the lies of all
these false prophets will be eradicated are close, for our
Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) announced
that, after the liars have gone, Jesus (pbuh) would return.
True believers will recognize the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) from
the portents. Every deed of his will be wise and inimitable;
these portents will set him apart from other people, and he
will immediately be recognized without the need for any proof.
The efforts of the false messiahs to prove themselves to be
him is the clearest indication of their falsity.
The Prophet Jesus’ (pbuh) actions will constitute the proof
of his identity. He will inflict a terrible defeat on atheistic
movements and systems that attempt to spread denial of God
and to spread immorality. It will be easy for him to defeat
the snares of the deniers with the revelation of God, to spread
the moral values of the religion among people and to negate
the efforts of the ungodly. By his miracles he will prove
that the religion of God is the true way and that believers
will inevitably prevail. In the Qur'an our Lord gives these
glad tidings to believers:
They desire to extinguish God's Light with their
mouths but God will perfect His Light, though the disbelievers
hate it. It is He Who sent His Messenger with guidance and
the Religion of Truth to exalt it over every other religion,
though the associators hate it. (Qur’an, 61:8-9)
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1.
Time,
April 7, 1997, "The lure of the cult"
2. Britannica CD 2000, "From Year in Review 1993: Chronology"
3. Time, October 17, 1994, "In The Reign Of Fire"
4. The Guardian, 29 Mart 2000, "Grim evidence of worst
cult slaughter"
5. CNN, "Jonestown, 1978", http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/century/episodes/08/timelines/
headlines/infoboxes/jonestown.html
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