The promise of the coming of a savior in Judaism
In this section, a quick overview of the accepted texts of the Jewish community is discussed. Jewish texts are referred to as the Old Testament, which includes 5 volumes of the Torah, 16 books, and 18 scriptures (the writings of the apostles and historians of the Israelites).
The Book of Genesis:
God said to Abram: I will find a great nation from you… and all the tribes of the world will be blessed from you…
(O-Chapter 12-Heb 1 to 3)
And God’s angel said to her (Hajar) that I will make your seed so numerous that it cannot be counted from many*… Now you are pregnant and you will give birth to a son and his name will be Ishmael who will live in your presence* God said.. Regarding Ishmael, I answered you, I will bless him, make him fertile and make him very numerous, twelve chiefs will emerge from him. (They will produce twelve servers) and I created a great nation from him*
(O-Chapter 17-Eb-18 and 20).
The Book of A’dad:
God said: I swear by my life
that the whole earth will be filled with the glory of God. * (Chapter 14_Heb 21)
The Book of Psalms of David (peace be upon him): He will reign from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth* The people of the desert will bow before him and his enemies will kiss the ground.* (Psalm 72-Heb 9-10) They will bow down to him and all the nations will serve him* because when the needy cries out, he will deliver him and the poor who has no deliverer.* (O-Psalm71-Heb 11-12)
And oppression will save, and their blood will be precious in his eyes*… He will always be prayed for and blessings will be asked for him every day. * (Psalm-72-Heb 12-15)
The recent phrases of David’s psalms, verse 105 of Surah Anbiyyah, are reminiscent of the Holy Qur’an:
وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ
And indeed, after the Torah in the Psalms, we thought that the earth will be inherited by my worthy servants.
Book of Daniel:
I saw in my night dreams, and now, in the clouds of heaven, someone like a son of man was coming… and he was given a kingdom, greatness and a kingdom so that all peoples and nations would serve him. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom that will not end and his kingdom will not perish.* (Chapter 7-Eb 13-14) But the saints of the Most High will find the kingdom and will occupy the kingdom forever and ever (O-Chapter 7-Eb 18) At that time, the great ruler Michael, who from the sons of your people ” Qaim will stand. (Chapter 12-Heb 1) At that time, every one of your people who is found in the written book will be saved* and many of those who are sleeping on the earth will wake up, but these for eternal life and those for shame and Eternal humiliation.* (O-Chapter 12-Heb 2-4)
The promise of the coming of a savior in Christianity
There is no book of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, that in his lifetime, collected and memorized as the word that came down from God. However, his promising and admonishing speech, which was called “Gospel”, that is: “good news”; Tens of years later, some of the followers of that beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, heard from the words of their predecessors and wrote it. According to the belief of the people of Islam, the Messiah, by the will of Almighty God, is alive in a place beyond the earth, until the promised day comes, and he is waiting for the help and companionship of the Mahdi, in the fight against the Dajjal to come. In the Gospels, hints and good news about the Mahdi movement are often expressed in the form of prophecies and announcements of the return of Christ.
Gospel of Matthew:
At that time, such a great calamity will appear that has not happened since the beginning of the world and will not happen until now, and if those days were not shortened, no human being would be saved, but because of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened… just as lightning is emitted from the east to the west. will appear, so will the appearance of the Son of Man. (Chapter 24 – Hebrews 21, 22, 27 O) After that, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the world will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming with great power and glory on the clouds of the sky; The great trumpet will sound and he will send his angels to gather God’s elect from the four corners of the world and from the ends of the sky. (Chapter 24-Hebrews 30-31) Sky and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, except my father and that’s it. (Chapter 24-Heb 35 and 36 O) So be awake because you do not know at what time your Lord will enter. (Chapter 24-Hebrew 42) Therefore, be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect. (Chapter 24-Heb 44 O)
Who is that trustworthy and wise slave whose master appointed him to be in charge of the servants of his house to give them their rations at the right time? Blessed is that slave if when his master returns he finds him doing his duty. Know that his master will entrust him with the administration of all his property. But if that slave is wicked and says that it will take a long time for my master to come, and if he harasses other slaves and eats and drinks with others; On a day that he does not expect and at a time that he does not know, his master will come and tear him apart and make him suffer the fate of the hypocrites. (Chapter 24-Hebrews 45 to 51) But when the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his holy angels, then he will sit on the throne of his glory and all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them from each other as the shepherd and the sheep separates from the goats. (Chapter 25-Hebrews 31 and 32 O) Then the king will say to those who are on his right: Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, and inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you since the beginning of the creation of the world. (Chapter 25-Heb 34)
Mark’s Gospel:
Then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. 13- Hebrews 21 to 27.
* So be awake because you don’t know when the elder of the house will come. In the evening or at midnight or at the time of the rooster’s crowing or in the morning?* Lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping* And what I say to you, I say to everyone: be awake.* Chapter 13-Hebrews 32 to 37.
Luke’s Gospel: *So pray at all times and be awake, so that you will be worthy to be saved from all these things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man.*Chapter 21-Heb-34 to 36 (O)
The promise of the appearance of a savior and hadiths of Mahdism in Sunni sources:
From the perspective of all knowledgeable scholars, a Mutawatir hadith is a certain tradition. A Mutawatir hadith is one that has been narrated by a group of people, and their honesty is necessary for it to be considered as true. The possibility of falsehood in the narrators should be avoided. It is necessary to act upon these hadiths without discussing the narrators. In Sunni sources, there are many Mutawatir hadiths related to the appearance of the promised end-of-time Imam Mahdi (May Allah hasten his noble advent), and many Sunni scholars have confirmed and emphasized these narrations. In fact, belief in the promised Mahdi from the descendants of Lady Fatima Zahra (peace be upon her) is one of the fundamental beliefs among Sunnis, based on the narrations of the Prophet (PBUH), and rejection of it is considered disbelief in this denomination. Below are some examples of statements and books by famous Sunni scholars confirming and emphasizing the Mutawatir hadiths of Mahsism.
Many leading Sunni scholars have not only admitted to the frequency of Mahdist hadiths, but many of them have written independent books on this topic. A scholar like Allameh Shoukani, in proof of this point, has written the book Al-Tawzih fi Tawatur ma jaya fi al-Mahdi wa al-Dajjal wa al-Masih. “Sheikh Yusuf Maqdasi” the author of the book Eqdu al-Durrar fi Akhbar e al-Muntazar, emphasizes that the hadiths of Mahdism are frequent.
The well-known scholar of the 10th century “Jalal al-Din Suyuti”, who is one of the most prolific scholars among the Sunnis and has written in various fields, wrote the book Al-Arfu al-Wardi fi Akhbar Al-Mahdi only about the news of Imam Ajlullah Ta’ala Farja Al-Sharif and the news and hadiths of Mahdism and he recognized them frequent. “Motaghi Handi”, the writer and owner of Kanzal-Amal, who also lived in the 10th century, wrote the book Al-Burhan fi Alaamat Mahdi Akher al-Zaman and points out that the narrations about him are frequent.
Abul Hasan Muhammad bin Al-Hussein al-Abri al-Sajestani (363 AH) writes in the book Manaqib al-Shafi’i:
From many narrators, there have been several hadiths from the Holy Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, about the coming of the Mahdi, indicating that he was from the Ahl al-Bayt of that Prophet, that he would rule for seven years and fill the earth with justice. Christ will also come out and help him in killing Dajjal, and when Mahdi will lead the Ummah in prayer, Jesus will pray behind him. Sharif Muhammad bin Rasool al-Barazanji al-Madani (1103 AH) reminds in his book Al-Isha’ah al-Ishrat al-Sa’ah that:
The hadiths indicating the existence of the Mahdi, his appearance in the end of time, and that he is from the lineage of the Holy Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and from the children of Zahra, peace be upon him, reach the limit of spiritual frequency, and therefore it does not make sense to deny it… It has crossed the border of spiritual frequency and it has been proven that: there are great signs, the first of which is the rise of the Mahdi in the end of time. He was a descendant of Fatimah (peace be upon him), filled the earth with justice, just as it was filled with oppression.
“Mohammad bin Ali al-Shawkani al-Yemeni (d. 1250 AH) concludes in his book “Al-Tawdih fi Tawatur Ma Ja’a fi al-Mahdi wa al-Dajjal wa al-Masih” after discussing various narrations that among the reports regarding the Promised Mahdi that are accessible, there is definitely fifty mutawatir (consecutively transmitted) hadiths. In fact, according to all the terminology established in the foundational books, “mutawatir” is only attributed to narrations that have less than this amount. Additionally, the statements of the Companions of the Prophet that clearly mention the Mahdi are also numerous and have the status of the Prophet’s sayings, because in this matter, there is no room for personal interpretation. Therefore, it is established that the hadiths about the awaited Mahdi are mutawatir, just as the reports about the Dajjal and the descent of the Messiah are mutawatir.
Abu al-Fadl Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Idrisi (contemporary) writes in his book “Al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar”: “The narrations about the reappearance of the Mahdi, the descent of the Messiah, and the rising of the sun from the west are all mutawatir, and anyone who denies them without valid justification is considered a disbeliever or an innovator.”
The Promise of the Advent of the Savior in Other Religions
The promise of the advent of a savior in Zoroastrian religion
Gathas:
Oh, Ahura, make me aware, for you are aware; Will the follower of truth prevail over the worshipper of falsehood before the arrival of the punishment that you have ordained? Yes, this victory will be a message of righteousness to the world. (Yasna 48, Spenta Mainyu Gatha)
Those who commit evil deeds will inevitably perish. They will all cry out and shout. The good ruler must make them suffer and spill their blood until they establish peace in the prosperous kingdom. These contemptible violators of the sacred law seek to degrade the pious and their bodies are tainted with sin. (Vahishtoishti Gatha, Yasna 53)