Library Islam Islam: Faith, Practice & History Part I: Beliefs Lesson 18 5. The Length of al-Mahdi’s Life
5. The Length of al-Mahdi’s Life
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5. The Length of al-Mahdi’s Life
We believe that the lengthening of a man's life is not an impossibility, because it is explicitly stated in the Qur'Än that, “We sent Nuh to his people and so he lived among them a thousand years, all but fifty.” (29:14) Even modern science does not deny the possibility of lengthening the human lifespan.
If a greatly extended life is not an impossible event, there is nothing to prevent God from keeping a man alive for thousands of years because the regulations of a man's life is in the hands of God. He can bring a new order into existence which has precedence over the usual order of things, just as He did in the case of all the miracles. The miracles of the prophets: the cooling of the fire for Ibrahim, the turning of Musa’s staff into a serpent; bringing the dead to life through `Isa, and so forth, are all against the usual flow of things but God brought another order into existence by His own power and a miracle occurred. All the Muslims, the Jews and the Christians believe in these miracles.
Similarly, for the length of the life of Imam Mahdi, there remains no place for any kind of objection, because if someone says that such a length of life is impossible, then his claim cannot be at all accepted after the stipulation of the Qur'Än concerning the length of Prophet Nuh's life. If someone says that a prolonged life is possible but against the normal natural order of things, then it can be retorted that the length of life of Imam Mahdi is against the natural order just as the miracles of the prophets are against the natural order but within the power of God.
Someone who believes in the power of God and in the miracles of the prophets cannot have the slightest objection to the length of Imam Mahdi’s life.
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This lesson is based on The Roots of Religion of Dar Rah-e Haq.
