7 reasons why people who hear about the coming of Imam Mahdi will still oppose and reject him

The Coming of the Mahdi - Lecture 2 of 3 by Khalil Jaffer

Link to lecture 2 of 3 - The coming of Mahdi

 

ONE - Mis-conceived expectations
When the Imam makes his appearance, people will come towards him expecting relief from the trials and tribulations of the world. However, what people will not expect is that for the relief to be obtained further sacrifices will have to be made. He will come to lead the people, however all the hard work to get to relief will need more pain, suffering and sacrifice. People will not expect this.

Before the battle of Uhod, Muslims in Makkah were suffering; they wanted relief; they prayed to Allah to help them fight evil. However, when the time came to fight for what they wanted, they ran away. It is not sufficient just say that we want relief, and feel the need for it. When the time comes, action will have to be taken to get relief.
TWO - Loss of will to succeed
By the time Imam Mahdi comes, people would have lived through so much turmoil and intense difficulty that they will have become fed up of constantly trying to change the situation. They would have faced extreme droughts, death, disease, plagues, natural disasters, wars etc. They will fail to recognise that this time round will be different - because of the Imam’s presence. People will be so exhausted from trying that they will seek relief through death.

There will be a large group of people that will be like ‘straw in the wind’ - heading towards whoever calls, to whatever message – whether it is haqq or batil. As long as the message is suitable for them and their lifestyle, they will take it.

THREE - Dependence on miracles
A substantial dependence on miracles by the masses will mean that people will expect larger-than-life miracles that demonstrate the Imam’s position; that a better peaceful society will be built by miraculous means. Granted the imam will have the ability to perform any miracle he chooses to, it is important to note, given the long history of miracles, as noted in the Quran, that miracles have not converted the masses.

Think here about Prophet Musa’s difficulties with his followers. After having split the seas to allow them to pass and turning his staff into a snake, with Allah’s will, the masses still made a calf made of gold to worship.

A miracle only shows that a prophet has a special position; that Allah will listen to his prayers and wishes. Greatness lies in attaining conviction through purification; through realising the ultimate truth; through the intellect. That’s why the greatest miracle is the Quran. Truth has to be realised, sometimes it is not sufficient to just speak/show it.

The beginning

With all its activities, life keeps me too occupied to reflect on where my journey is leading me. I've spent so much effort on the journey that the destination has disappeared from my sight.

The destination is where I will be forever, so I've decided that it is time now to redeem my soul - to pull it out of this materialistic realm and give it what it needs to make the journey successful and the destination, a place to look forward to.

I've started listening to lectures by Dr. Shumali on Self Development. As interesting and captivating as they are I cannot remember everything I hear. My mind has the concentration span of a fish, I forget things almost instantly. So as a solution, I've decided to blog what I've heard - hopefully this will help in retaining all this wisdom in the challenged upper works.

The key thing to keep in mind, when trying to gain control over and develop your soul, is to know what your aim is. What am I really after? Is it for the status? Or the sense of tranquility and peace that I get? For some it is the attraction of extra ordinary powers, such as predicting the future, reading minds and interpreting dreams - in effect, releasing the soul from the material element, our body.

Yes, spirituality has lots of benefits, but the main aim should be to get closer to Allah. To seek his pleasure. Every thing else that is good will come along side. All the other powers are positive side effects of achieving a higher spiritual level, but getting these things should never be your aim.

A good example is Hajj. What is the aim of the exercise? Yes, its a good way to make new friends, travel to a new country, get a holiday, stay in a nice hotel, increase business prospects - but is that the aim of Hajj? The aim is to seek Allah's pleasure and to bring us closer to him. Allah, though, planned Hajj in such a way that it brings us all the other benefits.

A subtle point to mention here is this. Allah mentions in Surah Al- Zariyat, that he did not create us but so we worship him. However, even our intention must not be to 'worship' him. It's important to worship Allah because he wants us to. In fact, there is the danger of becoming so lost in the act of worship that we forget what Allah really wants from us.

Iblis had 6000 years of constant worship under his belt when Allah asked him to bow down before Adam. Iblis was so accustomed to his act of worship, he had begun to enjoy it so much for its own sake, that when he was tested with Allah's command - he lost. At that point, if his real aim was to seek Allah's pleasure he would have bowed. All that worship - who was he doing it for? Allah's will or his own enjoyment? It has it in a Hadith that Allah then asked Iblis: Do you want to worship me the way YOU want to? Iblis's test was that of obedience. Obedience is testing not with something that you are already happy to oblige to do - the real test is to obey when placed in a challenging situation.

So in conclusion: think about your aim - it is to seek closeness to Allah. And the first step to that is purifying yourself. You can't enter the sacred and pure state, that is heaven, without being pure.

How to purify the self? That is the topic of the next blog.