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What the Prophet (saas) Said of the Future
Every individual, every society and every nation has its own particular
destiny. Even before the first human being had been created, all the details
of what each person would experience in the future, the events to be witnessed
by every nation, the stages every society would go through, and the like,
had all been established in the sight of Allah. Yet, people do not know
any of these details that have been established, lived through, or done
with in the sight of Allah. They only see and come to know them as they
experience them. The future is thus unknown to us.
However, Allah has also revealed that He has granted some of His servants
information about the unknown in the Qur'an. One such factor was that
about the Prophet Yusuf (as). In his dungeon, he told two of his companions
of the proofs of the existence of Allah:
He said, "No meal to feed you will arrive before I have
informed you what they mean. That is part of what my Lord taught me. For
I have left the religion of a people who clearly have no belief in Allah
and are disbelievers in the hereafter." (Surah Yusuf: 37)
As we see from this verse, Yusuf (as) is saying that he knew something
that had not yet occured. That is knowledge, and a miracle, imparted to
him by Allah. Allah also gave him the knowledge to interpret dreams. As
long as Allah so wished, he could see certain events in the future.
Similar knowledge to that given to Yusuf (as) was also given to other
prophets. In some verses, Allah states that He will reveal aspects of
the unknown to those He chooses to be His messengers:
He is the Knower of the Unseen, and does not divulge
His Unseen to anyone-except a Messenger with whom He is well pleased,
and then He posts sentinels before him and behind him. (Surat al-Jinn:
26-27)
Our Lord gave the Prophet (saas) much knowledge of the unknown. The Prophet
(saas) was told by Allah of things that had happened in the past, which
nobody knew about, and of things that were yet to happen in the future.
Allah states the truth in one verse:
This is news of the Unseen which We reveal to you. You
were not with them when they decided what to do and devised their scheme.
(Surah Yusuf: 102)
This chapter will consider some information regarding the unknown that
has come down to us from the Qur'an, that was imparted by Allah to the
Prophet (saas) or that is available in the hadiths. (For more detail,
see Harun Yahya, Miracles of the Qur'an).
The great majority of these things have come to pass already, and people
have witnessed these miracles. That is also one of the proofs that the
Prophet (saas) was the messenger of Allah and that the Qur'an is the word
of Allah.
Some of the information regarding the unknown imparted
to the Prophet (saas) by the Qur'an
Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been defeated in the lowest
land, but after their defeat they will themselves be victorious within
three to nine years. The affair is Allah's from beginning to end. On that
day, the believers will rejoice. (Surat ar-Rum: 1-4)
One of the items of information about the future given to the Prophet
(saas) by means of the Qur'an is to be found in the early verses of Surat
ar-Rum. It is revealed in these verses that the Byzantine Empire had been
defeated, but would then emerge victorious a short while later.
These verses were revealed in 620 A.D., some seven
years after a crushing defeat inflicted on the Byzantines by the idolater
Persians. The news is reported that the Byzantines will soon again be
victorious. At that time, however, the Byzantines had been so seriously
defeated that it looked impossible for them even to survive, let alone
later emerge victorious. Not only the Persians, but also the Avars, Slavs
and Lombards all constituted a grave menace to the Byzantine Empire. The
Avars had come as far as the walls of Constantinople. In order to meet
the expenses of his army, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius had ordered
all gold and silver ornamental goods in the churches to be melted down.
When that proved to be insufficient, he even started to have bronze statues
torn down to make coins from. Many governors rebelled against Emperor
Heraclius, and the empire was on the point of falling apart. The idolator
Persians had occupied many Byzantine territories, including Mesopotamia,
Cilicia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Armenia.208
In short, everyone expected Byzantium to disappear completely. Yet, at
just that moment, the news was revealed in the verse that Byzantium would
emerge victorious again within nine years. Such a victory looked so totally
impossible that Arab idolaters believed that this victory, revealed in
the Qur'an, could never happen.
Yet, it was certainly true, just like everything else
in the Qur'an. About seven years after the revelation of the first verses
of Surat ar-Rum, in December 627 A.D., there was a major battle between
Byzantium and the Persian Empire not far from the ruins of Nineveh. The
Byzantine army defeated the Persians. A few months later, the Persians
had to sign a treaty handing back to Byzantium all of its territories
they had occupied.209 The "victory of the Romans,"
revealed to the Prophet (saas) by Allah in the Qur'an, had miraculously
come about.
Another miracle in these verses consists in the reporting of facts about
a part of the world that nobody at the time could possibly identify.
In verse 3 of Surat ar-Rum, it is said that the Romans had been defeated
in "the lowest place on Earth." The Arabic for that is "Adna al Ard,"
and is translated in some texts as meaning "a land nearby." Yet, that
does not accurately reflect the original meaning. The Arabic word "adna"
means "the lowest," and comes from the word "deni," which means "low."
"Ard" means the "earth." "Adna al Ard" therefore means the lowest place
on earth.
The battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Persians really did take
place at the lowest point on earth. That was the basin of Lake Lut, where
present-day Syria, Palestine and Jordan meet. It is also known that the
area around the lake is 395 metres below sea-level, making it the lowest
point on earth. As the verse reveals, the Romans were defeated at "the
lowest place on earth."
The important point here is that the altitude of Lake Lut has only been
been established by measurements taken in the modern age. Before that,
it was not possible for anyone to know that the lake was the lowest point
on earth. Yet the region is described as such in the Qur'an. That is one
of the proofs that the Qur'an is the divine word, and that the Prophet
Muhammad (saas) is the prophet of Allah.
The Romans have been defeated in the lowest land...
(Surat ar-Rum: 2-3)
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Glory be to Him Who took His servant on a journey by
night from the Masjid al-Haram to the Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings
We have blessed, in order to show him some of Our Signs. He is the All-Hearing,
the All-Seeing. (Surat al-Isra': 1)
In this verse, Allah reveals that one night he took the Prophet (saas)
to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. That is a great miracle. The Sacred Mosque (Masjid
al-Haram) is in Mecca, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The Prophet
(saas) was in Mecca when this happened. Under the conditions of that time
it would have been quite impossible for him to go from Mecca to Jerusalem
in one night. We must also make it clear that the Prophet (saas) had never
before seen Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The next day, when he recounted this great miracle to those around him,
the polytheists in Mecca refused to believe him, and, it is said, demanded
proof. One of them had seen the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and they asked the Prophet
(saas) to describe it and asked him questions about it.
When the Prophet (saas) was able to describe the Al-Aqsa
Mosque correctly, the polytheists said his description was exact. They
then asked him whether or not he had met a caravan that was coming from
there. The Prophet (saas) replied: "Yes, I came across it. It was at Rawha.
They had lost a camel and were looking for it. There was a water goblet
among what they were carrying. I was thirsty and drank from it, and then
put it back in its place. When they arrive, ask them if they found the
water in that goblet." The Quraish then said, "That is another sign."
They then continued to ask him detailed questions about the caravan. The
Prophet (saas) answered all their questions, and said: "They will arrive
on such and such a day, at dawn, led by such and such a person on a grey
camel with two haircloth sacks on it." They then said, "That is another
sign." It is then reported that on that day they then made haste for Saniyya
to wait for dawn. The caravan in question indeed came into view at dawn.
Leading the caravan was that same grey camel that the Prophet (saas) had
described.210
It is an important miracle that Allah should have shown the Prophet (saas)
somewhere he had never been without actually going there. It was impossible
at that time to go from Mecca to Jerusalem in a single night, and that
makes the miracle even greater and clearer.
Allah has confirmed His Messenger's vision with truth:
You will enter the Masjid al-Haram in safety, Allah willing, shaving your
heads and cutting your hair without any fear. He knew what you did not
know and ordained, in place of this, an imminent victory. (Surat al-Fath:
27)
The Prophet (saas) had a dream when he was in Medina, that the believers
had entered the Sacred Mosque and walked around the Kaaba. He gave the
good news to the believers. Those of the believers who migrated from Mecca
to Medina had not been able to return since. When the Prophet (saas) spoke
of his dream, as the account has it, the believers went to Mecca for the
purposes of pilgrimage, although the idolators would not allow them in.
The unbelievers saw this as an opportunity to sow discord, and tried to
prove the Prophet (saas)'s dream false by saying that they had been unable
to go to the Kaaba and unable to cut their hair.
Allah revealed verse 27 of Surat al-Fath to the Prophet
(saas) to help and support him, and revealed that the dream was true,
and that if Allah so wished the believers would be able to enter Mecca.
A short while later, with the Treaty of Hudaybiya and the conquest of
Mecca, the believers were able to enter the Sacred Mosque in complete
safety, just as the dream had shown. That was how Allah showed that the
news He had previously given to the Prophet (saas) was true.211
Another important point here is this: When the Prophet (saas) gave that
good news to the believers it looked totally out of the question. In fact,
the situation pointed in quite the opposite direction, and the polytheists
appeared quite determined never to let the believers in. That led those
who harboured doubts in their hearts to doubt the words of the Prophet
(saas). Yet, the Prophet (saas) trusted in Allah, took no notice of what
people might say, had complete faith in what Allah had revealed to him
and told people about it. It is an important miracle that his words were
confirmed by the Qur'an, and that they came to pass shortly afterwards.
We decreed in the Book for the tribe of Israel: "You
will twice cause corruption on the earth and you will reach [a degree
of] great haughtiness. When the promised first time came, We sent against
you servants of Ours possessing great force, and they ransacked your houses,
rampaging right through them. It was a promise which was fulfilled. Then
once again We gave you the upper hand over them and supplied you with
more wealth and children and made you the most numerous group." (Surat
al-Isra': 4-6)
As these verses reveal, the Children of Israel were to experience two
victories. Following the first of these, and their "reaching to a degree
of great haughtiness," Allah then sent a powerful army against them. Indeed,
when the Jews killed the Prophet Yahya (as) and set a trap to kill the
Prophet 'Isa (as), in other words, after their "reaching to a degree of
great haughtiness," they were exiled shortly afterwards from Jerusalem
by the Romans in 70 A.D. The Temple of Solomon in the city was completely
demolished.
Following their exile from Palestine in 70 A.D., the Jews wandered all
over the world. Since they were seen as the killers of 'Isa (as), they
were generally despised in European countries, had to live under oppressive
conditions, and even most of the time had to practice their religion in
secret. When that verse was revealed to the Prophet (saas), the Jews were
living under very difficult conditions and had no state of their own.
Yet, Allah told them that they would one day recover their strength.
That looked like a particularly remote possibility when the Prophet (saas)
was alive, yet it later came about. They returned to Palestine and established
the State of Israel in 1948. Israel's military and political power is
no secret to anyone today.
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At the time when the Prophet (saas) was informed
in a verse that the Children of Israel would regain their strength,
the Jews were living under very difficult conditions and had no
state of their own. Years later, however, a Qur'anic miracle took
place when David Ben-Gurion (left) declared the foundation of the
state of Israel in 1948.
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In this verse regarding the Jews, and in other verses, one of the important
things is the revelation that things that looked totally impossible at
the time, would come about. All of these examples are miracles of the
Qur'an, of course.
The Prophet confided a certain matter to one of his wives,
then when she divulged it Allah disclosed that to him, and he communicated
part of it and withheld part of it. When he told her of it, she said,
'"Who told you of this?" He said, "The All-Knowing and All-Aware informed
me of it." (Surat at-Tahrim: 3)
As is revealed in this verse, the Prophet (saas) imparted a secret to
a number of his wives. However, they were unable to keep it, and revealed
it to each other. Allah had told the Prophet (saas) of that behaviour,
that they would talk amongst themselves. The Prophet (saas) then told
his wives that he knew they had divulged the secret.
Information about the unknown the Prophet (saas) revealed
in the hadiths
O my people! You are about to conquer Egypt. Keep
the welfare of the conquered people in view. You shall have to abide by
the divine covenant that their life and property and their honour should
be protected.212
In the hadiths, the Prophet (saas) gave the good news that Egypt would
be conquered. At the time when he communicated that message, Egypt was
under the dominion of the Byzantines. Furthermore, the Muslims had yet
to attain any great power. Yet, these words of the Prophet (saas) came
true, and, not long after his death, the Muslim armies under the command
of Amr bin al-As conquered Egypt in 641 A.D., during the caliphate of
Omar. That is one example of the Prophet (saas) accurately knowing the
unknown.
Kisra (Khosrau, King of Persia) will die; there will
be no Kisra after him, and Qaisar (Caesar, King of Rome) will die; there
would be no Qaisar after him, but, by One in Whose Hand is my life, you
will spend their treasures in the cause of Allah.213
The word "kisra" that appears in this hadith was a name that used to
be used for kings of Persia. The title "caesar" was used for the Roman
Empire. The Prophet (saas) gave the good news that the Muslims would come
into possession of the treasures of both these rulers.
What needs to be stressed here is that when the Prophet (saas) related
that fact, the Muslims still lacked the necessary economic, military and
political strength to effect such a great conquest. Furthermore, at that
time, the Persian and Byzantine Empires were the two most powerful states
in the Middle East. For that reason, such an event was out of the question,
at the time when the Prophet (saas) delivered those tidings. However,
things actually happened as the Prophet (saas) predicted they would. Iran
was conquered during the time of Omar and all its goods seized. The kingdom
of the Persian "kisra" thus came to an end.
The death of "caesar" and the reversion of his treasuries
to the Muslims came about with the capture of important Roman centers,
particularly during the time of the Muslim caliphs. Starting with the
time of Abubakr, important centers under the dominion of "caesar" such
as Jordan, Palestine, Damascus, Jerusalem, Syria and Egypt were conquered.
The capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror
in 1453 meant the collapse of the Roman Empire, and the end of the title
of "caesar."214
Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror's capture of Constantinople
and the collapse of the Roman Empire meant the end of the title
of Caesar. |
In his book The Venture of Islam, the American researcher M. G. S. Hodgson
describes the Muslim capture of territories belonging to Byzantium and
the Persian Empire:
"Muhammad, an Arab of Mecca, sets up a religiously
organized society in Medina, and expands it over much of the Arabian peninsula
to march with and even locally replace Sasanian and Roman power."215
In this way, these important conquests, that seemed to be totally impossible
at the time of the Prophet (saas) both politically and economically, actually
happened, as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (saas) by Allah.
Great Allah sent many tribulations to Kisra by his
son Shireveyh, who killed him in this month, on this night at this hour!216
In the near future, my religion and its sovereignty
will reach Kisra's throne.217
The Prophet (saas) decided to invite the rulers to
turn to Islam, and sent one of his companions, Abdullah bin Hudhaafah,
to the Kisra, the Persian King, as an ambassador. The Persian Kisra, swollen
with pride, rejected the Prophet (saas)'s offer. He even sent two ambassadors
of his own to the Prophet (saas), telling the Muslims to submit to him.
The Prophet (saas) first invited these two ambassadors to accept Islam.
Then he called them into his presence the next day to learn their decision.218
The next day, the Prophet (saas) told the two ambassadors what Allah
had revealed to him:
"Great Allah sent many tribulations to Kisra by his
son Shireveyh, who killed him in this month, on this night, at this hour!"219
He also personally told them:
"Tell him that my religion and my empire will reach
far beyond the kingdom of Kisra; and say to him from me: Enter Islam,
and I will confirm you in what you have, and I will appoint you king over
the people of Yemen."220
The ambassadors then returned to Yemen and described what had gone on.
Badhan said:
"We will see what happens next. If what he said is
true, then he is the prophet whom Allah has sent."221
He then turned to his men and asked what they thought of him. The ambassadors
had been greatly impressed by the Prophet (saas), and said:
"We never saw a ruler more majestic, more fearless and less guarded than
him. He walked humbly amongst the people."
Badhan waited for a while to see whether the Prophet
(saas)'s words about the ruler would come true or not. In that way, he
said, he could be sure that Muhammad (saas) was Allah's messenger. A short
while later, a letter reached Badhan from the ruler's son, Shireveyh:
"I killed Kisra. When this letter reaches you, take the oath of the people
in my name. Regarding what Kisra wrote to you, wait and do nothing until
a new command from me."222
When Badhan
and his men worked it out, they realized that all this had happened just
as the Prophet (saas) had said it would.223 Badhan
came to believe after that great miracle, and accepted Islam. He was followed
by the Yemeni Abna.224 Badhan became the first governor
appointed by the Prophet (saas), and the first Persian governor to be
a Muslim.225
It is a historically documented fact that in 628 the
Prophet (saas) sent a letter of invitation to the Persian King Kisra,
and that he was killed by his son that same year.226
The Prophet (saas)'s hadiths regarding the signs of the
end times
Many details of what the Prophet (saas) said would happen before the
last days have reached us. These events are happening one by one in our
own time, proving to be yet another miracle of the Prophet (saas). These
events, that are happening 1,400 years after the Prophet Muhammad (saas),
were explained in great detail, as if he had witnessed them himself.
These are the Prophet (saas)'s prophecies regarding the signs of the
end times and the last day, taken from the hadiths:
The Last Hour will not come unless there is much bloodshed.227
Near the establishment of the Hour there will be much
Al-Harj, and Al-Harj means killing…228
The day of Judgment will not come until people openly
deny Allah.229
Great cities will be ruined, and it will be as if
they had not existed the day before.230
Gains will be shared out only among the rich, with
no benefit to the poor.231
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(Left)Acts of violence and terror, one of
the signs of the final times, are continuing with increasing violence
all over the world.The parallel between the warning issued by the
Prophet (saas) in the past and the events being experienced today
reveals to us one of the miracles of this blessed man. (Right) The
wars in many countries of the world, in which innocent people are
killed for no reason, are another of the portents of Doomsday related
by the Prophet (saas).
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People will indulge in homosexuality and lesbianism.232
There will be prevalence of open illegal intercourse.233
The Hour (Last Day) will not be established until
murders will increase.234
Pity poor Taliqan (a region in Afghanistan) that at
that place are treasures of Allah, but these are not of gold and silver
but consist of people who have recognised Allah as they should have.235
There is an indication in the hadith that Afghanistan will be occupied
during the end times. The Russian invasion of Afghanistan took place in
1979, or 1400 according to the Hijri calendar. In other words, it coincided
with the start of the fourteenth century under the Hijri calendar.
These pictures show examples of the oppression
suffered by the people of Afghanistan during the invasion by the
Russian army in 1979. |
It (Euphrates) will uncover a mountain of gold (under
it).236
Soon the river "Euphrates" will disclose the treasure
(the mountain) of gold, so whoever will be present at that time should
not take anything of it.237
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The Reichstag (German Parliament) after its
destruction in 1945. The picture below shows the same building in
1999, after reconstruction. Many buildings are being restored and
brought back to their former appearance in the same way.
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The rebuilding of the ruined places in the world,
and the ruination of constructed places are signs and portents of Doomsday.238
There are two signs of our Mahdi; ...and those signs
are that moon will eclipse in the first night of its fixed nights of eclipse
and sun will be eclipsed in the middle of the fixed days for its eclipse,
during the month of Ramadhan.239
There will be two eclipses of the sun in Ramadan before
the Mahdi emerges.240
There will be two eclipses of the Moon in Ramadan...241
The common points emerging from the above three hadiths are:
1. There will be solar and lunar eclipses during the month of Ramadan.
2. These will be spaced about 14-15 days apart.
3. The eclipses will be repeated twice.
In line with those calculations, there was a lunar eclipse in 1981 (Hijri
1401), on the 15th day of Ramadan, and a solar eclipse on the 29th day
of the month. There was a "second" lunar eclipse in 1982 (Hijri 1402)
on the 14th day of Ramadan, and a solar eclipse on the 28th day of the
month.
It is also particularly significant that in that particular instance,
there was a full lunar eclipse in the middle of the month of Ramadan,
a most striking prophecy.
Before he comes, a comet spreading light will come
from the East.242
The birth of that star will follow the eclipse of
the Sun and Moon.243
A tailed star will be born from the East and spread
its light. Its daily direction will be from East to West.244
- In 1986 (Hijri 1406), in other words at the start of the 14th century,
Halley's comet passed by the Earth. The comet is a bright, shining star.
- It travels from East to West
This happened after the lunar and solar eclipses of 1981 and 1982 (1401-1402)
People will go on the hajj with no imam at their head.
When they descend to Mina, the tribes will savage each other like dogs
and there will be great wars. To such an extent that feet will be covered
in a lake of blood.245
 A
fire will appear in the sky from the East and a redness will cover the
sky for three or seven days in a row.246
A fire will enfold you. That fire is currently extinguished
in the valley called Berehut. People will be enfolded in that fire with
terrible suffering. That fire will burn and destroy people and belongings.
For eight days it will rage over the world like wind and cloud. The heat
of night will be fiercer than that of day. That fire will stretch from
the heads of man to the highest heavens, and there will be a terrible
noise like thunder between the earth and sky, he said.247
- The burning oil in Kuwait led to the deaths of people
and animals. According to experts, half a million tons of oil went up
into the atmosphere as smoke. Every day, more than 10,000 tons of soot,
sulphur, carbon-dioxide and large quantities of hydrocarbons with their
carcinogenic properties hang suspended over the Gulf. It is not just the
Gulf, but the world itself that is burning.248
- Two wells that were set alight produced as much
oil as Turkey does in one day, and the smoke from them can be seen from
Saudi Arabia, 55 kilometres away.249
- Continuing news of disaster from the Gulf: Hundreds of oil wells set
alight in Kuwait are still burning fiercely. Experts say it will be "exceedingly
difficult to put those fires out," and it is said that the fires will
affect a wide area from Turkey to India for the next 10 years.
The fire and smoke coming from the wells constantly
pollute the atmosphere. Daytime resembles night in Kuwait. The brown smoke
that rises together with the flames remind one of the sky as the autumn
turns into winter … It will take at least a century for Kuwait to be completely
habitable again. The smoke that rises with the flames is visible from
miles away, totally blocking out the sky and making the country unfit
to live in. The wealthy are abandoning Kuwait.250
He(The Mahdi) will not come until there is a portent from the Sun.251
The solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 was the last of the century. During
this eclipse, the likes of which take place only every 400 years, the
sun, the moon and the world align. It was the first time that so many
people had been able to watch and study an eclipse for so long a duration.
Below are some newspaper headlines regarding the phenomenon. This can
be interpreted as the "portent from the Sun" referred to in the hadith.
(Allah knows best, of course).
Before the Hour comes, there will be a tribulation
like patches of dark night...252
The word "tribulation (fitna)" implies anything that turns
peoples' reason and hearts away from the true path, or war, incitement,
chaos, disorder and conflict. The tribulation in the hadith will leave
smoke and dust behind it, we learn.
Furthermore, the way that tribulation is described as "darkness" in the
hadith, can be seen as an indication that its origins are unclear, that
it is unexpected. Looking at it from that regard, it is probable that
the hadith is referring to the world's worst terrorist attack, on the
cities of New York and Washington in the United States on September 11,
2001.
The inhabitants of Egypt and Sham would kill their
ruler and his commands…253
The people of Sham will take prisoner the tribes of
Egypt.254
Today, the states in the region in question include Israel. That is why
the hadith could be pointing to the war between the State of Israel and
Egypt, and the invasion of Egyptian territory.
The Hour (Last Day) will not be established until
... earthquakes will be very frequent.255
There are two great events before the day of Judgment
... and then years of earthquakes.256
The signs of the end times are coming one after the other
In the hadiths that have come down to us from the Prophet (saas), news
is given concerning the end times and the Golden Age of Islam. When we
compare these signs with the things that are taking place in our time,
we can see many indications that we are living through the End Times and
which also herald the arrival of the Golden Age of Islam.
We must make it clear that some of the signs pointed to in the hadiths
that we have been considering in this chapter may have been witnessed
to one extent or another throughout the 1,400-year history of Islam, in
some part of the world. That does not mean, however, that those were the
end times. Because, in order to describe one period as the End Times,
all the signs of the last day need to happen at the same time, one after
the other. That situation is referred to in a hadith:
"Signs following one another like bits of a necklace
falling one after the other when its string is cut."257
In the hadiths, the beginning of the End Times is described as when discord
grows, and war and conflict are on the increase, when there is chaos and
moral degeneration rears its head and people turn away from the morality
of religion. At the time in question, natural disasters will occur all
over the world, poverty will reach unseen levels, there will be a large
increase in the crime rate, and murder and brutality everywhere. Yet this
will be only the first stage. During the second phase, Allah will rescue
mankind from this chaos and replace it with a blessed existence full of
plenty, peace and security.
The Hour will not be established … till the people
compete with one another in constructing high buildings.258
The Last Day will not be established until... time
will pass quickly.259
Great distances will be traversed in short spans of
time.260
The Last hour will not come before time contracts,
a year being like a month, a month like a week, a week like a day, a day
like an hour, and an hour like the kindling of a fire.261
The century we are living in has seen the capability of constructing
supersonic aeroplanes, and the ability, thanks to trains and other improvements
in means of transport, to make journeys in a few minutes that would once
have taken months, and in great comfort. What this hadith indicates is
also taking place in this manner.
 Communication
between continents would take weeks hundreds of years ago, but is now
a matter of seconds, thanks to the Internet and improvements in technology.
Goods that used to take weeks to arrive, following a long journey, can
now be delivered at a moment's notice. Billions of books can now be printed
in the time it would take to write a single letter just a few centuries
ago. As well, other technological developments have meant that we no longer
waste large amounts of time on cooking, cleaning and child minding.
One could go on citing similar examples. Yet, the important thing here,
of course, is that the signs of Doomsday, as set out by the Prophet (saas)
in the seventh century, are now happening one by one.
The last hour will not come before the end of a man's
whip speak to him.262
The whip is known as a tool used in earlier times when riding or guiding
pack animals such as horses or camels. When we look closely at this hadith,
we can see that the Prophet (saas) is making a comparison. Let us ask
people living at the present time a question, "Is there a modern implement
that talks and resembles a whip?"
The most logical reply to that question is the mobile telephone, with
its long antenna, or similar communications equipment. If we bear in mind
that mobile or satellite phones are comparatively recent developments,
then the wisdom behind the Prophet (saas)'s description of 1,400 years
ago is even clearer. That is just one more indication that we are living
through the period prior to Doomsday.
There will be no Judgment ... until a person's own
voice speaks to him.263
The message in the hadith is quite clear: A person's hearing the sound
of his own voice is another sign of the end times. There is no doubt that
in order to hear the sound of one's one voice, one first needs to record
it, and then to play it back to himself. Sound recording and reproduction
equipment are products of the twentieth century. That development marked
a scientific turning point, and led to the birth of the communications
and media industries. Sound reproduction is nearly perfect now, thanks
to computer and laser technologies.
In short, the electronic gadgets of our time, microphones and speakers,
allow us to record sound and play it back, and are also manifestations
of that related in the above hadith.
The sign of that day: A hand will be extended from
the sky, and people will look and see it.264
The sign of that day is a hand extended in the sky
and people stopping to look at it.265
The Arabic word for "hand" in the above hadiths is "yed." As well as
"hand," the dictionary also provides such meanings as "power, force, strength,
means etc." It is probable that in these hadiths the word is used in those
senses.
The idea of a "power, force, strength or means" extending from the sky
and looked upon by people might not make much sense in the context of
past ages. Yet, it sheds considerable light on equipment such as the television,
camera and computer, which have become such an indispensable parts of
modern life, as described in the hadiths. In other words, the "hand" mentioned
in these hadiths is used in the sense of force. It clearly points to pictures
coming down from the sky in waves, in other words television broadcasting.
People will reap 700 measures of wheat for every one
they sow … People will throw down a few handfuls of seeds and reap 700
handfuls … Although much rain will fall, none will be wasted.266
The Prophet (saas) provided many other details of the technological advances
that will accompany the end times. Attention is also drawn in the hadiths
to the move towards modern agricultural techniques, the development of
new production methods, seed improvement research, and increasing production
as a result of better use of rainwater by building new dams and artificial
lakes.
At that time ... life spans will grow longer.267
Fourteen centuries have passed since the Prophet (saas) brought forward
that news. The average expected lifespan is much higher now than it has
been at any other time in recent history. A great difference can be seen
even between the figures for the beginning and the end of the twentieth
century. For instance, it is estimated that a baby born in 1995 will live
some 35 years longer than one born around 1900. Another striking example
on the same subject is that in the recent past very few people lived to
be 100, whereas now it is a great deal more common.
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