The signs of the End Times that have taken place and are taking place one after the other, “like the beads of a rosary,” in the words of the hadiths, some of which are cited below, completely refute some people’s claims that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be coming in another century.
The Messenger of Allah (saas) said: “… let them expect portents taking place one after the other like the beads of a necklace whose string has snapped.” (Abu Hurairah (ra), Tirmidhi)
The signs of the Last Day will follow one another. Like beads strung out one behind the other. (Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, 277/6; Al Jami As Sagir, 3/167)
The way these hadiths concerning the End Times are visibly taking place, in all their details, in the Hijri 1400s in which we are living, shows that Hazrat Mahdi (as) awaited in the End Times, has appeared. (Allah knows the truth.)
The portents of the End Times constitute a single whole, and their coming about tells us that we are living in the End Times that our Prophet (saas) spoke of, and also of the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as) awaited with such hope and excitement by all Muslims. For that reason, all of the signs, known as major and minor signs, are exceedingly important for Muslims. Seeing any of these signs taking place reinforces Muslims’ hopes and increases their excitement and fervor many times over.
All the signs that have been taking place for the last 30 years are far too important to be ignored. However, since it is impossible and illogical for all these portents to take place simultaneously or collectively in a day or a week, it will take months, years or decades for them all to come about. This lengthy period in which the portents will take place one after the other shows that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will not be recognized immediately after his appearance, and that these signs, that prove we are in the End Times, have to take place in order for him to be recognized.
• Just as described by our Prophet (saas), the waters of the River Euphrates were stopped by a dam built in Hijri 1400.
Soon the river Euphrates will uncover the treasure (the mountain) of gold (under it), so whoever will be present at that time should not take anything of it. (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 9, Book 88, 235; Sahih Muslim, Book 41, 6921)
The first stopping of the waters is sufficient for us to regard the hadith as having taken place. In terms of the hadith, subsequent stopping of the waters is irrelevant. In that case, a repetition of the phenomenon in a later century is irrelevant as regards the taking place of the hadith because the waters of the Euphrates were first stopped in Hijri 1400.
• Our Prophet (saas) also spoke of the invasion of Afghanistan:
Pity poor Taliqan [a region in Afghanistan]. At that place are treasures of Allah. These are not of gold and silver, but consist of people who have recognized Allah as they should have. They are Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) followers. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 59)
This hadith also came true when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 (Hijri 1400). Even if Afghanistan were also to be invaded in another century, it is the first invasion in 1979 that fulfils the hadith.
There are two signs for Hazrat Mahdi (as)... The first one is the lunar eclipse on the first night of Ramadan, and the second is the solar eclipse in the middle of this month. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 49)
There will be two solar eclipses in Ramadan before Hazrat Mahdi's (as) advent. (Ash-Sharani, Mukhtasar Tazkirah al-Qurtubi, p. 440)
... The solar eclipse in the middle of the fasting month, and the lunar eclipse at the end... (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 37)
There will be two lunar eclipses in Ramadan before Hazrat Mahdi (as) emerges. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 200)
Eclipses of the Sun and Moon took place during the month of Ramadan in the Hijri 1400, in 1981 and 1982. The fact this happened two years in succession shows that the hadith has been fulfilled. A similar phenomenon may also take place in subsequent centuries, but that is inapplicable in terms of the hadith.
• Halley’s Comet, which passes by the Earth once every 76 years, also passed by in 1986 (Hijri 1406), in complete agreement with the description given by our Prophet (saas) in the hadith:
A comet will be appearing in the East, giving out illumination before he arrives. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 53)
• One hadith of our Prophet’s (saas) says:
... A FIRE WILL CERTAINLY APPEAR FROM AZERBAIJAN. And nothing will be able to stand in its way. Stay in your homes when this happens. ... (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Numani, al-Ghaybah al-Numani, p. 311)
This hadith also came true as described by the Prophet (saas) with the invasion of the Azeri territory of Nagorno-Karabagh by Armenians in 1988. No subsequent invasion of Azeri territory will be of any significance in terms of the hadith.
• One hadith of the Prophet (saas) narrated by Imam Rabbani refers to a two-tailed star resembling a horn, and says that this is also a portent of the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as).
When Abbasi Malik arrives at Khorasan, one of the signs of the coming of the promised Mahdi (as), A DOUBLE-TOOTHED LIGHT SHEDDING HORN WILL APPEAR IN THE EAST. (Imam Rabbani, Letters of Rabbani, 381st Letter, p. 1184)
The two-tailed comet Lulin, which completely matches the above description, came closest to the earth on 24 February, 2009. This comet, which is estimated to pass by next in thousands of years’ of time, is in total agreement with the descriptions in the hadith. The date of its passage equates to Hijri 1430.
• A huge massacre took place at the Kaaba during the Hajj in 1979 (Hijri 1 Muharram, 1400). The incident took place on the first day of the Hijri year 1400. Thirty people lost their lives. In one hadith the Prophet (saas) says:
THE YEAR IN WHICH HE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL EMERGE, people will perform hajj together and gather without an amr. The Hajjis will be looted and there will be a battle at Mina in which many will be slain and blood will flow until it runs over the Jamra al-'Aqaba. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 168-169)
He refers to an important event at the Kaaba “in the year in which Hazrat Mahdi (as) will emerge.” This expression is highly significant because this points to 1979 as year of Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) appearance. Seven years after this incident that took place in 1979, another even bloodier event occurred. This time, 402 people were killed. But in contrast to the first incident, the second took place alongside the Kaaba rather than inside it. These two incidents took place in complete agreement with the “attack on the Kaaba and bloodshed in the Kaaba” described in the hadith as portents of the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as). As we have seen, this incident, in complete harmony with the details given in the hadith, has already taken place and it is irrational and illogical to expect such an event to occur again in another century.
In addition, since the Hijri year 1400 has already come and gone, it is impossible for certain people to base their claim that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will appear in another century on this hadith.
• Another of the portents of the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as) is a major economic crisis in the End Times. The hadith speaks of a time of stagnation during which people will complain of such economic difficulties as “low earnings, stagnation in the markets, and business going badly.”
Everyone complaining of low earnings... the rich respected for their money... (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 146)
Stagnation in the markets, a reduction in earnings… (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 148)
Everyone will complain, “I cannot sell, buy or earn money.” (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 152)
An economic crisis is taking place across the world in which major economies such as America, China and Germany have suffered severe damage and which has caused world-famous companies, banks and industries to collapse. World Bank President Robert Zoellick says of this economic crisis:
“There is a widespread recognition that THE WORLD FACES AN UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC CRISIS, poor people could suffer the most, and that we must continue to act in real time to prevent a human catastrophe.”1
1 http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK: 22157110~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html
He thus set out the true scale of the current crisis. As is clear from that statement, this important hadith has also been fulfilled in the form of this economic crisis, another of the portents of the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as) in the End Times.
Hundreds more such trustworthy hadiths have been taking place one after the other since the Hijri year 1400.
The way that all these portents have taken place one after the other in the same century is exceedingly significant because these hadiths prove both that we are in the End Times and also that Hazrat Mahdi (as), awaited with great fervor by all Muslims, has made his appearance. (Allah knows the truth.) The fact these astonishing events are taking place one after the other is sufficient for Muslims to know they are in the End Times and to anticipate the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as). All the awaited portents, with no exceptions, have taken place in the Hijri 1400s, and it is meaningless and illogical to expect them to take place again in another century.
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