Many of us come to a point where we think we’ve escaped our conditionings. Little do we realize that even while we say “I am no longer conditioned”, we are still saying “I am”!

Engulfed by the illusion of a ‘self’, we become captives of our bodies, and hence subjugated to the ‘antichrist of the illusory-self’. Subservient to every bodily temptation and desire, we begin paving our paths to destruction.

After eliminating the conditionings during the stage of maturation and development, one becomes subject to a certain amount of freedom. Now, if one hasn’t also eliminated the illusion of the ‘self’ during this process, then the newly gained freedom works to serve the body. One becomes consumed by all sorts of bodily appetites, leading ultimately to the deification of their body.

Consequently, one begins living in the ‘paradise of the antichrist’. That is, as opposed to the ‘Absolute’ self, the ‘illusory’ self becomes the dominating force, and by obeying the illusory self, one inevitably gets choked in the swamp of their illusion.

Let’s reflect for a moment…

If the Reviver (Mujaddid), of the period between the Hijri years 1400-1410, was the last reviver, then following the Mahdi (Saviour), the Antichrist should appear and claim to be God round about these times, after which Jesus should come back to the world!

Of course, this is the explicit manifestation of the matter. Those, who can’t grasp this reality, either deny it altogether or start making all sorts of interpretations… Whether one can fathom this reality or not, it will come to be.

However, there is also an implicit side, to which I would like to draw your attention.

When the Mahdi within is awakened, we will have attained selflessness and realized our apparent existence is really His existence… This knowledge-based realization will be inadequate though, for without a thorough purification, we will still be subject to our inner antichrist’s infamous command: “I am your Lord, serve me!” Naturally, we will begin to think this is the voice of Allah, and start believing our ‘self’ is Allah, while still identifying ‘ourselves’ as our body.

As a result of this false identification, our dominant thought will become: “Since I am God (or the manifestation of God), I am free to do whatever I like in this body!” thus accrediting all forms of bodily pleasures to ourselves.

This is why Muhammad (saw) says:

“When the antichrist emerges, the believers should run from his paradise into his hell…”

“Expressing the inverted reality that the antichrist’s seemingly pleasurable paradise is in actuality hell itself!”