The Establishment of God’s Nation under Jesus
The killing of the False Messiah will traumatize the
Christians and Jews who had followed him, for it will finally reveal to them
that he was not what he had claimed to be. In fact, the role of Jesus in his
defeat will convince most of the surviving Christians, at least, that the False
Messiah had indeed been the Anti-Christ prophesied in their own scriptures.
The Prophet of Islam, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said:
“The son of Mary will soon descend among you and
will judge justly (according to the Law of God): he will break the cross and kill the pig…”
(Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
The breaking of the cross may be figurative or literal:
the destruction of erected idols in churches and tearing down of crosses from
their steeples, as well as forbidding the use of personal crosses as symbols of
religion; or the destruction of the myth that he was executed by the Romans on
a cross at the instigation of the Jews. Likewise, the killing of the pigs may
be both literal and figurative: literally conducting a campaign to kill all
pigs so the consumption of their meat becomes impossible, allowing them to be
killed, or simply re-imposing the ban God made since time immemorial
on eating their flesh, effectively forcing pig farmers to get rid of their
stock by culling. In effect, two of the mainstays of widespread Christian
practice will be removed, indicating that the religion as taught by modern
Christians would henceforth be defunct, and marking a return to the religion as
originally intended (Islam).
“… and there will be no Jizya.”(Saheeh
Al-Bukhari)
Furthermore, after the massive losses of life among the
Jews, the death of their leader will prove to the Jews that he had been yet
another false hope. Possibly, the False Messiah’s claim of divinity may well
have already sowed seeds of doubt in their hearts, anyway, so when Jesus
announces that the Jizya will no
longer be a means by which non-Muslims can avoid submitting to the will of God,
they will be ready to give up following the guidance of their Rabbis in favor
to returning to the guidance of God.
The fact that no Jizya will be accepted underlines the abolishment of all
religion except one. The People of the Book will be required to follow the Law
of Islam which Jesus will impose. The die-hards that refuse will be hunted and
killed rather than allowed to continue in their outmoded faith.
“The hour will not come until the Muslims fight
against the Jews and kill them. The Jews will seek shelter behind stones and
trees, but the stone or the tree will speak: “O servant of God, there is a [die-hard] Jew behind me, so come and kill
him!” But the Gharqad tree will not speak out because it is partial to
the Jews.” (Saheeh Muslim)
No mention of the fate of those who are neither Muslims nor
People of the Book is mentioned at this stage, but we believe some of them will
also fall under the sway of the rule of Jesus, or die. Perhaps others will be
destroyed by those who are referred to as the Gog and Magog.
The Invasion of the Gog and Magog
Who the Gog and Magog are, exactly, is not known, though
it is known from a hadeeth, found in the two principal books of
authentic narrations (Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim), that they
are of the nations of mankind. Of them,
the Quran says:
“When he reached a valley between two mountains, he found a
people who could barely understand a word. They said; O Dhul Qarnayn! Verily,
Gog and Magog are doing great mischief in the land. Will you accept a tribute
from us so that you build a barrier between us and them?” (Quran 18:93-94)
After Dhul Qarnayn carried out their request (without
exacting tribute), he told them:
“This is a Mercy from my Lord, but when the Promise of my Lord
comes, He shall level it to the ground. And the Promise of my Lord is ever
true. And on that day, we shall leave some of them to surge like waves on one
another...” (Quran 18:98-99)
This means that they will be a people who are not under
the jurisdiction of Jesus when he accepts the pledge from former Jews and
Christians. And it is the Gog and Magog who will be the final threat to the
believers before his reign of peace. Again, the Quran says:
“When the Gog and Magog swoop down from every ridge, and the
true Promise draws near, you will see the disbelievers, their eyes staring fixedly,
in horror; They will say, ‘woe to us; indeed were heedless of this – and we
were wrongdoers.’” (Quran 21:96-97)
Not even Jesus will be able to withstand the coming of
the Gog and Magog, for they will swarm the land destructively, like locusts.
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported that the prophet, may the
mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said that only the Muslims who retreat
into their cities and strongholds with their cattle and sheep will survive the
onslaught. It is also
said:
God will reveal to
Jesus, son of Mary, “I have brought forth people from among My creatures
against who none will be able to fight. Take my worshippers safely to Mount Tur.” (Saheeh Muslim)
The Gog and Magog will be so many that when the last of
the horde passes through a lake bed from whose water the first rank had drunk,
they will bewail, ‘There used to be water here, once.’ Anybody not from
themselves, except for the Muslims in their strongholds and refuges, will be
killed, and the horde will declaim, ‘We have defeated the people of earth. Now
only the people of heaven are left [for us to defeat].’ On that,
one will fire an arrow into the sky, and it will fall back to earth
blood-stained.
Though the Gog and Magog will think they have obtained
victory, their very boast would be their downfall, for the blood on their
weapons will be nothing but a test from God. The next article will deal with
how the Gog and Magog will be defeated, and what happens after that.
|