An Honest Look At The End Times

[Ahmet Secer]

According to the features of the End Times (the final period before doomsday) revealed in detail in the hadiths of our Prophet (saas), the End Times will consist of two separate periods. The first period in this blessed age will be one of corruption, degeneration, disasters, conflict, war and poverty. The second part of the End Times, on the other hand, will be one when, with the Prophet Isa’s return to Earth and the appearance of the Mahdi, peace, security and freedom will reign on Earth, when there is abundance and prosperity, and when there are all kinds of joys that people will delight in. We therefore need to think of the End Times as a whole and to be aware that, in the light of the glad tidings imparted by our Prophet (saas), the catastrophes in the first phase will later be followed by great beauty. It would be wrong, when referring to the End Times, to recall solely to the difficulties, scarcity and disasters that are all portents of this period without also recalling that all this darkness will also eventually turn into light. Because as revealed by our Lord in the Qur’an, “For truly with hardship comes ease” Surat al-Inshirah, 5). By the will of Allah, in the End Times scarcity will be replaced by abundance, and troubles by well-being, and all problems will be resolved.

 

The Unseen Reported by Our Prophet (saas)

 

As revealed by Allah in the Qur’an, only He knows what is unseen. However, He also reveals that He imparts knowledge of the unseen to the chosen messengers in His presence:

 

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 Prophet Muhammad (saas) is a chosen messenger in the sight of Allah, to whom Allah has imparted a knowledge of the unseen. The portents of the End Times and the great events that will take place during this holy time are important events of th unseen. In addition – as a blessing from Allah – our Prophet (saas) also reported a great many other events of the unseen, all of which, as a miracle of our Lord, are coming about. There is no doubt that this is support and compassion for our beloved Prophet (saas) from Allah.

 

One of these reports concerns our Prophet’s (saas) notification long beforehand of the deaths of some of the companions. According to information in the hadiths, our Prophet (saas) revealed that some companions would be martyred, and the kind of place they would die in. These events of the unseen informed by our Prophet (saas) represented very glad tidings for believers who witnessed them coming about. For example, the fact that the blessed Omar and Uthman would be martyred was reported thus in one hadith:

 

The Prophet of Allah (saas) was in a garden. When Abu Baqr sought permission to enter, he (saas) said: “Let him enter, and give him the glad tidings of Paradise!” Then Uthman sought permission. He said, “Let him enter, and give him the glad tidings of both Paradise and of martyrdom.” (1)

 

Another hadith that provides information about the caliphate and martyrdom of the blessed Uthman reads:

 

Abu Ya’la reported from Hafsa, the mother of believers: “The Prophet of Allah (saas) had Uthman called to him and said: “You will be killed and martyred. Have fortitude, may Allah give you fortitude. Do not take off the shirt of the caliphate that Allah will have you wear for ten years and six months!” As he turned to leave, the Prophet of Allah (saas) said from behind him: “May Allah give you fortitude. You will die and be martyred while you are fasting. You will break your fast with me!” (2)

 

The martyrdom of the Hadrath Ali and the Hadrath Hussain were described thus in the hadiths of our holy Prophet (saas):

 

Al-Hakim – a trustworthy source – narrated from Ali: The Prophet of Allah (saas) pointed to his cheeks and said to Ali, “You will be struck here and here, and your blood will flow until it covers your beard!” (3)

 

One day the Prophet of Allah (saas) was asleep. There was red earth in his hand. “O Prophet of Allah, what is this earth?” I asked him. He said: “Jibrail – referring to Hussain – said he would be killed in the land of Iraq. This earth is soil from there.” (4)

 

“Referring to Hussain, this son of mine will be killed in the place known as Qarbala. Let he who sees him there go to his aid!” At this, Anas bin al-Haris went to Qarbala. He was killed there together with Hussain. (5)

 

All these things, revealed by our Prophet (saas) as a miracle of Allah came about. In addition to this information, Muslims also witnessed that many of our Prophet’s (saas) reports concerning hidden matters came to pass. This fact must not be forgotten when evaluating the hadiths concerning the End Times.

 

Like all these facts, the signs imparted by our Prophet (saas) to believers regarding the End Times are also, by Allah’s leave, coming about one by one, and will continue to do so.

 

The Corruption That Will Take Place in the End Times

 

That fact reported in many sources that there will be strife and corruption in the End Times is carried very often in magazines, books and some television programs. Many events taking place in the present day bear an astonishing similarity to the information imparted in the hadiths, and these developments indicate that we are now living in the End Times. According to the information in the hadiths:

 

There will be war, conflict and anarchy in the End Times.

When the world is in chaos, when strife emerges, when the roads are severed, when some attack others… (6)

 

There are days of anarchy and chaos very close to Doomsday. (7)

 

Doomsday will not take place until these signs come about … Death and slaughter will be widespread … (8)

 

Strife will multiply, and new strifes will follow one another

Before Doomsday there will be strife like dark nights. (9)

 

Close to Doomsday there will be chaos like patches of dark nights.

In this confusion a person will wake as a believer and go to bed as an unbeliever. (10)

 

Earthquakes will increase in the End Times.

Doomsday will not come about until these signs take place … earthquakes will increase … (11)

 

There are two great signs before Doomsday … and then years of earthquakes. (12)

 

There will be poverty and want.

The poor will increase. (13)

 

Hunger and a high cost of living will spread to the furthest extent. (14)

 

There will be moral collapse and social degeneration.

An increase in adultery is one of the portents of Doomsday. (15)

 

The wicked will multiply, liars will be regarded as honest and honest men as liars, traitors will be trusted and the trustworthy regarded as traitors… (16)

 

People will move away from religious moral values.

There will come a time when the Holy Qur’an will be in one valley and people in another. (17)

 

There will come a time when only the picture of the Holy Qur’an and only the name of Islam will remain. Though they are the very furthest people from Islam they will take Islamic names, although mosques appear to prosper they will be in ruins in terms of the true path. (18)

 

Forbidden things being regarded as lawful … is one of the portents of Doomsday. (19)

 

This is just one part of our Prophet’s (saas) reports concerning the first period of the End Times. The hadiths contain much more reports and information. When examined carefully, the age we are living in can clearly be seen to be when these portents revealed by our Prophet (saas) have begun to occur. According to the information imparted by our Prophet (saas), in the wake of these portents a sacred and holy period will begin for believers. In that period, which will possess features reminiscent of the Age of Happiness (Asr al-Saadat), the Mahdi will appear, Islamic moral values will, by Allah’s leave, prevail over the whole world, and a perfect time known as the Golden Age will take place.

 

The Appearance of the Mahdi Is One of the Unseen Matters Reported by Our Prophet (saas)

 

One of the reports revealed by our Prophet (saas) concerning the future is that of the coming of the Mahdi. In the hadiths our Prophet (saas) has stated that a holy individual will appear who will eradicate the strife of the End Times, bring peace and security to all and be a means whereby religious moral values rule the world, in short, the leader of the Golden Age.

 

This holy personage is the Mahdi. By Allah’s leave, it is reported that the Mahdi will definitely appear in the End Times:

 

Even if only one night remains to the world, ALLAH WILL PROLONG THAT NIGHT AND ONE OF MY HOUSEHOLD (THE MAHDI) WILL COME AND RULE THE WORLD. His name will match mine, and his father’s name my father’s. In the same way that the world was filled with oppression before, he will fill it with justice. He will distribute goods widely … He will remain seven or nine years… (20)

 

The will be (a time of) caliphs after me. After the caliphs there will be amirs, and after the amirs there will be despots. THEN THE MAHDI, ONE OF MY HOUSEHOLD, WILL APPEAR. He will fill with justice a world that was previously filled with oppression. (21)

 

According to the information in the hadiths, the strife, oppression and chaos that will be experienced in the first period of the End Times are portents of the coming of the Mahdi. This is expressed in these terms:

 

There will be such strife that nowhere is safe from it, and this strife will immediately spread from one place to somewhere else, and this will continue until a voice from the sky calls out, “O people, your amir is now the Mahdi.” (22)

 

The Mahdi will not appear until innocent people are slaughtered, and he will appear when those on Earth and in the skies can no longer bear this killing… (23)

 

Bearing all this in mind, the error of referring to the end times as a period filled with catastrophes and troubles while not mentioning the way that the Prophet Isa’ and the Mahdi will appear and cause Islamic moral values to prevail on Earth can clearly be seen. The events that will take place in the End Times are some of the portents of the coming of the Prophet Isa’ and the Mahdi. Constantly recalling these portents without mentioning the great events of which they are signs is irrational and illogical. In addition, it needs to be remembered that our Prophet (saas) has revealed that one of the portents of the appearance of the Mahdi is that people will lose hope that this holy figure will actually emerge:

 

ALLAH WILL SEND THE MAHDI when people are in despair and say, “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE MAHDI…” (24)

 

The Golden Age and the Dominion of Islamic Moral Values

 

The way that our Prophet (saas) has portrayed the period when Islamic moral values prevail on Earth as having similar features to those of Paradise has led to it being termed the “Golden Age.” According to the information contained in the hadiths, the main features of this period are an abundance of all kinds of goods and products, the establishment of security, peace and justice, contentment and happiness, the use of all kinds of technological progress for people’s comfort, peace and joy, nobody being in need, and those who wish being given much more than they desire without such even being counted.

 

As stated in one hadith, “… He will implement the religion as it was in the time of our Prophet (saas). He will do away with schools (mazhabs) in the world. No school will remain but that of the pure, true religion,” (25) true religious moral values will be enjoyed under the leadership of the Mahdi in the End Times. In fact, one of the main reasons why this period will be one with which all people are content is that Qur’anic moral values and the Sunna will be abided by to the letter.

 

Technological progress will reach a peak in this part of the End Times, and people will enjoy all technological blessings to their fullest extent. There will be major advances in medicine, agriculture, communications and industrial technology and in transport, and new discoveries will constantly be made. Each new discovery will lead on to another, and progress will achieve a very rapid pace. There will also be great advances made in art, and ever more beautiful works will appear in the fields of music and visual art. The wide horizons and deep conception that Allah imparts to believers will lead the way in all artistic spheres. People will be so delighted with their lives in the Golden Age that, as one hadith puts it: “they will be unaware of how the time passes and will ask Allah to prolong their lives in order to enjoy all these benefits even further.”

 

The features of this period are described as follows in hadiths:

 

There will be hitherto unknown abundance in the time of the Mahdi:

 

… the treasures in the Earth will spill forth. (26)

 

… The Earth will give forth all the wealth concealed in it, and pillars made of gold and silver. (27)

 

The generosity of the Mahdi:

When the Mahdi distributes goods and wealth he will do so in abundance, without counting it. (28)

 

Justice in the time of the Mahdi:

The Mahdi is from my line and will fill the world with fairness and justice as it was filled with oppression and torture. (29)

 

The world will be a safe place in the time of the Mahdi:

The Earth will be full of security and even a few women will go on the pilgrimage (Hajj) with no men alongside them. (30)

 

The longing felt for the time of the Mahdi:

 

I would not wish to die before seeing the Mahdi. Because in his time the goodness of good people will increase, and even the wicked will be treated well… (31)

… The young will say, “I wish I were old,” and the old will say, “I wish I were young”… The goodness of good people will increase, and even the wicked will be treated well (32)

 

The Mahdi will be loved by all:

The Mahdi will appear, and everyone will speak of him, drink of his love and speak of nothing else. (33)

The peoples of the Earth and sky, and even the birds in the air, will be pleased with his caliphate. (34)

 

Conclusion

 

All this information shows that major events, regarding which all believers will feel great enthusiasm and excitement, will be experienced in the End Times. This is a great blessing for those Muslims who will witness this period. Therefore, it is of the greatest importance that sincere believers be aware of this blessing of Allah’s and feel joy because of it.

 

The first period of the End Times is an age when corruption, degeneration, disasters, conflicts, wars and poverty will be experienced. The second period, however, with the return to Earth of the Prophet Isa’ and the coming of the Mahdi, will be a time when peace, security and freedom reign on Earth, when there is plenty and abundance, and when there are delights that please people in all respects.