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PREDICTIONS
RELATED TO THE DISTANT FUTURE
¨
Once God’s Messenger declared: When the end of time
[the Last Day] approaches, the children of Kantura will
appear; they will be slant-eyed, chubby-faced and
flat-nosed.1
This
description fits well the Mongols, as it does some of the
Kharijites, whom it is traditionally thought to refer to.
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings,
predicted, in fact, both the Mongol invasion and the
destruction of the Muslim world, and the Western massacre
of the Andalusian Muslims - two of the most tragic
calamities to afflict the Muslim nation. Since he was
concerned with the fate of his nation to the utmost
degree, he drew, through such predictions, the attention
of Muslims to the fact that when they deviate from the
Straight Path, they will inevitably be struck by
calamities. God uses wrong-doers and oppressors as a
‘sword’ to chasten and correct his believing servants,
and afterwards He turns against the oppressors and
eradicates them.
¨
God’s Messenger also gave the glad tidings of the
conquest of Istanbul, saying: Certainly, Constantinople
will be conquered. How good is the commander who will
conquer it and how good his army!2
Hoping
to be the object of the Prophet‘s praise, Muslim rulers
and commanders, from the time of Mu‘awiya, attempted
many times to conquer Constantinople (Istanbul). It was in
one of those campaigns that Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the noble
Companion of God’s Messenger, was martyred and buried in
the vicinity of the city walls.
Istanbul
was conquered by the Ottoman ruler, Mehmed, the Conqueror.
Besides this great commander and statesman, his two school
friends, Hasan of Ulubat and Qadi Khidr Calabi, as well as
his tutor Ak Shamsaddin, were also symbols of this
conquest, one in the army, the others in the departments
of religious and scientific education. The prayer and
praise of God’s Messenger encompasses all of them.
¨
God’s Messenger predicted and explained the principle
reasons for the destruction of the Ottoman State and the
condition of the Muslim world in the aftermath of the
First World War, saying:
Nations
will call each other, as people make invitations to
a meal, to make a concerted attack on you. Someone
asked: ‘Will this happen because of our being
small in number?’ God’s Messenger answered:
‘Rather, you will then be great in number, but as
powerless as woodchips or straw carried in a flood.
God will remove fear of you from the hearts of your
enemies and implant in you fear of death and love of
the world.’3
This
hadith warns us that a day will come when the world
nations will flock upon us as if for dividing food at a
table. This will happen because the Muslims will be,
rather than like a deep-rooted tree, like woodchips or
straw carried away by a flood.
The
prediction, which became reality during the First World
War, also describes our current situation. We have been
divided into many factions while our enemies have formed a
unity based on their interests. In the past, they were
afraid of us because for us the grave was like a bridal
chamber - something to be looked forward to. But now, we
have become so attached to this temporal world that we try
to escape death despite knowing that it will grasp us at
its appointed time.
We
have been the object of many treacheries during our
history. ‘Uthman and ‘Ali, in the early period of
Islam, were victims of a treacherous group. And the
magnificent Ottoman State was made sacrificial food for
the carnivorous peoples of the world as a result of the
endless betrayals of nations that had lived the most
prosperous periods of their history peacefully under its
administration.
¨
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, also
predicted the rise of Communism in a hadith reported by
Ibn ‘Umar. Facing toward the east, he said, Take
care! Anarchy and subversion will appear from that
direction, from where the age of Satan will begin.4
The
age of Satan is the opposite of the age of the Prophet.
Contrary to the age of the Prophet, being based on belief
in, and devotion to, God, the age of Satan will be built
upon atheism and hedonism, fostered by Satan. Since
Communism, being the unlawful outcome of capitalism,
champions hostility to religion, piety, and to all the
moral and traditional values, God’s Messenger called the
epoch when it would have momentum the age of Satan, and
warned his nation of the mischief which it would bring.
¨
God’s Messenger once declared:
The
Euphrates will probably go dry, uncovering a
treasure (a mountain, according to another version)
of gold beneath it. Whoever of you witnesses it,
should refrain from taking any of it.5
This
hadith alludes to great bloodshed which is expected to
take place along the Euphrates. Although the Euphrates has
so far witnessed many wars, like the Iran-Iraq war, what
this hadith points to is a much greater bloodshed which
will occur in the future. While we may take the hadith in
its literal meaning - that is, the Euphrates may actually
go dry to uncover a treasure or a mountain of gold beneath
it - we may also regard it in a figurative sense. For
example, we tend to call petrol ‘black gold’, or the
water of the Euphrates may be, in the future, as valuable
as gold, and cause regional or even international wars.
Also it may be that the income obtained through the dams
over the Euphrates will attract international attention
and cause great wars. In whichever case, God’s Messenger
warned fourteen centuries ago that the region of the
Euphrates is like dynamite at the heart of the Muslim
world.
¨
God’s Messenger, who is the Prince of both worlds, also
averred that Christianity would be purified of the pagan
elements which have filtered over time into its body and
join Islam, thus giving strength to the Divine religion.6
This will be a universal turning point in human history,
and the believers will, at a time when they are gripped by
their enemies, defeat and destroy the world-wide
representatives of unbelief.
¨
God’s Messenger predicted that, through the reformations
in agriculture and developments in science and technology,
a pomegranate will suffice for as many as twenty
people, with its rind providing shade for them. He
also prophesied that the wheat produced in so small an
area as a house balcony will be enough for the annual
consumption of a family.7
These
predictions will also prove to be true and mankind will
thereby confirm once again that Muhammad is the Messenger
of God.
¨
In another Tradition, God’s Messenger upon him be peace
and blessings, describes ‘the end of time’, saying:
Prior
to Doomsday, people will make discrimination when
offering their greetings (preferring to greet only
some); trade will be given so much currency and
preference that a wife will help her husband in it;
parents and relatives will no longer be visited;
false evidence and false testimony will replace true
ones, and writing will gain prominence.8
Everything
predicted in this hadith fourteen centuries ago, has
proved to be true. Today, trade is the most preferred way
of making a livelihood and women are exploited in it as a
means of advertisement and for attracting customers.
Secondly, the rights of parents and relatives are no
longer considered and, once they become old - when they
are most in need of attention and affection - they are
often driven from their family homes to old people‘s
homes. Thirdly, the power of the the modern press is
unquestionable and thousands of books are published every
day. Fourthly, lying is so widespread that few can refrain
from it. This is true at all levels from business lies to
false testimony in law suits.
All
these predictions, together with the ones that have
already come true or are certain to come true in due time,
demonstrate that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, who
articulated what was revealed to him.
¨
In a hadith qudsi, the Prophet, upon him be peace
and blessings, relates from God:
At
the end of time I will cause knowledge to be
obtained by everyone, including men and women,
slaves and the free, and the old and the young.9
As
we all know, education is now open to almost everyone
through numerous institutions including schools,
universities, and the media. Many intellectuals and
scientists say that the next age will be the age of
information. This is another proof of the truthfulness
and, by implication, the Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings.
¨
In another authentic Tradition, God’s Messenger
declares:
The
Hour (the Last Day) will not come until God’s Book
(the Qur’an) is a means of shame and Islam is left
without a powerful group to support it.10a
We
have seen the truth of this prediction. For nearly a
century, Muslims have been persecuted even in their own
lands, and, while atheists and unbelievers have openly
declared their unbelief everywhere, Islam has been the
target of verbal, written and, even, active assaults.
Muslims have felt compelled to conceal their belief and
have become too ashamed to openly declare their
confirmation of the Qur’an.
¨
The hadith continues:
The
Hour will not come until the distances of time and
space diminish.10b
I
have translated the word taqarub as diminishing. It
means ‘to approach each other’ and implies that before
the Day of Judgement comes, things which took a long time
in the past will be possible in a very short time. This
hadith, in addition to predicting modern vehicles of
transportation, implies that time is relative.
The
earth is gradually taking an elliptical strap. This may
possibly cause some changes in the division and
calculation of time.
As
for the relativity of time alluded to in the hadith: as is
known, time differs in some aspects such as division,
length, calculation and the speed of its passage in or
around every sphere or planet. If, therefore, one day,
mankind are able to get out of the solar system, the
present conception of time will completely change. Thus,
in a single word, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, besides making several predictions, some of
which have already come true, alludes to several
scientific facts.
I
wonder how anybody can come forward, in the face of these
predictions, and claim that the one who made them is an
ordinary man. Whoever else, other than the One who has
absolute disposal of time and space, can know all these
facts, and who can dispute the Prophethood of the one who
foretold them fourteen centuries ago?
¨
God’s Messenger also predicted:
A
time will come upon people when almost everyone will eat
from usury, to the extent that those who refrain from it
will be exposed to its ‘dust’.11
God’s
Messenger points to two important facts:
-
A
time will come when all formal transactions will
involve interest. No one will be able to avoid it
completely. However, those who do not enter into
interest-based transactions will not be held
accountable for the interest they eat unintentionally
so long as they do their best to refrain from usury.
-
God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, may have
meant by ‘being exposed to its dust’ that a
‘capitalist’ class would emerge and increase its
wealth through interest. This would gradually lead the
‘working class’ into deeper and deeper poverty,
which would result in direct and bitter class warfare.
It
goes without saying that all these predictions have come
true. How tragic it is that Muslim countries are in such a
despised, degenerate state because of, among other things,
their drowning in the swamp of interest, while the
Qur’an has clearly declared that anyone involved in
interset-based transactions was at war with God and His
Messenger (al-Baqara, 2.279). If only Muslims had
been conscious of such Qur’anic threats, they would not
be in such a miserable position.
¨
In the following authentic Tradition, God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, points to another aspect
of the present world:
A
time will come upon people when believers conceal
themselves as hypocrites do among you today.12
At
the time of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings,
hypocrites used to conceal themselves. Inwardly they were
unbelievers but outwardly they performed all the religious
duties. God’s Messenger foretold the pitiful state of
Muslims when they would conceal their belief and perform
even their religious obligations secretly.
The
same state was described in another hadith:
Sedition
and deviation will occur, and a Muslim will be
disgraced because of performing prescribed prayers
as a woman is disgraced today because of
fornication.
¨
In another narration, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings, predicted that petroleum would be
discovered in Taleqan, saying:
Good
tidings to Taleqan, for there are God’s treasuries
there, but not of gold and silver.13
In
the past, people meant by ‘treasury’ gold and silver.
For this reason, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, emphasized that the treasuries which would be
discovered in Taleqan would not be those of gold and
silver. What comes to mind first today when told of a
treasury which is not of gold and silver is petroleum.
However, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, might also have implied resources of uranium or
diamond. In which case, the Prophetic prediction has,
again, come true because those resources have already been
discovered in and around Taleqan.
¨
The following is another prediction by God’s Messenger,
which has come true:
You
will certainly walk in the footsteps of those who
preceded you so closely that if, for example, they
had put their heads in the hole of a lizard, you
would do the same .
The Companions asked him if he meant by ‘those who
preceded you’ the Jews and Christians, he
answered: Who else could it be other than them?14
Muslims
have been suffering from an identity crisis for two
centuries. They are blind imitators of the West and have
been caught up in the vices which destroyed all previous
civilizations.
All
the foregoing together with hundreds of other predictions
constitute a decisive proof that Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, was a Prophet, a Messenger, taught by
God.
1.
Bukhari, Jihad, 95,96; Abu Dawud, Malahim,
10; Ibn Ma’ja, Fitan, 36; Ibn Hanbal,
5.40, 45.
2. Hakim, Mustadrak, 4.422; I. Hanbal,
4.335.
3. Abu Dawud, Malahim, 5; I. Hanbal, 5.278.
4. Bukhari, Fitan, 16; Muslim, Fitan, 45; I.
Hanbal, 2.50, 72.
5. Bukhari, Fitan, 24; Muslim, Fitan, 30; Abu
Dawud, Malahim, 12,13.
6. Muslim, Iman, 244-7.
7. Muslim, Fitan, 110; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 59; I.
Hanbal, 4.182.
8. I. Hanbal, 1.407, 408; Hakim, Mustadrak,
4.98, 448.
9. Darimi, Muqaddima, 27.
10a. Kanz al-‘Ummal, 14.244.
10b. Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, 7.324.
11. I. Ma’ja, Tijara, 58; I. Hanbal,
2.494; Nasa’i, Buyu, 2.
12. Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal, 11.176.
13. Kanz al-‘Ummal, 14.591
14. Muslim, ‘Ilm, 6; Bukhari, Anbiya’,
50.
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