The purpose of this document
is
to illustrate the different versions of Second Coming of Jesus Christ
when we compare the Christian and Muslim versions, with each other and
compare them within the same faith.
Mr. Ahmadinejad states in the first
paragraph of
his delivery
(3)
"
God, Hasten the Emergence of Your
Chosen Beloved, Grant Him Good Health and Victory, Make us
Best
Companions,
and all those who
attest to His Rightfulness."
It is clear that he is speaking about one individual; one male
individual,
but who?
Towards the end of the speech he states that: "
There is no doubt that
the world is in
need of a new order and a
fresh way of thinking:" Then, in the final stretch of his
speech
he states the following:
"The
Almighty God has not left us alone in this mission and has said that it
will surely happen. If it doesn't, then it will be contradictory to his
wisdom.
- God Almighty has promised us a man
of
kindness, a man who loves
people and loves absolute justice, a man who is a perfect human being
and is named Imam al-Mahdi, a man who will come in the company
of Jesus
Christ (Praise Be Upon Him) and the righteous....
- The arrival of the Ultimate Savior
will
mark a new beginning, a
rebirth and a resurrection. It will be the beginning of peace, lasting
security and genuine life.".....
- The arrival of the Ultimate
Savior,
Jesus Christ and the Righteous
will bring about an eternally bright future for mankind, not by force
or waging wars but through thought awakening and developing kindness in
everyone. Their arrival
will breathe a new life in the cold and frozen
body of the world. He will
bless humanity with a spring that puts an
end to our winter of ignorance, poverty and war with the tidings of a
season of blooming.
DETAILS
It is obvious to anyone who is objective that Mr. Ahmadinejad is
talking
about two distinct persons - an Imam named al-Mahdi and the
"Ultimate Savior" - Jesus Christ.
He is in no way pretending
to pass the Imam al-Mahdi as the Savior. The Savior, the Ultimate
Savior, is clearly Jesus Christ and this was uttered by the President
of
a Muslim nation that has as its Supreme Leader a
religious leader, Ali Khamenei, who is above Mr. Ahmadinejad.
Obviously Mr. Ahmadinejad
would
not announce the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
before the General Assembly of the United Nations
if that expectation
was not shared by the Supreme Leader, Mr. Ali Khamenei.
Part I
Now then, who is this mysterious (to most Christians) Imam al-Mahdi?
According to Wikipedia (3), the Imam al-Mahdi (born
c. July 29, 869 and has been in Occultation since 941) is believed by
Twelver Shia Muslims to be the Mahdi, an ultimate savior of humankind
and the final Imam of the Twelve Imams. Twelver Shia believe that
al-Mahdi was born in 869 and did not die but rather was hidden by God
in 941 (this is referred to as the Occultation) and will later emerge
with Isa (Jesus Christ) in order to fulfill their mission of bringing
peace and justice to the world.
Sunnis and other Shiites
believe that the Mahdi has not yet been born,
and therefore his exact identity is only known to Allah. Aside from the
Mahdi's precise genealogy, Sunnis accept many of the same hadiths Shias
accept about the predictions regarding the Mahdi's emergence,
his acts,
and his universal Khilafat (Caliphate).
Now then, who are the
Twelvers?
According to Wikipedia (4). the Twelve Imams are the spiritual
and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in
the Twelver or Ithna-ashariyyah branch of Shiah Islam. According to the theology of
Twelvers, the successor of Muhammad is an infallible human individual
who not only rules over the community with justice, but also is able to
keep and interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning.
The objective, thus logical question would be: Why does Jesus Christ,
the Ultimate Savior, needs to bring the Imam al-Mahdi along. In
Catholic terms it would be as if, at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ,
a Pope who never died (who was "hidden in God") would come along to
help Jesus Christ. Something completely illogical.
Part II
Obviously the Twelve Imams concept is not part of the Qur'an. Quotes
ascribed to the
Prophet Muhammad announce them but they are not part of
the Qur'an. Therefore, there must have been some root cause for the
Twelve Imams concept and, most specially for the 12th one - Imam
al-Mahdi.
Let us find Imam al-Mahdi through association....
First of all, in the Judeo-Christian Faith we only have two individuals
who have been taken up by God ("hidden in God") - not died. They are
Enoch and Elijah.
Elijah showed up in the Biblical texts in the following reading without
a clue as
to his background:
And
Elijah the Thesbite of the inhabitants of Galaad said to Achab: As the
Lord liveth the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not
be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my
mouth. [1 Kings 17:1]
And disappeared from the Biblical texts, with the exception of
references to him later in the texts, at this point:
And
as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot,
and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven. [2
Kings 2:11]
Then we have Jesus disclosing Elijah's final manifestation:
But
he answering, said to them: Elijah
indeed shall come, and restore all
things. [Matthew 17:11]
and
Who
answering, said to them: Elijah, when he shall come first, shall
restore all things; [Mark 9:11]
There you have it! Imam al-Mahdi
is Islam's interpretation of Elijah,
but the timing is off.
In the
telling and retelling of the story, confusion led the Muslim branch who
believes in the Twelfth Imam concept that their interpretation of
Elijah - the Imam
al-Mahdi - was coming with Jesus Christ
to "restore all things"
as
opposed to appearing before the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ
to
prepare the Elect to receive Him.
CONCLUSION
The only real error regarding the Twelver Shia Muslim version of the
Second Coming
of Jesus Christ is in the timing. They expect Elijah (Imam al-Mahdi) to
come
at the same time as
Jesus, not before, as it was foretold and has already
happened in preparation for the Second Coming.
A similar timing error may be seen in Christianity in regards to
the Rapture. Many Christians have interpreted the Rapture to take place
before the
tribulation,
when that is not the case. Were it the case, why would the time be
shortened for the sake of the Elect? To wit:
For there shall be then great
tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the
world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been
shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect
those days shall be shortened. [Matthew 24:21-22]
_______________________
(1)
True Story
of Creation
(2)
Judaism,
Christianity and
Islam Are Not
Incoherent Amongst Themselves
(3)
Full
text of
Mr. M. Ahmadinejad deliver at the United Nations General Assembly
(4) Imam al-Mahdi
(5) The Twelve Imams
Published on October 9, 2012 - Simchat Torah - Jewish Rejoicing
of the Law
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