The situation before the Mahdi's emergence

 At the end of time, their rulers will cause My people severe trouble in such a way that there will be no comfort for Muslims anywhere. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 12)

This hadith points out that before the Mahdi comes, those who lack religious morals and have a cruel and merciless character will come to power in some Muslim countries. As a matter of fact, some contemporary Muslim rulers oppress Muslims and crush people with their oppressive and despotic regimes. In other countries, people are subjected to trouble because their rulers are unqualified to rule. Muslims in some countries, particularly Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Tunisia, and Djibouti, are oppressed by their respectives, and so are subjected to various hardship and problems. Muslims are prevented from practicing their religion and worshipping, and economic difficulties make life harder.

o There will be a tribulation like patches of dark night... (Abu Dawud)

The word 'tribulation (fitnah)' implies anything that turns peoples' reason and hearts away from the true path, or war, incitement, chaos, disorder and conflict. The tribulation in the hadith will leave smoke and dust behind it, we learn


Furthermore, the way that tribulation is described as 'darkness' in the hadith, can be seen as an indication that its origins are unclear, that it is unexpected. Looking at it from that regard, it is probable that the hadith is referring to one of the world's worst terrorist attack, on the cities of New York and Washington in the United States on September 11, 2001.

Therefore, this most saddening act of terror, which caused the lives and injuries of thousands of innocent people, may well be that 'tribulation like patches of dark night' foretold by the hadith as the sign of the Mahdi's emergence.

o The Mahdi will only appear at a time when people are experiencing great fear and are afflicted by disturbances and civil war and other disasters.(Reported by Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Ali)
Most hadiths about the Mahdi's advent focus on the prophecy that turmoil, insecurity, and disorder will rule the world before his coming. Massacres, wars, and confrontations are one of the major features of such a period. Besides, the hadith draws attention to the fact that massacres will occur all over the world.

During the two world wars of the twentieth century, an estimated 65 million people were killed. The number of the civilians slaughtered for political reasons during the same century is estimated to be well over 180 million. This is an extraordinarily high figure compared with previous centuries.

o The Mahdi will not emerge unless innocent people are massacred, and he will appear when those on Earth and up in the sky can no longer put up with such massacres... (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 37)

While the hadiths about his emergence mention such massacres as commonplace, they also emphasize that such massacres will target innocent people. As we discussed earlier, almost all of the wars today target people. So, civilians and such innocent people as children, the elderly, and women are slaughtered. Targeting these defenseless people in particular has resulted in more comprehensive massacres, while the number of people dying as a result continues to climb.
Since terror seeks to spread fear and horror, the very group on which such attacks focus are often innocent civilians.

o Corruption that no one can escape will occur and spread immediately to another place from where it stays. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, pp. 21-22)

The term 'corruption (fitnah)' also means 'war, disorder, quarrel, dispute.' Thus, civil and other wars and disorder, 'which spreads to another place from where it stays,' continues unceasingly all over the world during the current century. In particular, the twentieth century is remembered as 'the century of wars.' And, this new century started off with wars and terror that continues.

o Allah Almighty will send the Mahdi after despair has reached the point that people will say, "There is no Mahdi." (Nu'aym ibn Hammad)

This hadith informs us that one sign of the Golden Age is the people's despair of the Mahdi's coming.
People who struggle with war, starvation, injustice, epidemics, and all forms of depravity in the End Times lose their hope that such disasters will ever end. Many Muslims, on the other hand, start to despair that Islamic morality will ever prevail and believe that evil will spread even further.
Indeed in our day, we frequently see the examples of this spirit. Despite the existence of countless hadiths about the Mahdi's coming and the Golden Age marked with great blessings, many people believe that such a period will never come.
This assumption is also a sign of the End Times. In a time of despair, people will enjoy the benefits of the Golden Age, thanks to Allah's mercy on people.

o People will prosper until the ninety-fifth year, that is, their business will prosper. In the ninety-seventh and the ninety-ninth year, their possessions will go to waste... (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 54)

It is highly probable that this refers to the year 1995, a period when people had a relatively better life and its conditions have not become so difficult. Indeed, as described in the hadith, in this year, people will have enough income to earn a living and have some possessions. However, 1997 and 1999 was a period during which the economy detoriated and poverty spread. In this time, possessions lost their value. Such an event can happen very quickly, as exemplified by Argentinia's continuing economic crisis.

Anwer Sadat

o The inhabitants of Egypt and Sham will kill their ruler and his commands... (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 49)

When we examine Egypt's recent history, we see that a ruler was killed: Anwar Sadat, who ruled Egypt from 1970-81, was killed by his opponents during a military review in 1981. Other Egyptian leaders who have been killed include Prime Ministers Boutros Ghali (1910), and Mahmoud Nukrashy Pasha (1948).

The word 'Sham' is not only used for Damascus, for it also means 'left' and has long been used to refer to those countries to the left of the Hijaz (where the cities of Makka and Madina stand). Many leaders have been killed in the region, among them former Syrian prime ministers Salah al-Deen Beetar (1920), Droubi Pasha (1921), and Muhsin al-Barazi (1949), King Abdullah of Jordan (1951), and Lebanese Phalange leader Bashir Gemayel (1982).

o The people of Sham will take prisoner the tribes of Egypt... (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi'Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 49)

Today, the states in the region in question include Israel. That is why the hadith could be pointing to the war between the State of Israel and Egypt, and the invasion of Egyptian territory.

o People will compete with one another in constructing high buildings. (Bukhari)

On October 26, 1956, Israel attacked Egypt and began to occupy the Sinai Peninsula. The fighting ended shortly afterwards following intervention by the United Nations.

Time will pass quickly. (Bukhari)

Great distances will be traversed in short spans of time. (Musnad)

The Last hour will not come before 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. (Tirmidhi)

The century we are living in has seen the capability of constructing supersonic aeroplanes, and the ability, thanks to trains and other improvements in means of transport, to make journeys in a few minutes that would once have taken months, and in great comfort. What this hadith indicates is also taking place in this manner.

Communication between continents would take weeks hundreds of years ago, but is now a matter of seconds, thanks to the Internet and improvements in technology. Goods that used to take weeks to arrive, following a long journey, can now be delivered at a moment's notice. Billions of books can now be printed in the time it would take to write a single letter just a few centuries ago. As well, other technological developments have meant that we no longer waste large amounts of time on cooking, cleaning and child minding.

One could go on citing similar examples. Yet, the important thing here, of course, is that the signs of End Times, as set out by the Prophet (saas) in the seventh century, are now happening one by one.

o The end of a man's whip will speak to him.(Tirmidhi)

The whip is known as a tool used in earlier times when riding or guiding pack animals such as horses or camels. When we look closely at this hadith, we can see that the Prophet (saas) is making a comparison. Let us ask people living at the present time a question, 'Is there a modern implement that talks and resembles a whip?'

The most logical reply to that question is the mobile telephone, with its long antenna, or similar communications equipment. If we bear in mind that mobile or satellite phones are comparatively recent developments, then the wisdom behind the Prophet's (saas) description of 1,400 years ago is even clearer. That is just one more indication that we are living through the End Times.

o A person's own voice will speak to him. (Mukhtasar Tazkirah Qurtubi)
The message in the hadith is quite clear: A person's hearing the sound of his own voice is another sign of the end times. There is no doubt that in order to hear the sound of one's own voice, one first needs to record it, and then to play it back to himself. Sound recording and reproduction equipment are products of the twentieth century. That development marked a scientific turning point, and led to the birth of the communications and media industries. Sound reproduction is nearly perfect now, thanks to computer and laser technologies.
In short, the electronic gadgets of our time, microphones and speakers, allow us to record sound and play it back, and are also manifestations of that related in the above hadith.

o A hand will be extended from the sky, and people will look and see it. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi'Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 53)

The sign of that day is a hand extended in the sky and people stopping to look at it. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 69)

The Arabic word for 'hand' in the above hadiths is 'yed.' As well as 'hand,' the dictionary also provides such meanings as 'power, force, strength, means etc.' It is probable that in these hadiths the word is used in those senses.

The idea of a 'power, force, strength or means' extending from the sky and looked upon by people might not make much sense in the context of past ages. Yet, it sheds considerable light on equipment such as the television, camera and computer, which have become such indispensable parts of modern life, as described in the hadiths. In other words, the 'hand' mentioned in these hadiths is used in the sense of force. It clearly points to pictures coming down from the sky in waves, in other words television broadcasting.

o Life spans will grow longer. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi'Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 43)

Fourteen centuries have passed since the Prophet (saas) brought forward that news. The average expected lifespan is much higher now than it has been at any other time in recent history. A great difference can be seen even between the figures for the beginning and the end of the twentieth century. For instance, it is estimated that a baby born in 1995 will live some 35 years longer than one born around 1900. Another striking example on the same subject is that in the recent past very few people lived to be 100, whereas now it is a great deal more common.

All the communication devices discovered in the last few years allow us to confirm that we are likely living in the End Times.