As revealed in the hadith of our Prophet (saas), Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be born in a large city.
Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) birth will be secret, meaning the great Mahdi of the End Times will be born at home, not in a hospital. This feature of Hazrat Mahdi (as) is clearly expressed in hadith handed down from our Prophet (saas).
Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) intellectual struggle will be based in Istanbul. In his Memorandum, Imam Qurtubi says that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will emerge from the western part of the Islamic nations. Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be born in a large city in the western part of the countries of Islam, and when the time for his struggle comes he will leave that city and cross the sea to Istanbul. The hadith even refer to a dry path being opened in the sea, indicating a bridge. And we are told that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will come to Istanbul by crossing that bridge. The great Islamic scholar Al-Barzanji also reveals in his Portents of Doomsday that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will come to Istanbul and spiritually capture it.
It also appears from the hadith handed down from our Prophet (saas) and from statements by Master Said Nursi that it is Istanbul where Hazrat Mahdi (as) will intellectually demolish the system of perversion and the dajjal, the system of the ignorant and the philosophies of the dajjal such as Darwinism, materialism and atheism that oppose the moral values of the Qur’an.
The time when Hazrat Mahdi (as) is in Mecca will be an important one in terms of the moral values of the Qur’an coming to rule the world. The time when leading Muslims express their spiritual love and devotion on behalf of all Muslims is that when he will be in Mecca. But the Meccan period comes toward the final years of Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) struggle. Islamic moral values will come to rule the world in the Meccan period, the final years of his coming.
Following his time in Mecca, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will live for a long time in Jerusalem. He will rebuild the Masjid of the Prophet Sulayman (as) in Jerusalem and will rule Christians with the Gospels, Jews with the Torah and Muslims with the moral values of the Qur’an.
As the hadith make clear, in the final period, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will also bring Rome under his spiritual control.
HADITH REGARDING THE SUBJECT
HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BE BORN IN A LARGE CITY
The Prophet (saas) said: “… a man [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] of the people of MADINA (A LARGE CITY) WILL COME FORTH TO MECCA ..."
(Mar'iy Ibn Yusuf Ibn Abi Baqr Ibn Ahmad Ibn Yusuf al-Maqdi'si "Faraidu Fawaidi'l Fikr Fi'l Imam Al-Mahdi al-Muntazar) |
And on 69th page of Risalat al-Khuruj al-Mahdi 1, it is mentioned that Hazrat Mahdi “will come from the village of Kara”.
HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BE BORN AT HOME
Imam Zayn-ul Abidin (as) said: "Our Qaim [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will resemble the messengers of Allah in various ways. He will individually resemble Nuh (as), Ibrahim (as), Musa (as), ‘Isa (as), Ayyup (as) and Muhammad (saas) and the other prophets. HE WILL RESEMBLE Nuh (as) in being long-lived, IBRAHIM (AS) IN HIS BIRTH BEING CONCEALED [AT HOME] and away from the public eye, Musa (as) in his state of fear [in the intensity of the threats he faces; facing the threats of being killed, plots, arrest, detention and exile], and in his living apart [in constant concealment], ‘Isa (as) in people constantly disputing over him [in some people saying, ‘Hazrat Mahdi (as) will come’ and other saying, he will not.’], Ayyup (as) in rescue after a great trouble [Hazrat Mahdi (as) will suffer many difficulties, sicknesses and troubles, but, like the Prophet Ayyup (as), he will be freed from them by Allah’s mercy] and Muhammad (saas) in his appearing with a sword [Hazrat Mahdi (as) will carry the sacred relics of our Prophet (saas), his holy standard, sword and robe]."
(Kamal ad-Din p. 322, Chapter 31, Hadith 3) |
Ali Ibn Hussain Zaynal Abidin (as): "HIS [HAZRAT MAHDI’S (AS)] BIRTH WILL BE HIDDEN FROM PEOPLE...” (Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 51, p. 135) |
HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL SPIRITUALLY CAPTURE ISTANBUL
It is narrated from Ibn Amr that: Our Prophet (saas) said: O, people! There are six things without which Doomsday will not happen, [the sixth] is the capture of the city.
-He was asked: Which city? -He replied: Constantinople.(*) This is the spiritual capture of Constantinople by Hazrat Mahdi (as). (Muhammad ibn 'Abd ar-Rasul Barzanji, Portents of Doomsday, p. 204 – Ramuz al-Ahadith, p. 296) |
HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL EMERGE FROM ISTANBUL THAT CONTAINS OUR PROPHET’S (SAAS) SACRED RELICS
It is related from Abdullah ibn Shurafa that: The banner of our Prophet (saas) will be adorned, together with the Mahdi.
(Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 65)
He will appear with the camel hair banner of our Prophet (saas). That banner has four corners, is unstitched and black in color. There is a halo on it. It has not been unfurled since the death of our Prophet (saas), but it will be opened when the Mahdi appears.
(Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 23)
As for signs, he will have with him the shirt, the sword, and the banner of our Prophet (saas). That banner has never been unfurled since the death of our Prophet (saas). And, it will not be unfurled until the appearance of the Mahdi.
(Portents of Doomsday, p. 164) |
HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL COME TO ISTANBUL BY CROSSING A BRIDGE FROM THE LARGE CITY HE WAS BORN
“During the conquest of Constantinople he [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will plant a standard when he goes to make ablution for the morning prayer, and the water will divide in two and withdraw from him. He will cross to the other side through this path that opens and say, “O people, learn from this. The sea has parted its waters for us, just as it did for the tribe of Israel.” Then they will utter the takbir again and again and with twelve takbirs the twelve towers of the city will collapse.
(Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi Alamat al-Mahdi al- Muntadhar, p. 57)
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HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL EMERGE FROM THE FORMER CENTER OF THE CALIPHATE, ISTANBUL
Now, the difference in the narrations about individuals like the Mahdi, and their meaning, is this: those who expounded Hadiths applied the text of the Hadiths to their own interpretations and commentaries. For example, since the centre of power at that time was Damascus or Medina, they imagined the events connected with the Mahdi and Sufyan in places like Basra, Kufa, and Syria, which were in the region of those centers, and expounded them accordingly.”
(The Words / Twenty-Fourth Word - Third Branch - p.353-354)
Since in early times the centers of the Caliphate were in Iraq, Damascus, and Medina, on their own interpretations, the narrators showed these events as occurring close to the centre of Islamic government, as though it was always going to remain thus, and said Aleppo and Damascus. They added their own details to the succinct predictions of the Hadith.
(The Rays / The Fifth Ray - Second Station - p.106) |
Although different cities appear in the hadith, the common feature of the accounts concerning the location of the events of the End Times is that they will take place in the capital of the Caliphate, where the two standards, the sword and robe of our Prophet (saas) are kept. As can be seen from Bediuzzaman's statements, the scholars who narrated the hadith of the End Times spoke of the events of the End Times being based in the centers of the caliphate of their own times. With regard to the place where Hazrat Mahdi (as) will appear from, each scholar has cited places such as Iraq, Damascus, Kufa and Medina as the centers of the caliphate in their own times. That is the reason for the difference in the accounts regarding the location of Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) emergence. Because the knowledge and information possessed by the narrators of these hadith has gradually been added to the accounts (mixed with those of the original transmitters) and thus given them their present form. The capital of the Caliphate has changed several times since the days of our Prophet (saas) – Damascus, Aleppo, Kufa, Mecca and finally Istanbul.
However, the common feature of the accounts regarding the location of the events of the End Times is that they will take place in the center of the Caliphate.
Bediuzzaman also reached that conclusion. The final center of the caliphate was “Istanbul.” The caliphate was officially abolished at the beginning of the last century, and it was never transferred anywhere else after that time. The two standards, sword and robe of our Prophet (saas), together with other holy relics, are kept in Istanbul. In conclusion, Istanbul is the only city to still bear this spiritual title. For that reason, that is where Hazrat Mahdi (as) may be expected to appear from. (Allah knows the truth.)
PEOPLE WILL SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) IN MECCA
The Rasulullah (saas) said: “… a man of the people of Medina [A GREAT CITY] [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will come to Mecca. Some of the people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out and swear allegiance to him against his will between the Corner and the Maqam.”
(Mar'iy Ibn Yusuf Ibn Abi Baqr Ibn Ahmad Ibn Yusuf al-Maqdi'si "Faraidu Fawaidi'l Fikr Fi'l Imam Al-Mahdi al-Muntazar)
Naim Ibn Hammad narrates from Abu Jafar;
"Hazrat Mahdi (as) will appear in Mecca in the evening with the banner, robe, sword, signs, radiance and beautiful expression of our Prophet. When he performs the evening prayer he will issue this call in a loud voice…”(Mar'iy Ibn Yusuf Ibn Abi Baqr ibnAhmad Ibn Yusuf al-Maqdi'si "Faraidu Fawaidi'l Fikr Fi'l Imam Al-Mahdi al-Muntazar)
People will eventually come to the Mahdi will swear allegiance to him, between the Corner and the Maqam, against his own wishes. If you refuse, we will strike you on the neck,” they will say. The dwellers of the earth and sky will be content with him.
(Ali Ibn Husamaddin Al Muttaki, Hadith from Jalaluddin Al-Suyuti Commentary –Portents of the Mahdi of the End Times, Kahraman Press, p. 31)
… A group from the people of Mecca will bring him out (from where he is), against his wishes. They will swear allegiance to him between Al-Hajar al-Aswad and Ibrahim's Maqam.
(Sunan Abu Dawud, p. 5/94, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 20)
... And then he will accept their oaths of allegiance, albeit reluctantly. If you live to see him, swear allegiance to him. Because he is the Mahdi in the Earth and sky.
(Ali Ibn Husamaddin Al Muttaki, Hadith from Jalaluddin Al-Suyuti Commentary –Portents of the Mahdi of the End Times, Kahraman Press, p. 35) |
JERUSALEM PERIOD OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)
Naim Ibn Hammad, narrated from Artah: HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL DESCEND TO JERUSALEM AND THE NATION WILL LIVE FOR A LONG TIME WITH THOSE WHO COME FROM HIS AHL AL-BAYT...
(Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 77) |
When the Mahdi is performing the morning prayer with the faithful at the Bayt al-Maqdis [Jerusalem], he will introduce Prophet Jesus (pbuh) who has appeared, and the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will place his hands on his shoulder and say, “The call to the prayer has been issued for you, so you must lead it,” and finally the Mahdi will lead the Prophet Jesus (as) and the faithful in prayer.
(Al-Qawl Al-Mukhtasar Fi alamat Al-Mahdi Al-Muntazar, p. 25.) |
Abu Amr and Dani in the Sunan relate from Jabir Ibn Abdullah that he said: The Messenger of Allah (saas) said: During the dawn of the new day, one from my community [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will struggle for the true faith in Jerusalem until the coming of the Prophet ‘Isa (as). Hazrat Mahdi (as) will then say: “O Prophet of Allah, come to the front and lead us in prayer.” Prophet Jesus (AS) will say, “One of this community [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] is the commander of the others.
(Hadith from Jalaladdin as-Suyuti, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-Zaman, p. 80, Translated by: Müşerref Gözcü - Kahraman Publications) |
HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL RULE THE JEWS WITH THE TORAH AND THE CHRISTIANS WITH THE GOSPEL
Jabir Ibn Yazid al-Jo'fi narrates from Imam Muhammad Baqr:
"...The reason why Hazrat Mahdi (as) is known as Hazrat Mahdi (as) is this; he will be directed toward a secret matter, will extract the Torah and other Divine books from a cave in Antioch and will RULE AMONG JEWS WITH THE TORAH AND AMONG CHRISTIANS WITH THE GOSPEL.
(Al-Mahdiy al-Mawud, Vol. 1, pp. 254-255)
"The reason why he is called Hazrat Mahdi (as) is that he will head to one of the mountains in Damascus. From there HE WILL FIND THE [TRUE] BOOKS OF THE TORAH AND RAISE EVIDENCE AGAINST THE JEWS.”
(Suyuti, al-Hawi al-Fatawa, II. 81) |
HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL TAKE ROME IN HIS SPIRITUAL CONTROL
"...Hazrat Mahdi (as) and his students will...capture Rome with tasbih [praise Allah] and takbir [declaration of the greatness of Allah] of Allah’s greatness…”
(Muhammad ibn 'Abd ar-Rasul Barzanji, Portents of Doomsday, p. 204)
(Suyuti, el-Havi li'l Feteva, II. 81) |
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1 Mustafa Reşit Filizi, Risalat al-Hurucj al-Mahdi, p. 69
