Five signs of the Day of Judgement we are witnessing now
Today’s reminder is about the five signs before the Day of Judgement. Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (peace be on him) said:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يُقْبَضَ الْعِلْمُ، وَتَكْثُرَ الزَّلاَزِلُ، وَيَتَقَارَبَ الزَّمَانُ، وَتَظْهَرَ الْفِتَنُ، وَيَكْثُرَ الْهَرْجُ ـ وَهْوَ الْقَتْلُ الْقَتْلُ ـ حَتَّى يَكْثُرَ فِيكُمُ الْمَالُ فَيَفِيضُ ”. رواه البخاري (1036) ومسلم (157)
“The Hour (Last Day) will not be established until (religious) knowledge will be taken away (by the death of religious learned men), earthquakes will be very frequent, time will pass quickly, afflictions will appear, murders will increase and money will overflow amongst you.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
1. Death of scholars – the loss of knowledge
In this hadith we see that there are five signs which will appear before the Day of Judgement. The first sign is the loss of religious knowledge through the death of scholars and we have indeed seen a large number of scholars pass away over the last two years, including big international names as well as our dear local scholars and teachers, may Allah have mercy on all of them.
Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`As narrated that he heard Allah’s Messenger (peace be on him) saying:
“ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ انْتِزَاعًا، يَنْتَزِعُهُ مِنَ الْعِبَادِ، وَلَكِنْ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ بِقَبْضِ الْعُلَمَاءِ، حَتَّى إِذَا لَمْ يُبْقِ عَالِمًا، اتَّخَذَ النَّاسُ رُءُوسًا جُهَّالاً فَسُئِلُوا، فَأَفْتَوْا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ، فَضَلُّوا وَأَضَلُّوا ”
“Allah does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray.” (Bukhari)
2. Increase in earthquakes and natural disasters
Sign 2 is earthquakes, as well as floods and storms which we have seen increase over recent years. The changes in the environment and the climate catastrophe we have brought upon ourself are a sign of the Day of Judgement.
3. The barakah will be taken from time
Sign 3 is that time will pass quickly. It feels like yesterday that the pandemic started and yet is has already been almost 2 years. Where did this time go? Time will move quickly and the barakah will be lifted from many things, including time. Your life will be rushing past you.
This means you should prepare for that day, as your time is running out. As Allah Almighty stated in Surat al Kahf:
18:49 وَوُضِعَ ٱلْكِتَبُ فَتَرَى ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ مُشْفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَوَيْلَتَنَا مَالِ هَذَا ٱلْكِتَبِ لَا يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةًۭ وَلَا كَبِيرَةً إِلَّآ أَحْصَىٰهَا ۚ وَوَجَدُوا۟ مَا عَمِلُوا۟ حَاضِرًۭا ۗ وَلَا يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًۭا
When the record will be laid out before them, the sinners will be frightened of what they see in it, and they will say, “Woe to us, what kind of record is this that doesn’t leave out anything small or big, it records everything.” They will find everything they had ever done in front of them. And your Lord is not unjust to anyone (18:49)
Invest in the time Allah has given you
Do not let time pass you by. Make every second count by either remembering Allah, or doing something good or refraining from something bad, or reflecting on the akhirah, so you will find it in your account on the Day of Judgement.
The time we have on earth is our capital. Are we going to invest in the right way? Are we going to put it in a high, medium or low risk investment or cryptocurrency and Bitcoins?
You are funding the akhirah. What really counts is good deeds.
4. The increase in trials and tribulations
Fitan trials and tribulations) will appear. Fitan are things that make you confused and you become unsure whether you should or should not do something, the halal and haram will appear blurred and you will not be clear what is right or wrong. Not everyone will be in that boat, but many will be the boat of fitan.
In such a situation those who remain steadfast will earn huge reward. Ma’qil bin Yasar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said:
“The reward of worship performed at a time of trials is equal in reward to an emigration to me.” (Muslim)
Increase in senseless killing
The Prophet (peace be on him) used the term al-harj, which Ibn Faris, the great linguistic scholar explained in his book Mu’jam Maqayyis al Lughah as chaos and confusion. The Prophet (peace be on him) defined it as bloodshed, as the chaos leads to killing. We are seeing this in Afghanistan, where there is a great deal of harj. We have seen so many tragedies that we have lost count.
Throughout the world there has been ongoing harj in Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Somalia, Myanmar and in China against the Uighurs. The list goes on. The perpetrators do not even know why they are killing machines, but most likely they have been brainwashed into thinking they are killing the enemies of Islam. They are deluded and killing with no reason.
Chaos and bloodshed
In another hadith, Abu Hurayrah reported Allah’s Messenger (peace be on him) saying:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ” وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لاَ تَذْهَبُ الدُّنْيَا حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ عَلَى النَّاسِ يَوْمٌ لاَ يَدْرِي الْقَاتِلُ فِيمَ قَتَلَ وَلاَ الْمَقْتُولُ فِيمَ قُتِلَ ” . فَقِيلَ كَيْفَ يَكُونُ ذَلِكَ قَالَ ” الْهَرْجُ . الْقَاتِلُ وَالْمَقْتُولُ فِي النَّارِ ” . مسلم.
The world would not come to an end until a day would come to the people on which the murderer would not know as to why he has killed and the victim would not know as to why he has been murdered. They said: Why would It happen? To which he replied: It would be because of general massacre and bloodshed. And the killer and the victim would be in Fire. (Muslim)
Abu Hurayrah reported Allah’s Messenger (peace be on him) as saying:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَيَأْتِيَنَّ عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ لاَ يَدْرِي الْقَاتِلُ فِي أَىِّ شَىْءٍ قَتَلَ وَلاَ يَدْرِي الْمَقْتُولُ عَلَى أَىِّ شَىْءٍ قُتِلَ ”. مسلم.
By Him in Whose Hand is my life, a time would come when the murderer would not know why he has committed the murder, and the victim would not know why he has been killed. (Muslim)
We see that the one who killed will not know why he killed and nor will the one who was killed because of the confusion. There will be senseless killing, to the extent that people will murder their own close family members-fathers will kill their sons and sons will kill their brothers.
The Companions were shocked by this and asked him how this could be happen. They wondered if those who could do such a thing will be in their right minds, and the Prophet (peace be on him) told them that most people at that time will lack reason. And people would be surrounded by those who have no aql (sense). They will be crazy and they will be leading the way and we, the general public will pay the price.
Abu Musa narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said:
وعن أبي موسى الأشعري رضي الله عنه قال ، حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ” إِنَّ بَيْنَ يَدَىِ السَّاعَةِ لَهَرْجًا ” . قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا الْهَرْجُ قَالَ ” الْقَتْلُ ” . فَقَالَ بَعْضُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّا نَقْتُلُ الآنَ فِي الْعَامِ الْوَاحِدِ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَذَا وَكَذَا . فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ” لَيْسَ بِقَتْلِ الْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَكِنْ يَقْتُلُ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا حَتَّى يَقْتُلَ الرَّجُلُ جَارَهُ وَابْنَ عَمِّهِ وَذَا قَرَابَتِهِ ” . فَقَالَ بَعْضُ الْقَوْمِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَعَنَا عُقُولُنَا ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ” لاَ تُنْزَعُ عُقُولُ أَكْثَرِ ذَلِكَ الزَّمَانِ وَيَخْلُفُ لَهُ هَبَاءٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ لاَ عُقُولَ لَهُمْ ” . ثُمَّ قَالَ الأَشْعَرِيُّ وَايْمُ اللَّهِ إِنِّي لأَظُنُّهَا مُدْرِكَتِي وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَايْمُ اللَّهِ مَا لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْهَا مَخْرَجٌ إِنْ أَدْرَكَتْنَا فِيمَا عَهِدَ إِلَيْنَا نَبِيُّنَا ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ إِلاَّ أَنْ نَخْرُجَ كَمَا دَخَلْنَا فِيهَا .ابن ماجه.
Before the Hour comes there will be harj.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah, what is harj?” He said: “Killing.” Some of the Muslims said: “O Messenger of Allah, now we kill such and such a number of idolaters in one year.” The Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: “That will not be like killing the idolaters, rather you will kill one another, until a man will kill his neighbour and his cousin and a relative.” Some of the people said: “O Messenger of Allah, will we be in our right minds that day?” The Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: “No, reason will be taken away from most of the people at that time, and there will be left the insignificant people who have no reason.” (Ibn Majah)
This is a sign of the Day of Judgement and what shook me was the question of the Companions who wondered whether the perpetrators could possibly be sane when they carried out such brutality, and the Prophet (peace be on him) replied that they would not be. Sadly we have lived to witness this. People have lost their minds and in this state they are carrying out heinous atrocities.
Qurtubi commented that this harj is for the sake of seeking dunya. Imam al Nawawi commented that the killer and the victim are in hell when they were fighting without any justification.
5. Increase in wealth
The fifth sign is that there will be plenty of money, as we are seeing around us. Though at the same time we see plenty of poverty and hunger and destitute people.
We need to understand the principles of the Shariah and live by our principles to avoid becoming part of these fitan or supporting these fitan in any shape or form. We ask Allah Almighty to enable us to see the truth and follow it and to avoid fitan and harj. Ameen.
Shaykh Haytham Tamim
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Shaykh Haytham Tamim
Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.
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