Naksibendi’s are often criticized for strong beliefs of Imam Mahdi’s (AS) imminent coming. This is an adjusted version my comments on the topic of the latter in a conversation.
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My beliefs (if I can call them my own) are simply in line with basic Islam. A reminder for us would be that nearly all Sunni Sheykhs have referenced this day and age as the time immediately before Imam Mahdi (AS), a time of trials. In the same manner, it was sunnah to explain and describe things in this way. So much so that even the Sahabi who lived over 1400 years ago would expect Qiyamat, Imam Mahdi (AS), and the Dajjal as very imminent things.
Yet, is this yielding to a philosophy of life based on prophecy of events and people to come, defeatist in the present?
I assert that holding this religious position is not defeatist but a necessary factor in refocusing our efforts inward, which yields better outwards results (as a natural consequence) in the most clean and organic manner.
The way of Islam is that even if you know that Qiyamat is tomorrow, you are still expected to plant your tree, coming from a Hadith of the Holy Prophet (S).
However, by interpreting this tradition as belief that valuable knowledge of future spiritual realities is to be *ignored* in favor of any and all practical work would be a sad mistake. This is because the fundamental factor here is change of attitude, of perception. Modification of attitudes allows me to now focus on planting my tree, in my garden, but with the knowledge that it may or may not give fruit and give benefit for others tomorrow. We plant with hope.
The lesson to take here is not to act in ignorance of spiritual knowledge, but rather, to build your life in a way of Islam, and allow it to grow. Since then, the community changes, because you are a part of that community. The ‘government’ itself changes, because the people have changed, and Allah changed the conditions for such a people.
The way of Ahl ul sunnah leaves ‘big picture’, hard-turn, forceful changes of societies for the Awliya to manage and direct, and lets us focus on establishing ourselves as Muslim servants within an Islamic community in the best manner possible. One that allows us to keep our faith and live simply.
This approach directly contrasts with the example of secularists and their ‘activist reform’ that directly target political institutions and various ’causes of the day’ and sucks dry the spiritual progress of the activist individual in bitter arguments. Delusion upon layer of delusion piles on the individual as they believe they are changing society for the better, when they end up compromising principle after principle personally.
Sadly, I don’t think any of us are prepared to put aside our nafs and be able to dictate to each other how entire governments need to be run, especially when we can’t figure out how to run our own households.
Believing in Imam Mahdi (AS) and his imminent arrival is hardly a reason to stop working on improving our personal situation. If anything, it is more of a reason to focus on improving our personal relationship to our faith, which yields the best results for those around us in a very practical manner.
The trials of Imam Mahdi’s (AS) time will be huge, in fact, numerous Muslims won’t even be properly able to identify him due to their own personal weaknesses of faith. Shouldn’t that concern us? Working on building that faith for the above reason, if not our own ‘personal’ Day-of-Judgement (death), gives us renewed energy to get us thinking about our own faith, its strength, its weaknesses.
Finally, while a faith in the future ‘Utopian ideal’ focuses us on personal development it is also a reason to let us abandon imposing our various socio-political-economic viewpoints on other people. It allows us to concern ourselves -with- ourselves and in that way be helpful to others.
Worry about governments is compost heap for our time and energy. Governments have very little imposing factors on real Islamic communities, especially rural ones living lives of simple Islam. This is really regardless of where in the world we decide to settle.
As the Prophet (S) said in Sahih Bukhari:
“Allah’s Apostle said, “There will come a time when the best property of a Muslim will be sheep which he will take to the tops of mountains and the places of rainfall so as to flee with his religion from the afflictions. ”
When will we decide that things will be bad enough to take a little bit of that holy advice?