Post Originally Published: 19/08/2017

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How Much is this worth?

Gaza

Not $450M

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Update:02/Oct/2024

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Itha ra’aitun mecca bu’ijat katha’ima, wa ya-tasawa bunyanuha ru’usa jibaliha, faqad athalati as-Sa’atu

When you see Makkah, its mountain with holes (pierced through them), and its buildings reach its mountain tops, then as-Sa’ah (the Hour) has already cast its shadow.

Imam Suyuti says about this that the Hour has already cast its shadow means that the Hour is near (coming close). The understanding of Imam Suyuti reflects the traditional understanding, and is perfectly valid in this case; except for the fact that the Hadith has been fulfilled in multiple ways.

The Hadith has both literal and metaphorical implications.

The metaphorical implication is that the Hour has already cast its shadow means that the Hour is approaching, as Imam Suyuti has explained.

The Mecca Clock Tower was completed by 2011/2012, it reached, or even surpassed, the mountain tops of Makkah. And, the Hadith says that when you see the buildings in Makkah reach (or surpass) the mountain tops, then the Hour has already cast its shadow, i.e. this is a sign that the Hour is near (close by).

The Clock Tower

Abraj Al-Bait Towers (Towers of the House) is also called Burj as-Sa’ah, one of the meanings of as-Sa’ah is the Clock.

The Clock Tower actually casts its shadow over the Kabah.

So, in a literal fulfilment of the prophecy, as-Sa’ah (the Clock) has already cast its shadow (over the Kabah). The Clock Tower is a disrespect to the Kabah, in two-folds: it dwarfs the Kabah, and also it casts its shadow over the Kabah.

In the above Hadith it was stated that the buildings in Makkah will reach its mountain tops. In a variation of this Hadith it is stated that the buildings in Makkah will surpass its mountain tops, the Hadith is as follows:

فإذا رأيت مكة قد بعجت كظائم ورأيت البناء يعلو رءوس الجبال فاعلم أن الأمر قد أظلكo

So when you see in Makkah that channels have already been dug (or tunnels built), and you see the buildings surpass the tops of the mountains, then know that the command (of the Hour) has already cast its shadow over you. [Narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah in Al-Musannaf, Hadith-124]

And, with a slight variation in another Hadith:

إِذَا رَأَيْتَ مَكَّةَ قَدْ بُعِجَتْ كِظَامًا وَرَأَيْتَ الْبِنَاءَ قَدْ عَلا عَلَى رُءُوسِ الْجِبَالِ ، فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الأَمْرَ قَدْ أَظَلَّكَ o

When you see in Makkah, that already its mountains are with holes (pierced through them), and you see that the buildings have already surpassed over the tops of the mountain, then know that the command (of the Hour) has already cast its shadow over you (or the matter is close at hand). [Narrated by Al-Azraqi in the Book of reports about Makkah – Kitab Akhbaar Makkah, Hadith-1724] And, with a slight variation in another Hadith:

إِذَا رَأَيْتَ الْمَاءَ بِطَرِيقِ مَكَّةَ وَرَأَيْتَ الْبِنَاءَ يَعْلُو أَخْشَبَيْهَا ، فَخُذْ حِذْرَكَ o

When you see the belly of Makkah will be cleft open and through it will be dug out river-like passages (i.e. tunnels) (or water in the road to Makkah), and you see the buildings surpass its mountains, then take care (or beware, or a variant has: then know that the matter is at hand, or then understand that the time of trial (Judgment day) is near at hand). [Narrated by Al-Azraqi in the Book of reports about Makkah – Kitab Akhbaar Makkah, Hadith-1725; Nu`aym b. Hammad in Kitab al-Fitan 1:43 no. 59 (with its chain); Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Fath al-Bari: Kitab al-Hajj, Bab ayna yusalli al-zuhra yawma al-tarwiya, and he sourced it to al-Fakihi’s Tarikh Makkah; Ibrahim al-Harbi in Gharib al-Hadiyth]

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17 Mar 2022

Syria: Looking Back at 11 Years of War

Richard Medhurst: #RichardMedhurst is an independent journalist and commentator. Regular live streams and interviews with popular guests from the Left such as Glenn Greenwald, Mike Figueredo (Humanist Report) and Max Blumenthal (Grayzone). Fluent in English, Arabic, French, German, and having grown up across several continents, Medhurst’s show aims to provide a critical analysis of electoral politics and international affairs from an anti-imperialist viewpoint.

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The Syrian Uprising and Signs Of The Hour

A Time Frame Between The War In Syria and The Mahdi (ra)

The following Ahadith mention what is occurring now in Syria they give us a specific outline and time frame for events between us the emergence of Mahdi (ra);

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) Said, “At the end of time there will be a trial in which people will be sorted (fitnatul Duhaima) in a similar way to that in which gold is sorted from metal. Therefore do not rebuke the people of Syria rather, rebuke the evil people among them, because amongst them are the Abdals (Awliya). Allah will send a flood from Heaven (an event) that will disperse their groups in a way that if foxes were to attack them they would be victorious. Then Allah will send a man (to the people of syria) from the perfumed musked children of the Messenger, praise and peace be upon him, amongst approximately 12-15,000 under three banners and their password (call) is ‘Die, die!’ And they will be fought by the people of 7 banners under each is a man seeking the kingdom (Syria). They will be killed, defeated, then the Hashimite (leader of the black flags) will appear, so Allah will restore unity and favour to the people and this will be the case until the Dajjaal (the lying, false messiah) comes.”

Other Similar Narration’s State:

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) Said: “So do not rebuke the people of Syria but rebuke the evil people among them because amongst them are the Abdals (Awliya). A flood is about to be sent down upon the people of Syria (the Arab spring), which will disperse their groups (cause a civil war) in such a way, that if foxes (deceptive and cunning groups) attacked they would be beaten. At that time a man from the Family of my House will come (to the people of Syria) under 3 banners; between 12-15,000 and their password (Call) is – ‘Die, die.’ Then, there will come 7 banners and under each will be one man seeking the kingdom (Syria). Allah will kill all of them and restore unity and favour upon the hearts of Muslims, and those who were far (the Syrians who emigrated) come close.”

Al-Hakim narrated from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said: “There will be at the end of time a trial that will sort out men as gold is sorted out from metal (fitnatul Duhaima). So do not revile the people of Sham, but revile their evil ones (the dictators and their group), for among them are the Abdal [Awliya/Saints]. A flood is about to be released upon the people of Sham (the Arab spring) that will split their unity, so that even if foxes (ISIS and Al Qaeda) attack them they would defeat them. At that time, a man from my household will come out with three banners (to the people of Syria). The one who estimates highly will say that they are fifteen thousand. And the one who estimates lower will say that they are twelve thousand. Their sign will be: “Amit, amit [kill, kill].”
They will meet in battle seven banners, and under each of those banners will be a man seeking the kingdom (Syria). Allah will kill all of them, and restore to the Muslims their unity and bounty and their far ones and near ones (the Syrians who emigrated will come back).” [These Ahadith are found in the references of Abu Dawud, Ahmad, Ibn Majah and At-Tabarani and al Hakim reported them].

The Events mentioned in these Ahadith make things very clear, at the end of these Ahadith and this war in Syria the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said that Allah will…“restore unity and favors upon the hearts of Muslims” and… “the Hashimite will appear, so Allah will restore unity and favors to the (Muslim) people and this will be the case until the Dajjaal comes.”

This tells us when this hadith is to occur, at the end of the war mentioned in the hadith will be the time that Allah will begin to restore unity to the hearts of the Muslim Ummah, meaning prior to it they will have been in disunity. We can narrow the time because this can only be the case after the last Khalifah, (1924CE) 100 years ago and before the Mahdi’s (ra) era begins, hence it is referring to when the era of dictators will end and Asad is the last dictator.

This era is what divided the Ummah for nearly 100 years and it is now ending, this unity Allah will grant is the initial step that will pave the way for the return of Islamic lands to be ruled by the Mahdi (ra), Unity can’t be zapped into people hearts so Allah will prepare them psychologically and spiritually for it with what they will experience in life.

Because the hadith says this unity will be the state of the Muslims until the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him) appears, it means this is the beginning of the unity under the Mahdi (ra) who will end the oppression we are all living through, the black flags are the Mahdi’s army and they will pave the way for him by establishing His government before He emerges, this process will begin after the war in Syria ends as the ahadith indicate.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) begins the Ahadith by mentioning the sifting of people, “At the end of time there will be a trial in which people will be sorted in a similar way to that in which gold is sorted from metal” the precious metal is removed from the scrap ore around it, the gold is crushed and agglomerated before it is distilled with mineral acids, in a similar way those precious to Allah will go through trials that will purify them, make them stand out from the scrap around them so they are known to each other, then refined even further so they become entirely pure, this is the sifting of people mentioned in a number of ahadith connecting them with events in Syria.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) in a number of Ahadith mentioned the fitna’s (Trials and tribulations) that would befall this Ummah towards the end of time, and gave each one a specific name that characterised it so we could know it by it’s qualities, these fitna’s have been the subject of many works written by the scholars throughout Islam’s History, among these fitna’s are fitna al Ahlaas, al Sarra and ad Duhaima.

The event that will sort people out has been mentioned in a number of Ahadith, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) called it fitnatul Duhaima.

The scholars described the Duhaima as the “Fitna that Will Sweep the Arabs Away,” we are seeing this today with the destruction of historical mosques and sites in Islamic lands some thousands of years old, sites that are crucial to Muslim identity are being destroyed by ISIS and the Salafi’s on behalf of a super power that as the prophet Daniel (as) said in the bible “crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left” of their society and heritage.

Abdullah b. Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said: “There will be a fitna that will “tastanzifu” (meaning it will destroy) the Arabs, its dead will be in Hell. During which the tongue will be more severe (ashadd) than a blow of the sword”. (Ahamd, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah).

“its dead will be in Hell” tells us who this is talking about because the only type of death that takes a person directly to hell is suicide, the hadith is clearly talking about the Salafi’s and their brainwashed suicide bombers.

“During which the tongue will be more severe (ashadd) than a blow of the sword “ – With the spread of the Internet and mobile technology this indicates to us when this event would occur because not more than 30 years ago mass media was still uncommon around the world it was all localised. This description “more severe than the blow of the sword” is also mentioned in a number of other narration’s (discussed later) identifying the event that will destroy the Arabs as the Duhaima, considering all the ahadith about this matter it is more precise to say the Duhaima will lead to their complete destruction and eventual death.

Regarding the Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) statement “tastanzifu”

Ibn al-Athir and Ibn al-Manzur [Ibn al-Athir is the scholar who wrote an-Nihaya fi Gharib al-Hadith, a dictionary on uncommon words found in hadith texts; Ibn al-Manzur is the author of the famous Lisan al-Arab.] said: It means it will encompass them in destruction. It is said [in Arabic]: istanzafat ash-shay’, if you take it all (it is encompassing). Destruction doesn’t just mean destroying buildings it means destroying their society and way of life, the Duhaima will bring this about and it will eventually lead to their deaths before the time of Isa (as) as ahadith clearly state.

Imam Ali al-Qari said in al-Mirqat [al-Mirqat is a commentary of Mishkat al-Masabih]: “It has been said that it means it will purify them from filth (al-ardhal)” this is because Allah purifies complacent people through struggle, the Duhaima will sift people out like gold is extracted and it will divide the world into two camps one filled with hypocrites and one filled with iman (religion).

What is similar to Imam al-Qari’s statement are the narrations about fitnatul ad-Duhaima’ (ad-duhaima’ means black and dark), the Prophet (s) said: “It will not leave any single individual of this Umma (nation) but slap him on the cheek” (test his faith).

In the Ahadith on the Duhaima, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said it will test the entire Ummah “Until people become two camps: one of faith (religion) with no hypocrisy and one of hypocrisy with no faith (religion).”

This shows that the fitnah of the Duhaima will separate the believers from the people of fitan, doubt and hypocrisy, making each stand out from the other as both are forced to take one of two sides that will be known to all, and the Duhaima is the greatest fitna that will occur prior to the appearance of the Antichrist (Allah’s curse be upon him), in the words of the people of hypocrisy “they are making their actions easy to see nowadays”.

The Prophet’s statement, “tastanzifu” means that it will consume most of them in destruction, this means it will lay the foundations for the death of the Arabs, an event mentioned in numerous Ahadith, this destruction will not end until the time of Isa (as) when most Arabs will have perished and they will be few in number.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said before the time of the Mahdi only 1/3 will have survived, and that the Arabs will mainly be residing in Jerusalem by the time Isa (as) descends.

The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said regarding the Great wars we will soon see: “The Romans (Europeans) will attack those Arabs who reside in their land (Europe), until not a single Arab man or woman or child remains in their land but that they shall be killed by the Romans.” (Kitab Al Fitan, Bab Al Aamaq wa fath al Constantiniya, page 260)

At the time of the Great war “the Romans (Europeans) shall say to their leader: ‘We shall relieve you of the Arabs,’ (intending Genocide) and they shall gather up for the great battle” (Ibn Maja)

By the time the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him) who emerges seven months after the Great War, Umm Sharik said: “I heard Allah’s Apostle (s) say: “The people would run away from the Dajjaal seeking shelter in the mountains.” She said: “Were would be the Arabs then on that day?” He said: “They would be small in number.” (Sahih Muslim, Book 41, No. 7035)

Umm Sharik bint Abi’l-‘Akr said , “O Messenger of Allah, were will the Arabs be at that time?” (of the Dajjaal) He said, “At that time they will be few; most of them will be in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and their Imam will be a righteous man. Whilst their Imam is going forward to lead the people in praying Salat al-Subh (the morning prayer), ‘Eyssa son of Maryam will descend.” (Ibn Majja)

Some of these ahadith mention that this fitna will occur due to competing claims of jahiliya, i.e. nationalism which only existed in the Muslim world after the fall of the last Khalifah at the end of WW1, a point in time when the Muslims lost their sense of unity because its lands once had a single ruler, today the effects of nationalism dominate the Muslim mindset they forget that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) came to eliminate nationalism itself.

The Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said “The Muslim Ummah is like one body. If the eye is in pain then the whole body is in pain and if the head is in pain then the whole body is in pain”, this is a spiritual reality warning people that they cant turn a blind eye to what is occurring in the Muslim world it will affect the rest of the Ummah, and this reality will occur from the spiritual world down to our physical one, meaning it will be a cause for the troubles that afflict people in their personal lives and souls even though they are distant from it.

Imam Ibn Kathir similarly identified the major fintna’s that would befall the Ummah just before the emergence of the Mahdi (ra), in his work al Bidaya wa Nihaya, he arranges the Ahadith regarding the signs of the Hour into a chronological order placing the Hadith regarding the Duhaima before the emergence of the Mahdi (r.a).

He relates the following hadith regarding them and the Duhaima, it is essentially the most significant hadith we can quote about what is occurring in the world, all other narrations tie back to it and revolve around what it says; Abdullah ibn Umar said: While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah he mentioned the Fitan (strifes, trials & tribulations), mentioning many of them until he mentioned Fitnatul Ahlaas (The trial of the Saddlebag). Someone asked him: ‘ O Messenger of Allah, what is fitnatul Ahlaas? He said “It is the usurping of wealth and the fleeing”. Then (after it), will come Fitnatul Sarra (the fitna of secrets): its smoke is under the feet of a man (descendant) from my household (family), who claims he is of me, but he is not because my Awlyia (saintly men) are those who fear Allah.

Then people will gather and agree upon a man, (but it will be an agreement that is) like a hip on a rib (meaning this will be a temporary arrangement, as a hip bone does not belong on the rib, if man bends his body to such a position he cannot stay there for long before needing to do other things in life, so this position is temporary).

Then there will be the Duhaima (Blind black, dark, catastrophic) trial. It will afflict every single person from this Nation. When it will be said that it is over, it will return; during it, a man will be a believer in the morning and a disbeliever (by) the night. (This will continue) until people will go to two Fustaats (groups) — the Fustaat of Eemaan (Group of faith or religion), in which there is no hypocrisy, and the Fustaat of hypocrisy, in which there is no Eemaan (faith or religion). And when that will come to you (when the sorting of people will finally end), wait for the Dajjaal on that day or on the morrow.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 37, Hadith 3. Ahmad related it as well in his Musnad).

Other Ahadith say “Then, the Duhaima Fitna (Dark Black & Cunning trial that catches people off guard will occur) that will not leave anyone without slapping him a slap (testing his faith); if people say it is finished, it stays longer; a man who is in the morning a Mu’min (Believer) by the evening becomes a Kafir (Disbeliever), until people will be divided into two factions: a faction of Iman (belief and religion) without hypocrisy and a faction of hypocrisy without Iman (belief and religion). When this happens (the sorting is finished), expect the Dajjaal that day or the next day’.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Al-Haakim, and Al-Zahabi)

The Hadith ends with the emergence of the Dajjaal and begins with fitnatul Ahlaas, then fitnatul Sarra which will lead to fitnatul Duhaima and that will lead the world to the emergence of the Antichrist (Allah’s curse be upon him), one fitna following the other like beads on a string neckless falling from it when it is cut.

The Duhaima is the Fitnah that will sort people out until the time of the Dajjal (Allah’s curse be upon him), which indicates that the first two fitna’s mentioned in the hadith are in our past, relating the evidence to how these fitna’s were identified in a comprehensive manner would require a larger work than this current book, effectively here we are presenting the conclusion to that research with some of the evidence which consisted in the careful analysis of ahadith to identify it’s timing, it was identified by comparing well over two dozen ahadith mentioning events around it until a proper timeline was achieved, the methodology for this process we outlined at the end of this book.

To sum up the matter and it is clear from the history of Muslims over the past 100 years, the scholars said that the man referred to in this hadith “its smoke is under the feet of a man (descendant) from my household (family), who claims he is of me (my descendant), but he is not because my Awlyia (saintly people) are those who fear Allah” was Saddam Hussein, who in 1990 when the words Allahu Akbar first appeared on the Iraqi flag produced a genealogical chart of his ancestry claiming he is one of Ahl al Bayt to establish his legitimacy as the ruler of Iraq,

Ahl al Bayt means the person is a descendant of the Prophet (s), Saddam’s surname to Muslims indicates this ancestry, as the Hadith mentions he was responsible for fitnatul Sarra the strife of secrecy or spying and espionage that entered the Muslim world during his life time.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) also said “my Awlyia (saintly people) are those who fear Allah” meaning he will be a descendant of the Prophet (s) but the Prophet(s) disowned him because he was corrupt and did not fear Allah.

Fitnatul Ahlaas (The fitna of the Saddlebag) is the war in Iraq that occurred over Oil and control of wealth in the region before the first gulf war, in it’s name “the saddle bag” (used for carrying items while riding a horse) is an indication of the type of war that it would be, this is similarly clear from the description the Prophet (s) gave it, “It is fleeing and plunder”, like riders charging into a town to plunder the wealth of that place then fleeing afterwards from the law with all they can carry in their saddle bags.

This fitna is referring to the Iraq and Kuwait war which lead to the First Gulf war that brought the Americans (Law) into the Arabian Peninsula and began it’s dominance over the Muslim world.

Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 to control it’s oil occupying it for seven months, the invasion caused roughly half of the Kuwaiti population to flee along with 150,000 foreigners (mostly Indians) working in the country.

During the 7-month occupation the forces of Saddam Hussein looted the countries vast wealth, in mid-January 1991 America launched a military assault on Iraq and Iraqi forces stationed in Kuwait. Hostilities continued until late February the same year, Saddam Husain loosing to them in less than a month, essentially fleeing with all he could carry.

All of this fits the description Rasul Allah (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) gave, from Saddam’s intentions behind the war, to his looting of the country and his loss to America in less than a month, The Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) called it the fitna of the saddle bag because it was the plunder of Kuwait’s wealth and fleeing from America less than a month after their invasion.

This event led to the non-Muslims dominating Muslim lands for the next two decades and well into our time because they went unchallenged. As the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) mentioned this period marked the lowest point in Islamic History, the Messenger of Allah (s) said, “When you see that my nation dreads saying to the oppressor (Saddam), ‘Indeed you are an oppressor,’ then they have taken their leave (i.e. their existence and non-existence amounts to the same thing)” (Ahmad) and what would occur after this point in time as history has shown would directly lead to the destruction of their society and way of life because they wouldn’t fight for their freedom or Islam, ultimately this would all lead to the genocide of the Arab race as aggression against them will inevitably increase.

“Then, will come Fitnatul Sarra’: its smoke is under the feet of a man (descendant) from my household”, As Sarra means the fitna of secrets and as the scholars defined the meaning of the word this is referring to a fitna of spying and espionage. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) was very clear and specific in how he mentioned this fitna, he said it will be introduced into this Ummah by a man who was his descendant, but not of Him (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم), as his character is immoral, “it’s smoke” refers to the man fanning it’s tribulation causing it to spread among Muslim’s, the smoke is underneath the feet of Saddam but the fire itself, it’s original cause in the world wasn’t his.

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The Lifespan Of Islam On Earth