be peace—and I have not cited all the hadiths concerning his descent, lest the discussion become too lengthy. These hadiths are found in the Sahīh collections, the Sunan works, the Musnads, and other compilations of the Sunnah. They unequivocally establish that Jesus (peace be upon him) will descend at the end of time. There is no valid argument for anyone who rejects them, claims that they are solitary reports that do not constitute proof, or maintains that his descent is not an article of Muslim belief in which Muslims are required to believe (1). For once a hadith is established as authentic, it must be believed, and what was reported by the truthful and trustworthy Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) must be affirmed. We may not reject his words merely because they were transmitted through a solitary report. This is a feeble argument. Earlier in this study, I devoted a chapter to explaining that when a solitary report is authentic, its contents must be affirmed. If we were to say that solitary reports do not constitute proof, we would be rejecting many of the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and his words would be futile and meaningless. How can that be, when scholars have expressly stated that the hadiths concerning the descent of Jesus (peace be upon him) are mass-transmitted?!
I shall now cite a selection of their statements: