How did Saudi authorities know this man was not the Mahdi?
Muhammad said: “The Mahdi will be of my stock, and will have a broad forehead a prominent nose. He will fill the earth will equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny, and he will rule for seven years.” (Sahih Muslim 4272)
Maybe this guy didn’t have a broad forehead and a prominent nose. In any case, America is full of eccentric religious sects, self-proclaimed prophets, wild-eyed preachers. The imminent end of the world has been proclaimed here so often (most recently last May 21, and watch out, now it’s coming in October) that it’s a wonder that anyone can still be found to quit his job and sell his house.
In Saudi Arabia, however, there is none of this — and this story illustrates why. This man will almost certainly be killed, and that brings us to the larger point: while end-of-the-world preachers and bizarre sects may bamboozle the easily bamboozled, one only puts a lid on them by enforcing the hegemony of one point of view, thereby restricting the freedom of conscience. The world is and always will be full of fools who do foolish things, including believing and following preachers of crackbrained ideas and obviously false spiritual constructs. If one wishes to protect fools from their foolishness, however, this can only be done by clamping down on the human spirit in ways to which no one wishes to be subjected.
A harsh critic of mine, for example, recently declared that I should be made to submit to some sort of anti-jihad governing board that would allow me to say and do only certain things, and not “permit” me to stray beyond those bounds — presumably I’d be have to be placed under house arrest or otherwise constrained if I dared to do so. And what then? Torture? The choice is always this: either people are allowed to do things that others find annoying, in whatever context — in the matter of free speech (i.e., regarding speaking unwelcome truths about Islam) or in the matter of the free conscience (i.e., regarding proclaiming oneself a prophet, or following some other harebrained false prophet) or in regard to anything else — or they are made subject to a governing authority that takes upon itself the responsibility of determining for everyone what is the acceptable range of behavior and what isn’t.
This is not to say that no restraints are necessary — after all, that’s what laws and governments are. But the nature and intensity and comprehensiveness of the restraints will determine to what extent the human spirit can flourish, and to what extent it is prevented from doing so. For example, a culture that celebrates representational art as a positive good will be the setting for a flowering of such art, while a culture that forbids and restricts such art will prevent artistic souls from realizing their potential. And so we come to the heart of the matter: societies governed by Islamic law restrict the human spirit in ways that Western societies do not, and consequently Sharia societies are the poorer in numerous ways. Muslims of course counter that what they lose is not important and what they gain far more valuable — as in this story, where they gain freedom from eccentric preachers. Eccentric preachers, however, may be annoying in every culture, but if their restriction must come at the price of fetters on the freedom of conscience, it costs far too much.
“Alleged prophet held at Grand Mosque in Saudi,” from Emirates 247, July 2:
A Saudi man mounted a prayers platform at the Grand Mosque in Islam’s holiest shrine in the Gulf kingdom and told thousands of worshippers that he was a prophet and their saviour before he was seized by police.
The 36-year-old man, identified as Sami, waited until the Muslims finished their evening prayers at the Grand Mosque in the western town of Makkah, mounted the podium and delivered his brief, fiery speech. “I am Al-Mehdi Al-Montathar”¦I am a prophet sent (by God) to save and guide you,” he told the packed hall before was overpowered by police.
‘Okaz’ newspaper said the incident took place on Friday night and that Sami insisted during police interrogation that he was a prophet. It said police would subject him to medical examination to check if he is suffering from mental illness.It was the latest in a series of incidents involving persons claiming to be Al-Mehdi Al-Montathar (the Chosen Imam Al-Mehdi) at Islamic holy sites in Makkah over the past few months.
All of them had been arrested and medically examined. Muslims believe Imam Al-Mehdi, dubbed “the ultimate saviour of mankind” will eventually reappear as a great reformer who will destroy the beliefs of injustice and ignorance and fill this earth with fairness after it has been filled with injustice and oppression.