A number of years ago i began research for another book entitled “The Lifespan of this Ummah and It’s History According to Prophetic Narration’s from Beginning to End”, it was a chronological arrangement of the prophetic Narration’s about the signs of the hour which simultaneously focused on the many Ahadith which indicated that the age span of this Ummah (how long Islam would remain on earth) was known to Rasul Allah (saws). All things were shown to the prophet (saws) except for five matters, He (saws) did not know when the hour itself would occur but knew everything else before hand.

The Ahadith are far to many to mention here but it is enough to mention that Imam Bukhari narrates seven ahadith in his Sahih regarding the matter while Imam Ibn Hajar in his famous Tafsir (exegesis) to Sahih Bukhari, ‘Fath al Bari’ commented on this giving a specific lifespan for Islam.

Since we are at the end of time we have the advantage of hindsight scholars from previous era’s did not, most of the events have already occurred with only the major signs remaining.

Yet hardly any new books have been written on the subject, most printed works are those of Imam Ibn Kathir, whose work is extremely accurate after recent investigation’s, but lacked precision and finality in pinpointing specific events that have occurred in our life, since he was talking about a distant future, while to us it is all history. The Imam for instance would arrange three or four narration’s under a specific heading and then arrange all of these headings in a larger timeline, but the narration’s themselves would not be in any specific order only the title’s.

The book is still being researched and is a larger scope than this present work, it cover’s Al Malhama Kubra (the Great Battle) in greater detail, the events surrounding the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him) and their interpretation and identifying who Yajuj wa Majuj are along with were they are, and the Lifespan of the Ummah, or how long will Islam be on earth for, scholars like Imam Abu Dawwud and Imam Tirmidhi in their respective collections similarly narrated numerous ahadith regarding this subject.

Hence most of the essential research for this book came from that effort, i have generally avoided discussion’s on methodology throughout the book for the sake of being brief and not because that investigation wasn’t carried out as i know some would like to ponder over it.

So Insha Allah we will give a brief discussion on the chronology and methodology we employed to arrive at the order in this book.

Finding and identifying the exact order of events in a large number of Ahadith was the result of a number of years of study and research into the subject, hence stating that a narration was speaking about a specific event was not done in haste or with ease.

After investigation it became very clear that in order to simplify matters we could divide narration’s into those that spoke of events before the Fall of Islam’s last Khalifah, most of which is History and easy to identify and narration’s that spoke about the last one hundred years, our present time and those of future events.

In terms of narration’s speaking about modern events the Hadith which Imam Ibn Kathir labeled “The Fitnah of the Saddlebag” is key to all modern events, it gives a list of most of the modern trials (fitan’s) the prophet (saws) spoke of and a chronology that ends with the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him) himself, spanning decades.

Abdullah ibn ‘Umar said, “While we were seated with the Messenger of Allah, he mentioned the tribulations, and he mentioned much about them until he discussed the trial of the saddlebags.” Someone said, “O Messenger of Allah, what is the trial of the saddlebags?” He said, “It is the usurping of wealth and the fleeing. Then there is the trial of As-Saraa (espionage and spying) — it’s Dakhal or smoke. Underneath my feet is a man from the people of my household who claims that he is my son (or direct descendent) but he is not from me; indeed my Awliya (companions or helpers) are only those who are the Muttaqoon (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 (temporary).Then there will be the Duhaimaa (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 in the night. (This will continue) until people will go to two Fustaats (group’s) — the Fustaat of Eemaan (faith), in which there is no hypocrisy, and the Fustaat of hypocrisy, in which there is no Eemaan (faith). And when that will come to you (the sorting is finished), wait for the Dajjaal on that day or on the morrow.” (Abu Dawood)

In the narration it begins with the trial of the Saddlebag, next is the Trial of as-Sarra, then the Duhaima and then people being sifted into two camps an event that will end with the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him) emerging on that specific day or the one following it.
People being sifted and split into camps is spoken of in a number of other narration’s;

Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn Aas reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “How will you (act) and the time draws near when people will be sifted; the covenants of people will be corrupted and the people will differ; then they will be like this,” and he intertwined his fingers. They said, “How should we (act), O Messenger of Allah?” He said, ” Take what you know to be good and leave what you repudiate; betake yourselves to your own private affairs and leave off the affairs of the general public.” (Abu Dawood)

In this narration the sifting is mentioned to occur just before people’s lives become intertwined, this event is identifiable and is clear because we have seen it, it is the globalization of the world due to modern technological advancement’s, we know with certainty when this globalization occurred because of the availability of technology and hence we can date it with certainty.

It was after 2001 that the internet was first introduced to the masses, prior to that it was very slow, 56k dial up modems were considered fast and the latest thing, it was limited in who used it and technology was not that advanced or widespread, by 1995 it was said only 24 million people used the internet, but by 2012 that number increased a hundred fold to 2.4 billion, from it’s increased availability a number of large industries emerged that have since shaped our lives in less then a decade.

The number of similar connections that can be made with other Ahadith, identifying specific dates, is numerous but essentially when this is done with more depth and a greater scope, a bigger picture begins to emerge along with a definite chronology.

A simple example is the following narration; Abu Hurairah related that the Prophet (saws) said, “By the One Who has sent me with the Truth, this world will not come to an end until they are afflicted with Al-Khasf (earthquakes), Al-Qadhf (strong winds that cause rocks to fly a simile for Bombardment), and Al-Maskh (emergence of people who transmute (Maskh) themselves and other’s, these are people who use Sihr and follow trends).” The Companions asked, “And when is that, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “When you see women riding private parts (when pornography becomes widespread), when there will be many female singers (the music industry spreads and uses sexuality to sell music), when there will be much false testimony (globalization, when the contract’s become corrupt and people bear false testimony), when men will suffice themselves with men, and when women will suffice themselves with women.” (homosexuality becomes accepted in society) (Al-Haafiz Abu Bakr Al-Bazzaar related this narration, taken from Ibn Kathir’s al Bidaya wa Nihaya)

We can identify the dates because the prophet (saws) said this will occur when Pornography, music, homosexuality are wide spread and globalization has occurred. Pornography only spread around the world, as we see it today, destroying conservative societies after the advent of the Internet, prior to the internet’s emergence it is was limited to media that was restricted in it’s impact on people, like magazine’s and VHS tapes, and not easily attainable, hence the industry was still relatively small compared to what it is today. Music similarly spread with the internet and technology, along with the acceptance of homosexuality in society.

During the 90’s Homosexual people were still ostracized from mainstream life and hidden away. Hence from this we know the period that al Khasf, Qadhaf and Maskh are to occur in and we can identify them accordingly. The 2004 Tsunami was one of the biggest earthquake’s in world history, Bombardment or Qadfh refers to the wars between Israel, Lebanon, Syria and the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The reach of missile’s by Hizb Allah and Syria was actually the key issue over which the war’s began, Hizb Allah would literally trade missile for missile with Israel. During this time we also saw sub cultures and the influence of occult groups, along with people who use sihr (dark magic), spread around the world, something that is openly practiced in America in both Hollywood and the Music industries, coincidentally they are responsible for creating many of these subcultures that practice sihr (dark magic) more extremely which all relate to Maskh.

The sifting of people into two camps is a key event mentioned in many narrations, it is also mentioned at the beginning of the narration regarding the War in Syria “At the end of time there will be a trial in which people (at large) will be sorted in a similar way to that in which gold is sorted from metal. Therefore (as a result of this sifting that is causing people to differ) do not rebuke the people of Syria rather, rebuke the evil people among them (Asad and his regime), because amongst them are the Abdals (Awliya). Allah will send a flood from Heaven (an event, the Arab spring) that will disperse their groups in a way (the civil) that if foxes were to attack them (ISIS and Al Qaeda) they would be victorious” (meaning the foxes are opportunistic and would not have won otherwise).

“Abu Hurairah related that the Messenger of Allah said, “Iraq will be prevented from its dirham (a currency) and its Qifaz (measurement of Oil, the sanctions of Iraq during the 90’s and early 2000); Sham will be prevented from its Mudd (measurement of wheat) and its Dinar (a currency) and Egypt will be prevented from its Irdab (measurement of grain) and its Dinar (currency). You will recoil to that position from were you started and you will recoil to that position from were you started (the Khalifah will no longer exist and Islamic borders will shrink), the bones and the flesh of Abu Huraira would bear testimony to it” (Muslim, Book 41 Hadith 6923)

Because we know that the Hadith mentioning the sanctions placed on Iraq says Sham will have sanctions placed on it, we know Syria is next to be occupied by a foreign power, this usually occurs following the same recipe, a Muslim government come’s into power the super powers don’t like that so they intervene to secularize the entire country, this is simply modern history in the Islamic world.

Hence this hadith in turn connects the war in Syria to the Fitnah of the Saddlebag in Iraq and the Duhaima, September the 11th in America (discussed in detail in the book), because both narrations talk about the sifting of people.

The hadith of the Saddlebag spans a larger time period, beginning in the 90’s and ending with the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him), it also connects the hadith regarding the war in Syria with the Hadith mentioning the Sanction’s on Iraq, Syria and then Egypt because the sanctions on Iraq have already occurred.

These narration’s are all then connected to the Ahadith regarding the different phases of Islamic governance (mentioned in the book) and the era of Dictators ending, because it ended with the Arab spring and the only thing that is next, is a return to Khalifah under the Mahdi (ra).

We know from modern history sanction’s will more than likely be placed on Syria when an Islamic government takes control of Syria, in this way a larger picture emerges from all the narration’s.

This shows us how perfectly and accurately Rasul Allah (saws) described the events of the 90’s up to the time we are living in now. Between the Hadith of the Saddle Bag mentioning the different Fitnahs (trials) and the Hadith mentioning the Sanctions of Iraq, Sham and Egypt we have a timeline with clear events defined on it up to the time of the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him), one Hadith filling in the gaps of the other.

Many other Ahadith fit into this timeline, between the sanctions on Iraq and the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him) and further elaborate on what has occurred and will occur in the future.

A scholar said regarding the phrase in the Hadith, “Underneath my feet is a man from the people of my household who claims that he is my son (or direct descendent) but he is not from me”, In the summer of 1990, at the time the words ALLAHU AKBAR first appeared on the flag of Iraq, Saddam Hussain declared he was a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him peace, and produced a family chart to prove it. This chart hangs in one of the heavily frequented Shi`i mosques in Iraq, next to the presumed graves of one of Ahl al-Bayt. Saddam also began to address King Hussayn of Jordan, a real 27 generation descendent, as “cousin.”

Rasul Allah (pbuh) indicates who is responsible for the Fitnah of the Saddle Bag and Fitnatul Sarrah, by pointing out a public action of his we would know him clearly by “Underneath my feet is a man from the people of my household who claims that he is my son (or direct descendent) but he is not from me”, no other individual is connected to all the events mentioned in this single Hadith and is responsible for them except Saddam Hussein.

Becouse we can identify the individual in this Hadith as Saddam Hussein we can identify all the other events similarly since they are all in our History, and Identifying the Duhaima, September the 11th was done in this manner, it’s impact on the world literally split the world into two camps;

Abu Hurairah said, “The Prophet said, Woe to the Arabs from the great evil which is nearly approaching them: it will be like patches of dark night. A man will wake up as a believer, and be a kafir (unbeliever) by nightfall. People will sell their religion for a small amount of worldly goods. The one who clings to his religion on that day will be as one who is grasping an ember or thorns.” (Ahmad)

Abu Hurairah (r.a) reported that Rasul Allah (saws) said, “Perform all good deeds before the era of evil dawns, the darkness of which will increase in waves. The effects of these evils will be so grave that a person will be a Mu’min in the morning and a Kaafir at night, or, a Mu’min at night and a Kaafir in the morning. A person will sell his Deen in lieu of a paltry sum.” (Muslim)

The “Patches of a dark night” mentioned in the first Hadith refers to the Duhaimma, mentioned in the fitnah of the Saddlebag narration which similarly mentions “A man will wake up a believer and go to sleep a disbeliever”, the above two Ahadith are then connected by the statements quoted, which is the characteristic of this Fitnah.

The Duhaima is mentioned in an indirect manner in a number of smaller narration’s, so once we know the key phrases the prophet (saws) used to describe it we can collect them under this single event, identifying other things the prophet (saws) said would occur around this time.

For example the prophet (saws) said “There will be a tribulation in which a man will be a believer in the morning and a disbeliever by evening, except the one to whom Allah grants Knowledge”. (Ibn Maaja, Vol1, Book 36, Hadith 3954) by itself this is unidentifiable but we now know that the description and words “a man will be a believer in the morning and a disbeliever by evening” refers to this fitna, so the prophet (saws) gave advice to acquire knowledge in order to protect oneself from it because the world will be so dark at this time people will leave their religion, we saw this with the rise of Atheism and evolution which challenged religion, while many others chose to make money by publicly leaving Islam to promote a book they wrote against it.

Similarly the prophet (saws) said “Before the Hour comes, there will be a tribulation like patches of dark night. A man will get up a believer and go to sleep a kafir, or will go to sleep a believer and get up a kafir. The one who sits will be better than one who stands, and one who walks will be better than one who runs. Break your bows, cut their strings, and strike your swords against stones. If someone comes to kill any of you, then be like the better of the two sons of Adam.” (Abu Dawud.)

From this narration we now know the words of the prophet (saws) “a tribulation like patches of dark night” refers to the Duhaima because he similarly says in it “A man will get up a believer and go to sleep a kafir”, from here we can now use these phrases along with the advice “The one who sits will be better than one who stands, and one who walks will be better than one who runs. Break your bows, cut their strings, and strike your swords against stones. If someone comes to kill any of you, then be like the better of the two sons of Adam” to further identify other narrations which use this phrasing, connecting them all together and drawing a larger picture.

The phrases “The one who sits will be better than one who stands”, “strike your swords” and ” be like the better of the two sons of Adam” is used in many other narration’s that don’t mention the Duhaima by name, but as we research these narration’s that mention two or three events in this way, we can identify many other events mentioned around the fitna of the Duhaima and date them accurately.

An example of this is the narration in which the Prophet (saws) said, “There will be a tribulation in which the one who is sleeping will be better than the one who is lying down, the one who is lying will be better than the one who is sitting, the one who is sitting will be better than the one who is standing, the one who is standing will be better than the one who is walking, the one who is walking will be better than the one who is riding, and the one who is riding will be better than the one who is running; “all of their dead will be in Hell” (meaning those who went out to fight and died are in Hell)….(it is mentioned in full in the book)

The phrase “all of their dead will be in Hell” is mentioned in another set of different narration’s all said to occur at the end of time without specifying the Duhaima or indicating a date or referring to the one who sits or stands, but they speak about a general trial at the end of time.

Once this work is done a large chain of events, one after the other, along a very obvious timeline begins to emerge connecting even more events, allowing us to realise that the prophet (saws), as many companions said, literally spoke about all the major events, one after the other, year after year, leading all the way up to the Hour.

Umar ibn Al-Khattaab (ra) said, “One day the Prophet (saws) stood up amongst us for a long period and informed us about the beginning of creation (and talked about everything in detail) till he mentioned how the people of Paradise will enter their places and the people of Hell will enter their places. Some remembered what he had said, and some forgot it”. (Bukhari)

We have not lost these narration’s, the scholars collected them all in their works, we need to simply identify the events one after the other to realise how much information we have been given by the prophet (saws) and how they fit into what Umar (ra) said.

The following is probably one of the most distinctive narration’s when connecting all the ahadith together because it mention’s three key things all spoken of separately in many other narration’s but here because they are mentioned together in single hadith we can connect them and identify all the narration’s at the same time, otherwise most people would overlook this hadith as just another sign of the hour.

The event in the hadith was identified from the last two phrases; Abdullah bin ‘Amr narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “There shall be a Fitnah of extermination of the ‘Arabs. Its fighters are in the Fire. During it, the tongue is stronger then the sword.” (Tirmidhi, Vol. 4, Book 7, Hadith 2178)

The extermination of the arabs is mentioned in detail in many other Ahadith, some we have related at the beginning of this book, it’s finality will be during the time of the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him).

Before the Mahdi emerges 1/3 of the Arabs will have died in wars, 1/3 will have perished from famine, disease etc, and only 1/3 will remain. By the time of al Malhama al Kubra (the Great Battle) Europe will be asking for the genocide of the Arabs openly and by the time of Isa (as) most of the arabs will have died and what remains will mainly all be in Jerusalem, no more than a few hundred thousand if we consider how many can live in that city, all of this is clearly mentioned in narration’s but now we can place this event along a specific timeline.

Since we can identify all these events we now know it’s timing and beginning was during the Duhaima, September the 11th, the clearest event about this matter being the second Invasion and occupation of Iraq, even though Saddam Hussein was cleared of any involvement in the Attack on America and did not have any weapons of Mass destruction America still invaded.

The Prophet (pbuh) said: There will be such troubles and calamities that nobody will have a place to shelter from them. These calamities will travel around Sham (the wars between the 50’s, 70’s and 80’s) and settle over Iraq (in the 90’s, this identified in detail in the book). They will bind the Arabian Peninsula…As they attempt to eliminate these calamities in one (place) they will arise again in another. (Kenzul Ummal, Book of Thoughts on Doomsday, Vol 5, p 38-39)

Troubles and calamities “traveled” around Sham (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, involving the neighboring countries) after WW2 ended, they settled over Iraq in the 90’s then flared up Again in Syria in the last decade, “As the strife calms down in one place in Sham, it will rise up in another (place). The strife (in sham) will not end until Angels call out from the sky “The Mahdi is your Leader”, “The Mahdi is your caliph””. (Taken from the works of Harun Yahya in which he cites it from – Mustafa Resit Filizi, Treatise on the Coming of the Mahdi, p 63)

Events of the hour will continue one after another like beads falling from a string follow each other, this is what occurred after the 90’s in Iraq, sanctions were lifting from the country and events were settling down when September the 11th occurred beginning the wars all over again, foreign troops were pulled out of Iraq in the 2000’s when Civil War broke out in Syria, and they will continue in Syria (Sham) until the Mahdi (ra) emerges.

If we consider the hadith of the Saddlebag, how long it’s consequence’s have lasted since 1990, all the events it entailed, the man behind it all that lead to the Duhaima (sep the 11th), which split the world into two camps, it becomes clear who the prophet (saws) was referring to in the following narration and what the calamity was;

“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 (sep the 11th was the begging of oppression, this is why the whole world is mentioned here). At that time (this is relatively speaking, Islam has been on earth for 1400 years) God will send a man from my family to fill the earth with justice” (Ibn Hajar)

The Mahdi (ra) will come towards the end of the fitnah we are now facing, when it’s ramifications are nearing there end on earth, because of what 9/11 did to the world. splitting it into two camps, it’s effects on earth will only end with the Dajjaal emerging that day or the next, the Mahdi will emerge about 9 years before this time and the Great War (Armageddon) will be fought during this time between the Muslims and Europe.

Before the Mahdi (ra) emerges events will revolve around the tyrant al Sufyani (who the prophet spoke about), he will wage wars but there repercussion’s will be local while the Actions of Saddam Hussein impacted the entire Muslim world, because it was a time in society when breaking your word still had consequences and meaning, we only later become desensitized to these things and their is no more room for that shock and impact, it is common place now.

“the earth (the world) with injustice and corruption will shrivel for its inhabitants”, this is what occurred after sanction’s were placed on Iraq, September the 11th gave America it’s excuse to invade Iraq again to depose Saddam Hussein and begin the campaign of exterminating the Arabs.

The first Iraq war was the initial injustice that lead to all later injustices the Ummah faced like September the 11th and the second invasion of Iraq.

Abdullah ibn Amr related that he heard the Messenger of Allah say, “When you see that my nation dreads saying to the oppressor, ‘Indeed you are an oppressor,’ then they have taken their leave (i.e. their existence and non-existence amounts to the same thing).” (Ahmad)

We know this Hadith refers to Saddam Husain because the Prophet (saws) was referring to His “entire Ummah” at a time when their entire existence and nonexistence will amount to the same thing, they will all be worthless and powerless after this time to stand up to anyone.

This can’t have occurred during the time of the Khalifa’s because tyrants in Islam’s history during the Dynasties were followed by leaders better than them, one Khalifah would follow another, and many existed at the same time some better than others, similarly one Dynasty would follow another and muslims were in control of their own affairs.

But only now after there are no more Khalifahs and we are living in the era of Tyrants, during a time after the wars of the past 100 years that crushed the Islamic spirit, did the Muslims reach a point of hopelessness in what was occurring in the muslim world.

They were powerless to say anything, they literally said nothing, and even accepted their Tyrant leaders actions, “they have taken their leave” from morality and Islam itself, Allahs said about the responsibility he placed on Man “We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it; He was indeed unjust and foolish” (33:72).

Hence from all these connections the Hadith mentioning the trial of the Saddle Bag, the Trial of Al Sarrah and the Trial of the Duhaimaa is the most significant of all the Ahadith prior to the advent of the Mahdi (ra) because it describes the Major events which changed the world’ It gave a timeline for events from the time of the 1990 Iraq War, to what we are living right now, then on to the time of the Mahdi (ra) and finally the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him).

All other Ahadith referring to the signs before the Mahdi (ra) fit into the timeline established by this Hadith, closely followed by the Ahadith speaking about the sanctions on the Arab world. This is because when war reaches Egypt that is the beginning of the Major wars, as the prophet (saws) said.

If we look at methodology we have used in an abstract manner for establishing how these Ahadith connect events which have already occurred, we can see the big picture by understating that Rasul Allah (saws) in a narration may mention an event A followed by events B,C then D, and from this the Ullumah (Scholars) can now know that these events will occur in this exact sequence.

Then in another narration the Prophet (saws) may mention in a specific order the same event A then B, but followed by events E and F, skipping C and D, were by we know that E and F have already occurred.

So from this the Ullumah can conclude that events A,B, C and D must have also occurred but we just need to identify them properly since the wording in the Hadith may be vague.

This is the case regarding the Hadith mentioning the Fitnah of the Saddlebag, in this instance the Prophet (saws) Mentions events A, B,C,D, E, F and G along a definite timeline and in other Ahadith He (saws) mentions a different set of events that we know are occurring now and are the exact same events of E and F mentioned, so we know the earlier events in the Hadith of the Saddle Bag must have therefor occurred.

He (saws) also mentions in another set of Ahadith events that we know will occur between D, E, F and since the last event “G” is the arrival of the Dajjaal (Allah’s curse be upon him) we can arrange all the Ahadith with certainty along an accurate timeline because of this.

Another method that will help in this task is to look at all the Ahadith the Imams have compiled in their works along their Time line, which Imam Ibn Kathir and Imam Suyuti did, we then will know how many events and narrations are left to occur before the time of the Mahdi (ra), allowing us to identify their chronology and relative time period accurately.

My Intention Insha allah in mentioning this is that scholars or others who may research the matter will Insha Allah come up with more accurate results.

Imam Ali (ra) said “Knowledge leads to Wisdom, the educated man is the wise one, riches diminish by expenditure while knowledge is increased by dissemination.”

He (ra) also said “The sum total of (Human) excellence (Ihsan) is Knowledge.”