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By ADAM ELIYAHU BERKOWITZ
A powerful figure has emerged in the Muslim world, and his newly founded religion is gaining followers worldwide. Shockingly, on Easter Sunday, his followers declared him to be the new pope, and the next day, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had passed away.
Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq, commonly known as Abdullah Hashem, was born in 1983 in Indiana to an Egyptian father and an American mother. He is an Egyptian-American and the founder of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), not to be confused with the Ahmadiyya community discriminated against in Pakistan. He claims to be the Qa’im Al Muhammad, the reincarnation or second coming of Muhammad and the Mahdi (Messiah). Adherents of the religion believe him to be the second of twelve Mahdis appointed in the will of the Prophet Mohammed.
The AROPL began in Iraq in the late 1990s and is now active across 40 countries. It estimates that 7,000 people have had contact with the movement. In 2018, the movement had a base in Sweden, but since 2021, it has had its headquarters in England. The group’s central mission is to build the Divine Just State, which a divinely appointed king will rule. This will be a theocratic state with the king appointed by, and a representative of, God rather than through a democratic election process. The AROPL is opposed to the idea of democracy.
He claims to be the “living successor of both Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ,” and his sermons bring “a divine message to the global Christian community.” He also claims to be “the successor to Simon Peter, the successor to Jesus Christ, the true and legitimate Pope.”
“Aba Al-Sadiq reveals that the vacancy of the Papal Throne is no accident, but a divine sign: the time has come for the rightful heir to assume his position,” his YouTube channel states. “As the true Pope and bearer of the Covenant, he calls upon the people of the Gospel to recognize the fulfillment of prophecy and return the Throne to whom it belongs. This is not merely a message—it is a call to truth, unity, and divine justice.”
The AROPL claims al-Hasan personally fulfills three “divine criteria” qualifying him and the Qa’im: being named in the last will, possessing exceptional knowledge, and advocating for God’s supremacy over human rule.