INTRODUCTION
The End Times (or the Last Days) may not be a familiar concept
to many people. Therefore, we first give a brief explanation of it. The
End Times means 'the last era.' According to Islamic literature, it is
a period of time that is close to Doomsday.
The signs in the Qur'an and the extensive references to the
End Times provided by the Hadith literature brings us to a very important
conclusion. Verses and hadiths indicate that there are two phases of the
End Times. The first phase is a period when all people will suffer material
and spiritual problems. Following this, Earth will enter upon a period
of salvation called the 'Golden Age,' which
is characterized by bounty and blessings due to the prevalence of true
religion. With the end of the Golden Age, there will be a rapid social
collapse and people will begin to wait for Doomsday.
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In this book, we examine the End Times in the light of verses
and hadiths. It is clear that the signs in question have now started to
appear one after another, just as described in these references. The advent
of these signs heralded fourteen centuries ago are great occurrences that
increase believers' faith in and loyalty to Allah. It is surely not a
coincidence that, in such a short period of time, all of these signs appeared
one after another. These signs are good news to Allah's servants.
The account of events related in the following
pages are prepared according to the guidance of the verse, 'Say: 'Praise
be to Allah. He will show you His Signs, and you will recognize them.
Your Lord is not unaware of what you do'' (Surat an-Naml: 93).
Another issue we need to stress here is that Allah knows
the best of everything. As is in every other subject, we have no knowledge
other than that about which He informs us.
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