THE SIGNS OF THE LAST DAY

IN THE HADITHS

OF THE PROPHET (pbuh)

 Fourteen hundred years ago, the Prophet Muhammad (saas) related a number of secrets concerning the Doomsday, and of his thoughts about it, to his Muslim companions. These valuable words have been passed down from generation to generation to the present day in the form of books of hadiths and works of Islamic scholars. The hadiths used in the coming sections of this book contain such information given by the Prophet (saas) in this regard.

At this point, there may arise some doubt in the reader in regards to the truth and authenticity of these hadiths about the end. It is a recognized fact that, in the past, there had been a number of fabricated hadiths falsely attributed to the Prophet (saas), but the hadiths that form the subject of our inquiry will be easily recognized as issuing from the Prophet (saas). There is a method to distinguish those that are true from those that are false. As we know, hadiths about the Doomsday relate to events that are to take place in the future. For this reason, when a hadith comes true in the course of time, all doubt as to the source of the words is removed.

Several Islamic scholars who conducted research on the subject of the End Times and of the signs of the Last Day have used this criterion. An expert on the subject, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, said that the fact that the hadiths concerning the End Times correspond to events observed in our day shows the truth of the hadiths.4

Some of the signs related in the hadiths were observable in some part of the world in any period during the 1400 year history of Islam, but that would not have proven that that period was the the End Times. For a certain period to be called the End Times, all the signs of the Last Day must be observed to be occurrence in that same period. This is expressed in a hadith:

 Signs following one another like the pieces of a necklace falling one after the other when its string is cut.

(Tirmidhi)

 When we examine the End Times in the light of the information related above, we come up with a surprising conclusion. The signs that the Prophet (saas) described in detail are occurring one after the other in every corner of the world, just in the way they were described in the age in which we live. It is so that the hadiths paint a perfect portrait of our time. This is indeed a miracle, and demands careful consideration. Every sign that occurs is to remind people once again that the Doomsday is very near, a day when they will give account of themselves in the presence of Allah, and therefore, that they should immediately apply the moral values of the Qur’an to their lives.

 In a hadith, the Prophet (saas) described the End Times in this way:

Allah’s Messenger (saas) said: “The Harj (will increase)." They asked, “What is the Harj?" He replied, "(It is) killing (murdering), (it is) murdering (killing).”

(Bukhari)

 The meaning of harj mentioned in the above hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) is “utter confusion” and “disorder,” which is not to be limited to one particular area, but will be widespread throughout the world.

Again, on this topic, the following words of the Prophet (saas) have come down to us:

 The Hour will come when violence, bloodshed, and

anarchy become common.

(Al-Muttaqi Al-Hindi, Muntakhab Kanzul Ummaal)

The world will not come to an end until a day would come to the people on which there will be general massacre and bloodshed.

(Muslim)

 When we examine the above hadiths, we are led to an important conclusion. The Prophet (saas) described conflicts, chaos, murder, war to involve the whole earth, and outbreaks of terror, and revealed that these events are signs of the Last Day.

If we look at the last fourteen centuries, we see that wars were regional before the twentieth century. However, wars that affected everyone in the world, political systems, entire economies and social structures, have happened only comparatively recently, in the two world wars. In World War I, more than 20 million died; in World War II, the toll was more than 50 million. At the same time, World War II is acknowledged to have been the bloodiest, the greatest and the most destructive war in history.

Modern military technology, including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, have increased the effects of war to an extent never before seen in history. Because of the weapons of mass destruction that have been developed, it is commonly accepted that the world will not enter into a third world war.

The conflicts that occurred after World War II—the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Gulf War—are among the most critical events of our time. Likewise, regional wars, conflicts and civil wars, have caused destruction in many parts of the world. In places such as Bosnia, Palestine, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Kashmir and many others, problems continue to afflict humanity.

Another instance of a type of “chaos” that concerns human beings as much as war is organized international terror. As authorities on the subject also agree, acts of terror have multiplied in the latter half of the twentieth century.5 Indeed, it is even possible to say that terror is a phenomenon particular to the twentieth century. Organizations devoted to racism, communism and similar ideologies, or with nationalistic aims, have engaged in acts of brutality with the help of the developing technology.

Within the world’s recent history, acts of terror have, time and again, fomented chaos. Much blood has been shed and countless innocent people have been maimed or killed. But still, humanity has not learned its lesson from these tragic events.

In many places in the world, terror continues to be the roots of acts of murderous anarchy.

There are a number of verses of the Qur’an relevant to this subject. In Surat ar-Rum, it is stated that confusion has come upon the earth because of what human beings have wrought:

Corruption has appeared in both land and sea because of what people’s own hands have brought about so that they may taste something of what they have done so that hopefully they will turn back. (Surat ar-Rum: 41)

 We must add that this verse is to remind us of a very important truth. The pain and misery that arises from the mistakes human beings make are a kind of opportunity to assist them in turning away from these errors.

In short, we are now living in that age of confusion and disorder in which yet another sign of the End Times is manifested. This sign is a stern warning that people should begin immediately to live their lives according to the moral teachings of the Qur’an.

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