The Awaited Mahdi

Preface

The present turmoil and disturbances in the world have struck fear in the heart of the man. The menacing threat of Covid-19 pandemic followed by the fear of economic recession, nuclear wars, the arms race, unequal distribution of wealth and increasing insecurity have resulted in acute anxiety and stress. The alarming growth of destructive weapons is a threat to decimate humanity. The corrupt and unscrupulous leaders of the so-called liberal nations have deprived the populace of even their basic necessities.

The progressive deprivation of the weaker classes, the entreating voices of the hunger-stricken souls, the alarming rise of the diseased and the looming unemployment and poverty have robbed man of his peace , tranquillity and security.

Manners and etiquettes are thrown to the winds. The nature of everything is becoming chaotic. Adolescents are interacting with each other everyday – with conflicting views and opinions. Personal gain’s is their only interest. If we adopt a compromising approach, then we become like everyone else. If we seek refuge in these difficult times by uniting with the shameful masses, then we put our piety at stake. And if we don’t do such a thing, we have no option but to remain mute and helpless spectators. We are chucked out from the gatherings of liberated thinkers. If we keep quiet, we feel suffocated and if we protest, we are labelled as orthodox.

Wherever we turn in this entire universe, the same scenes are evident. If we open the newspaper to review the events of the world, we are inundated with such lewd and shocking images that even the humans of the earliest era of civilisation would be embarrassed!

So the question arises to whom do we turn to under such dire, grim, severe, harsh, gloomy and dreadful circumstances?

All the major religions of the world have discussed the ‘last of times’ describing it as an era where moral decaying will be rampant, oppression will be prevalent, there will be widespread unrest and man in general will not be at peace. There will be turmoil all around him, he will be engulfed in problems and calamities one after the other and will not be able to rescue himself out of it.

Along with such disturbing and decayed description of the last of times – all religions are also optimistic and hopeful in this situation, since all believe in the concept of a saviour. All believe that in the last of times the universal saviour of the world will appear.

‘The Saviour’ or ‘The Awaited One’ with Divine help will remove all injustice, oppression from the face of earth and fill it with peace, tranquillity – both physical and spiritual. He will restore the purity of faith, defeat materialism and establish a Divine system which will bring man out from troubles, darkness, ignorance into light, hope and world free from troubles. (equal)

Various religions have described ‘The Awaited One’ or ‘The Saviour’ in various degrees. What is common though, is that all believe that he has not come yet and is going to come.

In today’s pandemic world, where most countries are suffering from the spread of COVID-19, along with a decayed value and moral system which has no or very minimum consideration for basic human values, the coming of ‘The Awaited One’ or ‘The Saviour’ has become more important than ever.

Unfortunately, not many of us today in-spite of witnessing the turmoil around us, in-spite of being entangled in life threatening situations one after the other are not attentive towards ‘The Awaited Saviour’ who in reality is our only ray of hope, the only ark of salvation which will save us from the tumultuous sea of misery, poverty of values, decayed morals, lost glory, economic inequality and oppression which is prevalent in the whole wide world today and seeped into our homes, our culture and ourselves!

Let’s all come together, irrespective of our caste, creed, religion and put all our hopes in ‘The Awaited Saviour’ and pray to the Almighty to send The Awaited Saviour – The Awaited One, The Only Ray of Hope at the earliest so that human race is able to regain its lost glory, we are able to live lives which are more worthy of living, to live in a world which is free from pandemics, moral decay, economic recession.

We have briefly brought together beliefs of various prominent religions with regards to ‘The Awaited One’.

The followers of most religions believe that there will come a time when the world will become corrupt and engulfed in a crisis. Evil and injustice will become the rule of the day. Disbelief will cover the entire world. At that time, the universal savior of the world will appear.

Not only are the tidings to be found in revealed books like the Zand and Pazand, and Jamaspname of the Zoroastrians, the Torah and other Biblical books of the Jews, and the Gospel of the Christians, such information can also be seen, more or less, among the Brahmins and the Buddhists.

The followers of all religions and traditions maintain such a belief and are awaiting the appearance of such a commanding figure under the divine protection. Each tradition recognizes this figure with a different name and specific title.

The Zoroastrians call him Saoshyant (meaning the ‘savior of the world’);
the Jews know him as the messiah,
the Christians regard him as the Savior Messiah.
The Muslims regards him as ‘the Promised Mahdi’
The Hindus refer to him by various names such as Kalki

Preface

Here are some references of The Awaited Saviour from different religious sources.