Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
There is nothing wrong with the Muslim asking his Lord to give him a long life of obedience to Him. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was asked: Who is the best of people? He said: “The one who lives a long life and does good deeds.”
Narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2329); classed as saheeh by al-Albani in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi.
See the answer to question no. 12372.
Secondly:
The descent of ‘Eesa ibn Maryam (Jesus son of Mary – peace be upon him) will happen at the end of time. An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The descent of ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) from heaven will happen at the end of time. End quote.
Sharh an-Nawawi ‘ala Muslim, 8/234.
See the answer to question no. 43840.
Thirdly:
It is possible that some people of this ummah may live long enough to see him (peace be upon him); that is not impossible. Al-Haakim (8635) narrated that Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever among you lives to see ‘Eesa ibn Maryam, let him convey greetings of salaam to him from me.” Blessings and peace of Allah be upon them both.
Classed as hasan by al-Albani in Saheeh al-Jaami‘ (1981).
Ahmad (7971) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: If I live a long life, I hope that I may live to see ‘Eesa ibn Maryam, but if death comes to me before that, then whoever lives to see him, let him convey greetings of salaam to him from me.
Classed as saheeh by the commentators on al-Musnad.
But this possibility is one thing, and asking to witness the descent of ‘Eesa is something else. His descent will come at the end of time, as mentioned above, and the turmoil and tribulations of the end of time will be many and ongoing. The one who asks Allah to let him see him has in fact asked Allah to let him live until he sees a time of turmoil and tribulation, especially since ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) will descend at the time of the Dajjaal, which will be the greatest and worst of tribulations, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Between the creation of Adam and the onset of the Hour there is no matter of greater impact than the Dajjaal.” Narrated by Muslim (2946) and Ahmad (16255).
The Muslim should seek to avoid tribulations and the places and times where they occur, and ask Allah to keep him safe from them, so how about the greatest of tribulations that will have the most severe impact on people?
Abu Dawood (4319) narrated that ‘Imraan ibn Husayn said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever hears of the Dajjaal, let him go far away from him, for by Allah a man will come to him thinking that he is a believer, and he will follow him because of the specious arguments that he offers, or because of the specious arguments with which he is sent.”
Classed as saheeh by al-Albani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
So whoever witnesses the coming of ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) will also witness the coming of the Dajjaal, and the Muslim does not ask Allah to let him live to see the time of tribulation, and he is not the one who exposes himself to that. Rather he asks Allah to keep him safe from it. He does not ask for something that is unclear to him and he does not know – if he witnesses it – how he will fare in that case.
Ahmad (23810) narrated that Jubayr ibn Nufayr said: We sat with al-Miqdaad ibn al-Aswad one day, and a man passed by him and said: Glad tidings to these two eyes that saw the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). By Allah we wish that we had seen what you saw and witnessed what you witnessed. He got angry, and I was surprised, for he had not said anything but good words. Then he turned to him and said: What makes a man wish for to be present at a time that Allah willed that he should not be, and he does not know, if he was there, how he would have fared? By Allah, people were present with and saw the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) whom Allah will throw on their faces in Hell. They did not respond to him and they did not believe him. Why do you not praise Allah for having been brought up knowing nothing but your Lord, believing in what your Prophet brought, and you were sufficed against trials and tests?
Classed as saheeh by the commentators on al-Musnad.
So none of us should wish for something that he was not meant to witness, and he does not know how he would fare in that situation. Let us ask Allah to make us steadfast in adhering to Islam, and repeat often the words: “aa muqallib al-quloob thabbit qalbi ala deenak (O Controller of the hearts, make my heart adhere firmly to Your religion).”
Conclusion:
What appears to be the case is that it is not appropriate to pray to live long enough to witness the descent of ‘Eesa and see the signs that will occur at that time. Rather each of us should ask his Lord to give him a long life of obedience to Him and enable him to do righteous deeds, and let the end of his life come when he is doing such deeds.
For more information, please see the answer to question no. 41017.
With regard to strengthening one’s faith, that may be achieved by doing acts of worship and righteous deeds, keeping away from sin and those who commit it, love of dhikr and Quran, and focusing on doing that which is right and proper.
For more information on ways of strengthening faith, please see the answer to question 223615.
And Allah knows best.
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