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The Emergence of False Prophets
Those who are unwilling to prepare the
coming of this worthy Messenger may be hoping
to encourage believers towards slackness
by seeking to portray such preparations
as unnecessary. One of their ruses will
involve the appearance of false messiahs.
From time to time, those who were not of
sound mind or who had various personal agendas
have claimed to be Prophet Jesus (pbuh).
Some groups have sought to use such people's
ignorance for their own ends, such as by
saying, in effect, "Declarations that Prophet
Jesus (pbuh) will come have led to the emergence
of false messiahs." Such statements are
designed to slow down or even end these
necessary preparations. However, God will
allow nobody to delay this sacred time,
which He has promised. In fact, the appearance
of false messiahs is a portent, the glad
tidings, of the coming of Prophet Jesus
(pbuh).
The above hadiths remind us of developments
in our own day. By taking advantage of the
hopes of Muslims and Christians, various
deceivers have claimed prophethood and,
at times, have caused great suffering.
Experts have
noted that the number of so-called messiahs
began to proliferate in the 1970s and continue
to rise. According to these experts, there
are two basic reasons for this increase:
the collapse of communism and the possibilities
afforded by Internet technology.43
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Hadiths reveal that before Prophet
Jesus' (pbuh) sojourn, false prophets
will appear. During the last 30-40
years, many such people appeared:
David Koresh (above at the cover
of Time) was killed along 80 of
his followers in 1993.
(The two photographs above - Time,
May 3, 1993)
At the end of the 1970s, Jim Jones,
founder of The People's Temple,
a sect remembered as leading the
greatest number of people to mass
suicide, is one of these examples.
(Below left) Jim Jones, who poisoned
himself and his 900 followers, including
children, is one of the foremost
examples.
(Above left) Fake Prophet (Takvim,
April 6, 2002)
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The following excerpts will give us a better
understanding of this phenomenon:
The tension
that lasted for 51 days between the
federal agents and the members of
the sect ended in a tragedy. The fiery
demise of the Branch Davidian compound
in Waco, Texas, that claimed the lives
of David Koresh and at least 74 of
his followers.44
... Last
week at two sites in Switzerland and
one in Canada, where 53 of Jouret's
followers and their children died.
Police in two countries are trying
to find out whether the deaths were
mass suicide, mass murder, or some
bizarre combination of the two.45
Grim evidence
of the worst cult slaughter. Up to
1,000 followers feared dead as more
graves found in Uganda. 46
It was
an event that sent shock waves worldwide
- the worst mass suicide in modern
history. More than 900 people, members
of a cult, were found clustered together
in a South American forest. The dead
were followers of Jim Jones, the leader
of the Peoples' Temple in San Francisco.47 |
The Qur'an also points to the advent of
false prophets, as follows:
Who could do greater
wrong than someone who invents lies against
God or denies His Signs, or who says:
"It has been revealed to me," when nothing
has been revealed to him, or someone who
says: "I will send down the same as God
has sent down?" If you could only see
the wrongdoers in the throes of death
when the angels are stretching out their
hands, saying: "Disgorge your own selves!
Today you will be repaid with the punishment
of humiliation for saying something other
than the truth about God, and [for] being
arrogant about His Signs." (Surat al-An`am,
6:93)
These people, who may have committed the
sin described in the verse, will surely
receive their recompense for their lies.
The days when the lies of all false prophets
will be eradicated are close, for our Prophet
(may God bless him and grant him peace)
announced that, after the liars have gone,
Prophet Jesus (pbuh) would return.
True believers will recognize Prophet
Jesus (pbuh) from the portents. Each of
his deeds will be wise and inimitable, and
these portents will set him apart from other
people and make him immediately recognizable.
No proof will be needed. The efforts of
all false messiahs to prove themselves is
the clearest indication of their falsity.
Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) actions will prove
his identity. He will defeat all atheistic
movements and other systems that attempt
to spread the denial of God and immorality,
use God's revelation to defeat with great
ease the snares of the deniers, spread the
religion's moral values among people, and
negate the efforts of the ungodly. His miracles
will prove that God's religion is the true
way and that believers will inevitably prevail.
In the Qur'an, our Lord gives these glad
tidings to believers:
They desire to extinguish
God's Light with their mouths, but God
will perfect His Light, though the disbelievers
hate it. It is He Who sent His Messenger
with guidance and the Religion of Truth
to exalt it over every other religion,
though the associators hate it. (Surat
as-Saff, 61:8-9)
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43.
"The lure of the cult," Time, April 7, 1997. 
44. "The Year in Review - 1993: Chronology,"
Britannica CD 2000.
45. "In the Reign of Fire," Time, October
17, 1994.
46. "Grim evidence of worst cult slaughter,"
The Guardian, March 29, 2000.
47. CNN, "The 20th Century: Jonestown, 1978." Online at:
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/century/episodes/08/timelines/headlines/infoboxes/jonestown.html.
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