Foreword

Ever since time began, Allah's (God's) prophets and messengers have called people to the true path. Some people heeded this call and surrendered themselves to Allah, thus attaining an honorable life in this world and in the Hereafter. Others persisted in their unbelief, thus earning a troubled and difficult life in this world and eternal suffering in the Hereafter. Just like the other prophets sent by Allah, the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) commanded his society to worship Allah, the One and Only, and to live with the knowledge that they will have to account for themselves on the Day of Judgment, recommended that they live by moral values that please Allah, and called on them to avoid denial, polytheism, and evil in all of its forms. Those who rejected his call tried to pressure him and those who followed him to give up their mission. For that reason, as has happened with many prophets and believers throughout history, they set traps for the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). One of these was how they would kill him.

We gave Moses the Book and sent a succession of Messengers after him. We gave Jesus, son of Maryam, the Clear Signs and reinforced him with the Purest Spirit… (Surat al-Baqara, 87)

However, with his unique birth and the miracles he performed by Allah's grace, the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was one of Allah's blessed prophets. Allah laid out a specific destiny for him, and thus all of the unbelievers' traps came to nothing. Allah reveals in the Qur'an that the Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) enemies failed to kill him, although they were made to think that they had. Allah raised the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) to His Presence while he was still alive. Like Allah reveals in the Qur'an, as well as the words of our beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), say that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will return to Earth, a great miracle indeed.

Those who maintain that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was killed or is dead are making a serious mistake. One purpose in writing this book is to explain why this is so. In the following pages, we will examine the Qur'anic verses and the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that reveal the truth of this issue, which has confused so many people over the centuries.

In addition, this book will remind the reader of two important tidings: the Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) return to Earth and the signs that will precede this event. By Allah's will, his second coming has drawn near, and the world will witness great events when it becomes a reality. All sincere believers need to prepare for this miraculous period in the most appropriate way.

Before examining the proofs that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is not dead and will return to Earth, we will clarify several important points.

The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) Will Come in this Century

Works by great and esteemed scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah, including Sunan Abu-Dawud and Maktubat of Imam Rabbani, explicitly state that Allah sends an individual every century in order to revive and rid religious morals of any innovations:

According to Abu Huraira's account, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: Certainly Almighty and All-Powerful Allah will send an individual at the beginning of every century who will renew the faith and free it from subsequent accretions.1

One hadith handed down from our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) states that Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) will appear in the Islamic year 1400 in the words:

People will gather around Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) in the year 1400.2

The religious moral values of Islam will rule the whole world, as the result of a specific process, in this century, while the system of the dajjal (the antichrist) that opposes those values will entirely disappear. But following this period of progression, that will last for approximately 100 years, the world will again find itself in a phase of degeneration, around the 1500s according to the Islamic calendar. In one hadith narrated by many scholars, including Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, a great Ahl al-Sunnah hadith and Islamic jurisprudence scholar, our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) provides important information about the beginning of human history by saying that 5600 years had passed up until his own day:

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal transmitted in his 'Ilal: Five thousand six hundred years have passed from this world.3

Many other hadith contain explicit references to the life span of the world being 7000 years:

Anas Ibn Malik narrates that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: The life span of the world is seven days in the days of the Hereafter. Almighty Allah has said: One day in the Sight of your Lord is like a thousand of your years. Allah will ascribe the equivalent of good deeds of the seven thousand years of the age of this world to the one who meets the need of any of his brothers in the faith on the path of Allah as if he spends his days in fasting and his nights in worship.4

Narrated from Daqqaq Ibn Zaid al-Juhani: I told the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of a dream I had had. In that dream the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was at the top step of a seven-stepped pulpit. He said: The seven-stepped pulpit you see is the seven thousand years of age of this world.5

Said Nursi, the renovator of the Islamic 1300s and the greatest one of the last millennium, cited the Islamic 1500s as the period of dominion of Islamic moral values. He stated that Muslims would enjoy a time of clear and explicit victory up until then. He said that in the years after that, the rise of the moral values of Islam would come to an end and that the Last Day would break for the unbelievers in the Islamic year 1545. (Allah knows the truth.)

"A group from my community will remain in truth until Allah's command [the Last Day]."

The great Sunni scholar al-Barzanji states that the life span of the world will not last until the Islamic 1600, in other words, that the Last Day is expected to come in Islamic 1500s by Allah's leave. (Allah knows the truth.)

The life of this community will exceed 1,000 years, yet be limited to 1,500 years ...7

Suyuti's statement made on the basis of the hadith handed down from our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is as follows:

The life of my community will not exceed 1,500 years.8

As is clear from the hadith of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and statements by great Islamic scholars, the Islamic 1400s we are now living in is the age of the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh). The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will return to Earth in this century, Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) will appear and the moral values of Islam will rule the world.