Since wars, slaughter, immorality, prostitution and perversion of all kinds serve the interests of various atheist, Darwinist and materialist circles, they never want to see the irrational and illogical claims of Darwinism exposed. They feel a great anger and enmity toward and counter-attack those who speak of the moral values of the Qur’an and engage in an intellectual struggle against materialism and Darwinism. That is because the spread of belief in Allah works against their own worldly interests. For that reason, the rapid spread in the End Times of all forms of immorality that support the Darwinist system is exceedingly important for those who espouse the Darwinist mindset. The Darwinist dictatorship, which has established a false dominion across the world, uses the Darwinist media in its monopoly for that purpose. That is one of the main reasons why there is no objection to the Darwinism imposed in schools, universities, educational institutions, state institutions, in scientific spheres and in all other professional groups and why not a word of criticism of Darwinist ideology is heard. The reaction in such places to the open speaking of the name of Allah, the struggle waged by Darwinist propagandists and the prohibitions brought in by them are all on an amazing scale. As a requirement of their ideology, Darwinists are the most important supporters and defenders of atheism. Various bodies made up of Darwinists boast of being atheist, and society currently regards this as quite normal. The Darwinist media in various parts of the world can say the most heedless things about religion and sacred matters, even in highly conservative and religious countries. The media in question, which are very powerful, are the main reason why atheists are able to reveal themselves and find support and followers.
At the current moment, atheists are uniting and setting up associations to defend their supposed rights, make use of all kinds of scientific means and are allowed to appear and speak on all kinds of TV channels, while devout believers have to keep their belief in Allah and religious observances quiet. This is another important fact that our Holy Prophet (saas) reveals in the hadith about the End Times:
“The Hour will not be established until the name of Allah is not spoken on Earth.” (Sahih Muslim; Tirmidhi)
Our Almighty Lord says that the majority of people strive to encourage sin and that they are hostile toward those who live by the moral values of the Qur’an:
You see many of them rushing to wrongdoing and enmity and acquiring ill-gotten gains. What an evil thing they do! (Surat Al-Ma’ida, 62)
In this respect, the End Times are when believers will encounter the most severe difficulties. Degeneration and the rapid spread of irreligion, and people’s powerful acceptance of these, have reached astonishing dimensions. A great many people find living by the truths of the Qur’an very odd but encourage the commission of all kinds of unlawful activity within their own degenerate systems. But the consequences of irreligion are extraordinarily destructive. Societies that have no fear of Allah have to live cheek by jowl with murder, slaughter, suicide, oppression and injustice. It is impossible in such societies for concepts such as pity, affection, compassion, protectiveness, loyalty, tolerance, devotion, friendship and peace to find any place. All human values have disappeared in a very short space of time. Darwinist societies are ones that literally regard themselves as made up of animals and that live under the oppression that such a perspective imposes. Therefore, it is not surprising for such societies that they live with degeneration, murder, oppression and injustice.
Believers in such communities may of course encounter all kinds of difficulty and injustice. Indeed, Hazrat Mahdi (as) who will appear in these End Times we are living in, will also be subjected to intense pressure and slanders from unbelievers.
Hazrat Mahdi (as) Will Be Subjected to the Traps and Slanders of the Unbelievers Our Prophet (saas) has revealed in the hadith that in this difficult climate of the End Times, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be slandered by the unbelievers and have to struggle against difficulties. Like the prophets, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be slandered and tested by various hardships, difficulties and scourges, and will have to stand up to snares set by unbelievers. What makes this struggle in the End Times different to the times of the other prophets is that the degeneration and irreligion in the End Times are more widespread than ever before, and can be felt right across the world. Hazrat Mahdi (as) will come at a rather difficult time when there is a mass and systematic campaign against belief in Allah. One hadith narrated from our Prophet (saas) reveals that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will possess various attributes of the prophets of the past:
Imam Zayn al-Abidin (as) said:
"OUR QAIM [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL RESEMBLE THE MESSENGERS OF ALLAH IN VARIOUS WAYS. HE WILL INDIVIDUALLY RESEMBLE THE PROPHETS NOAH (AS), ABRAHAM (AS), MOSES (AS), JESUS (AS), JOB (AS) AND MUHAMMAD (SAAS) AND THE OTHER PROPHETS.
He will resemble Noah (as) in being long-lived, Abraham (as) in his birth being concealed and away from the public eye, Moses (as) in his state of fear (in the intensity of the threats he faces; facing the threats of being killed, plots, arrest, detention and exile), and in his living apart (in constant concealment), Jesus (as) in people constantly disputing over him (in some people saying, ‘Hazrat Mahdi [as] will come’ and other saying, ‘he will not.’), Job (as) in maturing after being rescued from a great trouble (Hazrat Mahdi [as] will suffer many difficulties, sicknesses and troubles, but, like the Prophet Job [as], he will be freed from them by Allah’s mercy) and Muhammad (saas) in his appearing with a sword (Hazrat Mahdi [as] will carry the sacred relics of our Prophet [saas], his holy standard, sword and robe)." (Kamal’ud-Din p. 322, chapter 31. hadith 3)
“Imam Mahdi (Hazrat Mahdi [as]) possesses the forbearance of the Prophet David (as) and the patience of the Prophet Job (as).” (Kefaayah al-Asar, p. 43)
All the prophets have been tested by various difficulties, slanders and sicknesses. All the prophets have been exposed to pressure and traps from unbelievers. The unbelievers have tried to kill them and called then “magicians” and even “mad.” The pagans and immoral people of the time said of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) that “He is quite mad” (Surat al-Qalam, 51). The Prophet Hud (as) was told, “we consider you a fool and think you are a liar” (Surat Al-A‘raf, 66). The Prophet Joseph (as) spent years in prison despite being completely innocent, and the Prophet Moses (as) was called “a magician or a madman” (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 39), while the Prophet Abraham (as) was cast into the flames by the leading members of his tribe (Surat Al-Anbiya’, 68).
As the Prophet (saas) says in the hadith, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be exposed to the difficulties suffered by the prophets and all true Muslims, will strive against the snares, corruption and slanders of the unbelievers and will live a life full of hardship and suffering.
Hazrat Mahdi (as), sent by our Lord as the Qutb al-Azam, will come at a time when atheist and Darwinist ideologies are widespread, and protected and supported. As the information on the hadith of our Prophet (saas) and the commentaries by great Islamic scholars reveal, this period refers to the 1400s, according to the Islamic calendar, in which we are living now. His preaching will be met with anger and hatred from many quarters. The End Times will be full of difficulties and suffering in a variety of ways.
However, there is no doubt that all the cunning traps, plots and slanders aimed at Hazrat Mahdi (as) and the believers with him will, by Allah’s leave, be completely ineffective. Allah promises that believers will go through various tests. This is the law of Allah, that He has ordained for believers ever since the peoples of the past. The snares set are auspicious and welcome for all those who sincerely believe. As the unbelievers lay their cunning traps, believers know that Allah sees all these plotters, that nobody can set a trap without Allah’s knowledge and that these plots will never be made a reality.
As our Lord says in one verse, “Or do those who do bad actions imagine they can outstrip Us? How bad their judgement is!” (Surat al-Ankabut, 4), it is impossible for those who wrong believers to be saved in the Hereafter, even if they appear to enjoy a superiority in this world. No matter how much irreligion spreads in the End Times, no matter how much people become swamped by Darwinism, no matter how degenerate and terrifying the environment may seem, the ugly and disbelief-filled system of the unbelievers will, by Allah’s leave, be defeated across the world. Again by Allah’s leave, the two holy personages of the End Times, the Prophet Jesus (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as), will totally eradicate this heretical mindset that currently dominates the world and be instrumental in Islam achieving global dominion. By Allah’s leave, this lovely promise of our Lord’s will come true in the century we are living in.
The End Times will be more terrible and difficult than any other periods:
The End Times will be an age when war is most widespread and takes place across the world.
The End Times will be an age when degeneration and vice are most widespread and assume
the ugliest forms.
The End Times will be an age when prostitution spreads more than at any time in the past, and shamelessly takes place all over the world.
The End Times will be an age when fraud, falsity, cheating, trickery and giving false measure are most widespread across the world.
The End Times will be an age when murder is most widespread and common. The prisons will be full of killers in the End Times.
The End Times will be an age when all forms of perversion, such as homosexuality and incest, are openly practiced across the world. These perversions will begin being regarded as normal, and even be supported.
In the End Times, all unlawful things will be regarded as lawful, prostitution will be very popular, drinking alcohol and eating pork will be seen as being up-to-date, countries’ financial systems will be based on interest, sexual deviations will be regarded as normal, unlawful foods will be popular, and people will be disparaged and excluded for being punctilious about what is lawful and unlawful.
The use of drugs and alcohol will spread in the End Times, deaths will occur because of this use and many families will suffer because of it.
People will blatantly deny Allah in the End Times. The unbelievers will be united among themselves and will openly seek support for their struggle against religion. They will campaign against devout believers and will receive support from various states and official institutions in the course of that struggle.
In the End Times, atheists will spread such heretical ideologies as Darwinism in order, in their own eyes, to prepare the ground for their denial. They will portray these as scientific and deceive people in order to turn them away from belief in Allah.
In the End Times, these heretical and bloody ideologies will be protected by the laws of certain states, they will be propagandized across the world and disseminated by way of imposition.
The End Times will be the most heretical and disastrous age, when people subjected to atheist ideologies openly slander believers, when they subject them to false accusation and set traps for them, and when they resort to all kinds of cunning trickery in order to prevent the remembrance of the name of Almighty Allah.
The two holy personages of the End Times, the Prophet Jesus (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as), will be sent in order to restore belief in Allah in this evil time. By the leave of our Almighty Lord, this will be a time when all these perversions and corruptions will come to an end when we live to see the Golden Age and when the moral values of Islam rule the entire world.
