Question: If Jesus
(peace be upon him) is alive, shall he descend at
the end of the time and judge among the people while
following the religion of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him)? What is the evidence for that?
And how can one refute those people who claim that
he will not descend nor judge among the people?
Answer: Yes, the
Prophet of Allah Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon
him) will descend at the end of time and judge among
the people with justice, following the Law of our
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He will break
the crosses and kill the swine. HE shall put an end
to the payment of the jizya. He will only accept
Islam from the people. The People of the Book, the
Jews and Christians, will all believe in him before
his death, after he descends at the end of time.
Allah has stated, "There is none of the People
of the book but must believe in him (as only a
Messenger of Allah) before his death. And on the Day
of Resurrection, he (Jesus) will be a witness
against them." [an-Nisa, 4:159]
Allah has stated
that all of the People of the Book, Jews and
Christians, will believe in Jesus son of Mary (peace
be upon him) before his death - that is, before the
death of Jesus. That will be when he descends at the
end of time as a judge and just caller to Islam, as
shall be noted in the hadith describing his descent.
This is the meaning
of the words [in the verse quoted above]. The
context of the verse is demonstrating the stance
that the Jews took toward Jesus (peace be upon him)
and what they conspired to do against him. It also
shows the way of Allah in saving Jesus and refuting
the works of his enemies. The pronouns in the
phrase, "believe in him before his death"
must both refer to Jesus to be consistent with the
context and so that the antecedents will be the
same. It is confirmed in numerous authentic hadith,
that have come through numerous chains and have
reached the level of mutawatir [narration that has
been reported through so many chains and from so
many people that there is no way to doubt its
authenticity], that Allah raised Jesus to the
heavens. They also state that he will descend at the
end of time as a just ruler and will kill the False
Messiah [Anti-Christ].
Ibn Taimiya said,
after quoting the numerous chains reporting Jesus'
being raised to heaven and his descent at the end of
time, "These hadith are mutawatir from the
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). They have
been narrated from Abu Huraira, Ibn Mas`ud, `Uthman
ibn Abu al-as, Abu Umama, al-Nawas ibn Samaan,
Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As and Hudahifah ibn Usaid
(may Allah be pleased with all of them). These
hadith contain indications concerning how and where
he will descend."
One of those hadith
is the following: Abu Huraira reported that the
Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "By the One
in whose hand is my soul, soon the son of Mary will
descend upon you as a just judge. He will break the
crosses, kill the swine and will put an end to the
jizya. And wealth will spread to the extent that on
one will accept it." Then Abu Huraira said,
"Recite if you wish, "There is none of the
People of the Book but must believe in him (as only
a Messenger of Allah) before his death. And on the
Day of Resurrection, he (Jesus) will be a witness
against them."" [an-Nisa 4:159] [Al-Bukhari
& Muslim]
In another
narration from Abu Huraira, the Prophet (peace be
upon him) said, "How will you be when the son
of Mary descends among you and your leader will be
from among yourselves?" [Al-Bukhari &
Muslim] It is also confirmed in the Sahih from Jabir
ibn Abdullah that he heard the Prophet (peace be
upon him) say, "A group of people from my
Nation will continue to fight in defense of the
truth and remain triumphant until the day of
Judgment." He also said, "Jesus, son of
Mary (peace be upon him), will descend upon them and
their leader will say (to him), 'Come and lead us in
prayer.' He will say, 'No, Allah has honored this
Nation by putting some as leaders over
others.'" [Saheeh Muslim]
This hadith
demonstrate that he will descend at the end of time
and that he will judge according to the Law of our
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). They also
show, without doubt, that there will be a leader for
this nation at that time. Furthermore, there is no
contradiction between his descending and the fact
that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the
seal of the prophets. This is so because Jesus will
not be descending with a new law. To Allah belongs
the decree, first and last. He does what He wills
and rules as He wills. There is none to come after
His Rule. He is the All-Mighty, All-Wise.
- Responded by the
Permanent Committee, Fataawaa Islamiya, vol.1, p.141
