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Imam Mahdi ~
Moslems also expect the advent of Imam Mahdi ("The Guided One"). The
Shia sect claims that he will appear out of a tunnel (which he
entered at the age of 5) in Samarra; allegedly his name is Muhammed
ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Askari.
A Hadith from Abu Allah ibn Masud says:
"The Prophet (pboh)
said, If there were only one day left for the world, that day
would be lengthened until a man from among my descnedants or
from among the people of my Household [Ahl al-Bayt, a descendant
of Fatimah through Hasan], was sent; his name will be the same
as my name, and his father’s name will be the same as my
father’s name. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness,
just as it will have been filled with injustice and oppression.
The world will not end until a man of my housefold, whose name
is the same as mine, holds sway."
According to Sa’id
[Master] ibn-I Jabir, the prophet Mohammed (pboh) told Ibn-I Abbas
this similar prophecy of Imam Mahdi:
"Even if the entire
duration of the world’s existence has already been exhausted and
only one day is left before Qiyamah, Allah will expand that day
to such a length of time, as to accommodate the kingdom of a
person from my Ahlul-Bayt who will be called by my name. He will
fill the earth with peace and justice as it will have been full
of injustice and tyranny by then.
"We (I and my family) are members of a household that Allah has
chosen for them the life of the Hereafter over the life of this
world; and the members of my household (Ahlul-Bayt) shall suffer
a great affliction and they shall be forcefully expelled from
their homes after my death; then there will come people from the
East carrying black flags, and they will ask for some good to be
given to them, but they shall be refused service; as such, they
will wage war and emerge victorious, and will be offered that
which they desired in the first place, but they will refuse to
accept it till they pass it to a man from my family who appears
to fill the Earth with justice as it has been filled with
corruption. So whoever reaches that time ought to come to them
even if crawling in the snow since among them is the
Khalifatullah al-Mahdi."
In a similar prophecy,
Abd Allah said:
"Whilst we were with
the Prophet (pboh), some young men from Banu Hashim approached
us. When the Prophet (pboh) saw him, his eyes filled with tears
and the color of his face changed. I said, We can see something
has changed in your face, and it upsets us. The Prophet (pboh)
said, We are the people of a Household for whom Allah has chosen
the Hereafter rather than this world. The people of my Household
will suffer a great deal after my death, and will be persecuted
until a people carrying black banners [the Abbasids] will come
out of the east. They will instruct the people to do good, but
the people will refuse; they will fight until they are
victorious, and the people do as they asked, but they will not
accept it from them until they hand over power to a man from my
household. Then the earth will be filled with fairness, just as
it had been filled with injustice. If any of you live to see
this, you should go to him even if you have to crawl across
ice."
Thwaban transmitted
another version of this prophecy:
"The Prophet (pboh)
said, Three men will be killed at the place where your treasure
is [the Ka’aba]. Each of them will be the son of a Khalifah, and
none of them will get hold of the treasure. Then the black
banners will come out of the East, and they will slaughter you
in a way which has never been seen before. Then he said
something which I do not remember; then, If you see him, go and
give him your allegiance, even if you have to crawl over ice,
because he is the Khalifah of Allah, the Mahdi."
Likewise, Abd Allah
said:
"The Prophet said (pboh),
A man from my household, whose name is like mine, will take
power".
Rasulullah makes similar
claims for Imam Mahdi:
"This world will not
come to an end until one person from my progeny rules over the
Arabs, and his name will be the same as my name.
"Al Mahdi will be from my progeny. His forehead will be broad
and his nose will be high [or, hooked]. He will fill the world
with justice and fairness at a time when the world will be
filled with oppression. He will rule for seven years.
"There will be four peace agreements between you and the Romans.
The fourth agreement will be mediated through a person who will
be from the progeny of Hadhrat Haroon and will be upheld for
seven years. He will be from my progeny and will be 40 years of
age. His face will shine like a star and he will have a black
spot on his left cheek. He will don two Qutwaani cloaks and will
appear exactly as a person from Bani Israel.
"After the death of a Ruler there will be some dispute between
the people. At that time a citizen of Medina will flee and go to
Mecca. While in Mecca, certain people will approach him between
Hajrul Sawad and Maqaame Ibraheem, and forcefully pledge their
allegiance to him. Thereafter a huge army will proceed from
Syria to attack him but when they will be at Baida, which is
between Mecca and Medina, they will be swallowed into the
ground. On seeing this, the Abdaals of Shaam as well as large
numbers of people from Iraq will come to him and pledge their
allegiance to him. Then a person from Quraish, whose uncle will
be from the Bani Kalb tribe will send an army to attack him,
only to be overpowered, by the will of Allah. This defeated army
will be that of the Bani Kalb. Unfortunate indeed is he who does
not receive a share from the booty of the Kalb. This person will
distribute the spoils of war after the battle. He will lead the
people according to the Sunnat and during his reign Islam will
spread throughout the world. He will remain seven years. He will
pass away and the Muslims will perform his Janazah salaat."
Other prophecies made by
Mohammed (pboh), and transmitted by Ibn Majah and Ahmad, give these
details about Imam Mahdi:
"There will be a
Caliph in the last period of my Ummah who will freely give
handsful of wealth to the people without counting it. Al-Mahdi
is from our Ahlul-Bayt; no doubt Allah will enforce his
appearance within a night...
"The Mahdi is one of us, from among the people of my housefold.
In one night Allah will inspire him and prepare him to carry out
his task successfully."
According to Ahmad, Abu
Said said:
"By Allah, every
ruler we have had has been worse than the previous one, adn
every year has been worse than the year before, but I heard the
Prophet (pboh) say, Among your rulers will be one who will give
out wealth freely, without counting it. A man will come and ask
him for money, and he will say, Take; the man will spread his
cloak out and the ruler will pour money into it. The Prophet (pboh)
spread out a thick cloak he had been wearing, to demonstrate the
man’s actions; then he gathered it up by the corners and said,
Then the man will take it and leave."
This prophecy is found
in Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib’s Nahj’ul Balagha [The Path of Eloquence],
Khutba 141, 187:
"The Imam who will
create a world state will make the ruling nations pay for their
crimes against society. He will bring succor to humanity. He
will take out the hidden wealth from the breast of the earth and
will distribute it equitably amongst the needy deserving. He
will teach you simple living and high thinking. He will make you
understand that virtue is a state of character which is always a
mean between the two extremes, and which is based on equity and
justice. He will revive the teaching of the Holy Qur’an and the
traditions of the Holy Prophet after the world has ignored them
as dead letters. He will protect and defend himself with
resources of science and supreme knowledge. His control over
these resources will be complete. He will know how supreme they
are and how carefully they will have to be used. His mind will
be free from desires of bringing harm and injury to humanity.
Such a knowledge to him will belike the property which was
wrongly possessed by others and for which he was waiting for the
permission to repossess and use. He, in the beginning, will be a
poor stranger unknown and uncared for, and Islam then will be in
the helpless and hopeless plight of an exhausted camel who has
laid down its head and is wagging its tail. With such a start he
will establish an empire of God in this world. He will be the
final demonstration and proof of God’s merciful wish to acquaint
man with the right ways of life.
"Moreover, he said: Verily, a time will come upon you wherein
nothing will be more concealed than the truth, nothing more
manifest than falsehood, and nothing more manifest than
falsehood, and nothing more than lies about God and his Apostle.
The people of that time will possess no commodity more difficult
to sell than the Book when it is correctly recited, or one more
in demand when its passages are misinterpreted. There will be
throughout all lands nothing more detested than good deeds, or
more renowned than evil ones. The reciters of the Qura’an will
have cast it away, and those who memorize it will have
deliberately erased it from their minds. The book and its
disciples will, on that day, be ostracized and outcast, two
friends together on the road, to whom no one will offer shelter.
The Book and its disciples will be, in that age, among the
people and yet neither among them nor with them. For error is
incompatible with guidance.
"Even though the Book and its disciples might come together, the
people would agree to keep separate. They would divert from the
community, as if they were the leaders of the Qura’an rather
than it being their leader. Nothing will remain of it among them
save the name; they will know nothing of it save its calligraphy
and script. Before, they had not made an example of the
righteous by maiming them, or called their sincerity towards God
a lie, or punished good deeds with the penalties for crimes.
They who preceded you perished because they went on hoping for
too long and their allotted terms expired. Then the Promised One
descended, by whom excuses are rejected and upon whom repentance
has no effect, and with whom are the calamity and the
affliction."
According to Abu Dawud,
who devoted a chapter of his Sunan to Imam Mahdi,
"Ali said, whilst
looking at his sone al-Hasan, This son of mine is a Sayyid
[master], as the Prophet (pboh) named him. Among his descendants
there will be a man named after your Prophet (pboh). He will
resemble him in behavior but not in looks..."
Abu Dawud also quotes
the Hadith of Jabir ibn Samrah, in which the Prophet (pboh) says:
"This religion will
remain strong until twelve Caliphs have ruled over you... All of
them will be from Quraysh... Then there will be Fitnah and
killing."
According to Abu Dawud,
Umm Salamah reported that the Prophet (pboh) said:
"People will begin
to differ after the death of a Khalifah [Caliph]. A man from the
people of Madinah [Medina] will flee to Makkah [Mecca]. Some of
the people of Makkah will come to him and drag him out against
his will; they will swear allegiance to him between al-Rikn and
al-Maqam. An army will be sent against him from Syria; it will
be swallowed up in the desert between Makkah and Madinah. When
the people see this, groups of people from Syria and Iraq will
come and swear allegiance to him. Then a man from Quraysh whose
mother is from Kalb will appear and send an army against them,
and will defeat them; this will be known as the Battle of Kalb.
Whoever does not witness the spoils of this battle will muss
much! The Mahdi will distribute the wealth, and will rule the
peole according to the Sunnah of the Prophet (pboh). Then he
will die, and the Muslims will pray for him."
Other details given
elsewhere describe him thus: his father’s name will be Abdullah; his
mother’s name will be Aamina. He will stutter, and on occasion this
will frustrate him so much that he will slap his thigh. He is short
and has a ruddy face. His hair sticks up. He will be 40 years of age
when he makes his appearance. An eclipse of the sun and moon will
occur in the Ramadan observance just before he emerges. When the
people pledge their allegiance to him, a voice will speak from the
sky, saying, "This is the representative of Allah, the Mahdi; listen
to him and obey him". His army will march under a black flag; it
will come from Khurasaan.
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Isa / Jesus ~
Jesus Christ (whom the Moslems call Hadhrat Isa or Isa ibn Maryam,
the Messiah of Guidance) also figures prominently in Muslim
prophecy. Christians deny the validity of the prophet Mohammed (pboh),
but his followers acknowledge Jesus Christ as a great prophet,
albeit not as the demigod that Christians have made of him. In the
opinion of Moslems, Jesus (alayhe sallam: as) was sent only to the
Children of Israel. He had no responsibility whatsoever to other
nations or people. The Moslems justifiably resent the putative
"Christians" who foist their dysfunctional pretensions on other,
older cultures (not that the Moslems are much better in that regard,
in some respects).
The Surah an-Nisaaa (4:156-159) condemns the Jews for their killing
of Jesus (as), and states that Allah (swt) declares their claims to
be false. According to Moslem doctrine, a disciple who resembled
Jesus sacrificed himself voluntarily:
"And because of
their saying, ’We killed Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the
Messenger of Allah’ --- but they killed him not, nor crucified
him, but it was made to appear to them so.
"But Allah raised him up (with his body and soul) unto Himself;
and Allah is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise.
"And there is none of the people of the Scripture [Jews and
Christians] but must believe in him before his death. And on the
Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them."
Isa will appear during
the lifetime of Imam Mahdi. He will descend from heaven on a cloud
(or supported by two angels). He will land among a righteous group
of 800 men and 400 women. He will be of medium build, red-faced,
with hair that appears wet. Isa will carry two flexible swords and a
shield, with which he will destroy Dajjal at the Gate of Hudd in the
valley of Ifiq; otherwise, at Baad Lud (Lydda). Then the final war
with the Jews will begin; the Believers will be the victors. Isa
will "break the cross" and "kill the swine". Thereafter, all wars
will end, including Jihad, and people will return to their own
countries. Peace will be on the Earth, and there will be an
abundance of crops. People will worship one God. Isa will marry,
have children, and live thus for another 19 years (40 years total).
There will be no illness or death for a period of 40 years. All
venom will be removed from poisonous insects and animals, nor will
animals harm anyone. The earth shall be so fertile that even if a
seed is planted in a rock, it will sprout there. Fruit will grow to
huge size. There will be so much milk that a single camel, cow or
goat will feed a tribe.
The narration by An-Nawwas
ibn Sam’an concerning Mohammed’s warning of Dajjal, also mentions
the second coming of Jesus:
"It will at this very time that Allah
will send Isa ibn Maryam (as). He will descend at the white minaret
on the eastern side of Damascus [at the time of Salat al-Fajr, the
morning prayer], wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and
placing his hands on the wings of two Angels. When he lowers his
head, there will fall beads of perspiration from his head, and when
he raises it up, beads like pearls will scatter from it. Every
non-believer who smells the odor of his body will die and his breath
will reach as far as he is able to see. He will then search for
Dajjal until he catches hold of him at the gate of Ludd [in Israel]
and kills him.
"Then a people whom
Allah had protected will come to Isa ibn Maryam, and he will
wipe their faces and inform them of their ranks in Paradise. It
will be under such conditions that Allah will reveal to Jesus
these words: I have brought forth from among My servants such
people against whom none will be able to fight; you take these
people safely to Tur, and then Allah will send Gog and Magog and
they will swarm down from every slope. The first of them will
pass the lake of Tiberias and drink out of it. And when the last
of them passes, he will say: There was once water there.
"Isa and his companions will then be besieged here (at Tur, and
they will be so hard pressed) that the head of the ox will be
dearer to them than one hundred dinars. Allah’s Apostle (saws),
Jesus (as), and his companions will supplicate Allah, Who will
send to them insects (which will attack their necks) and in the
morning they would perish as one single person. Allah’s Apostle
(saas), Jesus, and his companions, then come down to Earth and
they will not find on Earth as much space as a single span that
is not filled with putrefaction and stench. Allah’s Apostle (saas),
Jesus (as), and his companions will then beseech Allah who will
send birds whose necks would be like those of Bactrian camels
and they will carry them away and throw them where Allah wills.
"Then Allah will send rain which no house of mud-bricks or tent
of camel-hair will keep out and it will wash the Earth until it
resembles a mirror. Then the Earth will be told to bring forth
its fruit and restore its blessing and, as a result thereof,
there will grow such a big pomegranate that a group of people
will be able to eat it and seek shelter under its skin, a dairy
cow will give so much milk that a whole party will be able to
drink it. The milking camel will give such milk that the whole
tribe will be able to drink from it, and the milking-sheep will
give so much milk that the whole family will be able to drink
from it. At that time Allah will send a pleasant wind which will
soothe people even under their armpits. He will take the life of
every Muslim and only the wicked will survive who will commit
adultery like asses and the Last Hour would come to them."
Quran 27 states:
"The holy cities of
Mecca and Medina will be the only two places not dominated by
Dajjal, and even these he will attempt to dominate: but, when he
goes to these two cities, he will find angels guarding them with
swords in their hands.
"Then Allah will send Isa from Heaven and he will be brought by
two angels to the roof of the Ka’bah [or: on Amasjid in
Dasmascus, Syria]. He will descend during the Fajr prayer. When
the people see Isa on top of the Ka’bah they will bring ladders
to help him down. After which Isa with other Moslems will
declare war on Dajjal and ultimately slay him and break the
cross. Isa will convert the whole world to Islam and rule by the
principles of Qur’anic Law for 40 years. Then he will pass away
and be buried next to the grave of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (pboh)."
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Yajuj & Majuj ~
As in the Bible, Moslem prophecy also foretells the invasion of the Mideast by Gog and Magog (usually thought to be
Russia and allies,
or perhaps the Chinese), whom they call Yajuj and Majug. Long ago
they were imprisoned behind a magical wall built between two huge
mountains by Zul Qarnain. Yajuj and Majug cannot climb over the
barrier until Allah wills it, nor does it occur to them to go
around. Instead, they attempt to tunnel under it, stopping every
evening just short of success, rather than persisting round the
clock. Allah fills the tunnel again every night. They will not break
through until Allah allows them to think the words "If Allah wills
it".
"And when Yajuj and
Majuj are set loose, they shall rush forth from every hill." (Quran
21:96)
Yajuj and Majuj will be
released in two groups. At that time, believers should go to Mt.
Sinai. When Yajuj and Majuj reach Mt. Khamrim in Israel, they will
claim victory. The prayers of believers will be answered; Yajuj and
Majuj will be covered with infectious boils that will kill them.
Other sources state that Allah will send a worm that will kill them.
Chapter "Fitnah" has more to say about the matter:
"Yajuj and Majuj are
still behind a barrier somewhere on this Earth, continuously
trying to break down the barrier or wall, in order to be free.
But Allah does not allow them to break it, until the time when
He is ready for them to do so. The first sign of the breaking of
the barrier will be the fire which will rise in Sham [Syria].
"Their population will be vast in numbers... Their death rate is
much lower than that of the rest of the world. Their physical
body is so strong that their two ears are like those of an
elephant, one of which they sleep on, while the other ear covers
their entire body.
"Before the time comes for their release from behind the
barrier, Allah will send Isa from Heaven to slay Dajjal, and
Jesus will still be on this Earth when the time comes for Yajuj
and Majuj to be set free. Then Allah will tell Isa to take the
believing servants of Allah with him and shelter them in the
mountains. Allah will then break the barrier and let Yajuj and
Majuj free, and they will surge forth and devour everything upon
the earth. All vegetation, animals, the waters of the whole
world and even human beings will be devoured by them, and not a
single drop of water will be left in the Gulf of Tiberius. Their
voice will be so loud that the whole world will shake and
tremble at the power of it. After they have devoured everything
they will still not be satisfied, and they will rush through the
sky and begin to shoot arrows into the heavens in order to try
and kill Allah. And Allah in turn will fulfill their wish and
command the angels to put blood on the arrows and return them to
earth.
"When they see the arrows return to earth covered in blood, they
will believe that they have killed Allah. Then they will say:
"We have killed God, now let us try to dominate the moon and
sky."
"At that time Allah will send down some kind of disease upon
them which will eat all the flesh from their bones... The smell
from their bodies when they die from this disease will spread
all over the world. Then it is that Isa, with all other Moslems
who have hidden in the mountains, will pray to Allah to save
them from the disease and death. Then a great cloud will cover
the sky and Allah will send down rain for 40 days. At first the
rain will be red, the color of blood. It will then turn green
and will wash away the smell and the bodies. The rain will
finally become clear and purify everything."
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Dabbah al-Ard ~
Quran 27:82, etc., also describes Dabbah al-Ard, "A Creature from
the Earth.". His appearance will be heralded by the forementioned
three days of darkness and a shift of the Earth’s axis of rotation:
"And when the word
comes to pass against them, We shall bring forth a Creature from
the Earth, Dabbah al-Ard, that will speak to them, because
people did not believe in our messages...
"After Dajjal and Yajuj and Majuj have passed away, the entire
world will believe in Islam and praise Allah. Much later, Islam
will decline again, to a lower extent than during the time of
Dajjal. Suddenly, Allah will darken the whole world with smoke;
the night will last 72 hours or longer. The sun will rise in the
west, instead of the east, and it will travel only one-third of
its course before setting again. On the next day, the sun and
moon will resume their normal course.
"This will be the last opportunity to repent to Allah, for then
he will close the door of mercy. The Earth will quake and Mt.
Safaa near Mecca will split open. Dabbah al-Ard will come forth
from the crack. His face will be human, but with horns on his
head; his body as a horse, his legs like a camel’s while his
rump is of a deer, and his tail is of a cow. He will be 60
cubits tall. In one of his monkey hands he will hold the staff
of Moses, and on the other hand he will wear the ring of
Solomon. He will stride the Earth at great speed, and as he
travels he will mark the forehead of believers with the staff of
Moses [Mu’mim]. Their faces will then shine bright as the moon.
But the unbelievers will be stamped with Solomon’s ring, and
their faces will become black and horrible. Thus will the
believers and unbelievers be distinguished. Then Dabbah al-Ard
will disappear as suddenly as he manifested. Then Allah will
hold the Day of Judgment."
Other descriptions of
Dabbah al-Ard state that he will be about 120 long. He will visit
every person on earth and speak to each in their own language.
Allah (swt) says in Surah Al-Naml 82:
"When the Word is
fulfilled against them, We shall bring out from the earth a
beast to them, which will speak to them because mankind believed
not with certainty in Our Ayât".
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Minor Signs ~
Numerous minor prophecies offer details about the latter days:
"A breeze from the
south" will cause sores to appear in the armpits of Muslims, and
they will die from it. This seems to indicate a new form of
biological warfare attacking the lymph nodes.
Abu Hurairah quotes the
Prophet (pboh) thus:
"The Euphrates will
disclose a golden treasure. Whoever is present at that time
should not take anything of it."
In another quotation,
Abu Hurairah repeats the above with elaboration:
"The Prophet said,
The Hour will not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain
of gold, for which people will fight. Ninety-nine out of every
hundred will die, but every one among them will say that perhaps
he will be the one who will survive."
Timirdi recounts this
Hadith from Ali ibn Abi Talib:
"The Prophet said:
’If my Ummah bears fifteen traits, tribulation will befall it.’
Someone asked, ’What are they, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said,
’When any gain is shared out only among the rich, with no
benefit to the poor; when a trust becomes a means of making a
profit; when paying Zakat becomes a burden; when a man obeys his
wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly
whilst shunning his father; when voices are raised in the
mosques; when the leader of a people is the worst of them; when
people treat a man with respect because they fear some evil he
may do; when much wine is drunk; when men wear silk; when female
singers and musical instruments become popular; when the last
ones of this Ummah curse the first ones --- then let them expect
a red wind, or the earth to swallow them, or to be transformed
into animals.’"
Abu Hurairah reported
that the Prophet (saws) said:
"By Him Who sent me
with the Truth, this earth will not pass away until people are
afflicted with landslides, are pelted with stones, and are
transformed into animals." The people asked, "When will that be,
O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "When you see women riding in
the saddle, when singers are common, when bearing false witness
becomes widespread, and when men lie with men and women with
women".
Ibn Majah transmitted
this warning of apostasy in the latter days:
"Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman
said, ’The Prophet said: Islam will become worn out like clothes
are, until there will be no-one who knows what fasting, prayer,
charity and rituals are. The Qur’an will disappear in one night,
and no Ayah will be left on earth. Some groups of old people
will be left who will say: We heard our fathers saying La ilaha
illa Allah, so we repeated it.’
"Silah asked Hudhayfah: ’What will saying La ilaha illa Allah do
for them when they do not know what prayer, fasting, ritual and
charity are?’ Hudhayfah ignored him; then Silah repeated his
question three times, and each time Hudayfah ignored him.
Finally he answered: ’O Silah, it will save them from Hell’, and
said it three times."
According to a Hadith
from Bukhari, narrated by Abu Hurairah, the Prophet (pboh) said:
"The Hour will not
come until the buttocks of the women of Daws move whist going
around Dhu l-Khalasah."
The idol Dhu l-Khalasah
was worshipped by the Daws (a tribe in Yemen) before Islam.
Similarly, ’A’ishah said:
"I heard the Prophet
(sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) say, ’Day and night will not pass
away until people begin to worship Lat and ’Uzza’ [pre-Islamic
Arabic goddesses].
Abu Hurairah quotes The
Prophet (pboh) thus concerning women and an unidentified people with
a predilection for whips (perhaps a reference to sado-masochism):
"There are two types
among the people of Hell whom I have not yet seen. The first are
people who have whips like the tails of oxen, with which they
beat people, and the second are women who are naked in spite of
being dressed; they will be led astray and will lead others
astray, and their heads will look like camels humps. These women
will not enter Paradise; they will not even experience the
faintest scent of it, even though the fragrance of Paradise can
be perceived from such a great distance."
Elsewhere, Abu Hurairah
again said:
"I heard the Prophet
say, If you live for a while, you will see people go out under
the wrath of Allah and come back under His curse, and they will
have in their hands whips like the tail of an ox."
Abu Sa’id said that the
Prophet (saws) said:
"The Hour will not come until the time when a
man will leave his home, and his shoes or whip or stick will tell
what is happening to his family."
According to another version of this report, the Prophet (saws)
said:
"By Him in Whose
hand is my soul, the Hour will not come until wild animals talk
to men, and a man speaks to his whip or his shoe, and his thigh
will tell him about what happened to his family after he left."
This is a clear prophecy
about the modern invention of cellphones. The mention by Abu
Hurairah of "whips like the tail of an ox" may be an attempt to
describe the antennas on cellphones, radios, cars, and televisions.
Ibn Majah relates that Abd Allah ibn ’Umar said:
"The Prophet (saws)
came to us and said, ’O Muhajirun, [pilgrims] you may be
afflicted by five things; God forbid that you should live to see
them. If fornication should become widespread, you should
realize that this has never happened without new diseases
befalling the people which their forebears never suffered. If
people should begin to cheat in weighing out goods, you should
realize that this has never happened without drought and famine
befalling the people, and their rulers oppressing them. If
people should withhold Zakat, you should realize that this has
never happened without the rain being stopped from falling; and
were it not for the animals’ sake, it would never rain again. If
people should break their covenant with Allah and His Messenger,
you should realize that his has never happened without Allah
sending an enemy against them to take some of their possessions
by force. If the leaders do not govern according to the Book of
Allah, you should realize that this has never happened without
Allah making them into groups and making them fight one
another."
Ahmad recorded a Hadith
by Allah ibn ’Amr, who said:
"I went to the
Prophet (pboh) one day whilst he was performing Wudu’ [ablution]
slowly and carefully. He raised his head, looked at me and said,
’Six things will happen to this Ummah: the death of your Prophet
’ --- and when I heard that I was aghast --- this is the first.
The second is that your wealth will increase so much that if a
man were given ten thousand [dinars], he would still not be
content with it. The third is that tribulation will enter the
house of every one of you. The fourth is that sudden death will
be widespread. The fifth is a peace-treaty between you and the
Romans: they will gather troops against you for nine months ---
like a woman’s period of childbearing --- then they will be the
first to break the treaty. The sixth is the conquest of a city.’
I asked, ’O Messenger of Allah, which city?’ He said,
’Constantinople’."
Ahmad says that Abu Hurairah said that the Prophet (pboh) said:
"Woe to the Arabs
from the great evil which is nearly approaching them: it will be
like patches of dark night. A man will wake up as a believer,
and be a kafir [unbeliever] by nightfall. People will sell their
religion for a small amount of worldly goods. The one who clings
to his religion on that day will be as one who is grasping an
ember - or thorns."
Mohammed (pboh) also
mentioned these minor signs, which are evident today: Knowledge will
disappear and ignorance will appear, even though books will be
widespread... Adultery and fornication will be prevalent, performed
in public, and there will be new sexual diseases and many bastard
children... Fornication will be widespread among leaders, when
people stop forbidding evil... Leaders will be oppressors, and the
worst of people... When the Moslems are large in number, the nations
of earth will gather against them "like hungry people going to sit
at a table full of food"... The people of Iraq will have no food or
money due to oppression by the "Romans" (the US invasion of Iraq,
2003)... There will be much food, but much of it will have no
blessing... People will refuse when they are offered food... Profit
will be shared only with the rich; the poor will not benefit...
People will become uncharitable misers, and good deeds will
decrease... Men will walk in the marketplace with their thighs
exposed (shorts)... Men will begin to look like women and women like
men... People will dance till late at night... Women will enter the
business world, and will refuse to have children... Children will be
foul and full of rage...
Rain will be acidic... Smoke will appear over cities (smog/haze
pollution)... Earthquakes will increase... Men will try to make the
desert green (the Israeli kibbutz program)... A fire near Aden in
Yemen will spread to Syria, where it will stop. A few years after
the fire, Qiyamah will begin... Moslems will conquer India a few
years before the return of Isa... Wild animals will be able to talk
with people.
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The Great Hour & Day of Doom ~
The exact time of al-Sa’at al’Uzma (the Great Hour), or Day of
Doom, is known only to God.
Anas ibn Malik told this Hadith (reported by Ibn Majh and Bukhari)
spoken by the Prophet:
"I shall tell you a
Hadith which I heard from the Messenger of Allah, and which no
one will tell you after me. I heard him say, ’Among the signs of
the Hour will be the disappearance of knowledge and the
appearance of ignorance. Adultery will be prevalent and the
drinking of wine will be common. The number of men will decrease
and the number of women will increase until there will be fifty
women to be looked after by one man.’"
Ali ibn Abi Talib quotes
the Prophet (pboh) thus:
"The Hour will come
when leaders are oppressors, when people believe in the stars
and reject al-Qadar [Divine Decree, prophecy] when a trust
becomes a way of making a profit, when people give to charity
reluctantly, when adultery becomes widespread --- when this
happens, then your people will perish.’"
As recorded by Bukhari,
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (saws) said:
"The Hour will not
come until the following events have come to pass: people will
compete with one another in constructing high buildings; two big
groups will fight one another, and there will be many casualties
--- they will both be following the same religious teaching;
earthquakes will increase; time will pass quickly; afflictions
and killing will increase; nearly thirty dajjals will appear,
each of them claiming to be a messenger from Allah; a man will
pass by a grave and say, ’Would that I were in your place’; the
Sun will rise from the West; when it rises and the people see
it, they will all believe, but that will be the time when ’No
good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it
believed not before’; and a wealthy man will worry lest no one
accept his Zakat [charity]."
Some exegetes claim that
the rising of the Sun in the West refers to the rise of Islam in
Europe, but it more likely indicates a shift of the Earth’s axis,
which is predicted by several prophets of other cultures.
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri states that the Prophet (saws) said:
"Thunderbolts will
increase so much as the Hour approaches that when a man comes to
a people, he will ask, ’Who amongst you was struck by a
thunderbolt this morning?’ and they will say, ’So-and-so and
so-and-so was struck’."
Abu Hurairah recorded
that the Prophet (saws) said:
"The Hour will not
come until there has been rain which will destroy all dwellings
except tents."
Ibn Majah narrated this
Hadith:
"The Prophet said:
Just before the Hour, there will be days in which knowledge will
disappear and ignorance will appear, and there will be much Harj"
[killing in the Ethiopian language; also quoted by Bukhari in
Volume 9, Book 88, Numbers 183, 185 &186, narrated Abu Musa)
In like wise, according
to Bukhari, Abu Hurairah (radiallahu anhu) said:
"The Prophet said,
Time will pass rapidly, knowledge will decrease, miserliness
will become widespread in peoples hearts, afflictions will
appear, and there will be much Harj. The people asked, O
Messenger of Allah, what is Harj? He said, Killing, killing!"
Ahmad recorded a report
by Abd Allah ibn ’Amr, that the Prophet (saws) said:
"The Hour will not
come until Allah takes away the best people on earth; only the
worst people will be left; they will not know any good or forbid
any evil."
Ahmad also quotes
Mohammed (pboh) via Alba’al-Salami, thus:
"I heard the Prophet
(saws) say: ’The Hour will only come upon the worst of the
people’."
The Sahih of Al-Bukhari
transmits this warning from Mohammed (pboh):
"The least of the
signs of the Last Hour will be a fire which will gather mankind
together from the East and West... Finally, a cold wind will
come and kill all believers, leaving only unbelievers on the
earth who will then witness the Last Hour. The angel Israfil
will blow a trumpet, and the resurrection of all human beings
will begin...
"The Hour will come suddenly: when a man has milked his
she-camel and taken away the milk, but he will not have time to
drink it; before a man repairing a tank for his livestock will
be able to put water in it for his animals; and before a man who
has raised a morsel of food to his mouth will be able to eat
it."
Mohammed (pboh) speaks
of the Day of Doom, thus in Quran 56:
"Say: The ancients,
and the later folk shall be gathered at the appointed time of a
known day. Then you erring ones, you that cried lies, you shall
eat of a tree called Zakkoum, and you shall fill therewith your
bellies and drink on top of that boiling water, lapping it down
like thirsty camels. This shall be their hospitality on the Day
of Doom."
"So, when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast and the earth
and the mountains are lifted up and crushed with a single blow,
then, on that day, the Terror shall come to pass, and heaven
shall be split, for upon that day it shall be very frail, and
the angels shall stand upon its borders, and upon that day eight
shall carry above them the throne of the Lord. On that day you
shall be exposed, not one secret of yours concealed..." (Quran
69)
Another version of the
Trumpet prophecy states that, at the first sounding everyone will be
struck with terror, at the second blast, all will be struck down,
and all will be resurrected at the third. The Qur’an emphatically
describes two trumpet blasts, which have been interpreted to
represent two Resurrections:
"And there shall be
a blast on the Trumpet, and all who are in the Heaven and all
who are on the earth shall expire, save those whom God shall
vouchsafe to live. Then there shall be another blast on it, and
lo! Arising they shall gaze around them: and the earth shall
shine with the light of her Lord." (Qur’an 39: 68-69)
"One day, the disturbing trumpet blast shall disturb it which
the second blast shall follow. Verily, it will be but a single
blast." (Qur’an 79: 6, 7, 13)
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References ~
1. Ali Akbar: Israel
and Prophecies of the Holy Quran; 1963/1971, Serag Publishing,
UK.
2. Mufti Afzal Hoosen Elias: Major Signs of Qiyamat.
3.Gharm-Allah El-Ghamdy: Signs of the Last Hour, (1991)
4. Dr Suhaib Hasan: "50 Signs of the Day of Judgment from the
Words of Allah & His Messenger"; Lecture at Cambridge Univ.,
January 2000)
5.
www.islaam.com ;
compilations by A. Abu Ismail
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