Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
When Dajjaal and his army will come to Baytul Muqaddas, they will surround the city. Baytul Muqaddas will be the headquarters and army base of the Mahdi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and the Muslims. The Mahdi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and his army will be making preparations for war. The time of Fajr salaah will enter and the muazzin will call out the azaan. (Mustadrak Haakim #8612 & Sunan Ibnu Maajah #4077)
After the iqaamah is called out, the Mahdi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) will go forward to lead the salaah. At that time, Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will suddenly descend from the heavens with his hands placed on the wings of two angels. (Sunan Tirmizi #2240)
The Mahdi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) will ask him to lead the Muslims in the Fajr salaah, but he will decline and say that Allah Ta‘ala has blessed this ummah with the honour of allowing their imaam in salaah to be one from among them. Their imaam does not have to be the Nabi (as was the condition of the previous ummahs).
Accordingly, the Mahdi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) will perform the Fajr salaah. However, after performing the Fajr salaah, the Mahdi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) will hand over authority of the army to Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam), making him the leader of all the Muslims. Thereafter, Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will lead the Muslims as the imaam in all the salaahs, while the Mahdi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) will perform salaah behind him. (Saheeh Muslim #156 & Fat-hul Mulhim 1/303)
The Place where Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will Descend
There are various narrations reported in regard to the place where Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will descend:
The narration of Saheeh Muslim mentions that Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will descend عند المنارة البيضاء شرقي دمشق (at the white minaret in the east of Damascus), while the narration of Sunan Ibnu Maajah mentions that he will descend in Baytul Muqaddas.
Some narrations mention that he will descend in Jordan, while other narrations mention that he will descend at the place where the Muslim army will be located. Below, we will present the views of the various Muhadditheen on this issue:
- Haafiz Ibnu Katheer (rahimahullah) has preferred the Hadith of Saheeh Muslim which mentions that Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will descend at the white minaret in the eastern section of Damascus. (Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah 19/219)
- Allaamah Suyooti (rahimahullah) has mentioned that Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will descend in Baytul Muqaddas. However, he has reconciled with the narration of Saheeh Muslim which mentions that he will descend ‘شرقي دمشق’ (east of Damascus) by explaining that Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will descend in Baytul Muqaddas, and Baytul Muqaddas is situated to the east of Damascus. Baytul Muqaddas will be the place where the Muslim army will be stationed at that time.
As for the narrations that mention his descent in ‘Jordan’, then Jordan in the time of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) referred to a vast area, and Baytul Muqaddas had fallen within the boundaries of this area. Hence, according to this explanation, Baytul Muqaddas is in the east and Damascus is in the west. (Mirqaat 8/3461)
- Moulana Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi (rahimahullah) has concurred with the view of Allaamah Suyooti (rahimahullah) that Nabi Isa (‘alaihis salaam) will descend in Baytul Muqaddas. However, Moulana Gangohi (rahimahullah) has explained that when Baytul Muqaddas is a very large city, then the words ‘شرقي دمشق’ were used to explain that the descent will occur in the Eastern part of Baytul Muqaddas which faces Damascus. Hence, according to this explanation, Baytul Muqaddas is in the west and Damascus is in the east.
The explanation of Moulana Gangohi (rahimahullah) seems to be correct as geographically, Baytul Muqaddas is south-west of Damascus, while Damascus is north-east of Baytul Muqaddas. (Al-Kowkab-ud-Durri 3/163-164)
