Islam's Jesus

6. The Mahdi and Jesus as Allies against al-Dajjal (the Antichrist)

six The Mahdi and Jesus as Allies against al-Dajjal (the Antichrist) In Islamic eschatological literature, there are several important figures. Perhaps the most important of these are Jesus, the Antichrist, and the Mahdi. These three figures are closely related. Although a book could be written about any of these three individually, our focus is Jesus, so it is appropriate to discuss Jesus’s relationship with the other two figures. Since the idea of the Mahdi has an especial importance in the Shi‘ite tradition, I found it useful to include the Shi‘ite theological perspective on Jesus’s return in this chapter. The Mahdi The Mahdi is an Islamic messianic figure whose emergence at the end of time is expected to bring justice to the world. He is portrayed as a human being who has the extraordinary power to make such a change. Although the Mahdi is not named in the Qur’an or the highly reliable Hadith anthologies of al-Bukhari and Muslim, belief in the coming of the Mahdi is found both in the Sunni and Shi‘ite traditions of Islam.1 The belief in the emergence of the Mahdi is an essential part of the Shi‘ite tradition and doctrines in that tradition regarding his coming and messianic role are considerably different than those found in the Sunni tradition. Although the vast majority of Sunnis believe in the coming of the Mahdi, the figure is not a major part of their theology; that is to say, a belief in the coming of the Mahdi is not one of the pillars of Sunni Islam or its articles of faith.2 The major role of the Mahdi in the Sunni tradition is to work for justice and to fight with Jesus against the Antichrist and eventually defeat him. In “al-Anbiya’,” or “the Prophets,” a chapter of Muhammad al-Bukhari’s al-Sahih, we are taught about a nameless figure who leads a prayer at the request of Jesus. Many commentators on this hadith believe this Muslim leader to be the Mahdi. The Mahdi and Jesus as Allies against al-Dajjal (the Antichrist) 85 Some hadith even suggest that Jesus will meet with the Mahdi at the time of a specific prayer. One hadith says this meeting will take place at a morning prayer while another says it will be during an afternoon prayer. It is believed that Jesus and the Mahdi will pray together but that the leader in prayer will be the Mahdi. Despite the fact that Jesus is among the five elite prophets of God and the Mahdi is lower in spiritual rank than Jesus, some traditions suggest that Jesus will ask the Mahdi to lead the prayer. Some Muslim commentators take Hadith literature on the Mahdi very literally while other prominent scholars understand the hadith on the subject in allegorical ways. Still other scholars deny that the idea of the Mahdi is found in Islam. For example, Muhammad Rashid Rida (d. 1935), a prominent Egyptian scholar and jurist, argues that neither in the Qur’an nor in the Hadith can one find a reliable reference to the idea of the Mahdi that would support the figure’s role in Sunni theology. He warns Muslims of pseudo-Mahdis. In concluding his arguments, he says: “We do not believe in this expected personality. We believe in the harm of believing in him.” He also believes that the reason for Muslims’ stagnation in technology and military power is their belief in a man with an extraordinary “unseen power and heavenly support,” a capacity that can make things right and miraculously bring about justice.3 It seems that Rida’s idea is not the dominant view among Muslims, but his view is shared by a good number of Muslim intellectuals. There is no doubt that Muslims’ expectations for the Mahdi reflect a deeprooted desire for a just social order and a moral system of governance. Since this ideal is generally future-oriented, it is evident that it has certain eschatological applications. Unlike Jesus, the Mahdi is not mentioned in the Qur’an by name, although many verses refer to the muhtadun, or “the guided ones.”4 In the Arabic lexicon, mahdi means “the person who is guided by God to the truth.”5 Both words are derived from the same verbal noun, hady, which means guidance. Thus, anyone who follows the true path could theoretically be called mahdi but without any messianic meaning attached to the term. If...