The Awaited Savior

Introduction: Is the Savior an Idea or a System?

Who Is the Savior?

On its face, the question may seem a simple religious one. Yet the deeper question is not: Who is the savior?

Rather: What happens to a human being who believes that someone will come in the future to accomplish what they themselves have been unable to accomplish? What happens to vicegerency? What happens to striving? What happens to the cultivation of civilization? And what happens to human responsibility for changing one's reality?

This is where this reading begins.

I do not approach the idea of the savior here as merely an isolated belief. Rather, I situate it within a broader context in the Qur'an: the context of enticement, wish, promise, and the alteration of the human function.

The hypothesis I put forward here is that the deception may lie not in the existence of the idea of the savior alone, but in transforming this idea into a system that produces a waiting human being in place of the human being as vicegerent.

Iblis Did Not Conceal His Project

The Qur'an does not present Iblis as merely a passing whisper. Iblis announced his project.

﴿قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ۝ ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَائِلِهِمْ وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ﴾ (He said, “Because You have led me astray, I shall surely lie in wait for them on Your straight path. Then I shall surely come upon them from before them and from behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them grateful.”) [الأعراف: ١٦–١٧]

Then he said:

﴿لَأَحْتَنِكَنَّ ذُرِّيَّتَهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا﴾ (I shall surely bring his descendants under my sway, except for a few.) [الإسراء: ٦٢]

Then he disclosed another part of his means:

﴿وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ آذَانَ الْأَنْعَامِ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ﴾ (I shall surely lead them astray and fill them with wishes; I shall surely command them, and they will slit the ears of livestock; and I shall surely command them, and they will alter God's creation.) [النساء: ١١٩]

Notice the sequence of words: I lead them astray. I fill them with wishes. I command them. They alter.

Enticement does not always depend on coercing the human being. It may begin with a wish.

Adam and the First Wish

When Iblis sought to entice Adam, he did not say to him: Abandon your Lord. Rather, he approached him through what the human being desires.

﴿هَلْ أَدُلُّكَ عَلَىٰ شَجَرَةِ الْخُلْدِ وَمُلْكٍ لَّا يَبْلَىٰ﴾ (Shall I direct you to the tree of immortality and a dominion that never decays?) [طه: ١٢٠]

And he said:

﴿مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّا أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ﴾ (Your Lord only forbade you both this tree lest you become two angels or become among the immortal.) [الأعراف: ٢٠]

The striking word here is immortality: the human wish to endure.

Then came the consequence:

﴿فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ عَنْهَا فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ﴾ (Then Satan caused them both to slip from it and brought them out of the state they had been in.) [البقرة: ٣٦]

From here we can formulate a hypothesis: a wish may be more dangerous than a direct command, because the human being may move of their own accord toward what they imagine to be their salvation.

The Allotted Share

Then comes the phrase that most invites reflection:

﴿وَلَأَتَّخِذَنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِكَ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا﴾ (I shall surely take an allotted share of Your servants.) [النساء: ١١٨]

Iblis did not say: I shall lead everyone astray. Rather, he said: a share. That is, there is a portion of humankind that may enter his project in a particular way.

From my perspective, this opens an important question: Could this share include people who do not merely receive the idea, but carry it, transmit it, and reshape the consciousness of others through it?

Here the matter shifts from an individual being enticed to an idea producing followers. And from a person who believes the wish to a person who makes others believe it.

From Wish to Savior

If a wish is one of the means of enticement, the question becomes: How can a human wish such as salvation be transformed into an entire system?

The human being sees injustice. Sees failure. Sees incapacity. Sees the corruption of reality. Then the idea appears: Do not worry; the savior will come.

Wish ← Assent ← Belief ← Idea ← System ← Doctrine ← Waiting.

At every stage, the distance between the human being and their responsibility may increase.

From Savior to Imam

When the savior becomes a central religious figure, the matter no longer remains merely one of waiting for the future. The savior acquires a standing. Then he acquires followers. Then the idea of leadership associated with him emerges.

The matter then shifts from the savior to the imam, then from the present imam to the absent imam, then from the absent imam to his deputy, then from the deputy to authority by proxy.

Savior → Awaited One → Imam → Absent Imam → Deputy → Authority by Proxy → Guardianship of the Jurist.

Here the issue is no longer merely an eschatological doctrine. It has become a structure of authority.

The Mahdi: When the Future Becomes Present in Consciousness

In this context, the idea of the Mahdi is not read solely as a discussion of a figure who will appear in the future. Its effect on shaping the human being who lives in the present can also be considered.

If there is a savior who will appear one day to establish justice, end oppression, restore what is right, and accomplish what people have been unable to accomplish, the human being may gradually begin to shift the center of action from: I, to: he. From: today, to: the future. And from: work, to: waiting.

Here the most dangerous transformation occurs: the vicegerent becomes one who waits.

From Occultation to Deputation

If the savior is absent, the natural question becomes: Who speaks in his name? Who interprets his will? Who determines what he wants? Who possesses the right to represent him?

From here, the idea of the deputy emerges. If the principal is absent, the deputy has wide scope, because the human being does not deal directly with the absent one, but with someone who says: I know his will.

Here authority passes from the absent person to the present person who speaks in his name.

Absent One → Deputy → exegesis (tafsīr) → Obedience → Authority.

Thus the idea of waiting becomes an institution.

Guardianship of the Jurist: When Deputation Becomes Rule

At this stage, the idea becomes more expansive. The discussion is no longer only about awaiting a savior, but about authority during the time of his absence.

Here the guardianship of the jurist emerges as one of the forms this sequence may reach: occultation → deputation → guardianship → authority.

Authority thus becomes associated with the idea that there is an absent holder of command, and that someone represents guardianship during the time of his absence. The absent one thereby ceases to be entirely absent. He becomes present through the institution that speaks in his name.

When the principal is absent, the authority of his deputy may expand disproportionately.

The Allotted Share: Who Carries the Idea?

Here the verse takes us back to its beginning:

﴿وَلَأَتَّخِذَنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِكَ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا﴾ (I shall surely take an allotted share of Your servants.) [النساء: ١١٨]

From my perspective, I do not understand “the allotted share” here as merely a group of people who lead themselves astray. Rather, I propose another possibility: that there may be those who carry the idea, transmit it, and reproduce it within society.

This does not mean that every individual belonging to a community or religion is part of this share. The discussion here concerns a historical and intellectual idea, not a race, bloodline, or people. The idea is the object of reflection.

How does a wish pass from one mind to another? How does it become a narration (riwāya)? How does it become a doctrine? How does it become an institution? How does it become authority? And how can entire generations inherit it until, for them, it becomes a truth that requires no questioning?

From Jewish Thought to Christianity, Then to Islam

From this angle, we can read the history of the idea of the savior as a long intellectual trajectory.

Conceptions of the savior emerged in historical Jewish thought in different forms. Christianity then reshaped the idea of salvation and the Messiah within its own system. Subsequently, various conceptions of Mahdism, the imamate, and waiting emerged within Islamic history and developed within different schools and currents.

Here I am not looking for an identity between these systems, but for the idea that can travel and reshape itself: salvation through an awaited person. Then awaiting that person. Then attachment to him. Then speaking in his name. Then producing authority associated with him.

From here, the question becomes larger than a question of doctrinal affiliation. It is a question of how human consciousness is made.

Altering God's Creation: Is the Alteration Only in the Human Being?

Iblis said:

﴿وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ﴾ (I shall surely command them, and they will alter God's creation.) [النساء: ١١٩]

And the Qur'an said:

﴿فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ﴾ (So set your face toward religion, inclining to the truth—the primordial disposition of God upon which He created people. There is no alteration of God's creation.) [الروم: ٣٠]

Here I put forward a broader hypothesis. What if “God's creation” were not confined to the body? What if God's creation included the function, primordial disposition, and role that the human being was created to fulfill?

God created the human being, gave them a primordial disposition, made them a vicegerent, commanded them to strive, and commanded them to work.

﴿وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ﴾ (And that the human being shall have only what they have striven for.) [النجم: ٣٩]

﴿وَقُلِ اعْمَلُوا فَسَيَرَى اللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ﴾ (And say, “Work, for God will see your work.”) [التوبة: ١٠٥]

If human nature is transformed from acting to waiting, could the alteration have gone beyond the body to the human function itself? This is a hypothesis worthy of reflection.

The Human Being Created to Cultivate the Earth

﴿هُوَ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ وَاسْتَعْمَرَكُمْ فِيهَا﴾ (He brought you forth from the earth and charged you with cultivating it.) [هود: ٦١]

The human being was not created to sit waiting. They were created to cultivate the earth.

﴿إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً﴾ (I am placing a vicegerent on earth.) [البقرة: ٣٠]

And the vicegerent is not a spectator on earth.

﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ﴾ (God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves.) [الرعد: ١١]

Change, then, begins with the human being. Striving comes from them. Work comes from them. The cultivation of civilization comes from them.

But what happens if they are told: Wait. Someone will come to bring change. Someone will come to establish justice. Someone will come to restore what is right. Someone will come to end corruption. Someone will come to change reality.

Here the greater deception may begin.

From Vicegerent to One Who Waits

The human being who says, “I shall work,” differs from the human being who says, “I shall wait.”

The first sees themselves as part of making the future; the second sees the future as something that will come to them. The first assumes responsibility; the second may transfer responsibility to someone else. The first asks: What must I do? The second asks: When will he come?

Here doctrine changes from an idea about the future into a way of managing the present.

The Society That Can Be Shaped

If any body of thought can convince the human being that the real solution lies outside their will, and that real change is tied to another person, society becomes more susceptible to being shaped, because the human being who does not see themselves as the maker of their future seeks someone to make it for them.

Here an entire system may take shape: a person who waits. Then a group that waits. Then a society that waits. Then an authority that says it knows what everyone is waiting for. Then waiting itself becomes part of the order.

Thus the savior is no longer merely a person whose appearance is awaited, but becomes an instrument for reshaping society.

The Most Dangerous Aspect of the Idea

The problem is not hope, nor that the human being wishes for justice, nor that the human being wants deliverance from oppression.

The problem begins when the wish becomes a substitute for work. When the future becomes more important than the present. When the absent one becomes stronger than the present one. And when the human being becomes a follower of whoever speaks in the name of the absent one.

Wish into doctrine. Doctrine into waiting. Waiting into obedience. Obedience into authority. And authority into an entire society that moves in accordance with the idea.

What Does Iblis Want from the Human Being?

If we return to the words of Iblis, we find that they disclose his means:

﴿لَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ﴾ (I shall surely lead them astray and fill them with wishes.) [النساء: ١١٩]

Leading astray. And filling with wishes.

Then:

﴿وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ﴾ (And I shall surely command them.) [النساء: ١١٩]

Command.

Then:

﴿فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ﴾ (And they will alter God's creation.) [النساء: ١١٩]

Alteration.

Wish → Faith in It → Shaping Consciousness → Obedience → Altering the Human Being and Their Function.

Here the phrase:

﴿وَلَأَتَّخِذَنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِكَ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا﴾ (I shall surely take an allotted share of Your servants.) [النساء: ١١٨]

becomes more inviting of reflection. Perhaps what is sought is not merely that the human being be enticed, but that the human being themselves become a means of enticing others.

The Savior Who Produces the One Who Waits

Here the hypothesis reaches its core. Perhaps the great deception lies not in producing a figure called “the savior,” but in producing the human being who awaits the savior. For producing the savior ends with the appearance of the figure, whereas producing the one who waits builds an entire society around the idea.

The savior is a person. But those who wait are a society. And a society's consciousness can be reshaped.

From here, the idea becomes more dangerous than the person himself.

From Vicegerency to Dependency

The Qur'an confronts the human being with their responsibility:

﴿وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ﴾ (And that the human being shall have only what they have striven for.) [النجم: ٣٩]

And it says:

﴿وَكُلُّهُمْ آتِيهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَرْدًا﴾ (And each of them will come to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone.) [مريم: ٩٥]

In the end, the human being does not come on the Day of Resurrection with the authority of their community, or with an imam who waits on their behalf, or with a deputy who bears their burden, or with a savior who works in their stead. They come alone.

Here two images stand opposed: the human being as vicegerent, and the human being who waits. The first bears their responsibility; the second may seek someone to bear it for them.

The Greater Deception

If the hypothesis of “the allotted share” is correct in this direction, the deception is not that the human being is told: There is a savior who will come.

The deeper deception is that their consciousness is reshaped until they become convinced that their primary task is to wait. Then waiting becomes a virtue. Asking when the savior will come becomes more important than asking about work. Seeking the deputy becomes more important than seeking responsibility. And obedience to whoever speaks in the name of the absent one becomes more important than the human being's exercise of the role with which God has charged them.

The result then is this: the vicegerent becomes one who waits. The one who waits becomes a follower. The follower needs someone to lead them. Whoever leads them needs legitimacy. And legitimacy is tied to the savior. The circle is complete.

The Question That Remains

Was the idea of the savior merely a doctrine concerning the future? Or could it have become, over the course of history, a means of making the present?

Is the savior the objective? Or is producing the waiting human being the deeper objective?

Is “the allotted share” merely individuals who are enticed? Or are there among them those who carry the wish, transmit it, and turn it into an idea, then into a doctrine, then into a system?

And could this be one of the forms of enticement that Iblis himself announced:

﴿وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ﴾ (And I shall surely fill them with wishes.) [النساء: ١١٩]

Then:

﴿وَلَأَتَّخِذَنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِكَ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا﴾ (I shall surely take an allotted share of Your servants.) [النساء: ١١٨]

Then the human being changes from a vicegerent into one who waits, from an agent into a follower, and from a maker of history into one who awaits history.

Perhaps here lies the greater deception: the greatest danger of a wish is not that it makes the human being dream of what will come, but that it makes them stop doing what they must do today.

For the human being who waits for someone to come and save the world may forget that the Qur'an has charged them with the responsibility to live in it, work in it, cultivate it, and strive within it.

Here remains the question we should not evade:

Since when did the human being change from a vicegerent awaiting guidance from God into one who waits for a human being to change the world for them?