Question 840 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 7

Scientific Committee Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. Doctrine is established by evidence from the Quran and the purified Sunnah. In an authentic noble hadith the Messenger of Allah (may Allah send prayers upon him and his family) said: ‘Three men, each the son of a caliph, will fight over this treasure of yours, but it will belong to none of them. Then black banners will come from the east and kill you in a manner no people have killed’-then he mentioned something-‘When you see him, pledge allegiance to him even if crawling over snow, for he is Allah’s vicegerent, the Mahdi.’ The Messenger calls the Mahdi ‘Allah’s vicegerent.’ This means what applied to all Allah’s vicegerents whom Allah, Majestic and Most High, appointed-from Adam until Allah inherits the earth and those upon it-applies to him. In Adam’s story in Surat al-Baqarah, the Truth, Glorious is He, explains the law for recognizing Allah’s vicegerent, comprising three clauses: First: designation-the testament. Second: divine knowledge. Third: calling to allegiance to Allah and raising the banner of Allah’s governance. The Quran explains the foundations by which every vicegerent of Allah is recognized. The Mahdi in the authentic hadith above is Allah’s vicegerent, so what applied to previous vicegerents in establishing their right among their nations applies to him. The Most High’s saying, ‘By the Lord of heaven and earth, it is surely the truth, just as surely as you speak’ [al-Dhariyat 51:23], is testimony for Allah’s vicegerent in every age. Just as it applied to the Messenger and earlier messengers, it applies to later ones. Unfortunately, just as the nation then made its Messenger swear that he was the truth, it has done so in this age. Brother, one point deserves your attention: truth should be the aim and purpose of your search. Do not measure truth by the odious, ignorant scale of sectarianism. Rather, the evidence of truth is known through the two things to which the Messenger instructed the nation to adhere and guaranteed it would not go astray while adhering: Allah’s Book and the Prophet’s progeny. Everything else is ornamented falsehood. Whoever adheres to them is guided to the path of truth; whoever abandons them goes astray. The second verse explains that the caller to prayer is Allah’s vicegerent-the one who calls people to the truth. Hajj means directing oneself toward something: call them to the truth so they come to you, O My vicegerent, and renew their covenant and pledge with you. Renewing the covenant with you renews the covenant with Me. Thus the verse says ‘they will come to you,’ O My vicegerent who calls. People performing hajj today are heedless that they come to renew allegiance to Allah’s vicegerent. Who is Allah’s vicegerent today to whom people were commanded to pledge allegiance? Allah’s vicegerent today is the Mahdi to whom we call you. For more, visit the website of the supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (peace be upon him): http://vb.al-mehdyoon.org/ As for Muhammad being the Seal of the Prophets: yes, but he is not the last of those sent. There is no prophet after Muhammad, but that does not mean no messenger after him. Consider this narration in your sources from the Messenger: ‘Allah, Mighty and Majestic, sends to this nation at the head of every hundred years one who renews its religion.’ Is one sent anything but a messenger? What differs is that direct sending from Allah, Glorious is He, was sealed with Muhammad, while from Muhammad the door of sending was opened-that is, sending by Allah’s command and from Muhammad. Muhammad’s vicegerents, whom he mentioned in his testament referenced by Ibn Abbas in the hadith of the Calamity of Thursday, are the Messenger of Allah’s messengers until the Day of Resurrection. Praise be to Allah alone, alone, alone.