End Time Signs: The Holy Qur'an

[Amica]

Salaam,
With the world in crisis, more and more Christians and Muslims are looking into the Holy Books to find out if God Almighty's promise for the End Time. People are searching for the signs that fortell it.
I myself am very interested in the subject. I have read both Christian and Muslim sources and am fascinated by many similarities. The Holy Bible, The Noble Qur'an, as well as hadiths, shed a lot of light about what the humanity will be facing.
As I have been reading, the collection of the hadiths seem to mix the Qur'an's End Time prophecies/facts with the Christian prophecies. Not that I dismiss anything that the Holy Bible speaks of. Since the Holy Bible is a record of a part of the human history, despite admited changes/deletions/additions by the Christian authorities (mainly the Roman Church), I believe it holds certain great truths (especially about the End Time signs). But, I wanted to isolate the Noble Qur'an's ayats about the End Times. To me, the Holy Qur'an shows facts about the coming Doom for humanity, with rather scientifically supported facts. Also, some of the prophecies from the Qur'an, confirm what was already mentioned in the Holy Bible. I will describe here what I have been able to isolate from the Qur'anic warnings about the End Times/The Hour.
I am not a scholar, of course. So please forgive me if I am missing something. Let me know. But I would like to know about the prophetic ayat that come strictly from the Holy Qur'an only (nothing much against the hadith collections).

 

[Amica]

PROPHECIES FROM THE HOLY QUR'AN:
1. Survival of the Jewish people and the establishment of their state towards the End Time: "And after him We said to the Children of Israel, 'Dwell Ye in the promised land; and when the time of the promise of the Latter Days come, We shall bring you together out of the various people.'" (The Holy Qur'an 17:105) Allah SWT allowed Children of Israel to enter the Land when they were freed from pharaoh of Egypt and has not broken His promise.
2. The Earth Beast: "And when the world shall come to past against them, We shall bring forth for them a Beast out of the earth who will speak to them, because people did not believe in Our Ayat with assurance." I believe this is a reference to the antichrist. This beast is able to speak and will mark people. No one will be able to escape it.
3. Yajuj and Majuj: "But Yajuj and Majuj are let loose and they rush headlong down every height (or advangate). Then will the True Promise draw near" (Holy Qur'an 21:96-97). These barbarians terrorized people in the ancient times, but their sort has not died out or perhaps, there will be people that are equal to the ancient tribes of Yajuj and Majuj. While the Holy Bible talks about them attacking Israel, the Holy Qur'an implies that these terrorists will attack the whole world on all sides of the globe.
4. The Smoke (Holy Qur'an 44:10-15)--I am still confused about the smoke a little, but it sounds like some sort of illness/biological agent that will cause suffering, but not permanently.
5. Second Coming of Jesus/Isaa pbuh: "He is a Sign of the Hour. Have no doubt about it. But follow me. This is a straight path." (Qur'an 43:61). "He will teach him the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel." (Holy Qur'an 3:45-48). 'the Book' here must refer to the Holy Qur'an, because the Old Testament and the Gospel are mentioned after it. There was no revealed Qur'an in Jesus' pbuh time, so it must mean that he will be taught this upon his return/second coming.
6. The universe will stop expanding: current scientific theories state that the universe is expanding. At this time, science is unable to tell us whether it will stop doing so. However, The Holy Qur'an tells us that it will. Qur'an tells us that the universe will start to revert back to its original state of being. As a result, time will also start to flow backwards. (Holy Qur'an 51:47, 21:104).
7. The Sun, the sky, the stars: as the universe stops expanidng, people will start to experience confusions. One of these will be the Sun rising in the west. Stars will not be shining (Qur'an 78:8), , eclipse of the moon and sun not shining, Sun and moon becoming one (Holy Qur'an 75:7-9), black holes (gateways to other dimensions--our scientists suspect), etc.
8.The Trumpet, Super Earthquake and problems with gravitation: see Holy Qur'an 99:1, 69:13-14, 70:8, 84:3-4, 20:105-107, 99:1-6. Basically, the Holy Book tells us that the Earth will experience such big an earthquake that will cause mountains to crush down, the Earth's inner body will broke out and the Earth would be streched out. The sky will seem to fire up (Holy Qur'an 70:8, 84:3-4). Everything will probably die from all this.
9. The Second Trumpet and all dead are resurrected: as the time will be caused to go backwards and universe starts getting smaller, the generations dead will begin to resurrect, one by one to answer for their deeds (Holy Qur'an 10:45). Judgement begins as all control is with God Almighty and even our organs/body parts are witnesses against us (Holy Qur'an 82:19, 45:28, 24:24, 78:40).
10. The Angels: the angels will descend to the outstreched Earth to gather humanity and to take them to their final destinations (Holy Qur'an 25:25, 18:47, 84:19), either Hell or Heaven.

 

[c0de]

@ Amica

Hi,

There is disagreement on how far these verses you are citing support the second coming:

"He is a Sign of the Hour. Have no doubt about it. But follow me. This is a straight path." (Qur'an 43:61).


--------------------

YUSUFALI: And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment): therefore have no doubt about the (Hour), but follow ye Me: this is a Straight Way.
PICKTHAL: And lo! verily there is knowledge of the Hour. So doubt ye not concerning it, but follow Me. This is the right path.
SHAKIR: And most surely it is a knowledge of the hour, therefore have no doubt about it and follow me: this is the right path.

I highlighted the words in different colors to show that they can be interpreted as a future tense, or present, and this is significant, observe:

The Sign of The Hour, in this case could mean the departure of prophet hood from the house of Israel (Mosiac line of prohets) to the House of Isaac PBUH (arabs). Examine the bible, Matthew 21:43 "Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof".

That would make more sense since this verse was revealed to the Prophet, after Jesus PBUH had come and gone. Thereby, it becomes a warning to the Jews and Christians of today, that they should pay heed to the words of their own bible, which did foretell the coming of the Last Prophet, and that this Messiah (the Last Messiah is the Prophet himself) would not be a decedent of Isiah (PBUH) and hence not in the line of the Mosiac prophets. The only other son of Abraham (PBUH) was Isaac... hence, prophethood being transferred to the Arabs is itself a sign of the Hour, is it not? According to this view, the last Messiah is the Prophet Muhammad PBUH and not Jesus PBUH. That is the significance of the title: "The Seal of the Prophets".

This interpretation is supported by a Mr. Maulana Mohammad Ali, who wrote a tafsir of the Quran which is considered to be one, if not the best translation and tafsir of the Quran into the English language. The only problem is that he is a Lahori Ahmeddi. I do not really agree with his ideas on some other issues but as far as his work on this issue is concerned, it is very perceptive.

Before you raise the objection of him being an Ahmedi, I will remind you that Lahori Ahmedis are actually against the proper Ahmedi sect. They do not share their core beliefs about their leader, and do not consider him a prophet. That distinction is very important.

"He will teach him the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel." (Holy Qur'an 3:45-48).

If you read the entire passage, it is clear that these events have already taken place. In this particular verse, God is talking to Mary (ra) and telling her what lies in store for her son's future. This does not mean that Jesus PBUH will come again. Also note that further on in the passage, it is made clear that Jesus PBUH was not physically special in any way, his mortal body was no different then yours or mine. Further on Allah tells Jesus PBUH directly that He will cause him to die. And since this verse is in the same passage, we have to take it as part of the same narrative. And everything in this narrative has already taken place, and hence, Jesus PBUH has already passed away: Verse 55: " And when Allah said: O Isa, I am going to terminate the period of your stay (on earth) and cause you to ascend unto Me."

We must be careful in interpreting these words. They do not mean that Jesus (PBUH) is alive in heaven, they mean that he has died, and God has taken up his soul to Himself. The idea that Jesus is alive and will come back contradicts the Quran, the matter is being discussed already on this thread: http://www.interfaith.org/forum/the-end-times-the-quran-9941.html

I do not want to distract attention away from your thread. However, I feel that similar issues should be discussed in one place for clarity. If you want to have this discussion here, we could do that as well, if you prefer.

 

[Amica]

Salaam-
No, I appreciate your reply. I am always open to hear what others have to say because I do not believe myself to hold all the answers out there--no one of us do, only God Almighty has all the answers.

Anyway, I realize what you say about Isaa savs. I know he had died and I do not believe him to be alive at this time. However, if you would remember that as one of the great prophecies of the Holy Qur'an, it is mentioned that the universe will stop expanding and will start to revert back. As a result, time will do the same. Just as the holy Prophet Muhammad savs said in some of his hadiths (according to the verbal islamic traditions), a year will be like a month, a month like a week, a week like a day, and so forth. So, one only has to conclude that if time is shrinking back with the universe itself, then everyone will be resurrected, just as promised--including Isaa savs (for his Second Coming). Will the Resurrection of the dead cause great confusion for those generations caught in the happening of the Hour, only Allah Almighty knows.

When it comes to Prophet Muhammad savs, I do not think he thought of himself as Messiah. In the Holy Qur'an, only Isaa (Jesus) savs was mentioned as the Messiah. I am pretty sure that if Allah SWT meant for Prophet Muhammad pbuh (the Seal of Prophethood) to be Messiah, I am sure He would mention him as such in the Noble Qur'an.

But we might disagree on this one. It's ok. I just wanted to tell people about Qur'an prophecies which might be already circling as theories/ideas in the scientific community itself.

 

[c0de]

When it comes to Prophet Muhammad savs, I do not think he thought of himself as Messiah. In the Holy Qur'an, only Isaa (Jesus) savs was mentioned as the Messiah. I am pretty sure that if Allah SWT meant for Prophet Muhammad pbuh (the Seal of Prophethood) to be Messiah, I am sure He would mention him as such in the Noble Qur'an.

Salam Amica,

Maulana Mohammed Ali has a very interesting theory about this. He says, that the word "messiah" itself has to be analyzed as it means different things. One definition is "the annoited one"... which he says can apply to any prophet. But he says that what is more important is the other definition of the word messiah, which he feels is specific to Jesus PBUH, and this definition means "one who travelled far".

Those who believe that Jesus did not die on the cross, and lived afterwords, also believe that he escaped the land of Israel and travelled far away. Maulana Mohammed Ali believed that Jesus PBUH is actually burried in Kashmir, and he backs up his theory with evidence. But I am not really concerned about that, as I don't think where Jesus PBUH travelled is important. But you can see now that using the word itself can not be used as proof of his coming back.

But God knows best.

 

[Abdullah]

Assalamuyalikum brothers and sisters

The return of jesus [pbuh] is based on a mutawatir [mass transmitted] hadiths; the authenticity of such hadiths are beyond a shadow of doubt due to it's mass transmission as it would have been impossibly for such a large number of people to collude and conspire to lie, thus such hadiths have the same authority of the Quran as far as it's legal and creedal considerations are concerned, thus the whole muslim Ummah believe and know for sure that Jesus [pbuh] will indeed return.

Here is a link that explains all about mutawatir hadiths:

The Authority of Sunnah - Chapter 3

See part entitled:

"Three Kinds of Ahâdîth" and "The Authenticity of the First Two Kinds".

And here is a link where Shaykh jibril confirms the mutawatir status of the hadiths that gives us news of the return of Jesus [pbuh]:

Various Questions (2) Answered by Shaykh Gibril Haddad

You can also read:

Jesus Will Return - by Harun Yahya


Hope that helps

Salam

 

[c0de]

@ Abdullah


WalaikumAssalam warahamatullah

The site you provided does not say how these hadiths are mutawattir. It just
says they are. As far as I know, most of the hadiths are transmitted by a
single person as their source, ie. Abu Hurraira. This makes them less reliable
then other hadiths which have been transmitted by multiple initial sources.
That is, the people who heard them straight from the Prophet before transmitting
them.

Secondly, the idea that any hadith can be as trustworthy as the Quran, is
the real misunderstanding inflicting many people today. No hadith is as
reliable as the Quran for the very simple reason that only the Quran has
God's protection.

Lastly, any hadith which contradicts the Quran is immediatly invalidated, no
matter how strong its chain of transmission. The hadiths regarding the return
of Jesus PBUH can be demonstrated to be falling into this category.

Allah knows best however.

But I do think it is dangerous for Shaykh Jibril to attribute kufr to any Muslim
who does not share his views on the return of Isa ibn Maryam PBUH.

 

[Abdullah]

Salaam,

The takfir infact was for that girl herself calling other muslims a kaafir and not for her view that Jesus [pbuh] weren't returning; here is that question and answer in perspective:

Q.
...She continues and accuses me for shirk, and calls me kafir because I tell her that there is very many Muslims who think that ibn Maryam (as) will return....How can I as her Muslim brother explain her that she can’t accuse other Muslims for being kafir, because I said: “ibn Maryam (as) will insha’Allah return”? [...] She says that a Muslim does not believe that ibn Maryam (as) will return.

A.
"...In addition, she commits kufr in accusing a Muslim of kufr for believing something which does not justify such a charge but rather is the truth in which she herself is obliged to believe. If she is prone to commit such a major sin and will not repent, on top of holding deviant views, then it is best to get far away from such an evil friend even if she pleases you".

In regards to not belieivng that Jesus [pbuh] will return he says:

"A Muslim of pure belief believes that Isa ibn Maryam, upon our Prophet and upon both of them peace, will certainly return. The proofs for this are mutawatir - mass-transmitted - and to reject them is the mark of misguidance and worse. In addition there are allusive proofs of his return in the Qur'an, among them:

{And He (the son of Mary) shall most certainly be a sign of the Last Hour. Have no doubt about it!} (43:61).

{There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them} (4:159).

Your friend is a person of foul innovation".

And Harun Yahya says [in his link]:

The hadiths relating Jesus' second coming are reliable [tawatur]. Research shows that scholars share this view. Tawatur is defined as "a tradition which has been handed down by a number of different channels of transmitters or authorities, hence supposedly ruling out the possibility of its having been forged."1

Imam al-Safarini expresses that Islamic scholars agree upon this issue:
The entire ummah (Muslim community) has agreed on the issue that Prophet Jesus (pbuh), the son of Maryam, will return. There is no one from the people who follow Muslim laws who oppose this issue.4

In his commentary Ruh al-Ma`ani, the great Islamic scholar Sayyid Mahmud Alusi gives examples from the views of other Islamic scholars and explains that the Islamic community has reached to a consensus regarding Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) second coming5, that information regarding this issue is well-known to the extent of being mutawatir by meaning, and that it is essential to believe in Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) return to Earth.


The great Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir states:
These are narrated from the Messenger of God (saas) as mutawatir and in these hadiths, there are explanations regarding how and where Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will appear...The authentic and mutawatir hadiths about Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) return to Earth in his noble body is immune to any opposing interpretations. Consequently, everyone with the smallest speck of faith and fairness has to believe in Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) second coming; only those who oppose to God's Book, His Messenger and Ahl al-Sunnah may deny Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) second coming to Earth.7

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf said:

"...One is the neccessity of belief in mass-transmitted hadith, which have the status of the Quran in their legal and creedal consideration...To reject a mass transmitted hadith is akin to rejecting a verse in the Quran and hence is a type of disbelief threatening one's faith". [taken from book: The Creed of Imam Al-Tahawi, translated, introduced and annotated by Hamza Yusuf]

I think why mutawatir hadiths have the same status as the Quran in it's creedal and legal considerations are because their can be no doubt that they are indeed from the messenger of Allah [and what is from the Messenger of Allah in regards to the Deen, is ultimately from Allah Himself] ; the Qurans authenticity is based on mutawatir [mass-transmission] as well so if based on mass transmission, we accept that Quran is authentic, then why shouldn't we do so too with hadiths? and regarding wether the hadiths have been protected by Allah or not along with the Quran:

We have undoubtedly sent down the Reminder, and We will truly preserve it. (al-Qur'an, Surah al-Hijr, 15:9)
​

The above promise made by Allah is obviously fulfilled in the undisputed purity of the Qur'anic text throughout the fourteen centuries since its revelation. However, what is often forgotten by many Muslims is that the above divine promise also includes, by necessity, the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), for it is the practical example of the implementation of the Qur'anic guidance, the Wisdom taught to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) along with the Scripture, and neither the Qur'an nor the Sunnah can be understood correctly without recourse to the other.

Hence, Allah preserved the Qur'an ...

Similarly, Allah preserved the Sunnah by enabling the Companions and those after them (may Allah be pleased with them) to memorise, write down and pass on the statements of the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the descriptions of his Way, as well as to continue the blessings of practising the Sunnah.

Later, as the purity of the knowledge of the Sunnah became threatened, Allah caused the Muslim nation to produce outstanding individuals of incredible memory-skills and analytical expertise, who journeyed tirelessly to collect hundreds of thousands of narrations and distinguish the true words of precious wisdom of their Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) from those corrupted by weak memories, from forgeries by unscrupulous liars, and from the statements of the enormous number of 'ulama', the Companions and those who followed their way, who had taught in various centres of learning and helped to transmit the legacy of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) - all of this achieved through precise attention to the words narrated and detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of reporters of Hadith. Action being the best way to preserve teachings, the renewers of Islam also revived the practice of the blessed authentic Sunnah.

An Introduction To The Science Of Hadith: Foreword

Faced with the overwhelming arguments in favour of the authority of sunnah, some people resort to another way of suspecting its credibility, that is, to suspect its historical authenticity.

According to them, the sunnah of the Holy Prophet (

) though having a binding authority for all times to come, has not been preserved in a trustworthy manner. Unlike the Holy Qur’ân, they say, there is no single book containing reliable reports about the sunnah. There are too many works having a large number of traditions sometimes conflicting each other. And these books, too, were compiled in the third century of Hijrah. So, we cannot place our trust in the reports which have not even been reduced to writing during the first three centuries.

This argument is based on a number of misstatements and misconceptions. As we shall see in this chapter, inshâ-Allâh, it is totally wrong to claim that the traditions of the sunnah have been compiled in the third century. But, before approaching this historical aspect of the sunnah, let us examine the argument in its logical perspective.
This argument accepts that the Holy Prophet (

) has a prophetic authority for all times to come, and that his obedience is mandatory for all Muslims of whatever age, but in the same breath it claims that the reports of the sunnah being unreliable, we cannot carry out this obedience. Does it not logically conclude that Allâh has enjoined upon us to obey the Messenger, but did not make this obedience practicable. The question is whether Allâh Almighty may give us a positive command to do something which is beyond our ability and means. The answer is certainly “no.” The Holy Qur’ân itself says,

Allâh does not task anybody except to his ability.​

It cannot be envisaged that Allâh will bind all the people with something which does not exist or cannot be ascertained. Accepting that Allâh has enjoined upon us to follow the sunnah of the Holy Prophet (

), it certainly implies that the sunnah is not undiscoverable. If Allâh has made it obligatory to follow the sunnah, He has certainly preserved it for us, in a reliable form.
The following aspect also merits consideration. Allâh Almighty has given us a promise in the Holy Qur’ân:

Indeed We have revealed the Zikr (ie. the Qur’ân) and surely We will preserve it. (15:9)​

In this verse, Allâh Almighty has assured the preservation of the Holy Qur’ân. This implies that the Qur’ân will remain uninterpolated and that it shall always be transferred from one generation to the other in its real and original form, undistorted by any foreign element. The question now is whether this divine protection is restricted only to the words of the Holy Qur’ân or does it extend to its real meanings as well. If the prophetic explanation is necessary to understand the Holy Qur’ân correctly, as proved in the first chapter, then the preservation of the Qur’ânic words alone cannot serve the purpose unless the prophetic explanations are also preserved. As quoted earlier, the Holy Book says,

We have revealed to you the Zikr (Qur’ân) so that you may explain to the people what has been sent down for them.​

The word “Zikr” has been used here for the Holy Qur’ân as has been used in the verse 15:9 and it has been made clear that the people can only benefit from its guidance when they are led by the explanations of the Holy Prophet (

).

Again, the words “for the people” indicate (especially in the original Arabic context), that the Holy Prophet’s (

) explanation is always needed by “everyone.”

Now, if everyone, in every age is in need of the prophetic explanation, without which they cannot fully benefit from the Holy Book, how would it be useful for them to preserve the Qur’ânic text and leave its prophetic explanation at the mercy of distorters, extending to it no type of protection whatsoever.

Therefore, once the necessity of the prophetic explanations of the Holy Qur’ân is accepted, it will be self-contradictory to claim that these explanations are unavailable today. It will amount to negating the divine wisdom, because it is in no way a wise policy to establish the necessity of the sunnah on the one hand and to make its discovery impossible on the other. Such a policy cannot be attributed to Allâh, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

This deductive argument is, in my view, sufficient to establish that comprehending the sunnah of the Holy Prophet (

), which is necessary for the correct understanding of the divine guidance, shall as a whole remain available in a reliable manner forever. All objections raised against the authenticity of the sunnah as a whole can be repudiated on this score alone. But in order to study the actual facts, we are giving here a brief account of the measures taken by the ummah to preserve the sunnah of the Holy Prophet (

). It is a brief and introductive study of the subject, for which the comprehensive and voluminous books are available in Arabic and other languages. The brief account we intend to give here is not comprehensive. The only purpose is to highlight some basic facts which, if studied objectively, are well enough to support the deductive inference about the authenticity of the sunnah.

The Authority of Sunnah - Chapter 3

Salam

 

[c0de]

Salamwalaikum brother Abdallah,

To reject a mass transmitted hadith is akin to rejecting a verse in the Quran and hence is a type of disbelief threatening one's faith"

I am curious: how many of the hadith regarding the second coming are "mass transmitted" hadith? Is it not true that their only source is a single person in most cases? I think it would be nice to have these hadiths posted
here along with their chain of transmission.

The above promise made by Allah is obviously fulfilled in the undisputed purity of the Qur'anic text throughout the fourteen centuries since its revelation. However, what is often forgotten by many Muslims is that the above divine promise also includes, by necessity, the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), for it is the practical example of the implementation of the Qur'anic guidance, the Wisdom taught to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) along with the Scripture, and neither the Qur'an nor the Sunnah can be understood correctly without recourse to the other.

But the verse quoted from the Quran is clearly only speaking about the
words of the Quran. To say that it also applies to the hadith, that is, IMO,
a very dangerous interpretation of a very clear and simple verse
of the Quran.

The takfir infact was for that girl herself calling other muslims a kaafir and not for her view that Jesus [pbuh] weren't returning; here is that question and answer in perspective:

That was my mistake then, and I apologize for that oversight.

The hadiths relating Jesus' second coming are reliable [tawatur]. Research shows that scholars share this view. Tawatur is defined as "a tradition which has been handed down by a number of different channels of transmitters or authorities, hence supposedly ruling out the possibility of its having been forged."1

Imam al-Safarini expresses that Islamic scholars agree upon this issue:
The entire ummah (Muslim community) has agreed on the issue that Prophet Jesus (pbuh), the son of Maryam, will return. There is no one from the people who follow Muslim laws who oppose this issue.4

In his commentary Ruh al-Ma`ani, the great Islamic scholar Sayyid Mahmud Alusi gives examples from the views of other Islamic scholars and explains that the Islamic community has reached to a consensus regarding Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) second coming5, that information regarding this issue is well-known to the extent of being mutawatir by meaning, and that it is essential to believe in Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) return to Earth.

It is definitely the mainstream view, no question about that.
The question however, is that is it the correct view?

There are scholars like the one I cited who do not agree with these
scholars which you have cited above. I think this shows that there
is room for interpretation. This is why we must research the matter
further.

 

[Abdullah]

Salamwalaikum brother Abdallah,

I am curious: how many of the hadith regarding the second coming are "mass transmitted" hadith? Is it not true that their only source is a single person in most cases? I think it would be nice to have these hadiths posted here along with their chain of transmission..

wa’alaikumsalam wr.wb

if it was a single source then it wouldn't be mutawatir bro/sis ; for ahad [lone narrations] that are established as 'Sahih' [rigorously authenticated] are classed as 'ahad' hadiths and not mutawatir; and on the topic of 'lone narrations' [ahad]; these hadiths do not mean that only one person narrated it, but it means that it did not reach status of mutawatir, thus it could be even one less then the number required for it to reach mutawatir; the hadiths that are related by only one person is classed as 'gharib' [I think].

Here is an indication of the numbers of hadith that are mutawatir regarding the second coming:


In his Al-Tasrih fi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih, the great hadith scholar Muhammad Anwar Shah Kashmiri writes that the hadiths about Jesus' second coming are all reliable, and quotes 75 hadiths and 25 works by companions of the Prophet and their disciples (tabi'un).
Muhammad al-Shawkani said that he had collected 29 hadiths and, when he had recorded them all, he said: "Our hadiths have reached the level of tawatur (reliable), as you can see. With this, we reach the conclusion that the hadiths on the anticipated Mahdi, the Dajjal, and Jesus' second coming are mutawatir (genuine)."8

At-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, al-Bazzaz, Ibn Majah, al-Hakim, al-Tabarani, and al-Musuli recorded many hadiths narrated by the Companions, such as `Ali, Ibn `Abbas, Ibn `Umar, Talha, Abu Hurayra, Anas, Abu Sa`id al-Khudri, Umm Habiba, Umm Salama, `Ali al-Hilali, and `Abd Allah ibn al-Harith ibn Jaz, upon whose narrations they based their collection on.9 For instance, Ibn Hajr Al-Haythami in the book Al-Sawa'iq Al-Muhriqa, al-Shablanji in his book Nur al-Absar, Ibn Sabbagh in his book Al-Fusul Al-Muhimma, Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Sabban in his book Is`af ar-Raghibin fi Sirat al-Mustafa wa Fada'il Ahl Baytihi at-Tahirin, and Muhammad Amin Suwaidi in his book Saba'ik az-Zahab, wrote that the hadiths about Jesus' second coming are reliable.10


`Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda reveals that the hadiths about Jesus returning to Earth and killing the Dajjal have reached the degree of being mutawatir.11 In his Nazm al-Mutanathir min al-Hadith al-Mutawatir12, al-Kattani stated that "the descent of Jesus is established by the Sunnah, and Ijma al-Ummah (concensus of the Islamic community), and the hadiths on this issue and Dajjal and the Mahdi are mutawatir. In his commentary Al Bahru Al-Muhit, Ibn Atiyya al Garnati states that the Islamic community has the common belief that Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is alive, that he will come back at the End Times and that the hadiths about this issue are mutawatir.

Such books show the great number of hadiths that exist on this subject. Furthermore, the hadiths that reveal Jesus' second coming in the End Times as a sign of the Last Day are found in the main hadith source books, such as those by al-Bukhari and Muslim. Some of these are as follows:
By Him Whose Hand is my life, the son of Mary (Jesus) will certainly invoke the name of God for Hajj or for Umrah, or for both, in the valley of Rawha. (Sahih Muslim)

"It [the Day of Judgment] will not come until you see ten signs," and [in this connection] he mentioned the smoke, the Dajjal, the Beast, the rising of the Sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary… (Sahih Muslim)

By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, son of Mary [Jesus] will shortly descend amongst you people as a just ruler. (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Jesus son of Mary would then descend and their [Muslims'] commander will invite him to come and lead them in prayer, but he would say: No, some amongst you are commanders over some [amongst you]. This is the honor from God for this Ummah [nation]. (Sahih Muslim)

How will you be when the some of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you and he will judge people by the Law of the Qur'an? (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Jesus Will Return - by Harun Yahya

But the verse quoted from the Quran is clearly only speaking about the
words of the Quran. To say that it also applies to the hadith, that is, IMO,
a very dangerous interpretation of a very clear and simple verse
of the Quran.

it's a matter of simple common sense bro'sis and Allah encourages us to use our common sense and logic throughout the Quran; applying common sense and coming to conclusions for which there is evidence for in the Quran too, such as the use of the word 'zikr' [reminder] rather then 'Quran' in the verse where Allah says he will protect the 'zikr', and He using the same word in 16:44:

We have revealed to you the Zikr (Qur’ân) so that you may explain to the people what has been sent down for them.​

This verse shows that the Quran was sent down so that the prophet [saw] could explain to us the verses...thus it makes it obvious that without the explanation, people wont be able to benifit from it and there would be no meaning to Allah protecting just the text of the Quran from which people would not be able to benifit; Allah says in the Quran that He will explain the meaning of the Quran to the Prophet [saw], thus Allah revealed the interpretation of the Quran to the Prophet [saw] alongside the Quran; both of them go together, so it is a basic straight forward appliance of the common sense, basic logic and intuition to know that the implication of Allah protecting the meaning of the Quran as well is inherent in His promise to protect the Quran. [I think there well could be a consensus on this view too]

It is definitely the mainstream view, no question about that.
The question however, is that is it the correct view?.

Well bro/sis; if you believe that the prophet muhammad [saw] is indeed the Messenger of Allah and He spoke the truth, and if there is absolute decicive evidence that He indeed did say that jesus [pbuh] will be returning, such as the exact same type of evidence via which we can be intellectually [rather then only faith based on 'promise of Allah' verse'; if we didn't have the mutawatir proofs for the Quranic verses, how would we have been sure that that verse itself wasn't distorted?] ] sure that the Quranic verses are authentic, then there in no choice for a believer but to believe if he dont want to fall in the serious risk of kufr that is...

Also, another overwhelming evidence for it is that, there are plenty of hadiths that say that the consensus can never be wrong and there is an absolute consensus on this view as can be seen from the evidence so far, thus it cannot be wrong and can only be right as there is divine potection over consensus':

there is much evidence that the orthodox majority of the Umma is divinely protected from error, such as the sahih hadith related by al-Hakim that "Allah's hand is over the group, and whoever diverges from them diverges to hell" (al-Mustadrak, 1.116).

Traditional scholarship is protected from such misguidance by the authentic knowledge it has preserved, living teacher from living teacher, in unbroken succession back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

Studying Hadith Texts on Our Own

There is also evidence in the Quran that the consensus [ijma] will be on the right path; [from 1:15 onwards]:

YouTube - Sheikh Hamza Yusuf: Creed Of Imam Al Tahawi p6

There are scholars like the one I cited who do not agree with these
scholars which you have cited above. I think this shows that there
is room for interpretation. This is why we must research the matter
further.

There are all types of 'self proclaimed Scholars propping up bro-sis and we should be carefull of who we learn our religion from; I think you will find that only in this day and age do some liberal 'Scholars' differ on it.

Salam

 

[c0de]

Hello again, Abdallah, I really appreciate your detailed replies btw.

There are all types of 'self proclaimed Scholars propping up bro-sis and we should be carefull of who we learn our religion from; I think you will find that only in this day and age do some liberal 'Scholars' differ on it.

I don't know about this approach brother. Anyone who disagrees with the
majority can be discredited by using this approach. If his argument holds
water, then we should examine it.

Traditional scholarship is protected from such misguidance by the authentic knowledge it has preserved, living teacher from living teacher, in unbroken succession back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

Are you sure that this is what the Quran meant when it referred to ijma?
That we should follow the scholars blindly? As far as I understand it,
Islam is not an organized religion like Judaism or Christianity. Both of these
religions, according to the Quran, took the wrong path when their scholars
and priests started interpreting its beliefs for their people, and the people
started listening to them, over reading what was written in the texts
themselves.

The Protestant reformation broke ground against Catholic dogma.
And Jesus PBUH was sent to break the dogma of the Jewish priestly class.
I know this doesn't necessarily mean the established order is always wrong.
In Islam, scholars are important, but on this issue, as I already stated, they
do not all agree. Remember brother, the mainstream is right a lot of the
time, but the few times that it is wrong... it ends up being really wrong.

In his Al-Tasrih fi ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih, the great hadith scholar Muhammad Anwar Shah Kashmiri writes that the hadiths about Jesus' second coming are all reliable, and quotes 75 hadiths and 25 works by companions of the Prophet and their disciples (tabi'un).
Muhammad al-Shawkani said that he had collected 29 hadiths and, when he had recorded them all, he said: "Our hadiths have reached the level of tawatur (reliable), as you can see. With this, we reach the conclusion that the hadiths on the anticipated Mahdi, the Dajjal, and Jesus' second coming are mutawatir (genuine)."8

At-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, al-Bazzaz, Ibn Majah, al-Hakim, al-Tabarani, and al-Musuli recorded many hadiths narrated by the Companions, such as `Ali, Ibn `Abbas, Ibn `Umar, Talha, Abu Hurayra, Anas, Abu Sa`id al-Khudri, Umm Habiba, Umm Salama, `Ali al-Hilali, and `Abd Allah ibn al-Harith ibn Jaz, upon whose narrations they based their collection on.9 For instance, Ibn Hajr Al-Haythami in the book Al-Sawa'iq Al-Muhriqa, al-Shablanji in his book Nur al-Absar, Ibn Sabbagh in his book Al-Fusul Al-Muhimma, Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Sabban in his book Is`af ar-Raghibin fi Sirat al-Mustafa wa Fada'il Ahl Baytihi at-Tahirin, and Muhammad Amin Suwaidi in his book Saba'ik az-Zahab, wrote that the hadiths about Jesus' second coming are reliable.10


`Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda reveals that the hadiths about Jesus returning to Earth and killing the Dajjal have reached the degree of being mutawatir.11 In his Nazm al-Mutanathir min al-Hadith al-Mutawatir12, al-Kattani stated that "the descent of Jesus is established by the Sunnah, and Ijma al-Ummah (concensus of the Islamic community), and the hadiths on this issue and Dajjal and the Mahdi are mutawatir. In his commentary Al Bahru Al-Muhit, Ibn Atiyya al Garnati states that the Islamic community has the common belief that Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is alive, that he will come back at the End Times and that the hadiths about this issue are mutawatir.

Such books show the great number of hadiths that exist on this subject. Furthermore, the hadiths that reveal Jesus' second coming in the End Times as a sign of the Last Day are found in the main hadith source books, such as those by al-Bukhari and Muslim. Some of these are as follows:
By Him Whose Hand is my life, the son of Mary (Jesus) will certainly invoke the name of God for Hajj or for Umrah, or for both, in the valley of Rawha. (Sahih Muslim)

I did follow the link and I did find that there are many hadith on the subject, enough to make the case of Jesus PBUH return very strong. But that is something which I already know. It is a very strong case.... according to the hadith. But this goes back to my original point... if I believe that these hadiths do not fit well with the teachings of the Quran, I have to disregard them. I know my understanding, and the understanding of some other scholars does not fit well with the mainstream view on the subject, but what can I say? Thats just the way it is. I guess I will just have to shut up....

I recognize the importance of Hadith in preseving the sunnah of the Prophet, and I am not anti-hadith like some Muslims. I just do not recognize its level of accuracy to be equal to the Quran.