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A
little before the
end of time the
majority of the
world’s people
will enter the true
religion, that is,
Islam. There has,
however, been
reported a tradition
that the Day of
Resurrection will
not come as long as
there exist some on
the earth who recite
the Name of God. How
will then people
apostatize after an
almost universal
conversion?
Those
whose faith in the
pillars of the religion
is weak regard it as
almost impossible that
Jesus, upon him be
peace, will return to
the world before the end
of time, practice the
Islamic Law, and kill Dajjal
(the Antichrist), all of
which is predicted in an
authentic hadith. What
is meant by this and
other similar Prophetic
Traditions about Jesus’
return, Sufyan
(another Dajjal
who will appear in the
Muslim world) and the Mahdi
is this:
There
will appear two trends
of unbelief before the
end of time:
A terrible
person who
disguises
himself under
the veil of
hypocrisy will
appear in the
Muslim world. He
will lead the
hypocrites and,
denying the
Messengership of
the Prophet
Muhammad, upon
him be peace and
blessings, will
try to destroy
the Shari‘a.
Fortunately, a
blessed person
from the
descendants of
the Prophet‘s
family will come
up against him
and, at the head
of the people of
sainthood and
spiritual
perfection, will
eradicate this
trend of
hypocrisy.
The second trend
of unbelief is
an absolute
atheism, a
consequence of
the philosophies
of naturalism
and positivism,
strengthened by
the materialist
philosophy. Just
as a wild,
primitive man
who does not
recognize the
King, and
therefore does
not recognize
the different
orders in the
King’s army,
from private to
general, will
have to
attribute to
each member of
this army a sort
of independent
kingship and
sovereignty; in
the same way,
each follower of
this atheist
trend will
inevitably come
to appropriate
for himself some
kind or degree
of divinity. As
a result, the
man who will
come to lead
them, supported
by some material
and psychic
means like
spiritism and
‘hypnotism’
through various
ways, will go so
far as to deify
himself. This
man was referred
to as Dajjal
in the Prophetic
traditions. How
stupid it is of
a human being to
claim divinity
when he is so
powerless that
he could not
make the wing of
a gnat and can
be defeated by a
fly or even a
microbe. The
religion of
Jesus will gain
momentum in its
pristine,
uncorrupted
original form
when this trend
of atheism is at
its peak. That
is to say, the
religion of
Islam will come
to spread in the
Western world
and
Christianity, in
response, will
be purified of
all the pagan
elements which
have found a way
into it since
its beginning
and will convert
to and so unite
with Islam.
Thus, the
religion will
gain great
strength from
this union and,
as a result,
will come out
victorious in
its struggle
against atheist
trends. How then
can it be denied
that the Exalted
and All-Wise
will ‘return’
Jesus to the
world before the
end of time? And
do so for an
important
purpose related
to His religion
just as He
frequently sends
certain of His
angels to the
world for
certain
purposes, and
sometimes sends
them in the form
of human beings?
(The Archangel
Jibril
(Gabriel), for
example,
sometimes came
to the Prophet,
upon him be
peace and
blessings, in
the form of one
of his
companions,
Dihya.) God
makes some
spiritual beings
appear in this
world in the
form of human
beings, and He
even dispatches
to the world the
souls of some
dead saints in
their energy ‘envelopes’.
It is also worth
pointing out
here that Jesus
is in the
nearest heaven
with his ’refined’
corporeal body
and enjoying a
particular
degree of
life-as
expounded in the
First Letter of
the Risale-i Nur
Collection. If
he had ‘completely’
died and gone to
the farthest
corner of the
other world, it
would even then
be in conformity
with the Divine
Wisdom that God
should resurrect
him and return
him to the world
for a very
important
purpose. God
promised this
and He will
certainly carry
out His promise,
and the Truthful
Reporter, upon
him be peace and
blessings,
foretold all
this on the
basis of that
promise. When
Jesus comes
again, not
everyone is
expected to
recognize him.
Only those who
are nearest to
him will
recognize him
through the
light of faith.
It
has been reported in
the traditions that
Dajjal will have a
false paradise,
where he will admit
his friends, and a
false hell, where he
will throw his
opponents. He will
also have a saddle
beast (donkey), one
of whose ears is
like Paradise, the
other like Hell.
Some other
traditions say that
he will have a huge
physical stature.
What is meant by all
the traditions of
this import?
Dajjal
is a human being like
everyone. He is a
conspirator, a stupid
devil who has forgotten
God. He deifies himself
because of his
tyrannical rule, the
apparent splendor of his
despotism. However, the
trend of atheism, which
he represents, is very
mighty and
comprehensive. The
traditions which
describe Dajjal
as an enormous man are
actually about this
trend, not about the
person of Dajjal
himself. I once saw a
picture of the Japanese
chief-commander, one of
whose feet was on the
Pacific Ocean, the other
on Port Arthur. By this
picture was the power of
the Japanese army and
the vast field of
Japanese influence
demonstrated.
As
to the false paradise of
Dajjal, this is
the passing fancies, the
charming playthings and
amusements of modern
civilization. His saddle
beast (donkey) is modern
vehicles of
transportation from
trains [to space ships].
There is at one ‘end’
of trains, for example,
a fire-place into which Dajjal
throws his
opponents, while the
other ‘end’ is
richly furnished like
Paradise, where he
admits his followers. In
fact, trains, which are
a very important ‘mount’
of modern corrupt
civilization, bring a
false paradise to the
corrupt worldly people,
whereas they have become
a means of colonizing
Muslim countries,
exploiting their riches
and enslaving Muslim
peoples.1
It
is thus in this dramatic
episode of human history
that the religion of
Islam, which will have
gained great strength
through the union of a
‘purified’
Christianity, will
disseminate its light to
the majority of the
world’s population.
But shortly before the
end of time a new trend
of unbelief will appear
and have an overwhelming
influence on the world’s
people. As a result, the
great majority will slip
into unbelief while a
few will continue to
preserve their faith
until the Last Day.
Nevertheless, God, out
of His mercy for
believers, will make
them die just before the
destruction of the world
so that they will not
experience this terrible
event, and the world
will be destroyed over
the heads of
unbelievers.
Will
the souls that have gained permanence through death be influenced by
the events of Doomsday?
They will be
influenced according to their ranks in the similar way that angels
are influenced by the destruction of sinners in the demonstration of
the anger of God. As the mind and spirit of a man in a hot room are
influenced by the sight of someone trembling in the cold outside, so
the conscious souls that have gone into eternity will, as indicated
by the Quran, be affected by the important events of the universe,
to which they are somewhat in relation: the people of torment will
be affected by them in agony, while the people of happiness in
wonder and amazement, and even in a joyful expectation of the coming
of the final, endless bliss.
In many
verses, the Wise Quran threatens mankind (and jinn) with the shock
of the events of Doomsday, and emphasizes that all will experience
them. But as only those alive at the time of the destruction of the
world will experience it physically, the souls whose bodies have, or
will have, melted away in graves are also encompassed, to some
extent, within this Quranic threat.
Is
the verse, All things perish, except His ‘Face’ (28:88),
also related to Paradise, Hell, and those within them?
This matter
has long been discussed by scholars, saints and men of deep
perception and insight, who have the authority to discuss this
subject. Some of them have maintained that the people of the
permanent world are not included in the meaning of the verse, while
others have held that these people will also enter an annihilation
though for so short a time that they will not feel this instant of
perishing. By contrast, some people among those who are able to
discover some hidden truths, have gone so far as to argue that the
whole of existence except God will permanently perish-but this is
not compatible with truth. The Divine Essence is permanent, and so
are the Attributes and Names of God. It is thus impossible that the
permanent beings in the World of Permanence will go into absolute
annihilation since they are the manifestations of those permanent
Attributes and Names, and the mirrors where they are reflected.
Let me here
briefly write down two points which have just come to my mind from
the infinite ocean of the meanings of the Quran. They are:
The
All-Mighty is Omnipotent: creation and destruction are equally easy
for Him. As He can send the whole creation into annihilation in a
moment, He can also bring it back into existence in an instant. In
addition, there is no such entity as ‘absolute non-existence’.
There cannot be because there is an encompassing knowledge:
everything is contained, or, in other words, has a kind of
existence, an ideal form, within the Divine Knowledge, which is
infinite. There is, so to speak, no room for ‘non-existence’. As
for the ‘relative non-existence’ within the encompassing circle
of Divine Knowledge, it is, in essence, a nominal veil where the
manifestations of Divine Knowledge are reflected. Some men of
profound understanding have, however, called these ‘ideal forms’
of existence ‘archetypes’. Because of this, to go into
non-existence means to take off an outer dress, namely, the body,
and to return to the circle of spiritual existence or existence in
Divine Knowledge. That is to say, those that are subject to
perishing, by leaving their physical bodies, put on a spiritual body
and, leaving the circle where the (Divine) Power operates, enter the
circle of the (Divine) Knowledge.
Everything
does not actually exist by itself; its existence depends on God. It
exists as a manifestation of the permanent Divine Names. It has, in
this respect, a permanent, sublime reality because it reflects the
Divine Name which is the cause of its existence. The verse, All
things perish, except His Face also serves as a sword with which to
liberate man from everything that is not God, i.e., the world, the
flesh, and the vanities of life. Because of this, whatever man has
or does for the sake of God is not included in the meaning of this
verse so that it is subject to perishing.
In sum, if a
man ‘finds’ God and does whatever he does only for His sake,
then there will be left nothing to be included in the meaning of the
verse, All things perish, except His Face. So man, if he wishes to
eternalize his deeds and to be rewarded with a permanent happiness,
he must seek God and spend his life for His sake and pleasure.
1.
That is, Dajjal makes
much use of modern
vehicles, weaponry and
technology to colonize
Muslim countries and
enslave Muslim
peoples. Trains have
become one of the most
important of those
vehicles partly
because trains were
the main vehicles of
transportation before
other motor-vehicles
were invented, Letter
and partly because it
is rather communism
or, in a wider sense,
materialism or atheism
and the communist
world to which the
Prophet alluded by Dajjal.
Innocent Muslim masses
were carried to the
concentration camps in
Russia by trains.
Again, trains were
really of great
importance for modern
corrupt civilization
especially in the
previous century and
in the first half of
the twentieth,
without, however,
losing their
importance today as
well. While they were,
on the one hand,
carrying the
privileged supporters
of this corrupt
civilization, and of
the anti-Islamic
regimes in the Muslim
world, to the places
of enjoyment, in
richly furnished
compartments, they
have become, on the
other, in the hands of
imperialist powers,
the means of
colonizing Muslim
countries, exploiting
their riches and
enslaving their
peoples, as in Asia
and Africa, and
carrying them,
piled-up into
barn-like
compartments, to work
or to concentration
camps, as in Russia,
where most of them
died.
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