2 The Descending of ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam

Location of arrival of Eesa ‘alayhis salaam

The second sign, in terms of order, is the descending of ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam. The location of the descending will be Damascus. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam pinpointed Damascus and said, next to the eastern white minaret. At the time, when RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said this, there wasn’t any masjid in Damascus; it was part of the Roman Empire; it was Christian. Nevertheless, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said he [‘Eesa] will descend next to the eastern white minaret in Damascus.

 AlMasjid AlAmawi is the biggest of the masaajid of Damascus. It was a very important masjid in the history of the Muslim world, because the capital of the khilaafa moved to Damascus for quite awhile – about 100 years. The grand masjid was what we now call the Amawi masjid. The colour of the masjid wasn’t white. Ibn Katheer says that a few centuries later, the minarets of the masjid were rebuilt and the money that was used in rebuilding them was Christian money. Allahu Alam, Ibn Katheer didn’t say why, but he says that it was the Christians who paid for the renovation of the minarets. And in this renovation, the colour was made white. The minaret is still white. When it was first built, it wasn’t white, but it is white now – it is white marble. SubhanAllah Ibn Katheer says it is a miracle that Christians are the ones who financed and paid for the renovation of the masjid where ‘Eesa [Jesus] will descend.

By the way, there’s another amazing example here of colours. Masjid AnNabawi was first built from mud/clay, so it was beige or brown. It remained that way until it was renovated during the time of ‘Uthmaan RA, and then throughout Muslim history it was renovated. It never carried the colour white until the latest renovation that happened under the Saudi regime. They made the minarets white marble. It’s different colours, but it looks quite white in Madinah. I don’t think that this hadith was kept in mind when the renovation was done – engineers did it – and the intention was to make it look good. But there is a hadith of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that ad-Dajjaal would stand over the mountain of Uhud and he will tell his army, “Do you see that white palace? That is the palace of Muhammad.” And he will point towards Masjid AnNabawi.

When He will Descends

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith, mutafakh ‘alay, “What will your situation be when the son of Mary will descend amongst you and your Imam is from within yourselves?” Because when ‘Eesa arrives, he will walk in and the Muslims are about to pray – the ‘iqaamah was made in the masjid. When AlMehdi sees ‘Eesa, he will retreat and he will ask him (‘Eesa) to lead the prayer. But ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam will tell AlMehdi that the ‘iqaamah was made for you, therefore you lead the salah. This is a great honor for this Ummah – that ‘Eesa will pray behind one of the followers of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Obviously, after that ‘Eesa will resume the responsibility, but at that time AlMehdi will led because the ‘iqaamah was made for him. Ibn Katheer says that these hadith are mutawaatir.

This hadith is in AtTirmidhi. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says ‘Eesa ibn Maryam would descend next to the eastern white minaret of the masjid. He has two yellow garments, and he will be placing his two hands on the wings of angels. That is how he will come down – placing his hands on the wings of two angels.

Which Law Would He Apply?

When ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam assumes the leadership amongst Muslims, what law would he apply? Because when ‘Eesa was sent to Bani Israel, he followed the Law of Moses (Musa) – the Torah. ‘Eesa would apply the law of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. All of it is Islaam – the message of Musa, ‘Eesa and Muhammad(Peace be upon all of them). There were differences in particular details of the law, appropriate for their people. When ‘Eesa descends, he will follow the law of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. This is also an honor for RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that ‘Eesa would follow his law.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said in another hadith to ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab that if Musa was alive today, he would have to follow me.

How would that happen? AlQurtubi says that Allah will teach ‘Eesa, in the heavens, the law of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the law of Qur’aan.

You might say that part of the law if jizya, why won’t he accept that anymore? The answer to that is that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that jizya would continue until the time of ‘Eesa; after ‘Eesa there will be no more jizya. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam stated that the law of jizya only applies till the time of ‘Eesa.

When ‘Eesa descends on earth, he will perform Hajj with the Muslims. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said in a hadith narrated by Muslim: “By Him in Whose Hand is my life. Ibn Maryam (Jesus Christ) would certainly pronounce Talbiya for Hajj or for Umra or for both (simultaneously as a Qiran) in the valley of Rauha.”

[Muslim, B.7, #2877]