Therefore...

Therefore, he is a prophet AND A SAHABI; and he will be the last of the Sahabah to die .” Al-Qadhi Taj al-Din al-Subki indirectly referred to him in his poem at the end of his al-Qawaid , and said: “He, who by consensus of all creatures, is better than the best of the Sahabah, Abu Bakr; and he is better than ‘Umar, ‘Ali and ‘Uthman. He is a young man from the Ummah of the Chosen Mustafa from Mudhar.”[^4] Imam al-Dhahabi (d.

748 H) further says in his Siyar : ولم يسم الله تعالى في كتابه صحابيا باسمه إلا زيد بن حارثة وعيسى بن مريم عليه السلام الذي ينزل حكما مقسطا Allah the Most High has not mentioned in His Book any Sahabi by name except Zayd b. Harithah and ‘Isa b. Maryam , ‘alaihi al-salam , who will descend as a just judge.[^5] Basically, ‘Isa b. Maryam is the best of the Sahabah – by Sunni reckoning – and not Abu Bakr (contrary to the popular Sunni myth).

He will follow and enforce the Shari’ah of Muhammad, and will be the last of the Sahabah to die. Since the advent of our Prophet, the Masih became a member of our Ummah , and will die as one of our own. Interestingly, after ‘Isa’s descent, he will not be the supreme leader of the Ummah . Of course, he will be a judge who will enforce our Shari’ah . However, he will, in doing that, be taking orders from a higher authority, the khalifah of his time.

Imam al-Bukhari records: حدثنا ابن بكير حدثنا الليث عن يونس عن ابن شهاب عن نافع مولى أبي قتادة الأنصاري أن أبا هريرة قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم كييف أنتم إذا نزل ابن مريم فيكم وإمامكم منكم . Ibn Bukayr – al-Layth – Yunus – Ibn Shihab – Nafi’, freed slave of Abu Qatadah al-Ansari – Abu Hurayrah: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “How will you be when the son of Maryam descends amongst you while your Imam will be from you? ”[^6] Dr.

al-Bastawi interprets that in this manner: " فإمامكم منكم " أي أن الإمام يكون غير عيسى، رجل من أمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم. “while your Imam will be from you”, that is: the Imam will NOT be ‘Isa , he will be a man from the Ummah of Muhammad, peace be upon him.[^7] Of course, ‘Isa too is from this Ummah . However, he is a naturalized member while the Imam will be someone born into it.

Well, by divine decree, only people from the Arab tribe of Quraysh can be khalifahs ; and this rule will never change till the Hour. Imam Ibn Abi ‘Asim (d.