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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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