There are several verses of the Qur’an in relation to the twelfth Imam, Imam Mahdi. One such verse is verse 159 of Surah al-Nisa (Chapter 4). In this article, we shall examine the explanations of this verse as follow. Allah says:
And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them (1)
A- Tafsir Majma’al-Bayan by Shaykh Tabarsi
This verse concerns the Prophet Isa and the People of the Book and as to whether it is intended to refer to the time of the Mahdi’s reappearance or not. Shaykh Tabarsi,(2) after having translated the verse, reports several interpretations in this regard:
1- According to ibn ‘Abbas, Abu Malek, Hasan, Qatadeh, and ibn Zaid, the two pronouns hi in “Bihi qabla mawtihi” (“in him before his death”) refers to the Prophet ‘Isa. It means that all the Christians and Jews will accept Islam as their religion, and will believe in him (‘Isa) before his (‘Isa) death, at which time God, during the time of the reappearance of the Mahdi, will send down ‘Isa for killing the Antichrist (Dajjal) and when all the world’s nations will be united and will come to an agreement.
2- Tabarsi adds that Tabari has also given the above interpretation and that according to Tabari the verse is intended for the group of Jews and Christians who are living at the time of the Mahdi. The author then mentions a tradition in favour of this view and says that Ali ibn Ibrahim reports in his tafsir from Shahr ibn Hushab who reports from Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (3) who said: “This verse surprises me. When I order the death of Jews and Christians and when their throats are being slit, I wait for them to say something but I never hear anything from them on this subject before their death. Their lips do not even move.”
I said: “May God guide the Amir (leader), the meaning of the verse is not this.” He asked: “What is the meaning then?” I said: “‘Isa ibn Maryam will descend to the earth before the Day of Judgment and will pray behind the Mahdi.”(4) He said: “From which source do you state that?” I said: “Imam Baqir (fifth Imam) related this to me”. Some asked to Shahr: “What was your purpose in saying this to him?” He said: “I wanted to irritate him”.
3- Abu al-Qasim Balkhi has also given the same interpretation.
4- Zajjaj considered this view as weak. He says: “Those who remain until the return of ‘Isa are of a small number and the verse refers to the faith of the totality of the people of the Book. But it is possible to say that the totality of the People of the Book say, ‘We believe in that ‘Isa who will come at the End of Time’”.
5- According to ibn ‘Abbas –according to another tradition-, Mujahid, Dhahhaq, ibn Sirin, and Juwaybir, the pronoun hi in “bihi” (“in him”) refers to ‘Isa and the pronoun hi in “mawtihi” (“his death”) refers to a book, which means that each and every Jew or Christian who leave this world believe in ‘Isa before their death, and this is when there are no longer any duties or obligations and when death is certain.
But this belief does not bring any advantage or benefit to them. The reason why the Jews and the Christians are both referred to here is that they are both on the wrong path, the Jews because of their blasphemy and the Christians because of their exaggeration and excess.
6- The meaning of the verse is that the people of the Book will believe in the Prophet Muhammad before their death (“bihi” then would refer to Muhammad). Tabari considered this view as weak. He says that if this is true, then the People of the Book should not be considered unbelievers.
To this, Shaykh Tabarsi answers that “Tabari’s comment is not pertinent because their belief occurs after the obligations and duties of this life but before death and at a time when it no longer offers any advantage for them. On the other hand, the weakness of this view lies in the fact that the name of the Prophet does not occur in these verses and there is no reason to refer to the pronoun hi to the Prophet when the name of ‘Isa is pronounced in these verses. It is then reasonable to refer to the pronoun as ‘Isa.”
B- Tafsir al-Mizan by Allamah Tabataba’i
Tabataba’i (5) comments that the word “In” at the beginning of the verse is an adverb of negation and means “and there is none” and that in the expression “min ahl al-Kitab” (“of the People of the Book”) the subject has been deleted which was the word ahad (one) and the expression is then read as “ahad min ahl al-Kitab” (“one of the People of the Book”). He adds that the pronoun hi in “bihi” and the verb “yakuna” refers to ‘Isa, but that the pronoun hi in “qabla mawtihi” (“before his death”) is the subject of different interpretations. Therefore, he reports from several mufassirin the following views:
1- Some of the commentators said that the pronoun hi in “qabla mawtihi” refers to the deleted subject ahad (one) and the meaning of the verse is then “each one of the People of the Book before his death will believe in ‘Isa” which means that just a moment before his or her death it will become clear to him or her that ‘Isa was the Prophet of God and His true Servant. But this faith at the last moment of life will not have any benefit and ‘Isa will testify against all of the People of the Book on the Day of Judgement, whether their faith was useful and they believed in him during their lifetime in the correct manner or their faith was useless because they started to believe a moment before their death.
Continued in the next article: http://Imam Mahdi in the Verse (4:159) (2)
NOTES:
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1. The Holy Quran 4:159.
2. Majma’ al-Bayan, Vol.6 p.137.
3. Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi (d.259 AH/ 873 CE) was the governor of Iraq designated by Caliph Abdul Malek. He is known for the massacre and torture of thousands of people in Iraq.
4. عن باقر بن علي بن الحسين بن علي ابن أبي طالب قال : إن عيسي ابن مريم ينزل قبل يوم القيامة إلى الدنيا و لا يبقي أهل ملة يهودي أو نصراني أو غيره إلا و آمن به قبل موت عيسي و يصلي خلف مهدي… .
5. Al-Mizan: Vol.5 , p.219.
