Firstly:
`Isa ibn Maryam (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) will come down at the end of time, as Allah, may He be Glorified, says:
{And indeed, `Isa will be [a sign for] knowledge of the Hour, so be not in doubt of it, and follow Me. This is a straight path
And never let Satan avert you. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy}[Az-Zukhruf 43:61-62].
That is, the appearance of `Isa will be a sign by which it will be known that the onset of the Hour is at hand. In other words, it is one of the portents of the Hour; his descent to earth will be an indication that this world is ending and the hereafter is approaching.
See: Al-Hidayah by Makki, 10/6686.
And Allah, may He be Exalted, says:
{And there is none from the People of the Book but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be against them a witness}[An-Nisa’ 4:159].
Ibn Kathir said in his Tafsir (2/454): Then Ibn Jarir said: The most correct of these views is the first view, which is that none of the People of the Book will be left after the descent of `Isa (peace be upon him) but he will believe in him before his death – that is, before the death of `Isa (peace be upon him). Undoubtedly what Ibn Jarir (may Allah have mercy on him) said is the correct view, because it is in harmony with the context of the verses which prove the falseness of the Jews’ claim that they killed `Isa and crucified him, and the ignorant Christians’ acceptance of that claim. Allah tells us that the matter was not like that; rather someone else was made to look like him, so they killed the lookalike without realizing who he was. Then Allah took `Isa up to Him, and he is still alive and will descend before the Day of Resurrection, as is indicated by the mutawatir (mass-narrated) hadiths – which we will quote below, in sha Allah. `Isa will kill the false messiah (Dajjal), break the cross, kill the pigs and abolish the jizyah – meaning that he will not accept it from any of the followers of other religions. In fact, he will not accept anything except Islam or the sword. Thus this verse tells us that all the People of the Book will believe in him at that time, and none of them will refrain from believing in him. Hence Allah says: {And there is none from the People of the Book but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death} that is, before the death of `Isa, who the Jews and those of the Christians who agreed with them claim was killed and crucified.
On the Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them – that is, with regard to the deeds that he witnessed before he was taken up to heaven and after he came back down to earth. End quote.
Then he quoted hadiths about the descent of `Isa (peace be upon him), then he said: These hadiths are mass-narrated (mutawatir) from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) through the narrations of Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Mas`ud, `Uthman ibn Abil ‘As, Abu Umamah, an-Nawwas ibn Sam`an, `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As, Mujammi` ibn Jariyah, Abu Sarihah and Hudhayfah ibn Usayd (may Allah be pleased with them).
These hadiths indicate how and where he will descend, that it will be in Syria; more precisely, it will be in Damascus, at the eastern minaret, and that will happen at the time of the iqamah for Fajr prayer. This minaret was rebuilt in 741 AH, a white minaret for the Umayyad Mosque, built of cut stone, to replace the minaret that was destroyed due to a fire that was blamed on the actions of the Christians. Most of the construction costs were paid by them, and it is strongly believed that this is the place to which `Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) will descend. Then he will kill the pigs, break the cross and waive the jizyah, and will not accept anything but Islam, as noted previously in As-Sahihayn (Bukhari and Muslim). This is a foretelling from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and it reflects his approval, his prescription (of what the Muslims should do at that time), and justification for him doing all of that at that time, so that they will have no excuse not to believe, and all doubts will be erased from their minds. Hence all of them will enter Islam, following `Isa (peace be upon him). Hence Allah, may He be Exalted, says:
{And there is none from the People of the Book but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be against them a witness}[An-Nisa’ 4:159].
This verse is like the verse in which Allah, may He be Exalted, says: {And indeed, ‘Isa will be [a sign for] knowledge of the Hour} [az-Zukhruf 43:61] – that is, an indication and proof of the approach of the Hour. That is because he will come down after the false messiah, the Dajjal, appears, whom Allah will cause to be killed at `Isa’s hand, as is proven in As-Sahih: “Allah has not created any malady but He has sent down a remedy for it.” At his time, Allah will send Ya’juj and Ma’juj, whom Allah will destroy by virtue of `Isa’s supplication. Allah, may He be Exalted, says:
{until, when Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj have been let loose and come rushing from all directions,
and the true promise [the Day of Resurrection] nears its fulfilment } [Al-Anbiya’ 21:96-97].
End quote from Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 2/464.
Secondly:
There is nothing in the religious texts that points to the reason why `Isa (peace be upon him) will come down at the end of time, but some of the scholars have spoken about the reason for that on the basis of personal views and their understanding of the issue.
Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The scholars said: The reason why `Isa – and not any other prophet – will come down is to refute the Jews in their claim that they killed him. Thus Allah, may He be Exalted, will expose their lies, and he is the one who will fight them.
Or it may be because his appointed time (of death) is close, so that he can be buried in the earth, because no being who was created from dust can die and be buried except in the earth.
And it was said that when he saw the description of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and his ummah, he asked Allah to make him one of them, and Allah answered his supplication and will cause him to live until he comes down at the end of time, as a renewer (mujaddid) of the message of Islam, and so that he will be on earth at the time when the Dajjal will emerge, so that he can kill him.
End quote from Fat-h al-Bari, 6/493.
In the answer to question no. 222036, it says: It seems that there are several reasons for the descent of `Isa (peace be upon him) at the end of time, and Allah knows best what the reason is. Those reasons include:
Making his descent one of the causes of Islam, which is the religion of all the prophets, prevailing throughout the world. `Isa ibn Maryam will descend after people differed concerning him and split into different groups and sects, so he will descend in order to show those who differed concerning him his true nature, and he will judge between them concerning their differences about him. He will support the Muslims and will fight the Jews, killing their leader, the false messiah (Dajjal), and he will compel the Christians to accept Islam; he will not accept jizyah from them, and he will prove false their beliefs, breaking the cross and killing the pigs. End quote.
The questioner should understand that `Isa (peace be upon him) will come down as a follower of the teachings and system of law brought by Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
The scholars of the Permanent Committee said: The hadiths indicate that he (`Isa) will come down at the end of time and he will rule in accordance with the teachings and system of law of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The texts also indicate that the leader of this ummah, in prayers and otherwise, at the time when `Isa descends, will be one of this ummah.
Based on that, there can be no contradiction between his descent and the fact that prophethood ended with our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), as `Isa will not bring a new message.
To Allah belongs the judgement in this world and the hereafter; He does what He wills and decides whatever He wills; none can reverse His decree, and He is the Almighty, the Most Wise.
Fatawa al-Lajnah ad-Da’imah, 3/301-302.
The scholars of the Committee also said: In the Quran, there are texts which state that `Isa ibn Maryam was taken up alive to heaven, and he will descend as a Prophet and Messenger. That will be a continuation of his prophethood and mission that started before he was taken up, but he will not call to his own teachings; rather he will call to the fundamentals of Islam to which all the prophets and messengers called people, and he will call to the minor issues that were brought by the last of the messengers, Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). So he will not come as a new prophet with a new message such that it could contradict the belief that the last of the prophets is Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
End quote from Fatawa al-Lajnah ad-Da’imah, 3/328-329.
Conclusion:
`Isa (peace be upon him) will descend at the end of time as a follower of the teachings of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
Some of the scholars have stated that the reasons for his descent include:
So that Islam will prevail at the end of time by virtue of `Isa’s following Islam.
So as to expose the lies of the Jews and Christians, who are two large groups who differ from the Muslims. When `Isa descends, the truth of Islam and of the Prophet of Islam will become clear to the entire world.
And Allah knows best.
