The Sign of the Hour

Three things are stated in this single ayah. Issa is a Sign of the coming Hour. Have no doubt about the Hour. Follow Him, and this is the Straight Way.

A sign is given by Allah to point at something. When Allah placed the rainbow after the flood, it was a sign. When He gave Musa the staff, it was a sign. A sign is Allah's own hand, pointing. Here, the Sign is a man. Not a miracle he performed. Him. His life, his mission, his return. And because he is the Sign, Allah ties a command to him in the very same ayah. Follow Me. This is the Straight Way. A sign is not only for seeing. A sign is a summons.

If Allah placed this man in His book as the Sign of the end of all time, what is He asking of you now?

You have prayed the Fatiha all your life. Five times a day, you have asked Allah to show you the Straight Way.

The Fatiha asks. And the Qur'an itself answers. Two ayat after 43:61, the same surah records the words of Issa himself.

The Fatiha asks to be shown the Way. The Qur'an names Issa al-Masih as the answer. Issa himself calls it the Straight Way. The pieces fit, without any help from us. If you have been praying this prayer all your life, what are you going to do with the answer?

We do not answer this question. The Qur'an answers it. This is not our claim. Allah placed these words in His book. No other ayah gives this designation to anyone else. Why is the sincere question. We can only look at what else the Qur'an places on this one man and not on any other.

The Qur'an says he was taken to Allah and raised up, alive. It says he is with Allah now. It says no other prophet is currently with Allah in this way. It says he will return. It says, in the ayah directly after, fear Allah and obey me. And it says, in the ayah after that, worship Allah, this is the Straight Way. We do not argue about why. We only read what is written. Allah has already spoken.

If this is where Allah placed the Sign, what is He telling us to do?

The Arabic word is fawqa. Above. Over. Higher than. There is no softer reading. The objection comes quickly: does this not contradict the equality of the prophets? Read the ayah again. It does not elevate one prophet above another. It elevates a people. Those who follow Issa. Allah did not make this promise to the followers of any other messenger. Not Musa. Not Daoud. Not Nuh. Not Ibrahim. Only the followers of Issa receive this, from the mouth of Allah, lasting to the Day of Resurrection. What does it mean that Allah made this promise to only one people, and what does it mean to be among them?

He returns. He is a witness on the Day of Judgment. And his return is the Sign that the Hour has come. Islamic tradition speaks of more. We honour what the tradition says while holding firmly to what the Qur'an itself states. The honest reader does not need a long list. The honest reader needs to know one thing. He is coming back. Allah said so. When he comes, will he find you among those who followed him?

Every community has its lists of signs. Some are in the hadith. Some are in the traditions. Some are argued over to this day. The Qur'an itself is quieter. It gives us one Sign that it names clearly, and that Sign is a man.

Not a comet. Not a famine. Not a battle. A man. The one Allah already placed names and miracles and a Spirit and a sinless nature upon, while he walked on earth the first time. The Qur'an also warns, throughout, that a time of great testing will come. The hearts of many will grow cold. Lies will be believed. The honest reader watches the state of the world and prays. But the Sign that Allah named, by His own hand, is Issa al-Masih. If he is the Sign of the Hour, what should be the shape of your days between now and then?

The command is not buried. It is in the middle of the ayah that names him the Sign of the Hour. Follow Me. Two words in Arabic. Ittabi'uni. To follow is not to admire. It is not to recite. It is to walk behind, in the footsteps, in the direction the one in front is going.

Where did Issa walk? Into prayer. Into mercy. Into sacrifice. Into love for his enemies. Into complete surrender to Allah. And, according to the Qur'an itself, back up to Allah, alive, awaiting his return. The Injil, which the Qur'an commands us to believe in, records his own words on the same matter.

The Qur'an calls him the Sign. He calls himself the Way. These are not two messages in conflict. They are one, preserved in two books. What would it look like, in your life tomorrow, to take this ayah seriously?