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The People of the End Times as Foretold in Hadith

Signs of the Last Days, Part 6

Shaykh Taher Mateen Siddiqi

6 February 2015 Burton, Michigan

Jumu`ah Khutbah at As-Siddiq Mosque

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.

[Opening du`a of Khutbah.]

Alhamdulillah, all praise, thanks, and good things belong to Allah (swt) and we thank Him for gathering on the day of Jumu`ah, gathering us in safety and peace, gathering us where no one will attack us or harm us because we are Muslims! We are free to pray and observe everything in our religion, alhamdulillah, and alhamdulillah Allah created us as Muslims and that He kept us under the guidance of the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) and the Sunnah and teachings of the `ulama of the Muslims, because we're in a time where fitna is beyond what people can take and we are seeing things that were never seen before, things that are horrifying, terrifying, and all in the name of Islam, unfortunately, and those actions that have taken place in the name of Islam have nothing to do with Islam!

This is not something new, it has happened since the time of Prophet (s), that people took the name of Islam in vain and used it, abused it and harmed others and claimed that they were doing it in the name of Allah (swt)! The first of them were seen in the time immediately after the Prophet (s) left this dunya, and they were called the ‘Khwaarij’ and they used to fight against the Sahaabah of Rasoolullah (s) and claimed that they knew more than them and claimed they were better than them. It is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, that Ibn `Umar (r) used to see them as the worst of Creations and he said, “Truly they used the verses revealed about unbelievers against Believers.”

انهم انطلقوا الى ايات نزلت في الكفار فجعلوها في المؤمنين

Innahum intalqoo ilaa aayaatin nazalat fi ‘l-kuffaar fa ja`aloohaa fi l-mu’mineen. (Sahih Bukhari)

So they took Believers as unbelievers and treated them in that way, attacked them and killed and took their women as prisoners and enslaved them, and declared them as unbelievers! Scholars of Classical Islam warned about the Khawaarij of this time, people that take the name of Islam and take the verses of the Qur'an that were revealed for unbelievers and apply them to the Believers.

Yasser Ibn Amr (r) reported that he inquired of Sahl Ibn Hunaif (r), "Did you hear Allah’s Messenger (s) mention the Khawaarij?" He said, "Yes, I heard him say as he pointed his hand to the East that these would be a people who would recite the Qur’an, but it will not go beyond their throat. They would pass through the religion just as an arrow passes through its prey,” meaning they pass so quickly through the religion that they do not grasp any of it.

سيخرج قوم في آخر الزمان احداث الاسنان سفهاء الاحلام

The Prophet (s) said, “There will be a group of people at the end of time who are young and they have foolish dreams.” (Muslim)

It means their dreams are really out of this world, non-sensical; they speak from the words from the Best of Creation, meaning the Qur'an and the Hadith of Prophet (s). And what do we see today? People speaking the ayaat of the Holy Qur’an and giving so many Ahadith to prove what they want to do, even though it comes from their most foolish aspirations. Their faith does not reach even their throats and they pass out of the religion like an arrow passes through its prey.

Hudhayfa (r) related that the Prophet (s) replied to a question that was asked of him, “There will be a people who will lead to a path different from mine. You will see good and bad in them.” And Hudhayfa (r) asked Prophet (s), “Will there be any evil after the good?” The Prophet (s) said, “Some people will be standing and calling at the gates of Jahannum; whoever responds to the call, they will throw him into the Fire.” Hudhayfa (r) said, “Yaa Rasoolullah, describe them for us.” He (s) said, “They will be of our complexion, jildatinaa, and speak our very language.” I asked him, “What do you advise me to do if I should live until that time?” The Prophet (s) said, “You must stick to the jama`ah of the Muslimeen and their leader, their imaam.” Hudhayfa (r) wisely asked, “What if there is no jama`ah of the Muslims and no leader?” Prophet (s) said. “Isolate yourself from all of these sects even if you have to eat the roots of trees, until death takes you over and you are over like that.”

Recently, that group, who is called ‘Dawlat al-Islam’, and as we said, they have nothing to do with Islam but they use that name, they burned a man to death (Jordanian military pilot) in front of the television cameras. They recorded it for history and for everyone in the world to see. Did they not recall, did they not know the story of Ibraheem (a) when he destroyed the idols of the unbelievers except the three largest ones and put the ax in the hand of the largest and he left, and the people came and found their idols destroyed, and they asked, "Who did this? Who has done this with our gods? Surely he is one of the evil-doers.” And they said, “We heard a young man mention them and he was called ‘Ibraheem’.” They said, “Bring him before the people’s eyes, perhaps they shall bear witness.” They said, “Are you the man who did this, O Ibraheem?" He said, “No! Not at all, it was the great one that did this. Ask them, they are your idols, your gods, they are able to speak so ask them! If they are able to speak, let them speak.”

قَالَ بَلْ فَعَلَهُ كَبِيرُهُمْ هَـٰذَا فَاسْأَلُوهُمْ إِن كَانُوا يَنطِقُونَ

Qaala bal fa`alahu kabeeruhum haadhaa fasa’aloohum kaanoo yantiqoon. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:63)

So they turned to each other and said, “Surely, it is you who did this!” They were shaheed, witness against themselves, on their own wrongdoing, but despite this they continued in their wrongdoing! Then they were put into confusion and they said, “Verily, indeed you know these do not speak. Idols are dumb.” What did Ibraheem (a) say? “What? And you still serve other than God, which harms you not and hurts you not? Let disgust be upon you and all that you serve other than Allah! Do you not understand?”

قَالَ أَفَتَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّـهِ مَا لَا يَنفَعُكُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَضُرُّكُمْ أُفٍّ لَّكُمْ وَلِمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّـهِ ۖ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

Qaala a-fa-ta`budoona min dooni Llahi maa laa yanfa`ukum shay’an wa laa yadurrukum uffin lakum wa li-maa ta`budoona min dooni Llahi a-fa laa ta`qiloom. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:66-67)

What did they say?

قَالُوا حَرِّقُوهُ وَانصُرُوا آلِهَتَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ

Qaaloo harriqoohu wansuroo aalihatikum in kuntum faa`ileen. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:68)

“Burn him and give support to your gods if you really want to do anything!” Why? Does God need support? God should have infinite strength and infinite power, He doesn’t need anyone’s support! So, they knew they were wrong, but they continued in their wrongdoing, and on top of it, they did more wrongdoing.

The king of that time, Nimrod, whom they used to worship in addition to their gods, ordered for Ibraheem (a) to be burned. He ordered the people to collect a mountain of wood and it took people one year to collect it and start that fire, and because of the intense heat of that fire no one could approach it and in fact they could not bring Ibraheem (a) to put him in that fire. But Shaytan, always inspiring human beings with people to new inventions, inspiring them with ways to do more wrong, inspired them in new way, manjaneeq, a catapult, which had never been seen before, in order to throw Ibraheem from far away from the ground into the fire. So they built that manjaneeq, and as they were ready to throw Ibraheem into the fire he showed no fear, he had no doubt in his Lord, and all the time he was reciting, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah wahdahu laa shareeka lah lahu ‘l-mulku wa lahu ‘l-hamdu yuhyi wa yumeet wa huwa `alaa kulli shayin qadeer.”

And the angels came to Allah Almighty and said, “Yaa Allah, Your best friend, Khaleel Ibraheem is about to be killed. Please spare his life.”

And Allah (swt) said, “Go to him and ask him if he wishes to be freed from the fire and if he so wishes, you may set him free.”

Ibraheem (a) replied to the angel, “My body and my soul are from Allah Almighty, The One Lord. So do your own business (mind your own business). It is He Who created me and all that happens to me is according to His Will. So do not worry about me.”

And the people threw Ibraheem (a) into the fire and as soon as he fell into the fire all the trees that were its fuel turned green and came back to life, and from the ground Ibraheem landed on springs of water and all along the banks of that water were covered in green grass and flowers! Allah (swt) qadeer` alaa kulli shayy! And as Allah (swt) says in Holy Qur’an:

قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ

We said, “O Fire! Be cool and a safety/peaceful for Ibraheem!” (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:69)

So despite their attempts and their immense work to harm Ibraheem (a), they were unable to do so. And Allah (swt) sent Jibreel (a) with food for him from Paradise, and he was in the midst of that fire, which was raging like a fire of Hell for three months without any harm coming to him! Then Allah (swt) narrates another story of fire in the Holy Qur’an:

وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْمَوْعُودِ وَشَاهِدٍ وَمَشْهُودٍ قُتِلَ أَصْحَابُ الْأُخْدُودِ النَّارِ ذَاتِ الْوَقُودِ

إِذْ هُمْ عَلَيْهَا قُعُودٌ وَهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَفْعَلُونَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ شُهُودٌ وَمَا نَقَمُوا مِنْهُمْ إِلَّا أَن يُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّـهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ الْحَرِيقِ

The signs of the sky, (the Zodiacal signs, swearing by the sky and the Signs in the sky), the twelve Zodiacs and by the promised Sign of Judgment, and by The One Who witnesses and the witnessed! Woe to the makers of the pit of fire, fire supplied by fuel, withhold they sat over against the fire and witnessed all that they were doing against the Believers and they harmed people for no reason other than they believed in Allah, Exalted in Power, Worthy of All Praise! Him, to Whom belongs the dominions of the Heavens and Earth, and Allah is Witness Over All Things! Surely those who harm believing men and believing women and do not seek repentance for them is the punishment of Hell, and for them is the punishment of the Fire. (Surat al-Burooj, 85:1-10)

What is the story behind this Surah? The story, as related by the Prophet (s):

كان في من كان قبلكم ملك وله ساحر فلما كبر الساحر قال للملك اني قد كبر سني ،حضر اجلي فادفع الي غلاما لاعلمه السحر

Kaana fee man kaana qablakum malik wa lahu saahir, fa lammaa kabura ‘s-saahir qaala li ‘l-malik innee qad kabura sinnee wa hadara ajalee fa-’dfa` ilayya ghulaaman li-u`alimmahu ‘s-sihr.

(Musnad Ahmad)

The Prophet (s) related. “From the people who came before you there was a king who had a sorcerer and when that sorcerer became old, he said to the king, “I have become old and my time is nearly over, so please send a young man to me to whom I can teach my magic.” So the king sent him a boy, and the sorcerer, the wizard taught him magic and it’s a long story, but that boy learned magic and he sat at the same time with a monk whom he used to visit, a Christian monk who was on his way to the sorcerer, and he used to listen to him and admire what he said. So he used to go to the sorcerer but pass by the monk first and visit with him, and the sorcerer would whip him because he was late. So he complained to the monk, who said to him, “Say to the sorcerer if you are late, ‘My people kept me busy,’ and when you go back to your people and they whip you because you are late, say to them, ‘The sorcerer kept me busy.’”

So the boy carried on like that, then a huge, terrible creature emerged on the road from which the people were unable to pass. The boy said, “Today I shall find out who is better, who knows more, the monk or the sorcerer.” So he took a stone and said, “O Allah! If the deeds of the monk are liked better by You than those of the wizard, kill this creature so the people can cross the road safely,” and he threw the stone and it killed the beast, and the people were able to pass on the road. So the boy realized that the monk is on the way of truth and he told them about it.

The monk said, “O my son, today you have reached a level higher than me and achieved what I see, but you will be tested by the people and in case you are put to test, do not inform them about me.”

The boy used to go about and heal people simply by touching them or by praying on them; those who were blind he made to see and other diseases were healed by him. This continued for some time, until one blind coutier of the king came and he was cured by the boy.

When the king saw that he asked, “Who gave you your sight?”

The courtier said, “My Lord.”

The king said, “What, I did?” because he thought he was the Lord.

The courtier said, “The Lord of you and me, who is ‘Allah’.”

The king said, “You have a Lord other than me?”

He said, “Yes, Allah, who is your Lord and mine.”

So the king tortured him and did not stop until he told him about the boy. So finally the king brought the boy and asked him, “Do you have a Lord other than me?

The boy said, "Yes, your Lord and my Lord is Allah."

The king asked him to abandon his belief but the boy refused. So the king attempted to kill him and in every different way he tried to kill him he was unsuccessful. Finally, the boy came back to the king and said, “If you really want to kill me, I will tell you how to do it. You have to take an arrow from my quiver and gather all the people and then before shooting the arrow say, ‘In the Name of Allah, The Lord of the boy,’ and when that arrow hits me, I will die.”

The king did as the boy said, as soon as he pulled the arrow he said, “In the Name of the Lord of the boy,” and he released the arrow and it killed the boy. When the people saw that, they were horrified and said to the king, “Do you see what has happened? That which you feared has taken place! All the people have believed in the Lord of the boy (Allah).”

So the king ordered ditches to be dug and all the entrances to the roads to be filled with fire. Then the king said, “Whoever leaves his religion, let him go, and whoever believes in Allah throw them in this fire!”

So they were struggling and trying to escape the fire, but they could not, and they were burned to death until a woman carrying a baby, feeding him at her breast, came to the fire and they told her, “Either renounce your religion or go into the fire.” She was hesitant, not for herself but for her baby, and the baby spoke in clear words, “O my mother! Isbiree, be patient, for verily you are following the truth,” and she went into the fire with her baby.

This is what Allah (swt) revealed, cursing the people of Ukhdood, the people who built that fire and burned the Believers in it! Allah (swt) does not like anyone to be burned! Allah (swt) is the Lord of Creation and He is the only One who has the right. Our Prophet (s) said in Sahih al-Bukhari:

والنار لا يعذب بها الا رب النار

Wa ‘n-naaru laa yu`adhdhibu bihaa illaa rabb al-naar.

Nobody can punish or burn with fire except the Lord of the Fire. (Bukhari)

[Closing du`a of Khutbah.]

Wa qoolu qawli hadha w‘astagfirullah.

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