Copied
In the second or third year of my undergrad at LUMS, I remember this one grad student who was fully convinced that he was Imam Mehdi. So convinced, in fact, that he put up all his possessions for sale through the LUMS campusmail so that he could gather enough money to leave for Hajj that year, where he would be recognised and proclaimed leader of all Muslims.
Thankfully, his family got involved and sought urgent medical help for him. He had severe schizophrenia with very realistic visual and auditory hallucinations. He completely believed that his hallucinations were real/true. He was admitted to a medical facility for emergency treatment.
It is sad to think that if the guy had had his psychotic episode today in the age of social media, he would have been declared a blasphemer by some of my countrymen. Instead of receiving the medical help he so desperately needed, he would probably have been shot dead in a courtroom. His killer would then have been celebrated as a ‘Ghazi’, instead of the zaalim murderer he would be according to every single fiqhi opinion I’ve ever studied.
Woe upon all those who oppress in the name of The Merciful One, and shame on all those who provide ex post facto legitimation for such acts. You make a mockery of this Deen and all it stands for.