Page 60 - The Prophet Jesus (as) will Return

58
THE PROPHET JESUS (AS) WILL RETURN
In this case, the commentary of the statement, "And I will
place the people who follow you above those who are disbeliev-
ers until the Day of Resurrection" is as follows: first, it is said that
these people are the Muslims who are the only true followers of
the authentic teachings of the Prophet Jesus (as); second, it is
said that these people are the Christians, whether or not they
hold idolatrous beliefs, and that could be seen to be confirmed
by the dominant position that nominal Christians hold on the
earth today. However, both positions will be unified by the
arrival of the Prophet Jesus (as), since he will abolish the jizyah
(the defence tax payable by non-Muslims living under Muslim
rule), meaning that he will not accept that Christians and Jews
live with any other religion than Islam, and so will unite all the
believers as Muslims.
The Prophet and last Messenger of Allah (saas), has also
given the glad tidings of the return of the Prophet Jesus (as). The
scholars of hadith say that the hadiths on this subject, in which
Allah's Messenger (saas) said that the Prophet Jesus (as) will
descend amongst people as a leader before the Day of Judge-
ment have reached the status of mutawattir. That means that they
have been narrated by so many people from each generation
from such a large group of the Companions that there can be no
possible doubt of their authenticity. For example:

Abu Hurairah narrated that Allah's Messenger (saas) said, "By the
One in Whose hand is my self, definitely the son of Maryam will soon
descend among you as a just judge, and he will break the cross [annul
the worship of the cross], kill the pig [inform that eating pork is for-
bidden] and abolish the jizyah, and wealth will be so abundant that
no one will accept it, until a single prostration will be better than the
world and everything in it. (Sahih Bukhari)