The Life span of this ummah
Assalamu Alaikum
Im quoting the following, i dont want to put it in quotes because it makes it harder to read.
In the following paragraphs I will attempt to give a timeline of events as the prophet told us about
them.
632 AD, Death of Muhammad [may Allah bless him]. Abu Bakr is chosen as caliph.
The Prophet, said, "Indeed Allah has commenced this matter upon Prophethood and mercy; it will become Khilaafah and mercy; it will become honor and sanctity; it will become kingdoms, great oppression, and corruption in the nation - people will deem private parts, alcohol, and silk to be lawful. They will be supported upon that and they will be given provision continuously until they meet Allah 'Azza Wa jall (to Him belongs Might and Majesty)." [Abu Dawud]
The Messenger of Allah said, "The Prophets will be followed by the Khaleefahs, who will apply Allah's Book and who will be just with Allah's slaves. The Khaleefahs will be followed by kings, who will take their revenge, kill men, and choose wealth (for themselves). (At that time) one can change (evil) with his hand, with his tongue, and with his heart; and there is no Eemaan beyond that." [Al-Baihaqee]
The Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: The Prophethood will remain amongst you for as long as Allah wills it to be. Then Allah will raise it when He wills to raise it [meaning the prophet will die]. Then there will be the khilafah upon the Prophetic methodology. And it will last for as long as Allah wills it to last. Then Allah will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be biting kingship, and it will remain for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then Allah will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be tyrannical (forceful) kingship and it will remain for as long as Allaah wills it to remain. Then He will raise it when He wills to raise it. Then there will be a khilafah upon the Prophetic methodology. Then he (the Prophet) was silent. (Musnad Imam Ahmad (v/273)
The Prophet (may Allah bless him) said: “The Khilafah in my Ummah after me will be for thirty years. Then there will be Mulkan ‘aduudan (hereditary rule) after that.” [Tirmidhi]
The Khalifate was for thirty years and then after it [the form of rule was that of] a kingdom (mulk) and a principality (imara) [This is based] on a statement of the Prophet, "After me there will be for thirty years a Khalifate, then it will become a tyrannical kingdom." 'Ali having died as a martyr at the beginning of the thirtieth year following the death of the Prophet, Mu'awiya and those after him are not considered Khalifas but kings and princes. [From Sad al Din Taftazani on the creed of Najm al Din Nasafi [who was a major sunni Scholar] chapter 16 on Khalifate and Imamate]
The First khilafah Abu Bakr (radiallaahu anhu) his rule lasted for two years, and that of Umar ibn al Khatab (radiallaahu anhu) was ten years, and that of Uthmaan Ibn Affan (radiallaahu anhu) twelve years, and that of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (radiallaahu anhu) six years. That is a total of 30 years and these are the four who ruled according to the sunnah of the prophet and the entire Muslim world loved them for it.
661 AD, Ali is murdered; Mu'awiya becomes caliph, Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate (661-750).
The Kingship the prophet mentioned are the various Islamic dynasties that where established throughout history beginning with the Umayyad Khalifah until the last one to exist the Ottoman Turks in 1924. Although each of these rulers was called a khalif, similar to the first four, when he died one of his descendants took his place hence it was a kingship. The first four khalif’s of Islam where elected to their position by the Muslim community.
Some of these rulers where good others where bad, The Prophet said "The affair of this nation will continue to remain upright and it will continue to be victorious over its enemy until it goes through twelve Khaleefahs, all of whom are from the Quraish." [Tribe of the Prophet] The Companions asked, "Then what will happen?" He, said, "Then there will be Faraj (holes and gaps through which seep factors that lead to division and weakness in the ranks and in souls)."
Meaning troubles that will affect people’s Iman, these are not the first twelve who came after each other in history but twelve rulers in the general sense [including the first 4, 5 if you count Al hasan] similar to saying in 1300 years of Khalifah, twelve of its rulers will be exceptionally good [other ulumah have interpreted it as the first 12 Allahu allam].
Here are the names of these dynasties and the period in which they ruled.
Umayyads, 7th–8th centuries: It was one of the largest unitary states in history and one of the few states to ever extend direct rule over three continents (Africa, Europe, and Asia).
Abbasids, 8th–13th centuries : The Umayyad dynasty was overthrown by another family of Meccan origin, the Abbasids, in 750 AD.
Fatimids, 10th-12th centuries: The Fatimid Caliphate was an Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, Sicily, Malta and the Levant from 909 to 1171. They existed alongside the Sunni Khalifah.
Mamluk Sultanate, 13th–16th centuries.
Ottomans, 16th-20th century: The Ottoman Caliphate [whose capital was Constantinople in modern day turkey] inherited the responsibility of the Caliphate from the Mamluks of Egypt. The Ottoman Empire defeated the Mamluk Sultanate in 1517 and took control of most Arab lands. By the eve of the First World War 1914, the Ottoman state, represented the largest and most powerful independent Islamic political entity. The demise of the Ottoman Caliphate took place in part because of a slow erosion of power in relation to Europe and an end of the state came in consequence of partitioning the Ottoman Empire into smaller countries by the Allies [United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire ] who defeated them by the end World War one, 1918.
Sokoto, 19th century: The Sokoto Caliphate was an Islamic spiritual community in Nigeria.
Jibril said, ‘Tell me about the Hour.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘The one asked about it knows no more than the one asking.’
Jibril said, ‘Then tell me about its tokens.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘That the female slave should give birth to her mistress [Muslim]
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali explains the first sign “What is meant by mistress is her lady and her female owner. In the hadith of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, there is, "her lord". This is an indication of the conquest of the lands and the great number of slaves gained so that female slaves and their children are in great numbers. The female slave is owned by her master, but his children by her are of his status, for the child of a master has the status of the master, and thus the female slave's child's status is that of her lord and master.
This hadith [known as the Jibril Hadith, i have only quoted a part of it here and another below] is one of the most important in islam and the prophet chose to mention two signs out the many Allah had shown him the first was the increase in female slaves due to the vast number of lands the muslims had conquered and the extent that islam would reach. The prophet once said "Seek knowledge even unto China."
1924 AD, End of the Caliphate by the Allied nations.
On March 3, 1924, the first President of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk [who was supported by the Allied nations], as part of his reforms, constitutionally abolished the institution of the Caliphate. Its powers within Turkey were transferred to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the parliament of the newly formed Turkish Republic.
A summit was convened at Cairo in 1926 to discuss the revival of the Caliphate, but most Muslim countries did not participate and no action was taken to implement the summit's resolutions. All the Muslim countries by then where under the power of the Allied nations and hence powerless to act.
When the last Caliphate was defeated in the first world war all the lands of the Ottoman Khalifah where divided up among the allied nations, so countries like Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia virtually all the Muslim countries you see in the world today where created after the first world war these allied nations [United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire ] installed in them tyrannical rulers who they could manipulate to rule the local populations on their behalf.
To This day the current state has not changed much. In most of the Muslim world the leaders are either dictators or self-proclaimed kings, so we are currently in the third phase of the prophecy being ruled by “tyrannical (forceful) kingship”.
"After me there will be caliphs, and after the caliphs, princes and after princes, kings, and after kings, tyrants. Then, a man from the Family of my House will come and fill the earth with justice just as it had been filled with transgression. “(Tabarani, Ibn Mandah, Nuaim ibn Hammad, and Ibn Asakir)
A scholar said regarding this hadith: “The caliphs spoken of in the hadiths are “the Rightly-Guided Ones”―arrāshidūn: Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Alī, may Allāh be pleased with them all. The princes are the Ummayad Caliphs of Damascus and the Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad. As for the kings, they are the Ottoman Sultans of Istanbul. Following the kings, are tyrants, and that is what is commonly seen today. Finally, what for us is a prediction: the appearance of a man from the family of the Prophet who will rule with justice.”…The Mahdi.
Beyond the signs of the changing of rulership we have another clear sign which we can see has been fulfilled in our life time [this is the second sign mentioned in the Jibril hadith].
Jibril said, ‘Tell me about the Hour.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘The one asked about it knows no more than the one asking.’
Jibril said, ‘Then tell me about its tokens.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘That the female slave should give birth to her mistress, and you see poor, naked, barefoot shepherds of sheep and goats competing in making tall buildings.’ [Muslim]
“and you see poor, naked, barefoot shepherds of sheep and goats competing in making tall buildings.”
The scholars have said the prophet was describing the Bedouin Arabs who will hail from the desert area of Najd, east of Mecca and Medina [present day Riyadh, Dharan, Dammam, Khobar and the gulf region] before the oil boom the people of Najd lived in tents. Another version of the hadith in bukhari states, “when barefoot and the naked are the heads of the people.” Another version in Muslim says “when the naked and barefoot are the top leaders of the people.” A third version in Bukhari and Muslim states “when you see that the barefoot and naked, the deaf and dumb are the kings of the earth.”
Ibn hajar said in commenting on this hadith in Fath al bari. “It was said that “barefoot and naked,” “Deaf and dumb” are their attributes by way of hyperbole, showing how coarse they are. That is, they did not use their hearing or sight in anything concerning their religion even though they are of perfectly sound senses. The prophets words: “ The heads of people” means the kings of the earth. Abu Farwa’s narration names the kings explicitly. What is meant by them is the people of the desert country, as was made explicit in Sulayman al-Tayimi’s and other narrations:”who are the barefoot and naked? He answered the Bedouin Arabs.”
Imam Nawawi further explains: “The people of badia [the desert Bedouins] and their like are indigent. There will come a time in which they become rich and build structures to demonstrate their wealth. [the scholars where talking about these signs hundreds of years before the saudi's took control]
Tabarani relates through Abu Hamza, on the authority of Ibn Abbas from the prophet, that “one of the signs of the change of the religion is the affectation [pretension, or something that is not part of your natural personality] of eloquence by the rabble and their betaking to palaces in big cities.”
Qurtubi said: What is meant here is the prediction of a reversal in society whereby the people of the desert country will take over the conduct of affairs and rule every region by force. They will become extremely rich and their primary concern will be to erect tall buildings and take pride in them.
Al hafiz Ibn hajar said in the explanation of this hadith, “everyone tries to build a higher building than the other.” Imam Ahmad from Abu Amir that the people who construct tall buildings will keep building them higher and higher [musnad 4:129]. That is if one builds a structure three stories tall, the next person builds four stories, the next person builds five, etc.
In the 1400 years since this hadith was mentioned there have been no sky s****ers in any desert Muslim country. Then on April 24 2000 the tallest building was built in the desert. The Faisaliah building in Riyadh is 269 meters [882 feet] tall. Then in 2003 a new high rise, the kingdom centre was built also in Riyadh and is 311m [1020 feet] making it the 55th tallest building in the world, taller than any building in Najd [fulfilling the prophecy of the prophet]. It may also be of interest that the once Bedouin Arabs of the United Arab Emirates have now built the world’s tallest building not just in the region, the Burj Khalifah at 828 m (2,717 ft) also fulfilling the conditions of this hadith.
2010AD, Present Day.
Since 1924 until now 2010, the past 86 years we have been in this state but a look at the affairs of the Muslims throughout the world and you will see that the era of tyrants and kings itself is coming to an end and the next phase of the prophecy is coming true as these rulers allow more and more freedoms to their peoples the governments themselves will take on a new form and change from being kingships and dictators to something more liberal as all Muslims are waiting for the last part of the prophet’s prophecy to come true and that is for all these lands to once more return to khalifah rule based on the prophetic methodology under the Mahdi or the one who guides, this will be the rule until Allah sends Isa ibn Maryam to rule over us for 40 years.
The Messenger of Allah said, "Even if there remains from this world a single day, Allah will send a man from us who will fill it with justice, just as it was filled with oppression." (Ahmad) And in another narration, 'Ali related that the Messenger of Allah said, "The Mahdi is from us — the family of the Prophet, Allah will rectify him in a single night." (Ahmad) And "The world will not pass away before the Arabs are ruled by a man (referring to the Mahdi) of my family whose name will be the same as mine" (Abu Dawood)
Abu Huraira narrated that Prophet Mohammad said: "There is no prophet between me and him (Jesus Christ). He shall descend so, recognize him when you see him. He is a man of medium height, (his complexion) is between reddish and white; he will be between (or dressed in) two slightly yellowish garments; His head looks as if it is dripping water even though it is not wet. He will fight people in the cause (for the sake) of Islam, will break the Cross and kill the swine (pig) and abolish Jizya (tax on Christians and Jews); and Allah will put an end to all religious sects except Islam during his (Jesus') time. He (Jesus) will slay the Antichrist (Dajjal) and he will stay in the World for 40 years. Then, he will die and the Muslims will perform the funeral prayer for him." (Abu Dawud and Musnad Ahmad)
We are now in the Islamic year 1431, Hijri [Islamic calendar].
There are a number of hadith regarding the age of the Muslim community or how long Islam will remain on earth, when you combine these ahadith with the signs of the hour you will see we are on the same time frame as these ahadith and indeed all scholars in the Muslim world agree that the minor signs of the hour have come to pass and we are living in the final phase of this world.
The prophet [may Allah bless him] said “When my Community keeps on the right, it is going to enjoy an age of one day, and when it does not keep on the right, it will have an age of half a day”. [al-Bayān, Tafsīr of Sūrat al-‘Asr.]
In another version the Prophet said, “If my Community keeps on the right, it is going to enjoy an age of one day, and if it becomes corrupt, it will have an age of half a day.” [Al-Munawī cites it in Fayd al-Qadīr from Shaykh Muhyī al-Dīn Ibn ‘Arabī.]
Allāh said in the Holy Qur’ān: And one day according to Allah’s estimation is 1,000 years according to yours. (al-Hajj 22:47)
A scholar said regarding these ahadith: “Thus the Islamic community of the right way would flourish for one thousand years and the community in decline would last for another five hundred years. For the first millennium of Islamic civilization, the Muslims were favoured by Allah with an advancement unparalled before or after. Muslims were at the forefront of not only religious development but also were the world’s leading researchers, physicians, chemists, astronomers, botanists, philosophers, and architects. Muslims were the shining lights that illuminated Europe and touched off the Renaissance. After its first millennium a gradual yet definite decline began within the Ummah which has continued until our present time. As the Muslims have wandered away from the way of the Prophet and Allah’s heavenly message of Islam, the divine blessings and support have similarly diminished. Miraculously, the Prophet predicted that this process would take one thousand years and it came to pass. The second prediction in this hadith is that the Ummah will continue further for five hundred more years in decline. Thus, according to this understanding of this hadith Allah has granted the Ummah a lifespan of fifteen hundred years, and Allah knows best. This prediction of a fifteen hundred year lifespan is also in keeping with the recent appearance of the Signs of the Last Days. These signs have not appeared in their totality until lately. Even a cursory examination of these signs shows their present-day fulfillment as foretold by Prophet Muhammad over fourteen hundred years. The 1000th year of the Islamic Hijrī calendar was marked by the rule of Ottoman sultan Murād III 1546–95 (ruled 1574–95), son and successor of Selim II. He was dominated by his family, and although his generals were successful against Persia, his reign marked the beginning of the decay of the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic caliphate as a whole.
The life of my community will not exceed 1500 years. (As-Suyuti, Al-Kashf 'an Mujawazat Hazihi al-Ummah al-Alf; As-Suyuti, Al-Hawi Lil-Fatawi, 2/248; Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan. Burusawi 4/262; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Kitab al-`Ilal, p. 89)
The life of this community will exceed 1000years, yet be limited to 1500 years. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 299)
Other evidence regarding the age span of the Muslim community.
Imam Al-Bukhari narrates in his sahih from Abdullah Ibn Umar that he heard the Prophet of Allah say : ” verily your stay in comparison to the nations before you is like the time period between the prayers of ‘Asr ( mid-afternoon ) till sunset, The people of the Torah were given the Torah and they worked until noon and they couldn’t continue further, so they were given one Qirat, then the people of the Gospel were given the Gospel and they worked until the time of ‘Asr or mid-afternoon then they couldnt continue further, and were given a single Qirat, then we were given the Quran and we worked until the time of the sunset and were given two Qirats. (Seeing this) The people of the Book said :” Oh Allah you had given them (the ummah of Muhammad) two Qirats whereas you have given us only one and we are the most in terms of deeds.” He said,” Allah said (to them):” Have I oppressed in anything in your rewards?” and they said : “No.” (then) Allah said: “It is my bounty to whomsoever I wish I bestow”
In another variation Bukhari reports in his Sahih from Abu Musa (ra) from the Prophet said: ” The example of the Muslims, Jews and Christians is like that of a person who hired a people who would work for him till evening, but worked till noon and said : “we have no need for your compensation”, then another people were hired and told : “Complete what has remained of the day’s work and you will have what has been promised”, and so they worked until when the time of Asr(mid-afternoon) prayers came and they said: “this is all what we could have worked”, and so another people were hired and they worked for the rest of the day until the sunset and thus they completed the reward of both (of the previous) groups.”
Hafiz Ibn al-Hajr al-Asqalani [a prominent Islamic scholar who died in 852 hijri calendar] says in his Fath al Bari , (in vol.4 , book of hire/ijara, page 448-449) commenting on these two narrations : “and it is evident ( from these stated narrations) that the lasting of this Islamic nation is somewhat a thousand years, this is because the age of the Jewish nation is equivalent to that of the time periods of the Christian and Muslim ages combined, and the people of transmission (ahl an naql) have agreed that the period of the Jews till the advent of Allah’s final Apostle Muhammad was more than 2000 years, and the span of the age of the Christians was 600 years from them. And also this narration points the fact about how little of the age of this world has remained.”
When the Muslims reached the 1,000th year they thought they were nearing the end because of these ahadith which indicated we will have half the time the Jewish nation had, but Imam as-Suyuti [The mujadid of the 9th Islamic century, The concept is based on the following Prophetic tradition (hadith): "Allah shall raise for this Umma at the head of every century a man who shall renew (or revive) for it its religion." Abu Dawud] was alive during these times, he wrote a fatwa [legal ruling] in which he said it was supposed to be 1000 years but there is a dua of rasul Allah in which he supplicates Allah to give his Ummah another half a day and the companions asked the prophet how long is half a day and he answered 500 years. So the imam said the life of this Ummah is 1,500 years.
Imam as Suyuti mentions in his book “Risalah Al-Kashf ‘an mujawazt hadehel ommah al alf”, or “treastie on revealing of the proceeding of this nation beyond the thousand, ” page 206 about the advent of the Mahdi that, “from what the narrations reveal is that the age of this ummah extends beyond a thousand but it doesnt exceed in increase another 500 in actuality beyond this thousand.”
The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) said: Allah will not fail to detain this community for less than half a day. (500 years). Abu-Dawud.
The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) said: I hope my community will not fail to maintain their position in the sight of their Lord if He delays them half a day. Sa'd was asked: How long is half a day? He said: It is five hundred years. (500 years) Abu-Dawud.
Meaning delayed beyond the thousand years, Allah will not keep the Muslim Ummah on earth more than another 500 years. I should mention this isn’t the time for the day of judgment this is simply the lifespan of this Ummah, the day of judgment will not come as long as there is a single person on earth saying “Allah Allah” irrespective of whether Iman is present in their hearts, they would simply be imitating what they heard from their fathers without knowing its meaning.
The Prophet of Allah is reported to have said : ” In between the hands of the hour(Qiyamah), there will come out a breeze/wind and it will take away the spirit of every believer.” (reported by Ahmad, Muslim, Thirmidhi and Ibn Majah), and in another narration he(saws) said ,”Verily Allah(swt) will send a wind from Yemen that will be more softer than silk, and it will not leave a person with even a single seed of eman, but will take his soul away.”( reported by al-Hakim)
The Prophet said: "The Hour will not rise before Allah, Allah is no longer said on earth." And through another chain: "The Hour will not rise on anyone saying: Allah, Allah." [Muslim narrated both in his Sahih, Book of Iman (Belief), chapter 66 entitled: dhahab al-iman akhir al-zaman "The Disappearance of Belief at the End of Times."]
There won’t be any people with Iman at the time, "The Hour will only come upon the worst of the people." [Declared sahih by al-Hakim and agreed to by adh-Dhahabi].
We are now in the Islamic year 1431, Hijri calendar was implemented after the life of the prophet, year 0 was set to the date of the migration of the Muslim community from mecca to medina not when Islam began, depending on when the prophet considered the Muslims to have been an Ummah or community] therefor we have an estimated 59 to 69 years left for this Ummah. If we take from this the 40 years that Isa will be alive on earth and another 10 years between his death and the time Allah takes the life of every Muslim [a hadith in sahih Muslim mentions 7 years], that leaves us with 9 to 19 years until he arrives. Even if it is 1 year between the death of Isa and the end of the Ummah that puts it between 18 and 28 years before he arrives.
from ahadith the Mahdi and Dajjal will both be on earth prior to Isa. The Mahdi will openly rule the Muslims for 7, 8 or 9 years depending on different narrations [the Dajjal will come towards the end of that], I say openly because he will be on earth long before that but he won’t be known among the people. So that means his open rule could be as soon as 9 or 21 years from now, 2019 or 2031.
One thing to take into account, we don’t know how long the Mahdi and Isa will both be on earth at the same time because as soon as Isa arrives the Mahdi won’t die the same day although it will be soon after [according to sound ahadith], so these times do overlap.
Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr who said Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: The Dajjal will appear in my Ummah and he will stay (in the world) for forty -- I cannot say whether he meant forty days, forty months or forty years. Allah will then send Jesus, son of Mary, who will resemble Urwah ibn Mas'ud. He (Jesus Christ) will chase him and kill him. [The hadith seems to cut between events] Then people will live for seven years, during which time there will be no rancor between any two persons. After that Allah will send a cold wind from the direction of Syria. None will survive on Earth, having a speck of good in him or faith in him: he will die. Even if some among you were to enter the innermost part of the mountain, this wind would reach that place also and cause your death. I heard Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) as saying: Only the wicked people will survive and they will be as careless as birds with the characteristics of beasts. They will never appreciate good nor condemn evil. (Muslim, Book 40, No.7023)
The Prophet (may Allah bless him) said: "The Mahdi will appear in my Ummah. He will appear for a minimum of 7 or a maximum of 9 years; at that time, my Ummah will experience a bountiful favour like never before. It shall have a great abundance of food, of which it need not save anything, and the wealth at that time is in great quantities, such that if a man asks the Mahdi to give him some and the Mahdi (AS) will say: Here! Take!" [Ibn Majah, v2, Tradition #5083]
Abu Sa'id al-Khudari said The Prophet said: Severe calamity from the direction of their ruler will befall my people during the Last Days. It will be a calamity which, in severity, shall be unprecedented. It will be so violent that the earth with injustice and corruption will shrivel for its inhabitants. The believers will not find refuge from oppression. At that time God will send a man from my family to fill the earth with justice and equity just as it is filled with injustice and tyranny. The dwellers of the heavens and the earth will be pleased with him. The earth will bring forth all that grows for him, and the heavens will pour down rains in abundance. He will live among the people for seven or nine years. From all the good that God will bestow on the inhabitants of the earth, the dead will wish to come to life again. (Ibn Hajar, al-Sawa'iq al-muharriqa, P. 161; Yanabi' al-mawadda, Vol. 2, P. 177)
Abu As-Sadeeq An-Naajee related that Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudree said, "We feared that there would be a Hadath (something new but objectionable) and so we asked the Prophet." He ", said, "Indeed in my nation there is the Mandee, and he will come out and live for 5 or 7 or 9. A man will go to him and say, 'O Mandee, give me.' He will throw handfuls into the man's garment, filling it with whatever the man is able to carry." (At-Tirmidhee).
After his descension on earth, Isa (A.S.) will marry. He will have children, and he will remain on earth 19 years after marriage. He will pass away and Muslims will perform his Janaza Salaat [funeral prayer] and bury him next to Rasul Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam). (Tirmidhi)
All these figures are guidelines as they depend on interpretation except for the ahadith which give specific numbers, events could go past the year 1500 hundred and into that century but not beyond and still be within interpretation of these ahadith. The prophet said nobody knows the hour, but yet we still see in many ahadith specific numbers are given to events although not specific dates, from this we know we can’t attempt to predict the day or hour the day of judgment will occur as inevitably this prediction will be false, as a matter of fact, since Allah said no one will know it but we can estimate the timing of events and there is nothing wrong with this.
For example if we are alive when Isa marries we will know with a certainty that he will stay alive for a further 19 years then die, does that mean we have done something haram by knowing this, no of course not since the prophet himself gave us this information so we can estimate the timing of events otherwise what is the point of giving signs to the hour, we can’t predict the day or hour he will die in. similarly we will also know that we ourselves won’t live much longer past his death, a further 7 years, essentially if we were alive during those time’s we would know the year the ummah is to die in but not the day or the hour. What Islam seeks to prohibit is the type foretelling where people predict events with a certainty as to give people around them the impression they have a hidden knowledge no one else has, Islam prohibits this as it leads to things such as people claiming they are prophets or fortune-tellers and we know before the mahdi and during our life up to the time of the Dajjal [anti Christ] at least thirty liars will have emerged claiming to be prophets, some we already know.
"The Prophet said, 'Just before the Hour, there will be 30 "dajjals" [liars], each of whom will say, I am a Prophet.'" (Ahmad.)
Finally all any one can say is Allahu Allam.
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Originally Posted by Joshimitsu
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