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Minor and Major Signs of Qiyamah

The minor signs of qiyâmah

The following minor signs of qiyâmah have been mentioned in the Hadîth:

1. People will begin considering Allah’s wealth to be their own wealth. They will find it extremely difficult to pay their zakaat. They will consider the wealth which has been entrusted to them as an amânah to be their own wealth.

2. The husband will obey his wife, disobey his mother, consider his father to be an outsider, and consider an outsider to be his relative.

3. Knowledge of the Dîn will be acquired in order to earn a livelihood.

4. Leadership and political power will be given to those who are unqualified. That is, to those who have no self-honour, no manners, and those who are there for their own benefit. Tasks will be handed over to persons who are not suitable for those particular tasks.

5. People will honour and respect oppressors out of fear of being harmed.

6. Alcohol will be consumed openly.

7. The custom of singing and dancing women will become rife. Drums, fiddles, tambourines and other musical instruments will become rife.

8. The later generations will begin criticizing and speaking ill of their pious predecessors.

9. Rasûlullâh sallallâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that at such a time, expect the following punishments: a red hurricane will come and some people will be drawn into the ground. Stones will rain down from the skies. The appearance of people will be transformed, i.e. they will be turned into pigs and dogs. Many other calamities will follow one after the other in quick succession just as when a string of beads breaks up and the beads begin falling off in quick succession.

10. Knowledge of the Dîn will decrease.

11. Lies and lying will be considered to be an art (to be admired).

12. The importance of amânah will disappear from the heart.

13. Hayâ' and shame will disappear.

14. The kuffâr will have power over everything and false ways will appear.

15. Once all these signs appear, the Christians will have control over all the countries. At that time, a person from the progeny of Abu Sufyân will be born. He will kill many sayyids and exercise his power and rule over Syria and Egypt. In the meantime, the Muslim ruler of Byzantine will wage a war with a group of Christians and make peace with another group. The warring group will invade Istanbul and rule over it. The ruler of Istanbul will flee to Syria, join forces with that group with which he had made peace, and engage in a severe war with the warring group. The Muslim army will gain victory. Within a few days, one of the Christians who had helped the Muslim ruler will come to the latter and tell him that we gained victory through the blessing of our "cross". The Muslim will reply that we gained victory through the blessing of Islam. This conversation will get more serious to the extent that each person (the Muslim and the Christian) will call his followers and a fight will ensue. The Muslim ruler will be martyred and Syria will also fall under the rule of these Christians. This Christian group will make peace with the group that was at war with the Muslims (in the beginning). The few Muslims who are left will go to Madinah. The Christians will exercise their power and rule up to Khaybar (a place outside Madinah).

The Muslims will then decide to search for Imam Mahdi so that they may overcome all these difficulties. At that time he will be in Madinah, but out of fear of being made ruler, he will go away to Makkah. All the pious people of that time will search for him. Many imposters will claim to be Imam Mahdi. But the genuine Imam Mahdi will be making tawâf of the Ka'bah and will be between the Hajr-e-Aswad and the Maqâm-e-Ibrâhîm. A few pious people will recognize him and impose upon him to become the ruler and they will give him the bay'ah. While giving him the bay'ah, a voice from the skies will come down and it will be heard by all those who will be present over there. This voice will say that this person is the khalîfah of Allah (i.e. he has been chosen to be the ruler) and that he is Imam Mahdi.

The major signs of qiyâmah

Upon the appearance of Imam Mahdi, the major signs of qiyâmah commence. Once the incident of his bay'ah becomes known to everyone, the Muslim armies that were based in Madinah will go to Makkah. All the pious people of Syria, Iraq and Yemen will go to his service. Many other Arab armies will rally around him. Once this becomes known to all the Muslims, a person from Khurâsân will come with a large army in order to assist Imam Mahdi. The name of the person who will be the leader of the front section of this army will be Mansûr. On his way towards Imam Mahdi, he will kill many kuffâr. The person whom we had mentioned previously that he will be from the progeny of Abû Sufyân and that he will be an enemy of the sayyids - he will send an army to fight Imam Mahdi since Imam Mahdi will also be a sayyid. Once this army reaches a desert on the outskirts of Madinah, it will rest at a mountain. Once this army reaches this mountain, all the troops will sink into the ground. Only two persons will survive. One of them will go and inform Imam Mahdi of what transpired while the other will go and inform the Sufyânî (the person from the progeny of Abû Sufyân). The Christians from all around will gather their troops and prepare to fight the Muslims. This army will have 80 flags and there will be 12 000 soldiers under each flag, thus totalling 960 000.

Imam Mahdi will leave Makkah and go to Madinah where he will visit the grave of Rasûlullâh sallallâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He will then depart for Syria. Before he can reach Damascus, the Christian army will confront him. Imam Mahdi's army will be split into three groups. One group will flee from the battlefield, one group will be martyred and the third group will gain victory. This martyrdom and this victory will take place as follows:

Imam Mahdi will prepare the army to fight the Christians. Many Muslims will swear to each other that they will not move from the battlefield until they gain victory. In this way, many of them will be martyred. A few of them will survive. Imam Mahdi will take them and incorporate them into his army. The following day the same thing will occur, i.e. many of them will be martyred after having taken an oath while a few will survive. This will also occur on the third day. Eventually, on the fourth day these few survivors will fight and Allah will grant them victory. After this, the kuffâr will have no hope of political leadership.

Imam Mahdi will commence re-organizing the country and sending his armies all over. Once he accomplishes all these tasks, he will go to invade Istanbul. When he lands on the shores of Byzantine, he will take 70 000 people from the Banû Is'hâq. They will board Imam Mahdi's ships and together with him, they will make plans and strategies as to how they will conquer Istanbul. When they reach the city's walls, they will chant "Allâhu Akbar Allâhu Akbar" in a loud voice. Through the barakah of this voice, the city's walls will collapse, the Muslims will enter the city and kill the kuffâr. They will then administer the country with great justice. About 6-7 years will elapse from the time that the people had given the bay'ah to Imam Mahdi till the time of this victory.

While Imam Mahdi is busy with the administration of the country, a false rumour will spread that Dajjâl has made his presence in Syria and that he is causing strife in your (Imam Mahdi's) family. Upon hearing this, Imam Mahdi will travel towards Syria. He will send a few riders ahead of him so that they may be able to establish the truth. One of them will return and inform him that this rumour was false and that Dajjâl has not made his appearance as yet. Imam Mahdi will feel at ease upon hearing this. He will continue his journey towards Syria, but will slacken his pace and make several stops along the way inspecting the administration of the country as he proceeds. He will then reach Syria.

Within a short period of time, Dajjâl will make his appearance. He will be from the Jews. He will first make his appearance in Syria and Iraq and claim prophethood. He will then proceed to Isfahan where 70 000 Jews will join him. He will then make claims of divinity. He will travel through several countries until he reaches Yemen. During the course of his travels, many kuffâr will join him. Eventually he will stop at a place near Makkah. However, because of it being safeguarded by angels, he will not be able to enter Makkah. He will then try to enter Madinah but will not be able to do so because it will also be guarded by angels.

Madinah will experience an earthquake three times. All those who were weak and negligent in Dîn will come out of Madinah out of fear for the earthquakes. Once they come out, they will be trapped by Dajjâl. There will be a pious man in Madinah who will debate with Dajjâl. The latter will go into a rage and kill this pious person and bring him to life again. Dajjâl will ask him: "Now do you believe that I am god?" He will reply: "Now I am more convinced that you are Dajjâl." Dajjâl will try to hit him but will be unable to do so, nor will he be able to influence him in any way.

Dajjâl will then leave for Syria. When he will approach Damascus, Imam Mahdi will already have been there, making preparations for war. The time of ‘asr salât will approach, the mu‘adhdhin will call out the adhân and the people will be busy making preparations for salât. Suddenly, ‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm will descend from the heavens with both his hands on the shoulders of two angels. He will land on the eastern minârah of the jâme' musjid. A ladder will be placed and he will come down.

Imam Mahdi will want to hand over authority of all the war preparations to him but he will tell him to keep it with him and inform him that he (‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm) has come specifically to kill Dajjâl. The following morning, Imam Mahdi will get his troops ready for battle. ‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm will ask for a horse and a spear and advance towards Dajjâl. The Muslims will attack Dajjâl's army and a severe battle will ensue. ‘Îsâ's ‘alayhis salâm breath will have this effect that it will reach wherever his eyes can see. Any kâfir who gets even a whiff of his breath will be destroyed there and then. Upon seeing ‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm, Dajjâl will flee. ‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm will follow him until he will catch up with him at a place called Bâb Lud and kill him with his spear. The Muslims will begin killing Dajjâl's troops.

‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm will then go from city to city and console all those who were harmed by Dajjâl. Through the bounty of Allah, there will be no kâfir left behind. Imam Mahdi will then pass away and all the affairs of the country will fall into the hands of ‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm. Thereafter, Yajûj and Majûj will appear. Their place of domicile will be in the extreme north where there is no civilization and where the sea is completely frozen on account of the extreme cold. In compliance with the order of Allah, ‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm will take the Muslims to Mount Tûr. Yajûj and Majûj will cause a lot of turmoil. Eventually Allah will destroy them and ‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm will descend from the mountain. After forty years, ‘Îsâ ‘alayhis salâm will pass away and will be buried with Rasûlullâh sallallâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

A person from Yemen from the tribe of Qah'tân by the name of Jahjâh will take over the mantle of leadership. He will rule with justice and religiousness. Several rulers will come after him. Gradually, good deeds will decline and evil will begin to gain the upper hand.

At that time, a type of mist or smoke will envelop the skies and thereafter descend onto the land whereby the Muslims will catch a cold and the kuffâr will fall unconscious. The skies will become clear after forty days and the days of ‘îd al-ad'hâ will fall soon thereafter. After the tenth (of Dhul Hijjah), a very long night will come. It will be so long that travellers will become restless, children will become tired and weary on account of sleeping too much, and grazing animals will begin clamouring to go to the fields to graze. However, dawn will not break. Everyone will become restless out of fear and anxiety. Once this night equals three nights, the sun will appear very dimly from the western horizon. At that particular time, no one's Imaan (accepting Islam) or repentance will be accepted. Once the sun reaches the position that it normally takes at mid-day, it will begin returning to the west and it will set as it normally does. Thereafter, it will continue rising normally according to its normal brightness.

A few days later, Mount Safâ, which is situated in Makkah, will be destroyed by an earthquake. From there, an animal of strange appearance and shape will appear and begin conversing with people. This animal will travel the entire earth very swiftly. It will have the staff of Mûsâ ‘alayhis salâm with which it will draw an illuminated line across the foreheads of the believers. The result of this will be that the believers' faces will become illuminated. As for the kuffâr, it will stamp them on their noses or necks with the ring of Sulaymân ‘alayhis salâm whereby their faces will become dark. Once this animal completes this task, it will disappear.

Thereafter, a lovely breeze will blow from the south whereby something will come out from the sides of the believers and with which they will die. Once all the Muslims die, the kuffâr will gain control of the entire world. They will destroy the Ka'bah, hajj will be ceased, the Quran will be removed from the hearts and from paper. Fear of Allah and one's natural modesty will be removed. There will be no one to take the name of Allah. There will be a lot of prosperity and abundance in Syria. People will start heading towards Syria on camels, vehicles and on foot. For those who will remain, a howling fire will start and drive them towards Syria. The wisdom behind this is that on the day of resurrection, all the creation will be gathered in this country. Thereafter this fire will disappear.

At that time, the world will progress tremendously. Three to four years will pass in this way when all of a sudden, on the morning of a Friday on the 10th of Muharram, when all the people will be preoccupied in their work, the trumpet will be blown. initially, the sound will be soft. Gradually it will get louder until everyone will die out of panic and horror. The land and the skies will be blown into smithereens and the entire universe will be destroyed. The time span from the rising of the sun from the west till the blowing of the trumpet will be 120 years. After this, the day of resurrection will commence.