Fourteen hundred years ago, the Prophet
Muhammad (saas) related a number of secrets concerning the
Doomsday, and of his thoughts about it, to his Muslim companions.
These valuable words have been passed down from generation
to generation to the present day in the form of books of
hadiths and works of Islamic scholars. The hadiths used
in the coming sections of this book contain such information
given by the Prophet (saas) in this regard.
At this point, there may arise some doubt
in the reader in regards to the truth and authenticity of
these hadiths about the end. It is a recognized fact that,
in the past, there had been a number of fabricated hadiths
falsely attributed to the Prophet (saas), but the hadiths
that form the subject of our inquiry will be easily recognized
as issuing from the Prophet (saas). There is a method to
distinguish those that are true from those that are false.
As we know, hadiths about the Doomsday relate to events
that are to take place in the future. For this reason, when
a hadith comes true in the course of time, all doubt as
to the source of the words is removed.
Several Islamic scholars who conducted
research on the subject of the End Times and of the signs
of the Last Day have used this criterion. An expert on the
subject, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, said that the fact that
the hadiths concerning the End Times correspond to events
observed in our day shows the truth of the hadiths.4
Some of the signs related in the hadiths
were observable in some part of the world in any period
during the 1400 year history of Islam, but that would not
have proven that that period was the the End Times. For
a certain period to be called the End Times, all the signs
of the Last Day must be observed to be occurrence in that
same period. This is expressed in a hadith:
When we examine the End Times
in the light of the information related above, we come up
with a surprising conclusion. The signs that the Prophet (saas)
described in detail are occurring one after the other in every
corner of the world, just in the way they were described in
the age in which we live. It is so that the hadiths paint
a perfect portrait of our time. This is indeed a miracle,
and demands careful consideration. Every sign that occurs
is to remind people once again that the Doomsday is very near,
a day when they will give account of themselves in the presence
of Allah, and therefore, that they should immediately apply
the moral values of the Qur’an to their lives.
4. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Risale-i
Nur Collection, the Rays, Fourteenth Ray
