By Miguel Hayworth
“For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
— Matthew 24:24
The opening of The Mahdi’s Manifesto may appeal to the weary and the disillusioned, but it cloaks deception in a veneer of spiritual sincerity. By drawing together the diverse messianic expectations of world religions and suggesting that they culminate in a single revolutionary moment of change, the manifesto not only distorts theological truth but subtly undermines the authority and finality of the risen Jesus Christ. Christians must not be lulled into a false unity by such rhetoric. This is not a neutral call to justice—it is a call to abandon the truth of the gospel for a counterfeit hope.
The manifesto begins by suggesting that Jews, Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims have all been waiting in vain for centuries for their promised deliverer.¹ This is a clever but dangerous sleight of hand. It equates religions with utterly contradictory foundations, conflating their eschatologies into a shared frustration, thereby preparing readers to accept a new, universal saviour who transcends them all. But this is precisely what Scripture warns us to expect from the spirit of antichrist: a unifying false hope that denies the Son. In doing so, it positions the coming of this so-called deliverer as the fulfilment of all prophecies, usurping the true Messiah’s identity.
Christianity alone proclaims that the Messiah has already come. Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies, suffered for sin, rose in power, and ascended in glory. We are not waiting for another deliverer—we are waiting for His return in judgment and majesty. The cross and the empty tomb are not mere symbols of faith; they are historical realities with eternal significance. To place Jesus in the same category as the Maitreya or the Mahdi is not just error; it is blasphemy. The gospel is not a shared myth among global religions. It is God’s revealed truth, and Christ is its cornerstone.
This equivalence also subtly denies the uniqueness of Christ’s mission. While others await an enlightened teacher or a political revolutionary, Christians know that Christ came not only to establish a kingdom but to deal with the root of all human injustice—sin. His reign is not first political but spiritual, conquering death and offering redemption. Any proposal for peace or justice that sidelines the crucified and risen Lord is not only incomplete—it is satanic.
Even more subversive is the manifesto’s claim that “no one man can establish a Divine Just State,” and that justice must begin with internal human transformation.¹ While this may sound empowering, it subtly denies the sovereignty and sufficiency of Jesus. Scripture declares that “the government shall be upon His shoulders” (Isaiah 9:6) and that “He shall reign from sea to sea” (Psalm 72:8). The notion that human beings must create justice before God can act is the ancient lie of Babel—that man can climb to heaven through his own works. This manifesto repackages that rebellion in religious terms, creating a form of humanism in spiritual garb.
Moreover, the claim that man must purify society before divine justice can be implemented directly contradicts biblical doctrine. The Bible is unequivocal: humanity is spiritually dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1). We do not begin the work of salvation—God does. The kingdom of God does not arise from grassroots human transformation, but from divine intervention. Christ’s reign will come not by human consensus but by divine decree, as lightning from the East to the West (Matthew 24:27).
The Qur’anic verse cited (Surah 13:11) is marshalled in support of the claim that God does not change a people until they change themselves.¹ But this teaching is diametrically opposed to the gospel. The Christian message is that God changes a people precisely because they cannot change themselves. Salvation is not a cooperative enterprise; it is a divine rescue mission. To use this verse to argue for a man-made kingdom of justice is to call for a utopia without the cross—a hope destined to collapse under the weight of sin.
The final and most alarming claim is this: “What you have been promised has arrived.”¹ This is not the voice of a humble servant; it is the voice of a pretender. It is the same deceptive spirit Jesus warned of when He said, “Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray” (Mark 13:6). To imply that Aba Al-Sadiq is the fulfilment of the messianic hope of all peoples is to declare war on the gospel. The danger lies not only in the claim itself but in the religious fervour it seeks to incite—a call for allegiance that places human hope in the hands of a false redeemer.
We must be clear: any figure who comes claiming to fulfil the hopes of multiple religions by uniting their doctrines is not sent from God. The gospel is not an ecumenical negotiation but a divine ultimatum: “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The so-called Divine Just State proposed in this manifesto is not the kingdom of God—it is the kingdom of man posing as divine. Its promises are temporal, its methods are political, and its messiah is a counterfeit.
Christians must be alert. The Bible is clear: “If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). There is no other saviour. There is no other deliverance. The gospel is not a platform for political revolution; it is the proclamation of the crucified and risen Lord who will return to judge the living and the dead. The true kingdom of Christ is not established by manifesto or activism but by the power of God at the return of the Lord Jesus.
What then should Christians do in response to such a manifesto? First, we must reject it with theological clarity. Second, we must expose its falsehood with biblical truth. Third, we must proclaim the gospel all the more urgently, knowing that many will be led astray by voices claiming to offer peace and justice while denying the Prince of Peace.
The Mahdi’s Manifesto is a manifesto of rebellion against the exclusive authority and saving work of Jesus Christ. It presents a counterfeit kingdom and a false christ. Let the faithful reject it with clarity and courage. Let every believer stand firm in the truth that the kingdom we await is not built with hands, nor does it rise by human strength. It comes when the King of kings returns in glory.
“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen.” (Revelation 1:7)
¹ Aba Al-Sadiq Abdullah Hashem, The Mahdi’s Manifesto, First Edition, October 2024, p. 4.