Copyright © 1996 by M. Anderson. All rights reserved.
The first accomplishment of Jesus at his reappearing is one of restoration, and the second is one of destruction. Sickness and death will become a thing of the past, and the Dajjal will be destroyed.
The early Muslims believed that Jesus' work will be so comprehensive that during his rule, 'No one will die, no one will get sick' [1]. When the Christ comes, death will go out and all disease will vanish from the world. This is consistent with the Hadith that says everything that has a sting will lose it. The change that Jesus will bring will include even the world of bacteria and viruses.
The Qur'an teaches that Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead [2], but here he renders sickness and death inoperative. At his first appearing, Jesus raised some individuals; in his second appearing, millions will be made immune to death and free from its clutch and fear.
The fear of death is a form of self-worship. The true worshipper is controlled by one fear only - the fear of God. One is a slave to that which he fears. Man was created to be God's slave alone. This is true worship.
Such worship will only be fully possible when death has been made a thing of the past. This will happen under the rule of Jesus. This will be Paradise on earth. Man will have no excuse in refusing to bend the knee and worship God.
Even the after-effects of death will not go unnoticed by Jesus. The Hadith says, 'He will wipe away [tears or sadness] from people's faces ...' [3]. The early believers felt that Jesus' care for the sorrowful, the bereaved and the broken-hearted is no less an achievement than his other accomplishments. No wonder the Hadith says, 'How happy is living after the coming of Christ Jesus ...' [4]
Jesus will also destroy the Dajjal. Throughout all the Hadith, Jesus is the only one who engages in battle with the false Christ. It is a one to one battle - the last and greatest battle in the whole history of mankind, from the creation of Adam to the Day of Doom.
It is of great interest to note that in the whole work of Jesus, whether in the past or in the future, he kills only one person, the false Christ. Throughout the Hadith, we are not told that Jesus lifts his hand against any other person. Christ is renowned for healing the sick and raising the dead, so when he kills someone we must stop and ask the reason. Why, out of all the millions of this world, is there only one that Jesus kills?
The answer lies in the character of the Dajjal and his terrible effect for evil in the world.
Throughout all ages, when people drift away from God they lose their ability to discern the truth. They forfeit their sense of purpose and direction and become easy victims of error and evil. When people accept black as white, white automatically becomes black. When good is seen as evil, evil then comes unchallenged to crown itself as good. But although evil has always been on the march, in the last days it will not need to wear any masks. Evil will manifest itself raw, in the flesh - so much so that the representative of wickedness, the Dajjal, will proclaim himself to be the almighty, all-wise, good God. What a blasphemy and a lie!
We can summarise his character according to the Haddith under four headings.
The appearing of the Dajjal will represent the darkest night in human history.
Between the creation of Adam and the Hour of Doom there is nothing more dangerous than the false Christ. [5]
It will be the darkest night because men will choose between unveiled evil and the true God. And sadly the millions of this world will reject God. 'Even those in their graves will believe in him,' we are told [6]. That is, they will believe that he is God.
It is easy to understand why the Prophet prayed, 'O God, I take refuge in you from the torment of the grave, and the torment of Hell ... and the trial of the false Christ' [7]. Clearly the trial of the Dajjal is nothing less than the torment of the grave and the torment of Hell. If this is how the Prophet felt about it, how will the average believer fair?
What makes the trial of the Dajjal comparable to the torment of the grave and the torment of Hell?
The eminent scholar Al-Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Al-'Arabi (543H) said of the miracles and powers of the Dajjal that `God enabled the Dajjal to manifest some of God's omnipotent powers.' [8] The Dajjal is presented as having authority and power over the earth and sky, the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom:
He would come to the people and invite them (to a wrong religion) and they would affirm their faith in him and respond to him. He would then give command to the sky and there would be rainfall upon the earth and it would grow crops. Then in the evening their pasturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. He would then come to another people and invite them. But they would reject him and he would go away from them and there would be drought for them and nothing would be left with them in the form of wealth. He would then walk through the waste land and say to it; 'Bring forth your treasures,' and the treasures would come out and collect (themselves) before him like a swarm of bees. [9]
Not only that, but like the true Christ he will heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, and even raise the dead:
The Dajjal is coming ... he will heal the blind and the leper and bring to life the dead. He will say to the people, 'I am your God'. [10]
According to the Hadith, the damage the Dajjal will cause by his divine powers will not be local, but worldwide. He will perform miracles everywhere and so subdue the whole earth, except Mecca and Madina. [11]
Not only will the Dajjal bewitch the world by His miracles and divine powers, he will also seek to destroy all opposition. He will have such hypnotic powers that when his mere shadow falls on the Muslim army, it will cause their strongest to kneel down, sapped of the strength to stand. [12]
Far more dangerous than the Dajjal's divine powers is his ability to deceive people, claiming that he is the one who will judge the world.
The early Muslims believed that God will descend to the lower Heaven to judge the world:
A caller will cry before the single Shout, 'O people, the Hour has come'. The living and the dead will hear it. And God will descend to the lower Heaven, then a caller will cry, 'Today, to whom the kingdom?' To the One Almighty God. [13]
What is the lower Heaven? The Qur'an says, 'We have adorned the lower Heaven with the adornment of the stars'. [14] So the lower Heaven is the place of the stars.
The Qur'an also speaks about God judging the world by saying He will come and bring Gehenna (ie. Hell) with Him.
No indeed! When the earth is ground to powder, and thy Lord comes, and the angels rank on rank, and Gehenna is brought out, upon that day man will remember; and how shall the reminder be for him? [15]
Whether this coming and the bringing of Gehenna is physical or a mere manifestation is debatable. The early Muslims understood clearly that it was God who would bring judgment on the earth.
Contrary to this, the Dajjal will claim that he is the one who has the power to punish people in Hell or reward them in Paradise. When he appears, people will see with him what the Hadith calls 'two rivers' or 'two mountains', one of which will appear to them as Hell and the other as Paradise.
The false Christ ... has two rivers. One is glowing fire and one is white water ... if any of you should meet him, let him close his eyes and drink from the river of fire; it is cool water. But beware of the other river! It is deception ... [16]With the Dajjal there will be two mountains. One mountain will have trees, fruits and water, the other mountain will have smoke and fire. [About the two mountains] he will say, 'This one is Paradise, and the other one is Hell-fire.' [17]
Those who will not be impressed by the Dajjal's miracles, will be compelled to worship him because of his 'Hell' and 'Paradise'. And so the deception of the Dajjal will constitute the greatest deception in the history of mankind.
The Dajjal will try to imitate the true Christ. That is why he is called the false Christ or the lying Christ. He will have power over nature. He will heal the sick and restore sight to the blind. He will even raise the dead.
Where the false Christ will try to glorify himself, the true Christ will seek to glorify God. Where the false Christ will seduce people to wickedness, the true Christ will remove enmity and hatred from the heart of mankind.
If the false Christ can heal some who are sick and raise a dead man, under the rule of the true Christ sickness and death will not even exist. If the false Christ can have a mountain that he calls `Paradise', under the rule of the true Christ the whole earth will be Paradise.
Perhaps the greatest contrast is the source of their power. The source of the power of the true Christ is God, but the false Christ's power is from Satan.
The Dajjal is called 'the enemy of God' [18] (indeed, anyone who tries falsely to claim that he is the Almighty God is the arch-enemy of God). He is near to the devil himself:
Iblis [the devil] places his throne on the waters. From there he sends his agents into the earth. The nearest to him will be the most deceiving of them all. [19]
The Dajjal then is the closest being to the devil. He is Satan's instrument for spreading evil.
The devils from east and west will be under the command of the Dajjal [20]. Satan will delegate his powers to him. He will be the final manifestation of the forces of evil in a human form, those forces that challenged God in the days of Adam:
Said he [Satan], `Now for Thy [God] perverting me, I shall surely sit in ambush for them on Thy straight path; then I shall come on them from before them and from behind them, from their right hands and their left hands; Thou wilt not find most of them thankful. [21]
In the person of the Dajjal, the devil will launch his final ambush at mankind.
It is in the middle of this final assault of evil, that God will send Jesus the Christ. The Hadith states:
Son of Mary will appear ... placing his hands on the wings of two angels ... when he lowers his head it will trickle droplets of water and when he lifts his head up, precious stones like pearls will roll from his head. Upon him [rests] the Shechina [or, he walks upon the Shechina], and the earth will shrivel before Him. [22]
Jesus is introduced with two angels, a visible token of Heavenly escort. The droplets of water and the rolling pearls from his head convey the freshness and riches of one who has just come from Heaven.
The Hadith then speaks of the coming of the Shechina with Jesus. This word is mentioned in the Qur'an (2: 248). Commentaries disagree on its identity, but the commentator Qartaby mentions two Hadiths from Sahih Muslim indicating that the Shechina is a cloud, or a cloud of angels, or a Spirit in the form of a cloud. In the Qur'an we also find, 'What do they look for, but that God shall come to them in the cloud-shadows, and the angels?' [23]
The Shechina, then, is the same cloud that signifies the Divine presence. Indeed, the word is a Hebrew import meaning, according to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the Divine presence.
Thus the Hadiths speak of the reappearing of Jesus in a very lofty, unprecedented way. It will be accompanied by a Divine presence so great that the earth will shine with nothing less than the light of God. 'Then the earth will shine with the light of its Lord and Jesus Son of Mary will descend.' [24] The expression 'the earth will shine with the light of its Lord' is also mentioned once in the Qur'an:
And the earth shall shine with the light of its Lord, and the Book shall be set in place. [25]
There is an obvious parallel between the Qur'anic verse and the Hadith. In the Hadith, the earth will shine with the light of its Lord and Jesus Son of Mary will descend. And in the Qur'an, the earth will shine with the light of its Lord and the Book will be set in place. In other words, the majesty and power of Jesus' appearing is comparable only to the Day of Judgment, when the Book of Judgment will be set in place.
So then the descent of Jesus from Heaven in the Hadith corresponds to the setting of the Book of Judgment. Indeed, the reappearing of Jesus is fundamentally one of judgment. It is his coming to judge the whole world that sets him apart as the knowledge of the Hour. [26] He will come to judge, and by that people will know that there is no escape from the final judgment - just as his raising of the dead is a proof that the dead shall rise for the final judgment. [27] Shokani also said in Fath Al-Qadeer 'that the virgin birth of Isa, and his raising of the dead is a proof to the truth of the final resurrection'. [28]
God, who lifted Jesus up to Himself once, will introduce him again with Divine honour as the just judge of the whole world:
By God, Jesus Son of Mary will descend to judge in justice. [29]By Him who keeps my soul in His hand, Jesus Son of Mary is about to descend amongst you a righteous judge and a just leader ...[30]
It was a foregone conclusion in the mind of Mohammad and the early believers that there was only one who is qualified to destroy the Dajjal, that was Jesus. Jesus was the one appointed by God for this darkest night of the world.
In reality, however, the coming of the Christ is not primarily to destroy the Dajjal at all, but to judge the world and bring man into total submission under God. The Dajjal happens to be in the way, so Jesus will dispose of him.
Notice that he will do this single-handed. We are not told that Jesus will be helped by any other prophet or by any army, human or angelic. When the Christ comes and leads in prayer, the Muslim army, though under the hypnotic influence of the Dajjal, will be revived; yet it will not help Jesus in destroying the Dajjal. Its task will be a mop-up operation after the destruction of the false Christ.
The Hadith's description of the method by which Christ will destroy the Dajjal is a fascinating one, to say the least. Many great battles have been won by swords and spears, troops and equipment, generals and captains, strategies and tactics, but with many casualties. The greatest battle in history however, will be fought and won by a single look!
And when the enemy of God will see him [Jesus], he will dissolve just as salt dissolves in water.31
There is no second round; indeed, there is not even a first round! All it will take is one look from the eyes of Jesus.
What makes Jesus the only person qualified to destroy the Dajjal? Why is it that God will send Jesus and not Moses or Abraham or Idris?
One Hadith says:
When temptations are presented to hearts like a straw mat, straw by straw, a black dot will be fixed in the heart which receives them, and a white dot in the heart that rejects them. This will continue until the heart becomes one of two: either white like pure marble, with no deception able to affect it as long as Heaven and earth remain; or black, dusty, like an upturned vessel that cannot hold anything. The black heart does not know what is fair and will not deny what is evil, but is coloured by its lust.' [32]
Bukhary records that `Satan touches every child that is born, but Jesus Son of Mary was not touched'. In other words, Jesus is not defiled. His heart is white. That is why he is the only one who can enable those who trust him to overcome the temptations of evil.
Before the appearing of Christ, the world will be on the brink of total spiritual destruction. It will be blinded and be led away from the straight path. The creation that God wonderfully made, and especially man ('We indeed created man in the fairest stature' [33]), will be turning its back on the true Creator and worshipping the enemy of God. This is the greatest insult to the generosity of God the giver, the honour of the Most High, and the Divinity of the one true God.
At this time the believer will be confused, for he will face the greatest trial any believer ever faced. The Prophet Mohammad prayed asking for God's protection from the Dajjal;[34] the believers will do the same. And God's answer to those prayers will be Jesus' reappearing. For Jesus will come with the clear evidence of the false Christ's identity: if the Dajjal is the Almighty, then Jesus will not be able to destroy him, but if Jesus destroys him forever, the Dajjal is not God.
Jesus will destroy the Dajjal. A day is coming when their eyes will meet. The battle between the true Christ and the false Christ will not be a long, drawn-out one. It will be instantaneous. The Dajjal, with all his demonic helpers, 'divine powers' and blasphemous claims, will be no match for the Christ. It is said that all the darkness of the whole world cannot hide the light of one candle. The Dajjal will not meet 'one candle' but the one whose appearing brings the Light of God.
The swiftness and ease with which the early believers understood that Jesus would dispose of the Dajjal is an indication of the supreme place he held in their hearts and minds.
Once he has destroyed the Dajjal, Jesus will rule on the earth. The Hadith speaks of him as the man for the whole world, not just one locality. He is the man for all nations, not just for Jews or Christians or Muslims. It is no small task for one man to rule all the nations, yet the effects of Jesus' rule as seen by the first Muslims will be worldwide.
But how and what will be the form of his government? The Hadith speaks of him as the Imam - the religious leader under God. [35] His government is not a democracy but a God-centred society, that is, a society subject to the laws of God. God will be the ruler, and His rule will be dispensed through the person of Jesus.
Under Jesus' reign, all deep-rooted racial, national and international problems will melt away. The Hadith speaks of the character of Jesus' unlimited, all-embracing rule:
And he who touches Jesus Son of Mary will become amongst the most exalted of the people. And touching Jesus will be highly regarded. He will wipe away [tears or sadness] from people's faces, and will tell them of their degrees in Paradise. [36]
Leaders of governments are heavily guarded and no one is allowed near them except under heavy security. But not so with Jesus. He is not detached from the masses so that people cannot reach him. The one who comes from Heaven comes to share the exaltation of Heaven with people.
Jesus will be available for people. He will be approachable and even touchable.
During the time of his rule everything will be found in abundance. But money and its equivalent in gold and precious stones will not be sought after. One thing only will be in great demand: touching Jesus.
Moreover, he will not prevent those who are unclean or unimportant from touching him. He came for the unclean and the unimportant, to make them clean and important. Jesus is not threatened or defiled by being touched by the outcasts of society, but imparts to them importance and worth. Like the rays of the sun which fall on the dirtiest places yet do not contract any impurity, so Jesus' purity remains intact.
Touching Jesus, says the Hadith, brings exaltation. What is the nature of this exaltation? Is it of secular value? No. It is rather of spiritual value.
Under Jesus' rule, people's spiritual worth will increase. As people touch Jesus, He will impart holiness to them - so much so that they will be spiritually among the "most exalted". They will instantly be classed as "saints".
Touching sacred objects and shrines is a religious practice in almost every religion. But when Jesus comes, he will be the one to be touched. He will become the centre of religious practice, and the blessings of Heaven will flow through him - not only power to heal the sick, but righteousness and holiness to make the hearts of people right with God.
Jesus exalts people and makes them worthy of the presence of God. This is why touching Jesus will be highly regarded.
Jesus will also 'wipe away [tears or sadness] from peoples' faces.' Elsewhere we read that because of Jesus 'everything that has a sting will lose its sting'. [37] This applies both physically and spiritually. Everything that has a physical sting which it has used against man will lose it. The sword, for example, will vanish, and the snake will not use its fangs but become a pet.
Similarly, everyone who has a spiritual sting which has been used against man will lose it. The human tongue, for example, can be more destructive than the sting of a snake, but it will lose its sting because the heart of man will lose its enmity and hatred.
The grave will also lose his sting. The bitterness of loss will disappear. The stench of death will be buried.
The above Hadith speaks of another aspect of the person of Jesus: 'He will tell them of their degrees in Paradise.'
The Qur'an speaks of Jesus as having the ability to know some personal secrets about the lives of people. 'I will inform you too of what things you eat, and what you treasure up in your houses.' [38]
But according to the Hadith, Jesus also knows the future and final state of people. He will inform people of their ranks in Paradise, whether low or high, before they stand before God in the day of reckoning. Just as he raised the dead by God's leave, he will also tell people of their state in Paradise by God's leave. This is why the Hadith speaks of Jesus' reappearing as one of judgment in justice. His justice will be Divine. God will give him the power and the insight to apply the Divine justice of God Himself.
The Prophet and the early believers must have reflected long on the work and person of Jesus. This reflection led to a yearning to meet Jesus. The Prophet himself longed to meet Jesus at his reappearing:
My hope, if my age is prolonged, is to meet Jesus Son of Mary, but if death hurries me along, then let the one who meets him give him my kind regards. [39]
The early believers must have shared the same longing. This is beautifully put in the following Hadith:
The Christ Son of Mary will appear before the Resurrection Day. Let the people be richly satisfied by him, and have no need of anyone else. [40]
In Arabic this Hadith literally reads, 'The Christ Son of Mary will appear before the Resurrection Day, and with him, let the people dispense with anyone else'. While the work of Jesus will be all-inclusive, covering the whole created order, its most significant aspect will be that he alone will restore man to God. And with that part of his work, people will be richly satisfied.
If the Christ is with them, then, who can be against them? The Dajjal, the grave, the torment of Hell: all are nothing before him! With this man Jesus, they will walk through the Valley of Death and fear no evil!
'Before the Resurrection Day' is a key expression for understanding the rich satisfaction people will experience with Jesus, for he prepares them for the Resurrection Day. Because of his work their faces will be white and radiant on that Day, shining with joy. What can any man long for before the Resurrection Day other than that his heart be found full of the joy of worship between the hands of God? Before that Day worship is not mechanical but the ultimate in religious experience, a foretaste of Paradise. Paradise will not be a foreign experience to the believer.
Let the Resurrection Day come if the heart can truly experience 'the one prostration for worship [that] will be far greater than the world and all that is in it'! [41]
Every prophet came once to the world and every prophet came to warn. Then his task was finished. Jesus also came to warn, but his task was not finished. For Jesus comes twice. But in his second coming there will be no warning.
Every prophet came to warn his nation of the deception of the Dajjal. [42] Christ alone will come again to destroy him.
Every prophet came to sow the seed hoping that one day people will worship God with all their hearts and minds and souls. Christ alone will come to harvest the world for God.
Every prophet came in the interval of time. Christ will come after them all, at the end of time, to end time and usher in eternity.
Every prophet came in the space of God's plan, and died in the hope that a day was coming when everything would be under God's control. Christ brings the plan to perfect completion.
Has Christ then two missions to the world? Or is it one mission with two parts? His mission is one. His second appearing does not grow out of a vacuum. His total restoration of man to God is not a new work, something begun when he comes again. He appeared once with clear evidence calling people to worship God, and in his reappearing he will finish what he started in his first coming.
His arrival at the end time, as we irrevocably move toward him, makes avoiding him impossible. Indeed, history proves him to be the most unavoidable man who has ever lived.
If you would like to ask further questions, obtain a hard copy of this series of booklets or for any other reason you are welcome to contact M. Anderson via email.