Question: Today there are people who say, "Jews, too, hold the belief that the Mahdi will come. When the Mahdi comes, Jews, Christians, and Muslims will hug one another, and Muslims will struggle against atheism shoulder to shoulder with Ahl al-Kitab (lit. People of the Book, that is, Christians and Jews). In fact, Ahl al-Kitab are our brothers and sisters, but the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is wrong. Jews are not as evil as Christians, and they are our nearest and dearest brothers and sisters, so we should read the Torah. Similarly, Shiites and Wahhabis are our brothers-in-faith, and they will be the soldiers of the Mahdi. The awaited Messiah of Jews refers to the awaited Mahdi of Muslims. He will save Jews from oppression, will regain the Promised Land, and will make Jews dominant over the whole world." What is the purpose of such claimers? Why won't the Mahdi make Muslims dominant over the world but make Jews? Why do some people today like Christians more while some others like Jews more as if they organized the division of labor among themselves? Does it have anything to do with Ibn Saba, who was a Jew?
ANSWER
There is no such thing in our religion. No statements of this kind are written in any of the religious books. They are the fabrications of new upstarts.
It is very wrong to say that Jews await the Mahdi. They, as Muhammad 'alaihis-salam is not from their race, await the prophet of the Last Age. They say, "The King Messiah will come and make us dominant over the world." There is nothing as nonsense as calling the King Messiah the Mahdi.
With the advent of Hadrat Mahdi and Hadrat 'Isa, the Islamic religion, not Judaism or Christianity, will dominate the world, and all false religions will be wiped out. Three hadith-i sharifs declare:
(Of all the people you heard about, four persons took possession of the earth. Two of them were Believers, namely, Dhulqarnain and Sulaiman. The other two were disbelievers, namely, Namrud [Nimrod] and Buhtunnassar [Nebuchadnezzar]. Fifthly, the earth will be owned by one of my descendants [the Mahdi].) [Maktubat-i Rabbani]
(I swear by Allah that Isa will descend among you as a just judge. He will break the cross [he will wipe out Christianity], will kill pigs [he will prohibit eating pork], and will prohibit everything other than Islam.) [Bukhari]
(When Isa descends, he will judge according to the law of Islam. Allahu taala will then destroy everyone except Muslims. Afterwards, peace and security will prevail on earth so much so that lions with camels, tigers with cows, and wolves with lambs will wander freely. Children will play with snakes. When Isa passes away, Muslims will conduct his funeral service.) [Abu Dawud]
While our master the Prophet states that with the advent of Hadrat 'Isa Allahu ta'ala will destroy all people except Muslims, they cannot be normal to say that Muslims will hug Jews and Christians, that is, the disbelievers, the enemies of Allahu ta'ala.
Have those who receive Jews and Christians with open arms not ever seen the following Qur'anic verses? Or they have seen them but disbelieve in them?
(Those who are the most violent in enmity toward Believers are Jews and polytheists.) [Al-Ma'idah 82]
(O you who believe! Do not take Jews and Christians for friends; they are friends of each other [in their animosity toward Islam]. He who takes them for friends is one [a kafir] of them. Allahu taala does not guide the [ones who have become] unjust [to themselves by taking disbelievers for friends] people.) [Al-Ma'idah 51]
(Whoever takes disbelievers for his friends has cut himself off from the friendship of Allah.) [Al-i 'Imran 28]
(Jews and Christians will never be pleased with you unless you follow their religions.) [Al-Baqarah 120]
This means to say that they will not be pleased with Muslims even if Muslims read the Torah and the Bible and even if they are on friendly terms with them. They will be pleased with Muslims only if they follow their religions, as Allahu ta'ala proclaimed. How can a Muslim do this?
To love and to make friends with people whom Allahu ta'ala ordered us not to love and not to make friends with contradict our religion. A few hadith-i sharifs relate:
(The basis and the most dependable symptom of faith is hubb-i fillah [loving someone for the sake of Allah] and bughd-i fillah [disliking someone for the sake of Allah].) [Abu Dawud]
(If a person does not love Allahu taala and does not know enemies of Allahu taala as his enemies, his faith will not be true. If he loves Believers for Allahs sake and knows disbelievers as enemies, he will attain the love of Allahu taala.) [Imam-i Ahmad]
(Become close to Allahu taala by doing hostility toward the disobedient!) [Daylami]
(In the Hereafter, a person will be resurrected with the people he loves and makes friends with.) [Tabarani]
It is difficult to understand the reason why Wahhabis and Shiites are received with open arms, as is the case with Christians and Jews, and why Jews and Shiites are given particular importance.
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