Signs of the Last Day and the End of History
Insights from Sheikh Imran Hosein
There are misguided and evil people in this strange modern world who continuously attack and seek to demolish the spiritual heart of the religious way of life. They have already demolished the spiritual heart of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism and are now targeting Islam. They villify authentic Sufi scholars of Islam such as my learned teacher Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fadlur Rahman Ansari, and his illustrious teacher, Maulana ‘Abdul ‘Aleem Siddiqui (may Allah Most High have mercy on them both), and falsely accuse them of being profoundly misguided to the extent of engaging in acts of Shirk.
They are a people who have effectively joined the ranks of those enemies of Islam who are today waging war on Islam and Muslims around the world. They are themselves unaware that they have become instruments in the hands of a master-mind whose messianic objective is to obstruct Muslims from realizing the reality of the world today. That master-mind is Dajjal the false Messiah or Anti-Christ, who is himself one-eyed, and hence spiritually blind, and who knows that the spiritually blind cannot recognize the Signs of the Last Day.
Many of the prophecies of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) concerning ‘Signs of the Last Day’ have been conveyed to us in symbolic language that must be interpreted in order to be properly understood. That process of interpretation in turn requires the use of the Sufi epistemology of seeing with the internal eye (i.e., internal intuitive spiritual insight). It also requires a keen observation of events as they unfold in the historical process.
It was the good fortune of this writer to have been the student of an authentic Sufi Shaikh. The essays in this book are the fruit of a very humble attempt at interpretation of the historical process, and of events now ominously unfolding in the world, in the context of Signs of the Last Day. Perhaps these essays might assist others, more gifted than this writer, to understand and interpret the ‘Signs of the Last Day’ in a manner that would more conclusively demonstrate ‘Truth’ in Islam.
The Ahadith (i.e., words of Prophet Muhammad – peace be upon him) quoted below are but a few of the large body of Ahadith on the subject of ‘Signs of the Last Day’. The reader must exercise constant vigilance when studying Ahadith on this subject since they must have certainly been the prime target of those whose evil mission it was to so fabricate Ahadith as to mislead Muslims and corrupt their understanding of this vitally important subject.
Part of the methodology through which we can identify Ahadith of doubtful integrity is by first locating a consistent system of meaning which would explain a subject as a whole as derived from both the Qur’an and Ahadith. We can then suspend judgment in respect of such Ahadith as are not in harmony with that system of meaning. Nowhere is there greater need for such a methodology than in the study of ‘Signs of the Last Day’.
The text of the English translation of the following Ahadith is sometimes punctuated with our brief comments enclosed in brackets. In addition, we have sometimes offered a brief commentary of a Hadith:
Abu Hurairah narrated that Allah’s Apostle said: “The Last Hour would not come unless (and until) the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them (i.e. so defeat them that) the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the Gharqad tree would not say that, for it is the tree of the Jews.” (Sahih Muslim)
This prophecy of the Last Day very clearly rules out the possibility of any peaceful resolution of the conflict between Jews and Muslims over Jewish oppression in the Holy Land and elsewhere in the world.
Anas ibn Malik narrated that Allah’s Apostle said: “Dajjal would be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan wearing Persian shawls.” (Sahih Muslim)
This indicates that the European Jews and the Euro-Zionist Movement who created the State of Israel, would eventually relinquish power and control over Israel and seduce the real Jews, i.e., the oriental Jews, to replace them. It is significant that an Iranian Jew is now President of Israel.
Jabir ibn Samurah narrated: I heard Allah’s Apostle say: “Before the Last Hour there would be many (great) liars.” There is an addition in the Hadith transmitted on the authority of Abul Ahwas of these words: “I said to him: Did you hear it from Allah’s Apostle? He said: Yes.” (Sahih Muslim)
Those great lies are already coming out of the Washington, London and Tel Aviv/Jerusalem. In addition, the world is subjected to a constant barrage of lies and misinformation that permeates the western-dominated international news media.
Hudhayfah ibn Usayd Ghifari narrated: “Allah’s Apostle came to us all of a sudden as we were engaged (in a discussion). He asked: What are you discussing? (The Companions) said: We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It would not come until you see ten signs and (in this connection) he made a mention of the ‘smoke’, ‘Dajjal’, the ‘beast’, the ‘rising of the sun from the west’, the ‘descent of Jesus son of Mary’, ‘Gog and Magog’, and ‘landslides in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia’ at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen and would drive people to the place of their assembly’. (Sahih Muslim)
See essay in this book entitled “Ten Major Signs of the Last Day— Has One Just Occurred?”
Umar ibn al-Khattab narrated: “One day we were sitting in the company of Allah’s Prophet when there appeared before us a man dressed in pure white clothes, his hair extraordinarily black. There were no signs of travel on him. None amongst us recognized him. At last he sat with the Prophet. He knelt before him placed his palms on his thighs and asked:
Muhammad, inform me about al-Islam. The Messenger of Allah said: Al-Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and you establish prayer, pay Zakat, observe the fast of Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the House (i.e., the Ka’aba in Makkah built by Abraham) if you are solvent enough (to bear the expense of) the journey. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: It amazed us that he would put the question and then he would himself verify the truth.
He (the inquirer) asked: Inform me about Iman (faith). He (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you arm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you arm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth.
He (the inquirer) again asked: Inform me about al-Ihsan (spiritual insight). He (the Holy Prophet) said: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, for though you do not see Him, He, verily, sees you.
He (the enquirer) again said: Inform me about the hour (the Last Day). He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: the one who is asked knows no more than the one who is inquiring (about it).
He (the inquirer) said: Inform me of some of the signs (of the Last Day). He (the Holy Prophet) said: That the slave-girl would give birth to her mistress and master, and that you would find barefooted, destitute shepherds vying with one another in the construction of magnificent buildings.
He (the narrator, Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: Then he (the inquirer) went on his way but I stayed with him (the Holy Prophet) for a long while. He then said to me: Umar, do you know who this inquirer was? I replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: He was Gabriel (the angel). He came to you in order to instruct you in matters of religion.” (Sahih Muslim)
Here is a prophecy that is very clearly presented in symbolic language that must be interpreted. But the Hadith also directs our attention to al-Ihsan, or the spiritual quest, as part of the prerequisites required for responding to the ‘Signs of the Last Day’. “The slave-girl giving birth to her mistress” is a startling prophecy that can be interpreted only when one understands and penetrates the prophecies concerning Dajjal and Riba on the one hand, and Dajjal and the feminist revolution on the other.
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet said: “The Last Hour (i.e., the Last Day) would not come before (religious) knowledge is taken away, earthquakes would be very frequent, time would pass quickly, afflictions would appear, murders would increase and money would overflow amongst you.” (Sahih Bukhari)
The void in respect of religious knowledge can be easily understood in the context of the attack that has already been launched on the scholars of Islam and on the institutions of higher Islamic learning. This attack on the scholars of Islam forms part of the over-all war on Islam and Muslims.
Narrated Ubayy ibn K’ab: I heard Allah’s Apostle (peace be upon him) say, “The Euphrates would soon uncover a mountain of gold and when the people would hear of it they would flock towards it but the people who would possess that (treasure) (would say): If we allow these persons to take out of it they would take away the whole of it.” So they would fight and ninety-nine out of one hundred would be killed. Abu Kamil in his narration said: “I and Abu Ka’b stood under the shade of the battlement of Hassan.” (Sahih Muslim)
I believe the mountain of gold uncovered by the River Euphrates can be understood only as a symbol for oil (black gold) and that the deaths prophesied (99 out of every 100) would occur in the wars to gain control over that oil. Perhaps weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons will be used in the future.
Here now are some more randomly selected Ahadith pertaining to Signs of the Last Day:
S’ad ibn Abu Waqqas narrated: Allah’s Messenger said, “The Last Hour would not come until people come forth who eat with their tongues as cows do.” Ahmad transmitted it.” (Tirmidhi)
Hudhaifah narrated that the Prophet said, “The Last Hour would not come until you kill your leader, fight together with your swords, and your worst ones inherit your worldly goods.” (Sunan Tirmidhi)
Anas ibn Malik narrated that Allah’s Messenger said, “The Last Hour would not come until 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.” (Sunan Tirmidhi)
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri narrated that Allah’s Messenger said, “By Him in Whose hand is my soul, the Last Hour would not come until wild beasts speak to men, the end of a man’s whip and the thong of his sandal speak to him, and his thigh informs him what his family have done since he left them.” (This appears to anticipate the modern cellular phone.) (Sunan Tirmidhi)
Talhah ibn Malik narrated that Allah’s Messenger said, “One of the signs of the approach of the Last Hour would be the destruction of the Arabs (i.e., war on Arabs).” (Sunan Tirmidhi)
Abdullah ibn Hawalah al-Azdi narrated: “The Apostle of Allah sent us on foot to get spoils, but we returned without getting any. When he saw the signs of distress on our faces he stood up before us and said: O Allah, do not put them under my care, for I would be too weak to care for them; do not put them in care of themselves, for they would be incapable of that, and do not put them in the care of men, for they would choose the best things for themselves. He then placed his hand on my head and said: Ibn Hawalah, when you see the Caliphate established in the Holy Land (i.e., when an imposter Euro-Jewish State of Israel rules the world from the Holy Land) earthquakes, sorrows and serious matters would have drawn near, and on that day the Last Hour would be nearer to mankind than this hand of mine is to your head.” (Sunan Abu Daud)
Anas ibn Malik narrated that the Prophet said: “The Last Hour would not come until people vie with one another about Masajid (i.e. contesting with each other for control over Masajid).” (Sunan Abu Daud)
© Imran Hosein 2019
Source: Signs of the Last Day and the End of History