Protection against the fitnah of the Antichrist

By Allah’s leave, the antichrist’s efforts to distance people from religious moral values will have no effect on devout believers. A Muslim who evaluates everything he confronts with Qur’anic moral values and who adopts the Sunnah of our Prophet (saas) as his guide is blessed by Allah with a powerful conscience and mind with which to distinguish good from evil. Since he thinks in the light of the verses of the Qur’an he can determine whether an event is beneficial or harmful in good time and take the necessary precautions. For that reason, when the antichrist appears true believers will, by Allah’s leave, immediately recognize him and take the requisite precautionary measures.

Believers who have genuinely submitted to Allah, who live every moment of their lives for Allah’s approval alone, who feel an awe-filled fear of Him and who fully abide by the moral precepts revealed by Allah in the Qur’an can immediately identify the antichrist and his lies.

Saying that “the individuals of the End Times will recognize the antichrist,” Bediuzzaman Said Nursi has also described how the Prophet Jesus (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as) will recognize and identify the antichrist. Hazrat Mahdi (as) will call people to the true path against the intellectual system and corruption of the antichrist but, as described in previous chapters of this book, the number of those who believe in Hazrat Mahdi (as) will still be very small. Since the great majority of people will fall under the influence of the antichrist they will be blind to the true facts, despite being warned against the antichrist’s fitnah. (Allah knows the truth.)

The fact that the number of Muslims who are not deceived by the antichrist’s indoctrination will be very small is in complete agreement with the verses of the Qur’an. It is revealed in the Qur’an that most people will not possess faith and that most will not obey the messengers. Some verses on this subject are as follows:
 

But most people, for all your eagerness, are not believer. (Surah Yusuf, 103)

... Those are the signs of the Book. And what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the Truth. But most people have no faith. (Surat ar-Ra‘d, 1)

We have variegated it for them so they might pay heed but most people spurn anything else but disbelief. (Surat al-Furqan, 50)
 

It is very easy, by Allah’s leave, on the other hand for believers who see the true face of the antichrist to avoid his fitnah. Our beloved Prophet (saas) has revealed in hadiths how believers need to protect themselves against the antichrist’s fitnah and stratagems:

The Prophet (saas) referred to difficulties and shortages before the coming of the antichrist. At that point the people asked him: “O Messenger of Allah! What is most auspicious on that day?”  "A young man who gives his people water. There is nothing to eat on that day,” he replied.

Qiram asked, “Then what will believers eat on that day?” The Prophet (saas) answered, “The tasbih, the takbir and the tahlil.”

(Saim Gungor, Buyuk Fitne Mesih-i Deccal [The Great Corruption of the Messiah Antichrist], pp. 56-57)

Tasbih: Glorifying Allah, reciting His finest names.Takbir: Recalling that Allah is Almighty and Great.Tahlil: Remembering that there is only one Allah, and no other God than Him.

This reminder issued by our Prophet (saas) is of course an important guide for believers. Indeed, it is revealed in the Qur’an that – at a time when the believers were fighting the hypocrites and unbelievers of the Prophet’s (saas) day – believers seeking salvation must frequently remember Allah:  
 

You who believe! When you meet a troop, stand firm and remember Allah repeatedly so that hopefully you will be successful. (Surat al-Anfal, 45)
 

Another way whereby the fitnah of the antichrist can be neutralized is also revealed in hadiths: calling all people to faith by explaining, with full supporting evidence, the existence and oneness of Allah and by combating irreligion in the most effective manner on the level of ideas. This is a major responsibility that all true believers must assume. In the End Times this responsibility will be discharged under the leadership of Hazrat Mahdi (as), who will make great efforts to call people to faith and preach true religious moral values to all. The great Islamic scholar Imam Rabbani drew attention to this in the words:

A scholar of theology and metaphysics will come and prove all the truths of faith and Islam with the most rational and clearest evidence. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Rays, p. 152; Saban Dogen, Mehdi ve Deccal [The Mahdi and the Antichrist], p. 105)

Imam Rabbani is referring to the emergence of a holy individual who will communicate the signs leading to faith against the antichrist during a great intellectual struggle. This holy personage will tell people of the existence and oneness of Allah, in such a way as to permit no debate or doubt, with certain proof and in the most effective manner, and will also warn them of the Day of Judgment. There is no doubt that this is the most effective intellectual struggle to be waged against the antichrist, who denies all spiritual values, leads people into denial and turns them away from religious moral values. Under the leadership of Hazrat Mahdi (as), believers will oppose the antichrist with a spiritual force and wage an intellectual struggle that will eliminate the influence of the antichrist by calling people to abide by religious moral precepts.

It is of the utmost importance that Muslims engaged in this struggle should have a spirit of unity. In one hadith, “... There will be no Muslim whose home corruption does not touch and enter. This will continue until a man from my line [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] appears…” (Nuaim Ibn Hammad, vr, 75b; Saban Dogen, Mehdi ve Deccal [The Mahdi and the Antichrist], Genclik Publishing, 2nd edition), our Prophet (saas) has noted that the End Times will be a difficult period for believers. In another hadith we are told how believers may avoid these harsh conditions:

In those days, Muslims whose relations with one another are impaired will be unable to escape being the targets of the antichrist. (Mustadrak al-Hakim, 4:529-530; Saban Dogen, Mehdi ve Deccal [The Mahdi and the Antichrist], Genclik Publishing, 2nd edition)  

Our Prophet’s (saas) words clearly show that believers who wish to avoid the trial of the antichrist must have a spirit of union and unity and act in the knowledge that all Muslims are brothers. Our Lord has also revealed in the Qur’an that the faithful must support and have solidarity with one another, or else there will be corruption and disorder in the world:
 
Those who disbelieve are the friends and protectors of one another. If you do not act in this way there will be turmoil in the land and great corruption. (Surat al-Anfal, 73)

When these moral values are displayed, devout believers who struggle against the antichrist with pure sincerity, even though they may be few in number, may hope for our Lord to make Qur’anic moral values supreme across the whole world. Allah has revealed in the Qur’an that a community small in numbers has overcome much larger communities with many more means at its disposal. There is no doubt that this is both welcome news for sincere believers and also a source of great joy and enthusiasm. Our Lord has revealed:

… But those who were sure that they were going to meet Allah said, “How many a small force has triumphed over a much greater one by Allah’s permission! Allah is with the steadfast.” (Surat al-Baqara, 249)