PART ONE

PORTENTS OF THE MAHDI’S COMING

18) SIGHTING A FLARE IN THE EAST

... the emergence of a big flare, which is seen in the east, in the sky for three nights; The sighting of an extraordinary redness, not as red as the usual color of the dawn; and its spread over the horizon.

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi, p. 32)

A big flame will occur in the east for 3 or 7 days in a row, followed by darkness in the sky. A brand new redness, unlike the usual color of red, will spread over the sky. A proclamation will be heard in a language Earth can understand.

(Barzanji, Al-Isha`ah, p. 166)

Abu Ja`far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali (ra) narrated: “When you see a flame rise in the east for three or seven days, then wait for the emergence of Al-i Muhammad; Allah will speak from the sky the name of the Mahdi and everybody, whether in the east or the west, will hear that voice."

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi, p. 32)

I swear that a flame will engulf you. That flame is presently in an extinguished state in the valley called Berehut. That flame swallows up people with terrible pain inside it, burns down and destroys people and property, and spreads all over the world by flying like a cloud with the assistance of winds. Its heat at night is much higher than its daytime temperature. By going as deep as the center of Earth from above the heads of people, that flame becomes a terrible noise, just like the lightning between the ground and the sky."

(Mukhtasar Tazkirah al-Qurtubi, p. 461)

Here, we give a brief explanation of this flame:

Some people wait for this flame as a sign that comes suddenly and for no particular reason, that never goes out, and that everyone can see. Since the trial continues during the occurrence of these signs, just because people will see them does not mean that they will understand them. Thus, people will make their decisions by using their intellect, mind, conscience, and will. If the End Time signs had been narrated in full detail (e.g., how, when, and where they will occur), everybody would have had to accept them. Thus, no differences of degree would be left among the people. For this reason, these hadiths have been communicated in a semi-implicit manner.

The sign concerning the flame must be evaluated in this manner. A flame is the result of either an accident due to neglect or to a deliberate action. The hadiths do not say that it must occur as a very strange and extraordinary sign. What really counts is its occurrence in compliance with the properties of the flame described in the hadiths and the time of its occurrence. To do this, first we must consider its properties.

In July 1991, after Iraq invaded Kuwait, a huge fire spread throughout Kuwait and the Persian Gulf as the Iraqis fired Kuwait's oil wells. This is how this fire was covered in the media:

- The burning oil in Kuwait led to the deaths of people and animals. According to experts, half a million tons of oil went up into the atmosphere as smoke. Every day, more than 10,000 tons of soot, sulfur, carbon-dioxide and large quantities of hydrocarbons with their carcinogenic properties hang suspended over the Gulf. It is not just the Gulf but, on its behalf, the world is burning.

(Kurtlar Sofrasında Ortadoğu, M. Necati Özfatura, s.175)

- Two wells that were set alight produced as much oil as Turkey does in one day, and the smoke from them were even seen from Saudi Arabia, 55 kilometers away.

(Hurriyet Newspaper, January 23, 1991)

- Hundreds of oil wells set alight in Kuwait are still burning fiercely. Experts say it will be "exceedingly difficult to put those fires out," and it is said that the fires may affect a wide area from Turkey to India for the next 10 years.

The fire and smoke coming from the wells constantly polluted the atmosphere. Daytime resembled night in Kuwait. The brown smoke that rose together with the flames reminded one of the sky as the autumn turns into winter… It has been stated that it would take at least a century for Kuwait to be completely habitable again. The smoke that rises with the flames is visible from miles away, totally blocking out the sky and making the country unfit to live in. The wealthy are abandoning Kuwait.

According to a statement by Abdullah Dabbagh, director of the research institute in Dhahran, in the New York Times, 106 species of fish, 180 species of mollusk, and 450 animal species living in the region struggled to survive because of the pollution in the Persian Gulf. It has been stated that smoke rising from 600 oil wells has spread to neighboring countries, and that smoke containing such carcinogenic substances as sulfur has turned into acid rain and reduced agricultural productivity.

(Kurtlar Sofrasında Ortadoğu, M. Necati Ozfatura, p. 171)

I swear that a fire will enfold you. That fire is currently lying extinguished in the valley known as Berehut [the name of a valley or a well].

(Mukhtasar Tazkirah al-Qurtubi, p. 461, Qamus Translation, 1:550)

The hadith’s first part says that the flame "is presently in an extinguished state." Given that the flame is the result of burning an inflammable substance, what waits in an extinguished state is not the flame itself but rather the material to be burned by the flame. In this context, this may mean underground oil. Berehut is the name of a well. This can be considered an oil well. When the time comes, oil extracted from these wells will become a fire ready to be burned.

"That flame swallows up people with terrible pain inside it." This flame is not merely a burning flare, but also one that deprives people of their lives and possessions, making them miserable and sorrowful, and contaminates the surrounding environment.

"That flame … burns up and destroys people and property." This flame causes the death of people. In addition, it burns up property, causing material damage, and, by polluting the surrounding environment, destroys what people need in order to live.

"… spreads all over the world in eight days by flying like a cloud with the assistance of winds." This particular element is the smoke that the flame produces. Thus, this metaphor indicates that the smoke will reach as high as the clouds and spread in all directions due to the wind.

"Its heat at night is much higher than its daytime temperature." In other words, the flame will burn around the clock.

"By going as deep as the center of Earth from above the heads of people, that flame makes a terrible noise, just like the thunder between the ground and the sky." Attention is drawn to the facts that the flame will climb very high into the air and cause a very strong noise and explosions resembling a thunder.

"… a brand new redness, unlike the usual color of red, spreading over the sky…" This part of the hadith points out that the incident will occur at night, for the flames of a large nighttime explosion lead to a very strong illumination. The red illumination caused by such red flames is very different from the red "dawn" redness with which people are familiar. Such an illumination at night, which is very similar to daylight, is an extraordinary phenomenon.

The appearance of false prophets is another portent of the Mahdi’s coming. Many people claiming to be Prophet ‘Isa have emerged in recent times.

The Hour will not be established until about thirty Dajjals [liars] appear, and each one of them will claim that he is Allah's Apostle…

(Sahih Bukhari)

The appearance of 60 liars, each of whom claims that Allah, the One Allah, has sent them as a prophet.

(al-Suyuti, Portents of the Mahdi, p. 36)

20) THE USE OF RELIGION FOR PERSONAL ENDS

When the learned acquire knowledge solely to make money … when they sell the religion for the sake of this world …when they sell the laws … then Doomsday will be at hand.

(Death, Doomsday, and Resurrection, p. 480)

Such men will appear in the end times that they will sell their religion for worldly gain.

(Tirmidhi Hadiths)

Whoever reads the Qur’an, let him seek it (his reward) from Allah, because in the End Times many who read the Qur’an will seek their reward from men.

(Hadiths Regarding the End Times, p. 9)

21) THE OCCURANCE OF GREAT AND ASTONISHING EVENTS

Great phenomena will happen in his time.

(al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar, p. 27)

So many appalling incidents will occur in his time.

(Imam Rabbani, Letters of Rabbani, 2:258)

The signs of his emergence resemble those preparatory signs that earlier gave an indication of our Allah’s Messenger.

(Ibid.)

Great and extraordinary events preceded Prophet Mohammed's (saas) birth. For example, a new star rose on that night, 14 towers of the Iranian emperor's palace collapsed, the Magians' (fire worshippers') sacred fire that had burned for 1,000 years in Iran went out, the Semavi Valley was flooded, and the Save Lake dried up. As indicated in the hadiths above, the Mahdi's emergence will also be marked by great and miraculous phenomena.

Some of the remarkable phenomena that took place during the twentieth century are as follows:

- The Ka`bah was raided, and many Muslims were killed,

- The 2,500-year-old Iranian monarchy collapsed, and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled and died in exile,

- A gas leak in a Bombay factory killed 20,000 people,

- War broke out between two Muslim nations: Iran and Iraq,

- The Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan,

- On September 19, 1985, Mexico City was devastated by an earthquake,

- The Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted, wiping the town of Armero off the map and killing 25,000 people,

- Floods in Bangladesh killed 25,000 people,

- Rome, the heart of the Catholic Church, was flooded,

- The worst forest fire in history broke out in China,

- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her successor Rajiv Gandhi, along with President Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt and Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme, were assassinated,

- Pope John Paul II was shot,

- The AIDS virus, identified in 1980, has so far killed tens of thousands of people and is known as the "Plague of the Age,"

- The Challenger space shuttle exploded after take-off in 1986,

- The worst nuclear accident in history occurred when the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor, located in the Soviet Union, exploded on 26 April 1986 and affected many European countries by the released radiation,

- A hole was discovered in the ozone layer,

- The Soviet Union collapsed, thanks to Gorbachev, and the newly independent states of Central Asia emerged,

- The Gulf War broke out, Iraq annexed and then fled Kuwait

- The United States and Britain occupied Iraq in 2003,

- An earthquake in Armenia reduced cities to rubble, causing 500,000 people to leave their homes and more than 40,000 people to lose their lives,

- The Chinese government sent its tanks into Tienanmen Square during 1989 to crush a student movement demanding greater freedom; 2,000 students died,

- The Berlin Wall, which for 28 years had symbolized the cold war, was torn down,

- More than 1,400 pilgrims were killed in a stampede at a tunnel in the Ka`bah in 1990,

- Approximately 139,000 people died from flooding in Bangladesh in 1991, and 10 million were left homeless,

- Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed in the atrocities in Bosnia and Kosovo, and hundreds of thousands more were exiled,

- The Ebola virus led to the deaths of tens of thousands, and

- The hurricanes, tornadoes, whirlwinds, and floods caused by El Niño led to the deaths of thousands of people, to millions fleeing their homes, and to billions of dollars worth of damage.

22) A SIGN OUT OF THE SUN

He [the Mahdi] will not come unless a sign emerges out of the Sun.

(al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar, p. 49)

The Mahdi will not emerge unless the Sun rises as a sign.

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi, p. 33)

During the twentieth century, a great solar explosion took place and had a great impact upon the world.

Eclipse of the Sun

The solar eclipse of 11 August 1999 was the final eclipse of the Sun during the twentieth century. This was the first time that so many people could actually watch and investigate such an event for an extended period of time. One noteworthy aspect of this eclipse was that it could be seen in Turkey in some 12 cities and 100 districts.

It is no coincidence that so many signs have taken place one after the other in such a short space of time. Each of these portents represents glad tidings for believers.

23) THE DESTRUCTION OF GREAT CITIES

Great cities will be ruined, and it will be as if they had not existed the day before.

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi, p. 38)

The hadith indicates that certain large cities will be destroyed as a result of wars and various natural disasters. Several large cities were indeed destroyed or severely damaged during the 1400s ah. These events are major signs of the Mahdi’s coming. The atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 killed innumerable people and razed both cities to the ground.

In the Qur’an, Allah states that many peoples have been destroyed:

So look at the end result of all their plotting: We utterly destroyed them and their people. These are the ruins of their houses because of the wrong they did. There is certainly a Sign in that for people with knowledge. (Surat an-Naml, 51-52)

How many cities We have destroyed that lived in insolent ingratitude. There are their houses, never again inhabited after them, except a little. It was We Who were their Heir. (Surat al-Qasas, 58)

Those cities: We destroyed them when they did wrong and fixed a promised time for their destruction. (Surat al-Kahf, 59)

How many cities that did wrong have We utterly destroyed, raising up other people after them. (Surat al-Anbiya’, 11)

When Our command came, We turned their cities upside down and rained down on them stones of hard baked clay. (Surah Hud, 82)

How many cities We have destroyed. Our violent force came down on them during the night or while they were asleep during the day. (Surat al-A`raf, 4)

The twentieth century’s wars totally ruined many great cities (e.g., Berlin, Hamburg, Warsaw, Leningrad, Bucharest, Beirut and London). It took years to rebuild them.

24) AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF EARTHQUAKES

Doomsday will not come until earthquakes multiply, strife appears, and murders increase.

(Portents of Doomsday, p. 109)

Our Prophet (saas) stated in the above hadith that “a rise in the number of earthquakes” will be a sign that the End Times is nigh. Indeed, the twentieth century went down in history as one in which many thousands of people lost their lives in earthquakes. The devastating earthquake in Kobe (Japan), and those that followed one after the other in Turkey, Taiwan, Greece, and Mexico, are important signs.

There will be earthquakes in my community. Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand people will die. Allah will make this a counsel for the taqwa, a mercy on believers and a suffering for unbelievers.

(Ibn ‘Asakır, Geleceğin Tarihi 1(History of the Future 1), Orhan Baytan, Mevsim Publishings, p. 81)

The days when you can find no homes to shelter you or animals to carry you have come close. Earthquakes will demolish your houses.

(Barzanji, Al-Isha`ah, p. 146)

If you see the caliphate has descended to the Holy Land, (al-ard al-muqaddasa) know that earthquakes, afflictions, and great events are nigh. On that day, Doomsday is closer to humanity than this hand is to my head.

(Sunan Abu Dawud)

When the generations that follow my community insult those who went before (with various pretexts and excuses), expect red winds, earthquakes and changes of appearance (metamorphosis or stones raining from the sky).

(Tirmidhi Hadiths, Fitan 39, p. 2211)

In the End Times, when amusements and dancers appear and alcohol is said to be permitted, there will be collapse; it will rain stones; and people will change their appearance.

(Sahl Ibn Sa`d, Ahmad Diya’ al-Din al-Kamushkhanawi,

Rumuz al-Ahadith, 2:302/8)

Doomsday will not take place until knowledge vanishes, earthquakes multiply, time is shortened, strife appears, and murders flourish.

(Sahih Bukhari, Ibn Majah)

IS THE IRAQ WAR A PORTENT OF THE MAHDI?

World events taking place after the second edition of the book Harun Yahya’s The Awaited Mahdi, which sold out very quickly, as well as the American invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the neighboring countries’ behavior during the war, are important means whereby we can review the hadiths on these subjects.

The Loss of an Army

There are five portents of the Mahdi: a cry from Sufyani, Yamani, and Sama; the sinking of an army at Bayda; and the killing of the innocent.

(Narrated by Nu`aym ibn Hammad)

No Money Left to the Iraqis

The Iraqis will have no measuring scales and almost no money with which to buy provisions.

(Muntakhab Kanz al-`Ummal, 5:45)

Flames Destroy Baghdad

Baghdad is destroyed by fire in the End Times...

(Risalat al-Khuruj al-Mahdi, 3:177)

An Embargo against Iraq and Syria

“It may happen that the people of Iraq may not send their qafiz and dirhams [their measures of food-stuff and their money].” We asked: “Who will be responsible for it?” He said: “The non-Arabs will prevent them.” He again said: “There is the possibility that the Syrians may not send their dinar and mudd.” We asked: “Who will be responsible for it?” He said: “This prevention will be made by the Romans.”

(Sahih Muslim)

The Rebuilding of Iraq

Doomsday will not come until Iraq is attacked. Innocent people in Iraq will seek shelter in Damascus, which along with Iraq, will be rebuilt.

(Muntakhab Kanz al-`Ummal, 5:254)

Iraqis Flee to Damascus and the North

Doomsday will not come until Iraq is attacked. The innocent and clean people of Iraq will flee to Damascus.

(Risalat al-Khuruj al-Mahdi, p. 210)

Fitna in Damascus

The tribulations in Damascus will calm down on the one hand and flare up again on the other. This tribulation will not end until an angel from the sky calls: “The Mahdi is your leader. The Mahdi is your caliph.”

(Ibid., p. 63)

Damascus, Iraq, and Arabia

Our Prophet (saas) said: “There will be such troubles and calamities that nobody will be able to find a place of shelter. These woes will move around Damascus, fall upon Iraq, and tie the hands and feet of the Arabian Peninsula. The community of Islam will fight against troubles in the steppes. Nobody will feel any sympathy for them or even say ‘Alas!’ As they try to remedy their woes on the one hand, they will emerge again on the other.”

(Muntakhab Kanz al-`Ummal, 5:38-39)

" A Great Battle between the Tigris and the Euphrates "

There will be a city called Zawra [Baghdad] between the Tigris and the Euphrates, where a great battle occurs. Women will be taken prisoner, and men will have their throats cut like sheep.

(Ibid., 5:38)

“The Division of Iraq into Three Parts”

According to our Prophet (saas) the people of Iraq will be divided into three groups: one part will join the looters; one group will flee, leaving their families behind; and one group will fight and kill. Prepare yourselves for Doomsday when you see this.

(Fera Idu Fevaidi'l Fiqr fi'l Imam al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar)

The people of Kufa will be divided into three parts. One part will join the Sufyani’s army. These are the worst people created by Allah. One part will fight against them, and these are honorable servants of Allah. One part will join the looters, and these are sinners.

(Al-Uqayli, An-Najmu's-Saqib fi Bayan Anna'l Mahdi min Awladi Ali b. Abu Talib Ale't-Tamam ve'l Qamal)

" The Killing of Innocent Children "

When an innocent child of Muhammd’s community is killed, an angel from the sky will cry: “Allah is with him [the Mahdi] and with those who are with him.”

(Muhammad ibn `Ali Sabban, Ishaf ar-Raghibin, p. 154)