In the changing contexts of humankind's material circumstances in every era, Divine messages of perennial wisdom and related prophecies find their fulfillment in different ways- especially in times when Allah (swt) raises a recipient of His revelations along with servants of Faith to fight against all manifestations of Evil and thereby uphold the true values of life. In his Friday Sermon of 01 October 2021~23 Safar 1443 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius continues the theme of previous week- elucidating on 'End Times' mentioned in sacred books of God: the Holy Qur'an, and the Ahadith, the Prophetic traditions. Drawing attention to the multiple layers of meanings attached to the Divine messages and prophecies, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) lays down important considerations and principles that need to be appreciated in any engagement with the profound subject, and also cautions the Wise against the serious consequences of errors of interpretation. Speaking with the help of Rooh-il-Quddus, the living servant and Elect of God invites everyone to ponder over the larger Signs of our times: the devastating pandemics, and the many other types of turbulence and convulsions that grip and threaten to ravage the fortunes and lives of millions of people around the world. Read the Friday Sermon Below:
The Signs of the End of Times
Allah says in the Holy Quran: “Say: None in the heavens or on earth, except Allah, knows what is hidden: nor can they perceive when they shall be raised up (for Judgement).” [Al-Naml, (27: 66) ]
And Allah (swt) also says: “He (alone) knows the Unseen, and He does not make anyone acquainted with His Mysteries, except a messenger whom He has chosen.” [Al-Jinn, (72: 27-28) ].
I have seen that it was necessary to clarify a number of rules relating to the attitude we should adopt towards knowing the signs of the Hour. I have relied on what Allah (swt) has said in these two verses which I have put before you. As we know that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) is the seal and chief of all prophets, Allah (swt) revealed to him through the verses which are found in the Holy Quran and also the Hadiths – his sayings [words] - where there is information about the invisible [Ghaib], in the religious interest [of everyone].
Among these mysteries are the signs of the approaching Hour which reveal knowledge of the future [what will happen in the future]. We must also reflect, that as servants and followers of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), the messengers who come after the Holy Prophet (pbuh) to revive the true teachings of Islam, they too, Allah [God] chooses them - each in his time - and pours on them the Divine Revelation, and this continues to give greatness to the words of Allah, as well as to the prophecies of our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).
A number of people who refer to the signs of the Hour are naive and negligent in addressing new converts, people who do not yet have a sufficient level of understanding in the knowledge of Islam. They may not understand certain information. This information may exceed them [they cannot assimilate this information]. A well-known principle is that not all truth is good to speak (in other words: it is not good to disclose absolutely everything that God reveals to His chosen servant unless divine revelation descends on the Messenger of Allah where Allah (swt) tells him that: now the time has come for you to get up and reveal certain things [such and such information].
So, it is for this reason that there are revelations that come where God [Allah] emphasizes that these revelations are: “Private & Confidential”. This means, in fact, that all minds are not able to receive and assimilate certain information. Some may misuse this information or misinterpret it.
Talk to people about what they know; don’t
speak in a way that might push them away. Would you like them to deny Allah and
His Messenger? There is a fixed time for everything. When the time comes, it
will be Allah and His Messenger themselves who will pass the information. In
the days when there is no Messenger, then it becomes necessary for Muslims,
believers to focus on the precepts of Islam that will fix another person’s life
- according to their ability to understand, and he must not try to go beyond
this information [because he will not have the understanding required for it],
because then he may lose faith. But sometimes Allah uses this also to test [as
a means of trial to test] the faith and belief of His servants in order to know
really who are those who are sincere in their faith and those who are not.
Allah says in the Holy Quran: “O you who believe! Do not ask questions about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble. But if you ask about things when the Qur’an [i.e. Divine Revelations] is being revealed, they will be made plain to you, Allah will forgive those: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Forbearing.” [Al-Maida, (5: 102) ]
So talk to people about what they know and don’t
bring up what they disapprove of (and don’t understand- because they don’t
have that capacity to understand). Never speak of things which are beyond the
level of understanding of a people as this may cause serious disturbance in
some of them and also it means that mutual resentment and jealousy will be
prevalent among them, unless Allah puts an end to a question and reveals
certain information. And so these are regarded as decrees from Allah that man
must learn to accept for their own spiritual gain, for the nourishment of their
own faith [Iman]. On numerous occasions, in ancient times as well as in
those that followed, end of times accounts have been used as explanations of
facts that have arisen, and sometimes in decisive ways.
It is human nature to live fully with the present reality in which one lives and which one perceives through one’s senses. But, events disturb the individual, much more than his fellows [fellow human beings] who would not have experienced these events: an event which suddenly becomes part of the past. The witness of events turns out to be more marked by the facts of his time and by the vicissitudes [and mountains of hardship] of existence than by the major events of past history.
This is why we say, hearing something and
experiencing it are two different things. A believer may hear [and know] what the
Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and the Sahaba Karaam [noble companions]
went through, but it has another effect on him when it is he himself who is
going through all these hardships during the lifetime of a Messenger of Allah
and he is going through tribulations [difficulties and trials] as in the time
of our beloved prophet (pbuh) and the prophets of old. He must immerse himself
in this hot vessel/ “cooking pot” so that he can understand the true meaning of
what the Holy Prophet (pbuh), his companions and the prophets of old went
through [and felt]. But in normal times, when there is no Messenger of Allah or
the person is not in the company of a Messenger of Allah [where he did not
recognize him as the Messenger of Allah], then, the trials that prophets and
believers had to undergo in the past will not mark him as long as he does not
go through the same [or similar] trials. And a believer in ordinary times will
trust what he himself has gone through as trials and he will not know the
intensity of the trials that others have endured before him. The events that
affect him today concern him directly, while past events seem to be distant for
him.
This is why the signs of the end of the world/ times apply in every epoch despite the fact that what the Holy Prophet (pbuh) or even the prophets before him predicted to their people has already come true, to some extent [or so to speak] in their own time, and there is some future information that they predicted which came true in the time of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), and the predictions [prophecies] of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) did indeed come true after him, and is still being fulfilled [coming true] in our present time and will continue to be fulfilled in future epochs until all the indications of the end of the world have received their interpretations [in other words, are fulfilled] in all its facets and where then Allah will truly manifest this final Qiyamah [Last Day / End of the World].
For all these reasons, in the lifetime of the
individual where various events or situations take place, he tends to see signs
of the Hour or, at least, warning signs, even if much more important similar
events have already occurred in the past and would have much more reason to be
perceived as the famous signs as identified in the Sacred Books of Allah. This
is because the events which mark the life and existence of a person or a people
or even humanity as a whole in an epoch are also fulfilment of these prophecies
because they are also signs, indications of the end of the world. So, all of
this has a great impact on a person in his time, when he lives in times of
degradation and the world is upside down, and then it becomes necessary for the
Ulul-al-Baab [the scholars, the people of understanding, those who are
gifted with intelligence and who have knowledge of Deen] to know how to
interpret these signs, but they should do so with all caution and with Taqwa
[piety / fear of Allah].
The interpretations of the signs of the Hour must be correct, and people must not, aimlessly, say “Oh, this is a sign of the end of the world” without really knowing the basis or the foundation of the prophecies on these signs because it can create hatred in the heart and divide Muslims, and where then people who call themselves Muslims [who identify as Muslims] will truly believe that this Last Hour has come and by their behaviour they want to commit such actions which will draw the wrath of Allah upon them, as if they seek to provoke the outbreak of these events, and where then they can say that the time of the end of the world has finally come.
Thus, misinterpretation on their part can lead
to massacres, foment civil wars, or attack on people’s honour - especially in
times when a Messenger of Allah is absent. But the signs of the Hour become
more pronounced in the time when a Messenger of Allah has appeared when the
events which have been foretold are coming true, and Allah, through the
revelation confirms that these are indeed the signs of the end of the world
that we [the human race] are witnessing.
Hadiths inform us of upcoming events and signs of the Hour. It has been reported that Abu Nadra (ra) narrated: “We were in the company of Jabir b. ‘Abdullah that he said it may happen that the people of Iraq may not send their qafiz and dirhams (their measures of food stuff and their money). We said: Who would be responsible for it? He said: The non-Arabs would prevent them. He again said: There is the possibility that the people of Syria may not send their dinars and mudds. We said: Who would be responsible for it? He said this prevention would be made by the Romans. He (Jabir b. Abdullah) kept quiet for a while and then reported Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) having said there would be a caliph [i.e. the Imam Mahdi] in the last (period) of my Ummah who would freely give handfuls of wealth to the people without counting it.” [Muslim]
Regarding what was predicted in this Hadith, we see that it was fulfilled during the Western economic blockade of 1990 (1410 AH), even by the United States (‘Ajam’, i.e. non-arab foreigners).
The United States is also the most affected country in the world since the start of the pandemic, ahead of Brazil and India.
The pandemic has already killed significantly more people in 2021 than in 2020 since more than 2.6 million deaths due to covid-19 have been officially recorded since January against just under 1.9 million over the whole of last year.
Countries in the region have seen infection
rates increase as the anchoring of the Delta variant has become more
contagious. Globally 5.239 billion doses have been distributed. In total, at
least 216.3 million people have been sick with covid-19 worldwide and at least
4.5 million have died since the end of December 2019, and so some countries
[governments] are urgently calling to do the third dose of these vaccines, like
in Israel or in Denmark.
Moreover, in this century you see the emergence and proliferation of unrest in all its forms. These are signs that seem to be highlighted clearly in our time. Everyone feels surrounded on all sides by different forms of serious troubles.
Among so many afflictions that we are witnessing these days, there is notably the problem of interest, magazines and satellite television stations which broadcast and propagate indecent and pornographic images. It even goes as far as the exchange of videos and photographs between individuals, using cell phones [and smartphones as well].
Anyone who is able to steer clear of this kind of temptation, out of fear of Allah and, out of love and respect for Him, then Allah bestows on him a soft and heart-pleasing faith. Insha-Allah, may Allah (swt) give me the Tawfiq to continue the 3rd part of the Friday sermon on the Signs of the end of times [of the world]. Insha-Allah Ta’ala Al-Aziz.
Before closing I address all of you, all of humanity, and all my brothers, sisters and children in Islam. I warn you against major disturbances which will also arise afterwards, disturbances which will be such that the Muslim will hardly be able to distinguish the true [the truth] from the false [the lie]. So hurry to do good deeds, obey Allah and His Messenger, accept and acknowledge and convey the message to other people so that they recognize and accept the Divine Manifestation and this humble servant before trials occur which will be like fragments of a dark night.
Man will wake up a disbeliever [non-believer], selling his religion [his Islamic way of life] at a lowly price for the life of this earth so that he can acquire the pleasures and riches of this temporary life on earth. O my brothers, sisters and children, I see what you do not see; listen to me, rush into the accomplishment of pious works before it is too late and will no longer be possible [to accomplish], because of trials which will worry individuals [too much]. These trials will multiply and succeed one after the other (at a rapid pace), like fragments of a dark night where only darkness reigns like a moonless night [which cannot light your way].
These trials and troubles shall be so intense that the believer will switch from faith to disbelief within twenty-four hours. I pray to Allah Almighty that everyone will hear my voice and make a [positive] change in this lower world and in the Hereafter for their own good. Insha-Allah. Jazak-Allah.