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+--- Thread: Why was Promised Reformer in later days era being waited? How to pin point that era? (/thread-51197.html)
Why was Promised Reformer in later days era being waited? How to pin point that era? - HafizAzizRafiq - 12-10-2020
Why was Promised Reformer in later days era being waited? What method is used by Holy Prophet PBUH to pin point the era of Promised Reformer Messiah Mahdi?
Peace be on you.
His Coming is important because he is not a common Reformer. He is given titles of Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi in the Sayings of Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him).
The creed of second coming of Messiah did not begin in time of Islam, it was present in ummat of Moses a.s. since hundreds of years. No doubt, Islam has merged the part of this creed as important part of creed of Islam. It is important because:
1=News is given about a Mahdi, which is mentioned as Promised Messiah in other Ahadith. Due to this prophesy, Muslims feel such attachment with Messiah as it should be for an Elder of own people.
2=Coming of Messiah, is declared as era of renaissance of Islam. With this coming, supremacy of Islam over other religions was destined.
3=With declaring Messiah and Mahdi as same, coming of Messiah is declared as if coming of Holy Prophet PBUH [a metaphor]. Those who see him, are like Companions. Thus a zealous desire is created in those who love Holy Prophet PBUH.
4=Holy Prophet PBUH prophesied about a dangerous and chaotic era, which was to shake Islam. He PBUH prophesied that Promised Messiah would remove those troubles and save Islam for always. Thus Promised Messiah was being waited as angel of mercy.
Words of Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) ‘kaifa tahleko ummatun anaa fi awwaleha wal masiho fi aakherha’ [Ibne Majah, bab al aitaqam bissunnah i.e. How can that ummat be destroyed, I am at its beginning and Messiah in the end] – were making well wisher or Islam eager for coming of Promised Messiah. They knew, after coming of Messiah Islam will be saved from satanic attacks.
These four matters made coming of Messiah as a principle issue. It was not possible such an era was not described with out enough indications.
What is method used in prophecies about advent of a Grand Reformer?
It never happens that information about era of Appointed ones and Messengers and their beings is told in such words as if their hand is given in the hand of a seeker. If it was done like it, Eman [faith] would become useless, and believer and disbeliever would become same. News about Appointed ones is always given in such words that those who have Eman and interest, they get guidance. Others find some excuse for their denial. Who can deny a risen sun? There is no reward for it also. Thus partial guidance and partial hiding is done, which ought to be.
This mode is also used in News about era of Promised Messiah. The news about his era are given in such words as News about previous Prophets had been given. For a true seeker who has insight these are not less than illumined sign.
One who has believed in a Prophet with arguments, and is not depandant on forefathers’ belief, it is not difficult for him to get benefit from the signs about Messiah.
But those who apparently believe in hundreds of Messengers, but they did not believe a single Messenger by their own research, it is very difficult for them to believe in a Truthful one no matter how many signs he carries. They have no own Eman. Their Eman is what their clergies tell them or what they heard from their forefathers. Since they have never seen a Messenger in person, it is difficult for them to recognize a Messenger.
To recognize a Messenger, correct spiritual vision and avoiding rituals is needed.
What method is used by Holy Prophet PBUH to help people to distinguish between his real prophecies about Promised Messiah Mahdi and news invented by some people.
Holy Prophet PBUH has mentioned signs about era of Promised Messiah (a.s.). Pondering over these signs can make easy to recognize that era.
It is to be noted that, some people in the past, added wrong traditions, during times of discords in Ummat, to prove their certain sect was right. For example, some news are found which tell about time of coming of Mahdi, but their words are clearly such that there is an attempt was made to get a decision about a discord, in favour of someone.
For example, there are some ‘ahadith’ about time of Banu Abbas [Abbasid Dynasty], which apparently give signs of Mahdi but in reality it was being said in those, that revolts in Khurasan in the favor of Abbasids, were from Allah and according to His pleasure. The wrong of such ‘ahadith’ is proven by events. One thousand plus years has passed but no such Mahdi according to these ‘ahadith’ appeared.
Likewise there are more traditions, in which signs of Mahdi are mixed with bygone events. Unless signs about Mahdi are separated from past events, reality cannot be known.
People who did not know history of Islam, were deceived by these traditions. They waited for those events to happen in future which had actually took place in past. The reason of adding those events in signs of Mahdi was only to show their sect was right.
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Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) used a method to mention real signs of Mahdi. If it is kept in view, a person can save himself from deception. Holy Prophet PBUH mentioned the real signs about time of Mahdi as connected chain. Due to these, corruption is detected. If he PBUH had told that Mahdi and his father would have such and such names, many people of those name would have claimed so. He PBUH did not tell signs which could have been fulfilled by people.
=He PBUH told such [real] signs of Mahdi which were possible only after changes of hundreds of years. No human, even group of people, generation after generation could have created them.
=Another thing in these real signs is that, it is said exclusively about some of them that these signs would not appear before Mahdi.
Keeping these two principles in mind, it is not difficult to know about era of Mahdi. If at that time we find that some signs are not fulfilled then either these were not real signs and were just added by cruel people or they needed interpretation.
It is to be noted that individual mention of the signs of era of Mahdi are not signs of Mahdi. Collectively they are real signs of Mahdi’s era. For example, Hadith says that a sign of Mahdi is that trust will be lost, or illiteracy will increase. If these individual signs are considered full signs of Mahdi it will mean that, whenever trust is lost or illiteracy increases in the cycles of world events, Mahdi must appear. So far many ups and downs came for Muslims, sometimes their knowledge was lost and sometimes trust. But Mahdi did not come.
Thus it is found that all signs, collectively, determine era of Mahdi, as mentioned by Holy Prophet PBUH.
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The way to recognize an era is same as how to recognize a person. To recognize a person we mention his countenance, height, color, habits, excellence, indications about his relatives, way to his house etc.
Likewise, if a certain era is to be told, the following things are mentioned: anyting special about celestial bodies, the changes inside the earth, civilization, world’s conditions in politics, religions, knowledge, practices, international relations, rich and poor, communication, travel arrangements etc.
If these conditions are told before time, and latter when a person observe all these signs in a certain era, he will immediately recognize the era without doubt.
That is why Holy Prophet (peace be blessings of Allah be on him) mentioned the signs of era of Promised Messiah, the Imam Mahdi (a.s.) so that people, in the time of religious differences, do not invent wrong signs which may make difficult to recognize Promised Messiah, the Imam Mahdi (a.s.).
Holy Prophet PBUH prophesied what would be conditions in world when his servant Promised Messiah Mahdi (a.s.) would come. These condition are about world’s condition in religion, internal condition of Muslims in religious practices, moral state of world, knowledge-wise state of world, cultural and civilization’s changes, physical and health conditions of world, ratio of genders, international relations, economic conditions, political conditions, and astronomical conditions.
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The gathering of these conditions in a limited time collectively pin point what is the era of Promised Messiah Mahdi. Individually they may have appeared over the long times. Earthquakes, plagues, immoralities etc had always come, Christians had previously rules great part of world but so many things never happened in short time.
If a person is told about all these news given by Holy Prophet PBUH about era of Promised Reformer and then he is given the history of world and asked to tell which era is told in prophecies. He will not find these collective prophecies from time of Hazrat Adam a.s. onward anywhere. But he will find that it is the era of Promised Messiah Mahdi (a.s.) as foretold by Hazrat Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him).
The above mentioned history reader person will find Holy Prophet PBUH’s prophecies are fulfilled i.e. people are not paying attention to religion, various worldly knowledge have progressed, Muslims gained power then became weak, Christinaity declined then progressed and its adherents are rich others are poor, despite scientific progress germs-based diseases have increased, people are tied in chains of rituals, new means of transports have emerged, interest based financial activities are seen, increase in earthquakes, appearance of dajjal [deceptors], spread of Gog magog [fire users], fulfillment of promised eclipses of sun and moon in one Ramadan in 1894 and 1895 when a claimant was present, abundance of wealth, awareness of rights of labourers etc.
This person will say all these signs are fulfilled collectively, his hands will shake, his heart beat will increase, he will close the history book and say, that is it, Promised Messiah Mahdi (a.s.) has already come in this era or he will never come.
[Based on writing of Hazrat Second Ahmadiyya Khalifah of Ahmadiyya Hazrat Promised Messiah Mahdi (a.s.)]