45. Opening of the Constantinople

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Apostle (may peace he upon him) saying, “You have heard about a city the one side of which is in the land and the other is in the sea (Constantinople).” They said: “Allah’s Messenger, yes.” Thereupon he said: “The Last Hour would not come unless seventy thousand persons from Bani lsra`eel [descendants of Ishaaq] would attack it. When they would land there, they will neither fight with weapons nor would shower arrows but would only say: “There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest,” (La ilaaha illallah wallaahu Akbar) that one side of it would fall. Thaur (one of the narrators) said: I think that he said: “The part by the side of the ocean.” Then they would say for the second time: “There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest” that the second side would also fall. And they would say: “There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest” then the gates would be opened for them and they would enter therein and, they would be collecting spoils of war and distributing them amongst themselves that a noise would be heard and It would be said: “Verily, Dajjal has come.” And thus they would leave everything there and would turn to him. [Muslim, B.41, #6979]

Who are these 70,000 descendants of Ishaaq? The Jews are descendants of Ishaaq. The scholars of hadith, like Ibn Katheer and Nawawi and others, say that this is talking about Romans that are Muslims. The early Muslim historians say that the Romans are the descendants of Al ‘Ees ibn Ishaaq. They could be Romans part of the general Muslim army. They could also be Jews who became Muslim. They are going to open Constantinople with dhikr, so they are Muslim. They could also be Muslims who are living in that area. As we said, the land of Turkey (Asia Minor) used to be part of the Byzantine Empire; maybe they will open Istanbul again. Wallahu ‘Alam.

When we are talking about signs of the DOJ, we are talking about ghayb – the unknown. The scholars’ interpretation could be right or wrong. The purpose of these ahaadith are not to draw a map and show exactly what’s going to happen. The purpose of these ahaadith is:

   1. To show the miracle of Islam; the miracle of the hadeeth of the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

  2. They serve as bishaaraat for the believers. They are good news for us. They give us confidence and strength. Things will get tough and difficult; therefore these ahaadith will serve as guidance for us during that time. We can never know exactly what they mean until they happen – for example, the fire that would come out of Madinah. We didn’t know what it meant, but when it happened, we found out for sure that it was talking about a volcano.

44. Population of the Romans Increases

In a hadith narrated by Muslim, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The day of judgement will occur and the Romans are the largest nation, in terms of number.” Who are the Romans? They are the Europeans, which extends to Latin America, Canada, the US, etc – the Caucasians.

What does this hadith mean? Is it a negative or a positive sign? Allahu ‘Alam. Are they Muslim or nonMuslim? Allahu ‘Alam.

Now we find that there is a great decline in the population of Europe. The growth in some countries of Europe that is negative.

SubhanAllah, this is a change that has not happened yet.

Ar-Room does not mean that they are non-Muslim. Allahu ‘Alam, they can be Muslims.

43. Desire of Dying

The said Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said “The Hour will not be established till a man passes by a grave of somebody and says, ‘Would that I were in his place.’” [Bukhaari, 9/88/231]

In a hadith narrated by Muslim, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “A time will come when a man will pass next to a grave and put his face in it and say, ‘I wish I were in his place.” The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that this is not because of debt. People want to kill themselves if they are in serious debt.

Ibn Mas’ud said, “A time will come, when if death were sold, people would buy it.”

Al-Haafidh al-Iraaqi has an interesting commentary on this. He says that it is not unusual to find people desiring death in any time, but when people see death, and cemeteries and a grave, they don’t feel like dying anymore. When you see death in your face, we naturally hate death. Al-Iraaqi says that if they see death in front of their eyes and still desire death. That really tells you that they are going through miserable time. We ask Allah for security from this.

These trials and tribulations are either a test or a punishment for the people.

42. Animals and Objects Speaking

[I searched for the hadith online, but this was the closest I found.]

There was a shepherd with his sheep. A wolf attacked and took one of the sheep. The shepherd followed it and took his sheep back. The wolf sat back, with his legs in the air – like a person – and said, “Itiqillah (fear Allah). You are taking away food from me that was sent to me by Allah.” The shepherd said, “What an amazing thing! A wolf sitting like a man and speaking to me!” The wolf said, “I will tell you something more amazing. The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is in Yathrib [what Madinah was called at the time], and he is teaching the people about the nations before.” The shepherd, who was not Muslim at the time, went to Madinah and went to RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and told him what happened. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam gathered all of the Sahabah and told the shepherd, “Tell them what you heard.” The shepherd told them and then the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The day of judgement will not occur until the beasts will speak to you…..and your legs would speak to you.”

Allahu Alam, we usually take the literal meaning unless there is evidence otherwise. For the animals speaking, we take the literal meaning.

41. Euphrates Uncovers a Mountain of Gold

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Soon the river Euphrates will disclose the treasure (the mountain) of gold, so whoever will be present at that time should not take anything of it.” [Bukhaari, V.9/B.88/#235].

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The Last Hour would not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people would fight. Ninety-nine out of each one hundred would die but every man amongst them would say that perhaps he would be the one who would be saved (and thus possess this gold.)” [Muslim B.41/#6918]

40. Lots of Rain, but Nothing Grows

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The day of judgement will not occur until a widespread rain will fall over the people, but nothing will grow.”

It is not a lack of rain, but a lack of plants. Why would this be? Maybe because the people will have corrupted the earth so much and there is no blessing in the land. WAllahu ‘Alam.

39. The Arabian Peninsula becomes Green with Rivers Again

Imam Muslim narrates that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The Day of judgement will not occur until the land of the Arabs becomes gardens and rivers again.”

A day will come when the Arabian Peninsula will become green, with rivers flowing. These areas include the lands of ‘Aad and other parts of Arabia. The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that it will return to that state. This is a scientific miracle. At the end of the Ice Age, the north and south were capped with ice. Now, scientists are finding out that in some areas – such as the eastern parts of Yemen – there were basins and rivers.

How can this happen – that the Arabian Peninsula will once again become green? WAllahu ‘Alam if it’s through climate change or not. It has not happened yet.

Some people say that it has happened because of the development going on in certain Arab cities, such as Dubai. They say that because of the agricultural development, these lands are going back to being green. WAllahu ‘Alam, it has not happened yet.

38. Hostility between the People

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was asked about the Hour. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Only Allah know, but I will tell you some of the signs. There will be fitna and haraj.” The Sahabah asked, “What is haraj?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “It means, in the language of Abyssinia, Killing.” Then he said, “People would not know each other.” During that time, it will be the law of the jungle. People would know each other [in the technical sense], but they would act like they don’t in their treatment of one another. There would be hostility between people. People would treat others as if they are nothing.

The Sahabah knew about this, and they would advise each other. In a narration by At-Tabarani, Mu’aadh ibn Jabal and Abu ‘Ubaydah advised ‘Umar ibn AlKhattab [when he was khalifa] in a letter and they gave him advice. Amongst the advice they gave him, they said: “We were talking amongst ourselves about the end of time for this Ummah and the people will be like brothers in public, but be enemies in private.” ‘Umar responded to them and said, “You sent me a letter, warning me of a time when the people will act like brothers in public, but be enemies in private, but I am telling you that this is not talking about you or this age and time. These people would have interests and fear. They have interests among themselves only for benefit in the world. Nothing will be for the sake of Allah.”

We find this a lot now – it is rare to find people who know each other and love each other for the sake of Allah alone.

Whatever is based on the interest of this world will not continue. And whatever is based on the akhirah will continue. The only unified direction is the direction towards the hereafter. In dunya, people’s interests will also conflict, in one place or another; they cannot agree on everything.

37. Sudden Death

In a hadith by At-Tabarani, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “One of the signs of the day of judgement is that sudden death would occur frequently.” Sudden death means they are not accidents. There is some internal reason for these deaths.

Nowadays, so many people die from heart attacks and strokes. These things may have happened in the past, but rarely. These are diseases of modern society; it is an epidemic now. Our lifestyle now is very bad – we are a very lazy people. We were in offices and have a very stationary lifestyle. Before, the people were very active. They got their exercise done during their daily work. Now we have to incorporate exercise in our lives by recreation, to make up for our lack of activity. One of the biggest businesses in the US is the fitness business, because of the lifestyle of the people. In the past, people were naturally strong. They didn’t have cars and airplanes.

36. The Woman to Man Ratio will Increase

In a hadith by Bukhari, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “One of the signs of the day of judgment is that the the number of women would increase and the number of men would decrease so there would be 50 women for 1 man.” In the explanation for the hadith by An-Nawawi, he says that the reason will be during the time of trials and tribulations, the men will be killed in battles. Therefore, the number of men will go down and the ratio will increase.

35. False Witnessing

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, in a hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, “Approaching the day of judgment will be false witnessing and concealing the true witness.”

People will go the court and lie, make false witness. People who know the truth will conceal it. When this happens, it is the destruction of the society. Justice is the fabric of the society. The less justice there is in life, the worse life is – even if you have money!

Because Islam values justice so much, false witnessing is one of the seven major sins. When RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was talking about the seven major sins, he was leaning, and then he sat up straight and said, “False witness, false witness.” He kept repeating it until the sahabah said that they wished he (SWS) would stop. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam put so much emphasis on it.

When you know the truth and conceal it, you are also sinning.

34. Shayateen Coming

In a hadith by Muslim, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al ‘Aas said, “There are some devils imprisoned in the ocean. They were imprisoned by Sulaymaan ‘alayhis salaam. A time will come when they will come out and they will recite to people Qur’aan [and here RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used the word "Qur'aan" but it means "recitation" here - that is it's linguistic meaning]  and they are going to claim that it is Qur’aan and Sacred Books.”

Allah says, “We are going to reveal Qur’aan and we are going to protect.” This is a guarantee from Allah (in the Qur’aan) that He will protect it.

33. Lies and Fabrication in Religion

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Approaching the end of time, there will be dajjaloon (people who pretend to be something they’re not – imposters). They present you with talk that you did not hear and your fathers never heard before. Beware of them. Don’t let them mislead you and misguide you.”

These are people who might come in the cloak of religion and they attribute things to Islam that don’t belong to it. They make these things up. That is why they are called dajjaloon; they lie.

The linguistic meaning of dajjaal is extreme lie. It is important to verify things in religion. Don’t be a blind follower. No matter how knowledgeable or great the shaykh is, information of the religion must be verified.

Imaam Maalik said, “Everyone, you take and leave from their words, except RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.”

Verification of the religion is very important, especially when there is fabrication of hadith. The Qur’aan is not fabricated. Hadith are fabricated. Even the hadith are protected, if you put the effort in to verify them.

In a narration by Muslim, Ibn Mas’ood said, “Shaytaan would present himself in the form of a man; he would speak to the people and they leave and they would convey.” So it is very important to verify where we get our information from.

Ridiculous things are circulating in the Muslim Ummah that has no basis in the religion.

32. Expansion of the Crescent (Hilaal)

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgment is that the crescent will be bloated.” This does not necessarily mean that the crescent will literally grow; it will just appear that way.  The crescent will look bigger than before. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “To the extent that it will be one night old, but people will say it looks two days old.”

Allahu ‘Alam [Allah knows best] why this happens, but if you look at the moon when it’s close to the horizon, it looks larger than when it’s up in the sky. If you look at the moon in San Diego, it looks almost as big as the sun. When it’s in the centre of the sky, it looks smaller. This isn’t because the moon is getting farther away. When the moon is down in the horizon, there’s more nitrogen, more carbon dioxide – more pollution. The atmosphere of the earth makes it look larger than it is. Maybe, Allahu ‘Alam, it will look larger in the future.

31. Spread of Qalam ﻗﻠﻡ

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Approaching the Day of Judgment, the pen will prevail.” Anything written is called qalam, not just the pen. This sign has already occurred.

People did not have written materials, libraries, books and magazines in their homes as we do today. There were societies that had only spoken language – there wasn’t even a written form. Until today, there are languages that have no written form. During the Prophet’s (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) time, you could count the ones who could write. After Islam, Muslims were the educated society. But even then, it wasn’t very common for every house to have a mus’haf. Major Muslim towns had libraries (Damascus, Qurtuba, Basra, etc). The scholars and students of knowledge were the one with books.

It wasn’t even until the 15th century, when Gutenberg invented the printing media, that these things began to be available to people. The active movement of print happened in the 15th century. Now, everyone has a library. In the most rural areas you will finds books and schools. With the computer now, information is available to everyone. With the flick of the computer, you have access to millions of books.

This does not mean that knowledge is prevailing. Most people rely on junk media. Just like there is junk food, there is junk media. True knowledge can be gained through valid books; it cannot be gained through TV. Unfortunately, the masses get their information through TV; it doesn’t give you knowledge.

30. True Dreams of the Believers

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said in a hadith narrated by At-Tirmidhi, “Towards the end of time, the dream of the believer almost never lies.”

One reason that the scholars give for this is that this Ummah will have no more ambiya (prophets and messengers). And the ambiya receive the wahi. Allah will support the believers by dreams.

Be careful, though. Dreams can never be a form of shari’ah. Shari’ah was revealed to RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. They are just glad tidings. An example of dreams being glad tidings is when Imaam Bukhari rahimahullah saw a dream of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam approving his work. Also, when ‘Uthmaan was going to be martyred, he saw a dream in which the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was telling him to break his fast with him. In another case, Imaam Suyuti saw that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was reviewing his work. This is just the glad tiding.

‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan was fasting and he was going to be martyred that same day. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said to him, in a dream, that you [‘Uthmaan] will break your fast with us.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that the ones who see true dreams are the truest in their words. True dreams come to a truthful heart. The more truthful you are, the more truthful you will be. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “And the dream of the believer is 1/46 part of prophethood.” Before receiving revelation from Jibreel, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would see a dream at night and then he would see it happen the next day. This happened to him for 6 months. Then RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam received revelation for 23 years. 6 months/23 years = 1/46.

Dreams are the only part of prophethood that is left. There are no more human beings who are receiving revelation. Jibreel will never descend on anyone after Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

29. Cars

This hadith can be interpreted as the transportation of cars. In a hadith by Ahmad, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “In the future, there will be men of my Ummah sitting over surooj [saddle] on things that are similar to camels, but not exactly camels. And they descend from these vehicles at masaajid but their wives are dressed, but naked. Curse them, for they are cursed.” In another hadith, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam described the vehicles as having “wide seats.” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was describing cars, but there were not cars at that time, so he gave this description.

In the Qur’aan, Allah subhaana wa ta’aala refers to them by saying, “camels, donkeys and things you do not know.” wAllahu ‘Alam, there will be more forms of transportation that we don’t know about, in the future.

28. Women who are dressed, but naked

In a hadith by Muslim, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgment is that there will be women who are dressed, but naked. Their heads are like the humps of camels [referring to the hairstyle]. They will not enter jannah or even smell it, enough though the smell of jannah can be smelled from a long distance (in another hadith: a distance of 70 years).” These women will be Muslims, because it says in the hadith that “they will not enter Jannah.” We already know that disbelievers will not enter jannah, so these are sinning believing women. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam described them as dressed but naked. This means that they are wearing clothes, but it’s as if it is nothing.

[Do I have to explain this point? We already see in the world today what kind of clothes women are wearing....]

The women nowadays wear see through clothes and tight clothes. They are covering the skin, but you see everything else. You just don’t see the color of the skin [sometimes that too!] These fashions come out of the western world and some of the Muslims follow the trend.

27. You will give Salaam only to those you know

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgment is that you will give salaam only to those you know.” Before, Muslims would give salaam to whichever Muslim they passed – in the marketplace, in the masaajid, etc. Now, you see people giving salaam only to those that they know. If you give salaam to someone you don’t know, they might frown at you. 

[My own personal experience - I've said salaam to people and they kind of look at you funny, like, ‘Do I know you?' But Alhamdulillah, there are still people that will burst into a huge smile and return your smile. So don’t hesitate to give salam to your brothers in Islam.]

26. Rise of the Low

In a hadith by Ibn Maajah, Abu Hurayrah said that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “There will be tricky (wicked) years, where the liar will be believed and the truthful will not be believed. The untrustworthy will be trusted and the trustworthy will not be trusted. The Ar-Ruwaybadah will speak.” The Sahabah asked, “Who are the Ar-Ruwaybadah?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The low person.”

All of these things are happening today. The worse is that the low person will speak. This does not mean low, as in the sense of a caste system. This is referring to the people who are low in religion and who have no morals and ethics. This person should not be listened to start with, but they will be the ones teaching and leading the affairs of the people.

In a hadith by Ahmad, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “A time will come when this world will belong to the wicked son of the wicked.” AlManaawi, in his explanation of this hadith, said, “The wealth will belong to the wicked. The position (of power) will belong to the wicked. And the honour will belong to the wicked.” And if you want to see who they are – look at the rich and famous.

You’ll find very young people singers and famous. If you ask people what they think about this singer or actor, they will say that they’re “cool”. This is the exact description that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam gave of these people. He said, “A time will come when it will be said about a man, ‘How intelligent is he?” People will say, ‘Look at how cool he is.’ And there is not a single grain of imaan in their hearts.”

[SubhanAllah, I think this is a big problem with our youth today. They want to dress and act like all of these famous people. It's so nice to see when young people get excited about listening to certain shaykh speaking, etc. So I do think things are changing, but I think we need to tell our children more about the Sahabah. I want to hear the day that children say, "I wanna be like Abu Bakr! I want to be like ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab!"]

25. Sinking, Stoning and Turning into Animals

In a hadith by At-Tirmidhi, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “In the end of this Ummah, there will be sinking, stoning and turning into animals.” The sinking refers to the earth being swallowed. ‘Aa`isha(RA) asked RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “Will we be destroyed even though there will be righteous ones amongst us?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Yes, if evil prevails.” So even if there are righteous people in the Ummah, they will be destroyed.

Most scholars say that Maskh, transformation into animals, is literal transformation. Some scholars (a minority opinion) say that this means the transformation of the heart.

24. Zalzaal (Earthquakes)

Linguistically, zalzal can mean earthquakes and great trials and tribulations.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said in a hadith, “Earthquakes will be frequent.”

In another hadith by Ahmad, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “O son of Hawaala (a companion), if you see khilafaa appraoach the holy land (Palestine), then the time for earthquakes and disasters and great issues is approaching. And the Hour, at that time, will be closer to the people than my hand to your head.” What is meant by the khilaafa being close to the holy land? Allahu ‘Alam that is still to come. That is where Mehdi and ‘Eesa ibn Maryam will come. Those will be times of peace and security, but after that will be the worse disasters and the end of time.

23. Spread of Trade

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Business and trade will be so widespread.” People are moving out of different jobs into business. The computer age is bringing with it new opportunities.  Different forms of business have been invented. This is causing a big business boom. However, this causes a big strain. Before, the man used to go and work on the farm and the woman used to stay at home and take care of the house. Now, because business is so demanding, both parents work in the store and the kids are in the day care.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Businesses will be so widespread, to the point where the woman will be helping her husband with the business.” Is that ok or not? wAllahu ‘Alam.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, in a hadith narrated by Bukhari, “In the name of Allah, I’m not worried about poverty for my Ummah. My concern is that they would become wealthy and you would compete in this world like the people before you competed, and it would destroy you like it destroyed them.” Competing in this world leads to destruction. Unfair distribution of wealth is a problem, but this Ummah has many resources and wealth

22. Appearance of Shirk

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “One of the signs of the day of judgement is that some tribes would follow disbelievers and some would worship idols (pagan worship).” Forms of this have already occurred, Allahu ‘Alam if there is any left. The idol worshipping can be seen today in the worshipping of graves (of righteous people).

21. The Proximity of Markets

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgment is that markets will be close to each other.” SubhanAllah, this has already happened.

In the old days, they would have one market for every town and small grocery stores for every neighborhood. Look at how it is today – every neighbourhood has a mall. In Yemen, there used to be a “market of Thursday” and a “market of Friday”, etc. Towns would have a market once a week. Nowadays, they are open all the time. There is huge construction everywhere.

In the recent past – just decades back – markets were very rare.  Now, they are everywhere.

20. The Shrinking of Time

In a hadith by Bukhari, Abu Hurayrah said that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Approaching the day of judgement, time will shrink.”

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The Day of the judgement will not occur until time shrinks. The year will be like a month, and a month will be like a week, and a week will be like a day, and a day will be like an hour and an hour would be like burning a leaf.”

What does it mean for time to shrink? There are a few interpretations:

1.  A lack of Baraka in time. Time will be missing blessing. We can see that now: years and days will pass by, but we don’t accomplish anything. Our days are 24 hours – like Abu Bakr’s, ‘Umar’s and the scholars’, but we don’t accomplish as much as they do. For example, Ibn AlJowzee (a great scholar of Islam) had blessing in his time. When he died, they counted all of the books he wrote and said he must have written 11 pages a day, on average. [Transcribers note: Remember that in those days writing was much harder and they did not have the luxury of computers or even a type writer!] Ibn Taymiyyah wrote a book one time – A Treatise in Aqueedah (AlAqueedah waasitiyya) – between dhuhr and ‘Asr. This book is now studied in universities over a semester or even a year, and still the students complain that it is too much! Our lifestyle also makes time feel as if time is too short. In the Dhaka city, there is too much free time. Everything is rushed. In rural areas, life is at a much slower pace. SubhanAllah, time is an amazing thing. One hour is the same amount of time, but in two different areas there is a difference of how much can be done in that time and how long it feels.
2. Some scholars say that this will be during the time of Mahdi. The luxurious lifestyle will make it seem like time is passing by very fast.
3. The shrinking of time due to new forms of communication and transportation. In terms of transportation, it is so easy to go from one side of the globe to the other. Now, all you have to do is spend a few hours in a plane and you’re there. In the olden days, it would take years to make such a trip. In terms of communication – we have such fast communications today, such as the telephone and email. So these new forms of transportation and communication have “shrunk time.”
4. The literal shrinking of time. The earth will start to rotate faster, etc. There is a strong theory amongst scientists of the big bang. Some say that the universe started as a big bang and will end as a big crunch. Allah says in the Qur’aan that the moon and the earth will come together. We cannot use this as proof, but these are the ayaat of Allah talking about the Day of Judgment.

19. Bloodshed Spreads

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “A time will come when haraj will be widespread.” The Sahabah asked, “What is haraj?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “It is an Abyssinian word (from habasha). It means killing.” [Bukhari]

In another hadith,

Sometimes RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would use words that were not Arabic. Kharaj is an Abyssinian word, not Arabic. Also, sometimes RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would use other accents – that is, not a Qurayshi accent. Abu Musa AlAsh’ari’s tribe, for example, had a Yemeni accent. They would replace “al” (which means “the”) with “am”. They asked RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam once, “Is there any reward while fasting?” [The speaker narrated it in Arabic, to demonstrate how RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam sometimes used other accents.] RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam responded, in the same accent, by saying, “There is no reward for fasting while travelling.” Meaning, there is a rukhsah.

Here, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is using the word haraj. This hadith doesn’t mean that Muslims would be fighting non Muslims. That is the impression the Sahabah got.

In another hadith, narrated by Ahmad, same as the one above, the Sahabah asked RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “There will be more killing than the killing that exists now?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “It will not be you killing the disbelievers. It will be you killing each other (i.e. Muslims killing Muslims).” The Sahabah asked, “Will we have our minds then? (Where will our brains be?)” SubhanAllah, look at how the Sahabah think. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The mind of the people in that time will be taken away. And they will be lowly people and they will think that they are following something (the religion), but they will be following nothing.” 

In a hadith by Muslim, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “A time will come when the killer will not know why he is killing and the killed will not know why he was killed.” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was asked, “How can that happen?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “That will be the time of haraj (widespread killing). Then he said, “The one who was killed and the killer will both be in hell fire.” Why? Because everyone is going out for the same thing – to kill each other. The killed had also intended on killing. This is a time of fitna. Things will be unclear and thing take the soul lightly. Even though, that in itself is a great sin, we need to keep in mind the conversation between ‘Abi Burdaa and one of the Ansaar:

Abu Burdaa` says, “I was in the market place in the time of ziyaad, and I clapped my hands together (in amazement). One of the Ansaar, whose father was a Sahabi, asking him, “Why are you so amazed?” Abi Burdaa` said, “I am amazed because these are people who have the same religion, the same prophet, the same da’wah, the same hajj, …, and they are killing each other. How could that happen?” This Ansaari said, “Don’t be astonished. I heard my father say that he heard RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam say that Allah has mercy on this Ummah; they would not be punished in askhirah, but their punishment is in this life. That will be through killing and trials and tribulations and zalaazil (earthquakes).” This means that the Ummah’s sins are being washed away by the things that befall them in this world.

18. The Slave Woman gives birth to her Owner

This is the famous hadith of Jibreel, in Bukhari and Muslim. Jibreel asked RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam about the signs of the day of judgment. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that one of the signs is that the woman would give birth to her master, or that the slave would give birth to her master.

The scholars give a few interpretations for this. One of the interpretations is that the children would become so rude, disobedient and aggressive in their dealings with their mothers, to the extent that it becomes like a slave and master relationship. The child is like a master and the mother is like a slave. This is the opinion adapted by Ibn Hajar. He says, “This is the most preferable opinion, because it is the most general.” I think we are seeing this. Before, in Muslim and non Muslim cultures, there was a lot of respect for parents. Just a few generations ago, there was a lot more respect for parents. Now, you’ll find that at the age of 18, or even earlier, children would break off from the family; they wouldn’t see that they have any obligation towards the parents. This is by law. If the son or daughter is 18 years old, the parents cannot get anything from them. The practice and actions of the people are even worse. You hear horrific stories of how the children treat their parents.

This is a teaching of Islam - and common sense - that the parents have done so much for the child, and therefore, they come second after Allah subhaana wa ta’aala in terms of obligations. Allah has done the most for us – we owe Him everything and He owes us nothing. That’s why our gratitude should be to Allah. Second are the parents.

Allah says in the Qur’aan, “Allah has decreed/ordered/prescribed that you worship nobody but Allah and that you be dutiful towards the parents.” The parents are second – immediately after Allah mentioned Himself, He mentioned dutifulness parents.

The child was helpless, with no one to help them but the parents. The only way the child could survive was from the help of the parents, from the ability that Allah gave them. SubhanAllah, at the age of 15, the child does not pay anything back. This is the ultimate degree of ungratefulness.

17. Construction of Tall Buildings

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “You will find the barefoot, naked, poor shepards of goats and sheep competing in building tall buildings.” [Muslim] Naked does not mean that they don’t have any clothes. It means that they are so poor that they could barely cover their private parts.

Allahu ‘Alam, this hadith are describing the Muslim Ummah and not the disbelievers. In many of the signs of the day of judgement, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was talking about things that would happen to his Ummah. There are some signs, obviously, talking about the world in general or a particular people. In the situations where the hadith does not indicate a particular people, it is about the Muslims. This hadith is talking about people that were really poor and suddenly become rich. They are not building for the need of building, but they’re building in competition.

You’ll find this in the Gulf – because of the oil boom. People suddenly have money. Before, they couldn’t afford a house, and now there’s competition in building tall buildings. These tall buildings are built in areas that could easily afford horizontal expansion. It’s not like its NY, where you have to make tall buildings. These areas are desert. You can go as horizontal as you want – all you’ll hit is a sand dune.

SubhanAllah, this was one of the attributes of the people of ‘Aad. In the Qur’aan, Allah tells us that their Nabiy, Hud, told them in the Qur’aan, ‘You’re building monuments on top of mountains for no use.’”

16. The Decoration of Al-Masaajid

This is a sign that has occured. In a hadith by Ibn Maajah: RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “A time will come when people will be proud of – or will compete – in building masaajid.

This is narrated by Bukhaari, but it’s not a hadith, it’s an order of ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab. Abu Sa’eed alKhudri says that the roof of the masjid of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam in Madinah was from the leaves of palm trees. They would pack the leaves one over another, and that would be the roof. The point of their leaves was just for shade – it wasn’t waterproof. So when it rained, the whole masjid would be soaked. That was the situation of the masaajid in the time of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and in the time of Abu Bakr. That masjid was where da’wah came out of; so the criteria for masaajid is never how beautiful it is. The masjid of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was the most blessed in the world, and it didn’t even have a waterproof roof.

In the time of ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab, he bought a builder in and told him, “Build a roof that would be waterproof. And beware – do not use red or yellow, because then you would distract poeple.” [SubhanAllah, look at what we have come to! ‘Umar radiyallahu ‘anhu was saying not to use red and yellow colors - because they were bright! We're far from being cautioned against red and yellow. If you told someone building a masjid that today, they would think you were crazy!]

Anas ibn Maalik said, “A time will come when people will be proud of  the masaajid, but people will not revive them.” So they would be proud of the masjid, but the masjid would be dead. Ibn Abbaas said, “A time will come when you will decorate the masaajid like the Jews and the Christians did.” And now we are way beyond the issue of using red and yellow. Now it’s gold and crystal chandeliers, every kind of calligraphy. When ‘Umar said to not use red or yellow, it wasn’t particularly because of the colours; it was for the issue of distraction. He said: “So you do not distract the people.” These were the two colours that existed, Allahu ‘Alam, at that time, that they used for painting. Now, there’s a company in Turkey that invented a sujaajah that has lights bordering, a built in alarm that beeps when you forget a rak’ah, etc. The Shuyookh said that it is too distracting for you during salah.

Abu Dardaa` says (a companion),”If you decorate your mushaf (Qur’aan) and your masaajid, then destruction will befall you.” That is a sign of destruction. And that is exactly what you see today. The mushaf are very expensive - decorated with gold and special, velvet cloth. The masaajid are built, using huge amounts of money, by people who don’t even pray (kings and presidents). You’ll find all of the people are in the market, right next to the masjid, but no one is going to pray there at the prayer time. Sometimes you’ll find the masjid is so beautiful that it’s used as a museum, but at the time of salah, no one prays. It is just there for people to be impressed by the architecture. SubhanAllah Look at the wisdom of Abu Dardaa` - this is a sign that people are going for the symbolism and not looking at the substance.

15. The Spread of Riba

We can translate it as interest, financing, mortgage – but it is the same thing. Usury was the translation of the world, but that word isn’t used anymore.

Riba is one of the major sins. It is one of two sins where Allah has announced that He will wage war against the person who does that sin; one is riba, and the other is the person who takes Allah’s awliya (friends) as enemies. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says in the Qur’aan: “Allah will wage war against you.” Ibn Abbaas radiyallahu ‘anha says, in the tafsir of this ayah that on the day of judgement, the one who deals with riba will be resurrected as if the devil is obsessing the person, and he will be given weapons. And he will be told, “Prepare for war.” They will tell him to fight Allah subhaana wa ta’aala.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Approaching the day of judgement, approaching the hour, riba would be widespread.” [AtTabarani]

At the time of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, there were two types of riba. One was riba nasiya – riba based on time. Then there is riba alfadl, which is when you trade gold for gold, silver for silver, but you add an amount. The second type still exists. The branches of riba (today) are mostly underneath riba nasiya. In the time of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the traditional form was by time (riba nasiya). It’s basically very similar, or the same, as a credit card: If you pay during a certain time, it’s ok; otherwise you incur charges. Nowadays, it comes in many forms. You can rarely find any company that doesn’t have a loan. Everyone in America is living in some kind of debt that is incurring some form of riba.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam really exemplifies the current times when he says, “A time will come when everyone will deal with interest. And whoever is not dealing with riba, the dust of riba would befall him.” Riba is so widespread that almost everyone dealing with it. Even the exceptions, who are not, the dust of riba will befall them. This hadith would mean that the transactions are based on riba, and if you try to get away from it – Alhamdulillah you’ll get away from it, but you’ll be affected by it because it’s a worldwide economy. Some checking accounts don’t pay you interest, but you are still affected by the dust of riba because you’re leaving your money with an institution that is based 100% on riba. (The “dust” is figurative). Try to be clean as much as you can, but the dust will come over you – just like a person driving on a dusty road.

Allah will destroy riba, therefore there is no blessing in riba. We are all harmed by it, even if we’re not using it. It’s almost everywhere. SubhanAllah, it’s as if the whole world is immersed in riba. So these are evil times, in this sense. Islam is a comprehensive system – it even tells how to deal with money. If we separate money, social life, etc from Islam, then what will we have left?

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “A time will come when people will not care where they get their money from. (If it’s halaal or haraam).” People’s objective will be just to get money. They won’t care where they get it from. They’ll try to abide by the legal systems of their country, but when it comes to the laws of Allah, they won’t care. But they will be asked on the day of judgement. This is one of the four questions that you will be asked: “How did you make your money and how will you spend it?”