Minor Signs Of the Last Day

Hadhrat Abu Musa Ash'ari (R.A.) narrates that Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhii Wassallam) said, "Qiyamah (The Last Day) will come...

• When it will be regarded as a shame to act on Quranic injunctions.
• When untrustworthy people will be regarded as trustworthy and the trustworthy will be regarded as untrustworthy.
• When it will be hot in winter (and vice versa).
• When the length of days is stretched, i.e. a journey of a few days is covered in a matter of hours.
• When orators and lecturers lie openly.
• When people dispute over petty issues.
• When women with children come displeased on account of them bearing offspring, and barren women remain happy on account of having no responsibility of offspring.
• When oppression, jealousy, and greed become the order of the day.
• When people blatantly follow their passions and whims.
• When lies prevail over the truth.
• When violence, bloodshed and anarchy become common.
• When immorality overtakes shamelessness and is perpetrated publicly.
• When legislation matters pertaining to Deen is handed over to the worst elements of the Ummat, and if people accept them and are satisfied with their findings, then such persons will not smell the fragrance of Jannat.
• When the offspring become a cause of grief and anger (for their parents).

The following is part of a lengthy Hadith narrated by Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood (R.A.) when he inquired from Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) about the Signs of Qiyamah.

• Music and musical instruments will be found in every home.
• People will indulge in homosexuality.
• There will be an abundance of illegitimate children.
• There will be an abundance of critics, tale-carriers, back- biters and taunters in society.
• People will establish ties with strangers and sever relations with their near and dear ones.
• Hypocrites will be in control of the affairs of the community and evil, immoral people will be at the helm of business establishments.
• The Masjid will be decorated, but the hearts of the people will be devoid of guidance.
• The courtyards of Masjids will be built beautifully and high mimbars (pulpits) will be erected.
• Gangsters and evil people will prevail.
• Various wines will be consumed excessively.

Auf bin Malik (R.A.) says: I came to Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) while he was in his skin tent during the Tabuk expedition. He said to me, "Count six things before the advent of Qiyamah:

• My death
• The conquest of Jerusalem
• Mass deaths amongst you people, just as when sheep die in large numbers during an epidemic
• Abundance of wealth to such an extent that if a person were to be given a hundred Dinars he will still not be satisfied
• General anarchy and bloodshed, that no Arab household will be spared from it
• Then a life of peace as a result of a peace agreement between you and the Banil Asfaar (Romans) which they will break and attack you with a force consisting of eighty flags and under each flag will be an army of twelve thousand men." (Hadith: Sahih Bukhari).

IRAQ AND SYRIA

Abu Nadhrah says: "We were sitting in the company of Jabir bin Abdullah (R.A.) when he said: 'Soon the people of Iraq will neither receive any food (grain) nor any money.'" We asked, "Why would such a thing happen?" He replied, "Because of the non-Arabs." (i.e they will prevent food from going into Iraq, in the form of "sanctions" to this day.) He then said: "Soon the people of Shaam (Syria) will neither receive any money nor grain." We asked as to why this would happen. He replied: "Because of the Romans (christians)."

CONCEITED PEOPLE

Hadhrat Abbas (R.A) narrates that Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) has said, "Islam will spread far and wide, across the seas. Horses will cross the land and seas in the cause of Jihaad. Then a time will come wherein a group of people will emerge which recites the Quraan. They will claim, 'We have recited the Quraan and is there anyone who understands the Quraan better than us? There is NO ONE more proficient than us in the study of the Quraan.' Then Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) asked the Sahaba, "Do you see any good in their claims?" The Sahaba replied, "No". Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) said, "But these conceited claimants will be from my Ummah and will be the fuel of the Fire."

From "Signs of Qiyamah" (excerpts) by Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali

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The Mercy of Allah (swt) cannot be imagined. It is only to be understood. Allah (swt) Himself in Al-Quran of His immense mercy. One is Beautiful Names is Ar-Rahman (The Most Compassionate) and Ar-Raheem (The Most Merciful).

Allah (swt) says, "O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and put your hope in Me, I have forgiven you for what you have done and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you would seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with sins that are close to filling the earth and then you would meet Me without ascribing any partners with Me, I would certainly bring to you forgiveness close to filling it."

In this beautiful Hadith Qudsi, Allah gives hope to mankind more than any other narration. It displays the quality and attribute of Allah's mercy. Indeed, He is ar-Rahman. In this Hadith Qudsi, Allah tells man of the greatness of His forgiveness and mercy so that no one would despair due to the amount of sins he may have committed.

In Al-Quran Allah (swt) says : "Say: O My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful". (Surah az-Zumar 39:53)

This gives hope that even after committing a violation, ones sins can be forgiven if one repents to Allah sincerely the same way that the father of mankind (Adam (as)) sinned, repented, and was forgiven by Allah. Allah calls out to His servants, a call of forgiveness, mercy, and compassion. For He knows that man was created weak and is prone to fall into sin. After calling out to mankind, Allah informs them that as long as they call on Him and put their hope in Him, He will forgive them and not mind. This statement alone can convince one to have hope and never to despair. When one calls out to Allah or makes dua, he is displaying his need and dependence of Allah. He is demonstrating his weakness to the fact that he has no power to do anything for himself. It is the essence of submission and servitude. It is also a recognition of Allah's attributes of kindness, generosity, forgiving and merciful nature, and His unlimited power and knowledge. Humans are never in a situation where they are not in need of Allah. A believer always turns to Allah to ask for guidance as well as to seek forgiveness of sins and shortcomings.

One of the most important conditions of making dua is that one must completely trust that Allah will respond. One must also supplicate with sincerity, hope, and seriousness. One must not have any doubt at all on whether Allah will respond to ones call or if He accepts the dua. The Messenger of Allah (saas) said, Supplicate Allah while you are certain of a response. And know that Allah does not respond to a supplication from a heart that is heedless and inattentive. He also forbade that one should say, Oh Allah, forgive me if You will. But he said, instead, you should ask with will and conviction for there is nothing so great to Allah that He cannot grant it.

When supplicating, one should truly seek Allah's aid and His forgiveness and demonstrate his need for Allah and submit to Him with fear and hope in receiving the desired response. Allah advises in Surat al-Araaf 7:56: "And invoke Him in fear and aspiration (of hope). Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to those who do good".

Another important condition of supplication is that one must not become hasty and impatient and stop supplicating because he did not receive a response sooner or at all. The Prophet (saas) said, "You are responded to as long as you do not become hasty and say, I supplicated and it is not being or was not responded to".

And the final condition of one's dua being responded to is that one must make sure he is living off of halal and permissible means. Allah says, "Put your hope in Me. Man was not created sinful, but he was created weak. He is prone to fall into the temptations of sin and the whispers of Satan and when he does, he should always remember to turn to Allah, call upon Him, and ask for forgiveness with hope in His mercy". Allah says in another Hadith Qudsi, "I am with My servant as He expects of Me". This means that Allah treats His servants the way he expects Him to. If one has hope in Allah and trusts Him, Allah will act accordingly to that servants beliefs and faith. And if he does not have faith and is in despair of His Mercy, Allah will act accordingly. Not having hope in Allah and despairing of His mercy is a great sin and an act of disbelief (kufr). Allah quotes Prophet Yaqoub (as) in the Quran: "Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people". (Surah Yusuf 12:87).

One must be hopeful of Allah's mercy and forgiveness and at the same time fearful of His punishment. It is this fear that should lead one to seek Allah's forgiveness with hope. Allah says: "Know that Allah is severe in punishment and that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful". (Surat al-Maaidah 5:98). There should be a balance between fear and hope and not too much or too less of one or the other. If there is too much fear, then a person may negate Allah's quality of mercy and ascribe to Him unkindness.

To understand the balance of fear and hope of Allah, let us look at the very first chapter of the Quran, Surat al-Fatiha. The first verse says, All praise be to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. In this verse, love for Allah is expressed. We acknowledge that Allah is our Lord and the Lord of all the worlds. He is the Creator of all things; He sustains and nourishes everything; He gives life and death; anything good that we have is from Him; and everything is dependent on him and nothing can happen unless Allah wills it to happen. In the second verse we express our hope in Him by stating, ar-Rahma-nir-Raheem. The meaning of which is: The Beneficent, the Merciful. When we mention these two names of Allah, then we have hope, since He is the One, who is full of mercy and we hope He will forgive out mistakes and shortcomings. We should never lose hope because there is no reason to. And in the third ayah of Surat al-Fatiha, fear of Allah is expressed when we recite, Master (King) of the Day of Judgment. When we recite this verse, we remind ourselves of the Day that we will be standing in front of our Lord and be questioned for our deeds. It will be a day in which not even the smallest action will be hidden. This reminder of the Day of Judgment should bring fear to our hearts. Fear and hope, both should be equally proportioned in our hearts, in our worship, and in our dua to Allah. Allah says: "Call out to Him with fear and hope". (Surat al-Araaf 7:56). "They forsake their beds to call their Lord in fear and hope". (Surat as-Sajdah 32:16).

The Prophet (saas) said, "The like of these two qualities do not unite in the heart of a servant except that Allah gives him what he hopes for and protects him from what he feared".

Allah says in tay Hadith quoted earlier, "O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and you would then seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you". We should never lose hope or stop asking for Allah's forgiveness. Its importance is shown to us in the following hadith of the Prophet (saas): "O people! Turn to Allah in repentance and seek His forgiveness, for surely I make repentance a hundred times every day". Repentance is such a great act of worship that doing it can totally erase ones sins altogether, as the Prophet (saas) said, "One who repents from sins is like one without sin". When a person sins and then sincerely turns to Allah for forgiveness, one will find Allah ready to accept his repentance and to forgive him, as this verse indicates: "And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself, but then seeks forgiveness from Allah, he will find Allah forgiving and merciful". (Surat an-Nisaa 4:110). Everyone commits sin and does wrong, but Allah is always willing to forgive and He always gives them a chance to repent and seek His forgiveness. A believer should never forget the fact that Allah is so forgiving. If Allah had willed, He could have held everyone accountable for his or her sins, but He has decreed that He shall allow His servants to seek His forgiveness and that He shall in fact forgive who and what He wills. In fact, Allah commands that His servants seek His forgiveness: "And seek Allahs forgiveness. Certainly, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful". (Surat al-Muzzammil 73:20).

Repentance is an act, which purifies the soul and brings the servant closer to His Lord. It puts the heart at rest from guilt. It protects one from falling prey to his desires and lusts and increases his faith. In that same Hadith Qudsi Allah says, "O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with sins close to filling the earth and then you would meet Me without ascribing any partners with Me, I would certainly bring you forgiveness close to filling it". This is the great mercy and compassion of Allah. The least Allah asks for is that one not ascribe any partners and gods with Him, for, He is alone in His Sovereignty. And after that if one commits sins and seeks sincere forgiveness, Allah will forgive him and shower His mercy upon him. However, one is not forgiven when he seeks repentance from Allah at the time of death or when he sees the angels or when the sun rises from the west at the approaching of the Day of Judgment. This is confirmed by the following verse: "And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says, Now I repent, nor of those who dies while they are disbelievers. For them, We have prepared a painful torment". (Surat an-Nisaa 4:18)

We must ask ourselves this question: Would we be willing to forgive anyone who hurts us and disobeys us constantly as easily as Allah is able to forgive? Most probably, the answer would be no. But our Creator is the Most Kind and He is the Most Perfect. "Lo! Allah is a Lord of Kindness to mankind, but most of mankind give not thanks". (Surat al-Baqarah 2:143)

There are five conditions for repentance which must be met for it to be accepted.

1. The act of repentance be sincerely for Allah alone.
2. The person must feel remorse and guilt over his actions so much so that he wished he had never done it in the first place.
3. The person must immediately cease performing the wrong and sinful act.
4. The person must have a firm intention to never commit the sin again.
5. And lastly, the person must repent before it is too late, meaning before death approaches.

Allah (swt), finishes the Hadith Qudsi with the following words, "O son of Adam! If you were to come to Me with sins that are close to filling the earth and you would then meet Me without ascribing any partners to Me, I would certainly bring to you forgiveness close to filling it". There is a condition. One must not associate any partners with Allah, which is shirk. And Allah does not forgive shirk and if one dies without believing in Allah alone as ones Creator, then he will be doomed to the Hellfire for all of eternity. So, Allah emphasizes the importance of calling on Him alone. He has no and needs no partners, associates, wives, children, etc. There is no god, but Allah. None forgives sins except Him, so one seeking forgiveness should seek it only from Allah. "Will they not repent to Allah and ask His forgiveness? For Allah is the Forgiving, the Merciful". (Surat al-Maaidah 5:74) "And who can forgive sins except Allah?" (Surah Ali Imran 3:135)

Allah praises the one who truly believes, has hope, and seeks the forgiveness of his Creator, as did Adam: "Say: Shall I not inform you of things far better than those (things of this world)? For the pious, there are gardens with their Lord, wherein rivers flow. Therein (is their) eternal home and pure wives. And Allah will be pleased with them. And Allah is Seer of the slaves. Those who say, Our Lord! We have indeed believed, so forgive us our sins and save us from the punishment of the Fire. They are those who are patient, those who are true and obedient with sincere devotion in worship to Allah. Those who spend (in charity) and those who pray and beg for Allah's forgiveness in the last hours of the night". (Surah Ali Imran 3:15-17).

When one confesses his sins to Allah and sincerely repents with hope in Allah's mercy, the heart should come to peace and the soul should feel rest. When a person has hope, he has no reason to despair because it only leads to destruction. Allah gives hope to all, especially those who despair that there is no reason to despair because Allah is the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy. Allah praises those who repent and turn to Him: And those who, when they commit a lewd act or wrong themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins and who forgives sins except Allah?

"And they do not persist in what (wrong) they were doing while they knew it. For such, the reward is forgiveness from their Lord and Gardens with rivers flowing through, wherein they shall abide forever. How excellent is the reward of the doers (of good)". (Surah Ali Imran 3:135-136)

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Does Allah Love Me?

Many of us at one time or another ask themselves these questions. Does Allah love me? If so, how can we be sure? If not, what am I doing wrong?

Let Allah Himself answer you : Allah, the most Kind and Merciful informs that: "Verily, Allah loves those who repent and those who purify themselves". [S2.222]. Do you fall in this category? Ponder on these word for His Words are true and He means them.

So now you want to repent so that Allah will love you? That is good. How do we repent? Repentance is an obligation on every believer. Allah says: "O you who believe! Turn to Allah in sincere repentance!" [S66.8]. Repentance is the means of attaining success. Allah says: "And O believers, all of you, repent to Allah in order that you may be successful." [S24.31]

The Prophet (saas) is reported to have said: "All the children of Adam (alaihissalam) are wrong-doers. And the best of them are those who repent".

The Words of Allah that never fails to move me to tears is this: "Say: O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves (because of sins), do not despair from the mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Verily, He is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [S39.53]

How beautiful are those words, how refreshing, full of compassion, how convincing and how warm and a strong reminder of His unfailing love for us who never think of Him and continuously sin day and night without thinking of repentance! While Allah has kept 99% of His mercy to Himself, then how can He not love us.

Contrary to what most people think that Allah's love is conditional, i.e. only when we repent and keep ourselves clean then only He will love us, this is really a false thought. When a mother says to her child, "Oh, you behaved so well today, I love you for that", does this mean that this mother loves the child ONLY because of good behavior? Is her love conditional? Think about it and then think about what the reaction of this child will be. To earn his mother's love, he will try to behave well all the time. He needs his mother and her love, so naturally he will try to please her and he knows from her words that if he behaves well, she will love him more. This will ENCOURAGE him to behave better and better. The mother's love is always there. Allah's love is always there but He uses those words as an ENCOURAGEMENT so that we strive hard to earn His love by obeying Him in all matters.

While Allah answers the supplication of even the non-believers, how can we say that His love is conditional?

Allah's love is something we do not deserve as human beings, but He gives it to us anyway. Sometime we instinctively feel we don't deserve his love since we don't do all the things that pleases Him. This is why at times we feel that He does not love us. We feel guilty of our wrongdoings. And since He knows us better, He comforts us, makes us feel good with His beautiful words, telling us NOT to despair for He forgives ALL sins. Is this not LOVE unrecognized by us? Glory be to Him in Whose Hands is our lives. If He loves us only if we repent then most of us do not have hope of reaching Paradise. It is only through His Mercy and love that we will reach that level.

We can demonstrate this by this story of a prostitute whose sins were forgiven because she gave drinking water to a thirsty dog. After she drank from a well, she saw a thirsty dog to which she gave some water. This lady's sins were forgiven purely by Allah's mercies.

Allah is patient, He always gives us time, lots of time, to recognize the error of our ways, and to put things right, to ask for mercy. Is this not love? Allah, the Most Kind and Merciful says in Hadith Qudsi, "When Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: My mercy prevails over my anger."

Allah's love and mercy extends beyond humans, but this is another topic however suffice to say, that game hunting of birds or animals just for the pleasure of the sport and not for a real need is forbidden in Islam; when a Muslim slaughters an animal or a bird for eating, he has to sharpen his knife and treat the animal gently and never feel the pain; even we are taught never to cut down trees and plants needlessly. So if Allah's mercy is such for animals, then how much more for us humans.

So I conclude this essay by saying that next time you feel like asking : Does Allah love me, be sure the answer is YES, He does. He loves us and we must strive harder to earn greater love from Him. And what's more, He loves those who are merciful to others.

Ask yourself: Do I love Allah? If so, then what stops you from repenting and keeping clean? If not, do you want Allah to love you without you loving Him? That doesn't make sense. I don't know about you but I noticed that we tend to instinctively love someone who, in turn loves, us? So ask again do I love Allah?

May Allah's mercy descend into our homes and in our hearts, always. May He we all show greater mercy to one another, especially to those over whom we have some authority? May Allah guide our leaders to show mercy to their citizens, our employers to their workers, our parents to their children. And May He reward us all, according to the best of our deeds. May we all, set a good example to other communities inside and outside of Islam, everywhere. Ameen. Peace and blessings of Allah on Muhammed the last and final messenger, the best of mankind, on his household, his companions and all those who follow him.

May Allah forgive me if there is anything contradictory to Islam in this writing. Ameen.

Nas M.

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