Qiyamah: Encyclopedia II - Qiyamah - The Mahdi and ad-Dajjal

Qiyamah - The Mahdi and ad-Dajjal

The coming of the Mahdi (also Mehdi or Mihdi and meaning "the guided one"), which precedes the Second Coming of Jesus, triggers the redemption of Islam and the defeat of its enemies. The exact nature of the Mahdi differs between Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims, but both agree that Jesus and the Mahdi work together to fight evil in the world and to cement justice on Earth.

"Even if the entire duration of the world's existence has already been exhausted and only one day is left before Doomsday (Day of Judgment), Allah will expand that day to such a length of time, as to accommodate the kingdom of a person out of my Ahlul Bayt who will be called by my name. He will then fill out the earth with peace and justice as it will have been full of injustice and tyranny before then."

Sahih Tirmidhi, V2, P86, V9, P74-75.

The Mahdi comes from Mecca and rules from Damascus, Syria. Jesus will defeat ad-Dajjal (literally: liar; the false Messiah or antichrist,) and then shall live on Earth for many years. According to some traditions Jesus will get married and have a family, and then die. Throughout history many have claimed Mahdiship; most notably Syed Mohammad Jaunpuri, Siyyid Mírzá 'Alí-Muhammad, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Muhammad Ahmad, Mohammed bin Abdullah, and Juhayman ibn-Muhammad ibn-Sayf al-Utaibi.

The Dajjal is physically misshapen, and blind in one eye. He deceives the faithful, teaching them that Jannah is Jahannam and vice versa through his power to work miracles. Upon his head are the Arabic letters kaf, fa and ra (kafir). He will revive the dead, and claim to be a god. Some traditions of Islam relate that he will appear at Isfahan, and that he will rally Jews to his support. However, that is not necessarily a majority view.

Muhammad asked his followers to recite the first and last ten verses of Chapter 'The Cave' as protection from the Dajjal. These ayat deal with the beliefs and activities of the Christian nations. He also taught his followers to pray, "O Allah! I seek refuge in Thee from the trial of the Dajjal." He also said, There is no tribulation greater than that of the Dajjal from the creation of Adam to the day of resurrection.

Qiyamah - Mark of the Beast

In the text, Signs of Qiyamah, Muhammad Ali Ibn Zubair Ali states that after the arrival of the Enlightened One, Imam Mahdi, "the ground will cave in, fog or smoke will cover the skies for forty days (ayah). A night three nights long will follow the fog. After the night of three nights, the sun will rise in the west. The Beast of Earth shall emerge. The beast will talk to people and mark the faces of people. A breeze from the south shall cause sores in the armpits of Muslims which they will die from. The Qur'an will be lifted from the hearts of the people."

Afterwards, the Imam "... will create a world state ... He will teach you simple living and high thinking. With such a start he will establish an empire of Allah in this world. He will be the final demonstration and proof of Allah's merciful wish to acquaint man with the right ways of life."

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Mahdi and ad-Dajjal", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki