11) The Return has an Appointed Day Just as This World Does

11) The Return has an Appointed Day Just as This World Does

Whoever reads the explanations in the religious accounts of certain significant events will find that in one instance, it points to the physical world, and in another instance, to the World of the Return, such as in the case of the death of Iblis (may God curse him), the deceiver of the nations.

It is stated that his killer on the known day, in the Kufa mosque, is the Qaim pbuh:

The servant of Isha Ibn Omar said: I asked Abu Abdullah pbuh about the saying of Iblis: "My Lord, then reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected." ✶ [ Allah ] said, "So indeed, you are of those reprieved ✶ Until the Appointed Day} Quran Chapter "The Rocky Tract” 36-38. Wahb asked him, “May I be of sacrifice to you, what day is this?” He said: “Oh Wahb, do you think it is the day that God resurrects the people? God gave him reprieve until the day He dispatches our Qaim. When God dispatches him, he will be in the Kufa Mosque. Iblis will come, kneel before him, and say, ‘Woe to me on this day.’ He will seize Iblis and strike his neck, and that is on the Appointed Day” (Al-Majlisi 1983 vol. 60, 254).

And it is narrated that on the Appointed Day, his killer is the Messenger of God pbuhap: Abdulkarim Al-Khathami said: I heard Abu Abdullah pbuh say: “Iblis said, ‘Reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected,’ and God refused. Then he said: ‘{So indeed, you are of those reprieved ✶ Until the Appointed Day}’ Quran Chapter “The Rocky Tract” 15:37-38. Thus, on the Appointed Day, Iblis, may God curse him, will appear with all of his associates who existed from the time that God created Adam to the time of the Appointed Day, and this day is the last return of the Prince of Believers pbuh.

I asked: “Are there multiple returns?” He said: “Yes, there are many returns. Every Imam from every age will have good and evil return with him during his time, so that God will grant victory to the believers over the disbelievers. And when the Appointed Day arrives, the Prince of Believers pbuh will return with his companions, and Iblis will show up with his companions, and their appointed time will be on a land of the Euphrates called Al-Rawha. It is close to your Kufa. They will fight a battle that has never been fought since God Almighty created the worlds. It is as if I am looking at the companions of Ali, the Prince of Believers pbuh, retreating one hundred feet to the back-it is as if I am looking at them and some of their feet have dipped into the Euphrates. At that time, God Almighty will send down the Messenger of God pbuhap holding a spear of light {in covers of clouds and the angels [as well] and the matter is [then] decided} Quran Chapter “The Cow” 2:210. When Iblis sees him he will retreat, turning back on his heels. His companions will say to him: ‘Where are you going, as you have won?’ He will say: {‘I see what you do not see; indeed I fear God, Lord of the worlds’}” Quran Chapter “The Exile” 59:16. Then the Prophet pbuh will catch up to him and pierce him mightily between his shoulders. This will be his destruction, and the destruction of all of his followers. At that time God Almighty will be worshipped, and nothing will be associated with Him. The Prince of Believers pbuh shall rule for 44,000 years such that a man from the followers (Shia) of Ali pbuh will father one thousand male children. At that time the two gardens, dark green in color, will appear at the Kufa mosque and around it, along with whatever God wills (Al-Hilli 1950, 27).

Sayed Ahmad Al-Hasan has lifted its ambiguity and provides answers in his honorable books as follows:

In explaining the verse of “the clouds” in the above religious account, he says:

God says: {Do they await but that God should come to them in covers of clouds and the angels [as well] and the matter is [then] decided? And to God [all] matters are returned} Quran Chapter “The Cow” 2:210. The one who comes in covers of clouds is Muhammad pbuhap (God in the creation) during the Return, holding a spear of light. He will kill Iblis, may God curse him. God is far above coming and going, or movement, which is a one of the attributes of creation (Al-Hasan 2010c, 41).

He then cited the previously mentioned religious account of Al-Khathami.

Sayed Ahmad Al-Hasan pbuh was then asked: In more than one blessed verse, we see the guiding Imams pbut interpret the verse to be in this world and in the World of the Return. What is the rationale for this?

He said:

The Appointed Day is the day the Qaim rises. During that time, Iblis will be killed, as it is stated that the Qaim will kill him in the Kufa mosque. However, since the Return is a repeated test for the part of creation that were pure in faith and pure in disbelief, the deceiver of nations, Iblis (may God curse him), also returns with them. This is because he is among those who were pure in disbelief, and because he is one of the individuals who is part of the divine test. Therefore, in the Return, there is also an Appointed Day, or say, a repeat of the real-original-Appointed Day that, in reality, took place in this physical life.

The name of the Return indicates its meaning, may God grant you success. It is a return, meaning a repetition. People who have died will return, a test that has ended will be repeated, and days that have passed will be repeated. If there is an Appointed Day for Iblis during the rise of the Qaim as in the religious accounts, and the matter is over on that day because the Qaim kills Iblis on that day and then the Return will occur-and Iblis will return since he is of those that were pure in disbelief-could it be the case that he will be left until the day that people are resurrected, just as he had requested?! Or [more conceivably] the Appointed Day will be repeated for him in the World of the Return in a way that is appropriate for it, and his killer in the Return will be the Messenger of God pbuh as in the religious account?!

He also says: The first death is during the appearance of the Qaim pbuh- the Minor Judgement Day of this temporal world. The Qaim will kill him in the Kufa Mosque after the emergence of truth, and will throw him into the abyss of hell. The second death is during the Return (that is, in the First) that starts after the twelfth Mahdi’s rule ends, when Al-Hussain pbuh returns to him. Ali ibn Abi Talib pbuh will return, along with whoever was completely pure in faith and whoever was completely pure in disbelief. Iblis (may God curse him) will also return because he is among those who were completely pure in disbelief. The Messenger of God pbuh will kill him, as in the second religious account (Al-Hasan 2010d, vol. 4, Q177).