Sowing the Seeds- Action in the Last Days

Sowing the Seeds: Action in the Last Days

Opening and Introduction

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad, the most honored of the prophets and messengers. Allah has sent him as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner before the Hour. I praise Allah and ask His help and ask His forgiveness. And I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of my soul. I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of my soul. And I ask Allah to guide me to the right path and to what is right and what is right in my words. I praise Allah for the blessing of Islam and it is enough as a blessing.

The Prophet's Mission Before the Hour

Allah sent the Prophet (peace be upon him) according to the Prophet's own word, (بُعِثْتُ أَنَا وَالسَّاعَةُ كَهَاتَيْنِ - Buthtu ana wa as-sa'atu kahatayn - Sahih Bukhari 6504), in the presence of the last moment. And Sa'ah in the Arabic language means different things. Generally the idea of a 60 minute hour is a modern, reasonably modern concept. It's actually not a traditional understanding of a Sa'ah. The Arabs use Sa'ah to mean a moment or a short period of time. They say, (قَامَ مِنْ سَاعَتِهِ - qama min sa'atihi), means he got up immediately.

So the Sa'ah is actually the moment of the death of the cosmos. And according to the Qur'an (لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا - la rayba fiha), there's no doubt in the Sa'ah itself. Allah has promised that the last moment will occur. And he's warned us, and he sent a messenger before the last hour.

The Age of Humanity and Historical Perspective

Now there are those who say the Prophet (peace be upon him) came 1400 years ago, and yet the Sa'ah has not come, and he said I was sent between the two hands of the hour. Now I would say that I think it's fascinating that at the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the dominant belief, and it was certainly reiterated several times in tafsirs and in different books of the Muslims, that the hour, the life of the world had only been about 7000 years. Now if you look at that in relation to the coming of the Prophet (peace be upon him) being immediately before the hour, then we would think that 1400 years is not certainly a very short time in relation to an earth that Benny Adam had only been on it about 7000 years. Now we know quite clearly that human beings have inhabited this planet for millennia.

We really don't know how long, but there is obvious evidence that it was much longer than people previously had understood. And it's interesting that a 13th century Andalusian scholar mentioned once that he had a dream in which he saw somebody who, he asked him his name and he said Adam, and the man said, are you Abuna Adam? And he said no, I'm not that Adam. Between that Adam and myself were 40,000 years.

Now this scholar said that he considered it a true vision, Ru'ya, and because of that he said we should really reject the Israeli tradition that the Benny Adam had only been there 7000 years because there was no evidence from the Hadith to indicate that. The evidence would indicate that human beings have been here for a much longer period of time.

The Importance of Signs of the End Times

So having said that, one of the interesting things that I find in our present time is the lack of concern of many Muslims with the last hour, with the actual signs of the end of time. Now I find it fascinating that this has been a major concern of Ulama for over a thousand years and it was a concern of the Sahaba. There were Sahaba that were so worried that the Dajjal would appear during their own lifetime. One of them said, I used to ask the Prophet (peace be upon him) so much about the Dajjal out of fear that I would be taken into his sedition, into his fitna, into his seduction, because fitna is also means seduction, that finally the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, don't worry, you won't see him, and he just gave him ease.

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a Hadith said, if he shows up and I'm amongst you, that I will defeat him by argumentation. In other words, I will defeat him with clear proofs because he will fool people through this false doctrine, this false teaching in which he gets many people to follow him. Now it's also interesting that we literally end our prayer by saying, and certainly I know in the school of Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), the last thing that the person says before they say taslimah, which is the khuruj min as-salah, leaving the prayers, (وَأَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ - wa a'udhu billahi min fitnati masihi ad-dajjal).

That is literally how an individual leaves his prayer. That is the last word before he says, and I seek refuge from the fitna of the false or the imposter Messiah.

The Hadith of Jibreel: The Foundation of Understanding

Now I would just like to use an example of the importance of these signs. The most famous tradition which is a summation of the Deen of Islam is the tradition that's related in several collections and it's a Sahih Hadith and it's in Imam al-Nawawi's Arba'een. In fact it's the second Hadith that Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) relates, in which he says (بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ جُلُوسٌ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ - Baynama nahnu julusun 'inda rasuli Allahi salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam dhata yawm - Sahih Muslim 8) We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah on that specific day, and then he said (إِذْ طَلَعَ عَلَيْنَا رَجُلٌ - idh tala'a alayna rajulun) A man appeared, and he mentions that he had dark black hair, and he had a clear white robe, and there was no evidence of traveling, which is a very interesting point, because it would be clear in that time.

Medina was an extremely small city, and to get to that city you would have to traverse a desert, and by traversing the desert you would become disheveled. This is the nature of traveling in the desert, and anybody who's traveled especially on camel or even walking in the desert, and I've done both of them, you get extremely dirty, and you're called (أَشْعَثَ أَغْبَرَ - ash'ath aghbar) You're covered and disheveled. And yet this man showed no signs of journeying, and this was something that the Sahaba found very strange.

But they didn't question, and he came up to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he put his two knees to his two knees, and then he put his hands... There's two different opinions, either on his thighs, or on the thighs of the Prophet (peace be upon him). From balagha would be on the sides of the Prophet (peace be upon him), some say that it was on the sides of his own thighs.

But the point is he sat extremely close to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and then he asked him about Islam, which was the first thing, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) informed him, and he said (صَدَقْتَ - sadaqta), and the Sahaba said (فَعَجِبْنَا لَهُ - fa'ajibna lahu) We were amazed. Here's a man who has the audacity to ask the Prophet a question, and then he tells him that he was correct in his answer. So they were shocked by this statement.

And then he asked him about (إيمان - iman), and the Prophet gave the six articles of faith, and the five pillars of Islam, six articles of faith, and then he asked him about (إحسان - ihsan). Now most Muslims, if you ask them what is the summation of the Deen of Islam, they would tend to say Islam, (إيمان - iman) and (إحسان - ihsan) and they take it from that hadith. But there's another portion of that hadith.

The Fourth Pillar: Signs of the Hour

And then he said (فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنِ السَّاعَةِ - fa'akhbirni 'an as-sa'ah - Sahih Muslim 8) Tell me about the Sa'a. Now that is extremely important, because generally although the Sa'a and the sciences of the last hour are what's called in aqeedah (الغيبيات - al-ghaybiyyat) or (السمعيات - as-sam'iyyat), and they're usually studied under the section which would be categorized under the rubric of (إيمان - iman). But despite that, in this hadith, we see that he asked specifically about the signs of the last hour.

And the Prophet gave an extraordinary answer. He said (مَا الْمَسْؤُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنَ السَّائِلِ - ma al-mas'ulu 'anha bi'a'lama min as-sa'il - Sahih Muslim 8) The one being questioned about it doesn't know any more than the one asking the question. And then he said, so tell me about the signs. Tell me about the (علامات - alamat). Tell me what is going to happen. And then the Prophet (peace be upon him) gives an extraordinary explanation.

The Sign of the Servant Giving Birth to Her Mistress

He said, (أَنْ تَلِدَ الْأَمَةُ رَبَّتَهَا - an talida al-amatu rabbataha - Sahih Muslim 8) You will see the servant, the maid servant give birth to her mistress. And in a riwayah, that she (تَرَبَّهَا - talida rabbaha) her master. The stronger one is her mistress.

Now there are... One thing that has to be understand when we look at the hadith, is the Prophet (peace be upon him) said (أُوتِيتُ جَوَامِعَ الْكَلِمِ - utitu jawami'a al-kalim - Sahih Bukhari 2977) I was given the comprehensive words. In other words, he will say a very short statement, (peace be upon him). Like (الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ - ad-dinu an-nasihah - Sahih Muslim 55) And with that one simple statement made up of two words only, books can be written.

Entire books can be written. Because of the gradations and variations of meaning. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) spoke, although he spoke in clear Arabic tongue, which could be understood at many

levels.

And this is why the simplest of the sahaba understood clearly what the Prophet was saying. And the most sophisticated of the sahaba understood clearly what the Prophet was saying. And their understandings were not the same. The understanding of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) is not the understanding of the other sahaba. And that's confirmed in more than one hadith. So they were different understandings.

Multiple Meanings in Prophetic Tradition

It does not negate the fact that one person understood one thing and another person understood another thing, does not in any way negate that one is right and the other is wrong. The Prophet (peace be upon him), by the nature and the depth of his words, there are multiple meanings. And this is why in the famous hadith about Salatul Asr of Bani Qurayza, which is related in Sahih al-Bukhari, he said (لَا يُصَلِّيَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ الْعَصْرَ إِلَّا فِي بَنِي قُرَيْظَةَ - la yusalliyanna ahadukum al-'asra illa fi bani qurayza - Sahih Bukhari 946) It was understood two ways by the sahaba, and both of them were accepted by the Prophet (peace be upon him).

And this is the nature of prophetic revelation. This is the nature of prophetic tradition. There are many many ways of understanding the same thing, but they must be within the rightly guided boundaries of the people who know. And that's why Allah says (فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ - fasalu ahla adh-dhikri in kuntum la ta'lamun - Quran 16:43) Ask the people who know if you don't know. The people of dhikr, the people of tadabbur, the people of tafakkur.

Deep Reflection and Understanding

So, having said that, I just want to make it clear that what we want to do, all of us, is to reflect deeply. Not to be people that simplistically take things without reflecting on them. They take them at face value. You want to be people of ulil albab. The Muslim should be somebody of lub. And somebody of lub is you go past the qishrah. You go past the outward shell.

Which is important. And we should not belittle in any way the outward meanings of Islam. We're not bataniya. We're not people of bataniya, like esotericists who turn Islam into some kind of esoteric tradition. But in this hadith he said, that you will see the maid servant give birth to her mistress. Now, if you look at the most outward meaning, it's been interpreted different ways.

And it was interpreted by Izzah ibn Abdus Salam and others as meaning that there would be great social confusion. In other words, the natural order would be turned upside down. Because in the natural order of things, you would find that the amah, who is the servant, will obey the mistress and do what the mistress tells her. This is the natural order of things. And that is the first and primary meaning. So when the mistress now is being commanded by the servant, it means things have been turned upside down.

Social Chaos and Children's Rebellion

And this is a sign that the social order goes into chaos. Now, one of the interesting signs of this hadith is that the ulema traditionally said, that children would become rebellious against their parents. Which is a sign of the end of time. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that the children would command their parents. They respect no reverence towards their parents. And this is an extremely dangerous sign.

And you will see this now. And also the Prophet (peace be upon him) said (لَا يَرِثُ الْوَلَدُ وَالِدَهُ - la yarithu al-waladu walidahu) The child will not inherit the father. And one of the meanings of that, wallahu ta'ala a'lam, is the inheritance of the anbiya. Because the inheritance of the anbiya is knowledge. And what happens is that the children will not take the knowledge. And this is why you see, particularly in this age, many of the greatest ulema, whose children didn't take any of their knowledge.

And they literally have no knowledge of their fathers who were scholars. And they are ignorant. And the fathers are in a state of despair about it. How could that be? Now traditionally, most of the children of scholars were also scholars, though not always. Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), his son Yahya, was not a scholar. And he didn't have the qabiliyyah. He didn't have the ability. Whereas his daughter Fatima was a great scholar who used to correct the people from behind a door who were reciting the muwatta to Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with him). And if Imam Malik would doze or take a brief nap or something, she would remind him if they made a mistake.

And she was a rawiya of the muwatta of Imam Malik. And when he used to see his son Yahya, he used to say to his group, his companions, Subhanallah (سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي لَمْ يَجْعَلْ هَذَا الْعِلْمَ وِرَاثَةَ - Subhan alladhi lam yaj'al hadha al-'ilma wirathan) Glory to Allah who didn't make this knowledge something that you genetically inherited.

A Contemporary Interpretation of the Hadith

Because his son did not have his knowledge but his daughter did. So these are signs. Now the other, I think that we can extrapolate and take an ishara from this. And Allah knows best. I think one of the possible meanings of this hadith is that if you look at the word amah, amah is actually a very positive word. In fact we call the female is called amatullah like the male is called abdullah.

If the amah is a servile creature, then the rabbah is the one who is the master. Now the idea of the mistress giving birth to the master, if you look at the Arabic words for hadara, for darul islam, for the thaqafa, for ma'rifah, most of these words you will find are feminine in nature. And the word actually for civilization which is umma or hadara is a feminine word.

Now one of the things that has happened in recent time, and I would say modern history because modern history in a sense begins with the renaissance, is that the Muslim ummah gave birth to Europe. Quite literally. In other words Europe was a completely abject, servile, ignorant society that had no knowledge whatsoever and through

the knowledge that was transmitted by the Muslims, the Muslims literally gave birth to a civilization that

becomes the master of the Muslims.

In other words it's the Muslims who empowered Europeans and secondarily Americans to literally become the masters of the Islamic ummah. And we're living in an age where the amah of Allah which is the civilization that was in servitude to Allah is now the slave of the arrogant, mutakabbir, this arrogant and proudful European civilization which has no submission to the authority of Allah and is in fact in absolute and utter rebellion to the traditions of the prophets. And extraordinarily enough, they have divorced themselves entirely from their own Christian tradition.

Mockery of Prophets in Modern Times

And they mock their own prophets on their television programs and their comedians who make fun.

They take my signs and my messengers, not just the messenger of Allah, but Isa alayhis salaam, and Musa alayhis salaam, and Ibrahim alayhis salaam, and Maryam, and all of the prophets. And this is now something you can just turn on your television and see them mocking these great human beings.

So this is the type of environment in which we're in, where literally Islam gave birth to a civilization that would take over and supersede the Islamic civilization and treat it like some abject servant that it orders about. And now in every single Muslim country, you see these servants, these pathetic, barbaric people who are ruling the masses of Muslims who are in abject servitude to their masters in the Pentagon, and in Langley, and in Washington, D.C., and in London, and in Paris, and in Tokyo. This is the pathetic condition of the ummah.

So we literally see where this ummah has now become a ammah. And the ammah is this Rabbah, which is western civilization and Allah knows best.

Surrogacy and Exploitation

Now, the next thing the Prophet (peace be upon him)... You could take many other meanings from that. I think one of the meanings that can possibly be extrapolated from that is the fact that now you also have rich women in this so-called first world. Right? They call their world the first world. And the people in other places, which they have derogatorily termed the third world, literally they rent their wombs.

In other words, they go to poor people and women in Philippines, and in South America, and in India, and they rent the womb because they don't want to bother having a child. They don't want to get their stomachs wrinkled. And this happens. In our day and age, this is happening. This is not something that's imaginary. It sounds like science fiction, but it's not. It's actually happening.

The Barefoot Bedouins Building Tall Buildings

Now, the next thing the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, that you will see the barefoot, the ala, the barefooted

destitute, the

You will see the barefoot destitute, the shepherds, they will vie with one another in building exalted buildings.

Now, this again can be taken at many levels. One of the ideas of bunyan in the Qur'an is the ideology. In other words, the bunyan of conceptualized constructs of thoughts. And these people vie in one another in trying to create better ways of ruling their societies and things like this. They have theorists who write whole books on what civilization should be and how people, what rules they should adhere to without any looking at the book of Allah or even their own traditions.

But the obvious meaning is quite clearly the Bedouin of the Arabian Peninsula, who literally 40 years ago were barefoot, destitute and naked. Some of them during world war, during the Great Depression had to make clothes and I have heard this from people who lived during that time had to make clothes from the palm leaves. From the palm leaves to cover their nakedness because it was so difficult to get cotton during that time. These people and the Bedouin traditionally you would see the people were almost half naked out there because they had so little.

Personal Witness to the Fulfillment

And you will see them vying in building large buildings. Within our own lifetime we have seen that. And I was in Dubai going in a taxi and I saw an old building and a larger building next to it and on the old building there was new construction going on. And I said to the man what are they doing there? And he said Sheikh so and so built the first, the old one and that was the biggest building in the whole area. And then another Sheikh came and he wanted to outdo him. So he built the second one and then Sheikh so and so got mad.

So he's building another series of stories in order to compete with so and so. And this man was a Bedouin and I said to him the hadith, he didn't even know what it meant. And I told him do you know this hadith? And then I explained him the meaning and he just said subhanallah. Subhanallah. Because he knew that he saw the ayah but he didn't have the source to take it back to. So I was witnessing something the sahaba believed in with iman and I was seeing it with my own eyes.

A sign that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said would happen towards the end of time which is extraordinary. Now another thing (يَتَطَاوَلُونَ فِي الْبُنْيَانِ - yatatawluna fi al-bunyan) means according to Raghab al-Isbahani also to build by degrees and then break down and rebuild again. Now this is something unique to the 20th century.

You will see whole buildings destroyed and flattened in order to build a new bigger and larger building. So it can also have that meaning which is happening all over in these cities where they build a perfectly good building just to build. And that's, it's israf, it's hadam, it's israf, it's absolute profligacy. And yet it happens. And we're witnessing it in our own time. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave us these signs.

The Fourth Element of the Hadith

Now from, I want to look briefly at some of these other signs. But I also want to just emphasize the importance of the fact that the fourth element mentioned in this hadith is the signs of the end of time. And when the hadith finishes Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says (فَلَبِثْتُ مَلِيًّا - falabithtu maliyan - Sahih Muslim 8) I waited some time and then asked the Prophet (peace be upon him), the Prophet asked him, do you know (أَتَدْرِي مَنِ السَّائِلُ - atadri man as-sa'ilu) Ya Umar, do you know who the one asking the question was? And he said no.

And he said (هَذَا جِبْرِيلُ - hadha Jibril) That was Jibreel. (أَتَاكُمْ يُعَلِّمُكُمْ دِينَكُمْ - atakum yu'allimukum dinakum - Sahih Muslim 8) He came in order to teach you your deen. Now what did he teach? He taught Islam, Iman, Ihsan, and the Alamat as-Sa'ah. And these people, the sahaba were waiting and watching to see the signs manifest. And Hudhayfa ibn Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) is one of the great scholars of the signs of the end of time. So amongst the sahaba themselves, they had specialists that were specialists in this knowledge, and it is a knowledge.

Neglecting the Signs of the Hour

Now what I've noticed is that a lot of Muslims are almost embarrassed to mention the end of time. It's like you never hear it. And that in itself is a sign of the end of time. Because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, (لا يَخْرُجُ الدَّجَّالُ إِلَّا عَنْ غَفْلَةٍ مِنَ النَّاسِ - la yakhruju ad-dajjalu illa 'an ghafla min an-nas) The Dajjal will not come out until people have forgotten. And he said, leave his mention from the mimbar. Now one of the things you never hear in khutbah is the mentioning of the Dajjal.

I lived in the Middle East for almost 10 years and I never heard a khutbah on Masih Dajjal. And that in itself is a sign of the end of time. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned also that people would forget about him. The Dajjal himself. Now, there are many signs that come before the actual Dajjal. And if you look, there is not one of them that has not manifested.

Historical Recognition of the Signs

Now there is an argument that they were existing 500-600 years ago. In fact, Ibn al-Hajj in his Madkhal, which was written in the 6th century, already is saying, and all the (عَلامَاتُ الصُّغْرَى - alamat as-sughra) are here. Wallahi, if he could be alive in our time, he would drop dead. He would pass out. Because he was living in a time when Fes, he was from Fes, was the center of knowledge and civilization. There were ulama on every pillar. And he himself was saying that the signs were all there already.

Now part of the beauty of that is that we should always be thinking about the sa'ah. Because in reality, the sa'ah is also our own death. Because that's called (الْقِيَامَةُ الصُّغْرَى - al-qiyamatu as-sughra) or (السَّاعَةُ الصُّغْرَى - as-saatu as- sughra), the lesser hour, which is our own death. And so we will see within our own lives, and (سَكْرَةُ الْمَوْتِ - sakratu al-mawt - Quran 50:19) are like the shaking of that last hour.

Comparison with Christian Tradition

So those are there. Now if you look at the Christian tradition, they have some understanding of the last hour. And they will speak to great length about it. And the odd thing about it is they only have about 5 signs in their book. That's all they have. We literally have hundreds. Hundreds. They have like 5 or 6 signs. That there would be wars and rumors of wars. There would be famines and earthquakes in various places. Which we have all those signs. But then add all of the other signs.

Sayyidina Ali relates a tradition from Sayyidina Ali which one of his companions asked him about the dajjal. And he said, I can't tell you about the dajjal, but I can tell you about the signs right before he comes. And then he mentioned several signs. In one riwayah, it's almost about 70 signs. And from amongst them, he said that you would see people with amatul salah. They would literally, the prayer would become dead, lifeless, routine.

The Abandonment of Prayer

It would be routine. And also many people would leave it. Now in the Islamic civilization, leaving the prayer did not happen. You did not have tariq as-salah. People left the prayer. If they left it, it was their own business. Nobody knew about it because they would literally be taken to the muhakama. And this is a fact. And you can see in the books of fiqh, it's mentioned about hukum tarik as-salah.

But it is a modern phenomenon in which the Muslims have left the prayer. And there are Muslims all over the world now who do not pray. Which is extraordinary because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said in the musnad of Imam Ahmed, (إِنَّ الْعَهْدَ الَّذِي بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمُ الصَّلَاةُ فَمَنْ تَرَكَهَا فَقَدْ كَفَرَ - inna al-'ahda alladhi baynana wa baynahumu as-salatu faman tarakaha faqad kafar - Musnad Ahmad 22937) The oath between me, what's binding between me and you is the prayer. Whoever leaves the prayer has entered into kufr.

Now usually that's interpreted as kufr duna kufr and it's not a kufr that doesn't make them a non-Muslim unless they leave it out of not believing in it. Like they don't believe in it or something like that. But Ahmed ibn Hanbal was the opinion, no. That they were kafir. If they didn't pray, they were kafir.

Now one of the interesting things about it, and I think there's some strength in his position, although the other three imams are opposed to that position and say that he's Muslim 'asi. And he's buried with the Muslims. But if you look in the hadith that's in Sahih Muslim about the people coming to the Prophet (peace be upon him) on the Day of Judgment, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) recognizes his ummah by the light of wudu on their faces. And if there's no light, then how is the Messenger of Allah gonna know them? And there will be some that he says (تَعَالَوْا تَعَالَوْا - ta'alaw ta'ala - Sahih Muslim 249), come, come. And the angels say, No, (بَدَّلُوا مِنْ بَعْدِكَ - baddalu min ba'dik). They change things after you left. And he said, (سُحْقًا سُحْقًا - suhqan suhqan - Sahih Muslim 249). Go distance yourselves from me.

So people should have fear of Allah because these are enormous affairs.

Amazing and Frightening Events

Now one of the signs of the end of time also is the Prophet (peace be upon him) said (حَتَّى تَرَوْا أُمُورًا عِظَامًا يَتَفَاقَمُ شَأْتُهَا عِنْدَكُمْ حَتَّى يَقُولَ أَحَدُكُمْ هَلْ ذَكَرَ نَبِيُّكُمْ شَيْئًا مِنْ هَذِهِ الْأَشْيَاءِ؟ - hatta taraw umuran 'izaman yatafaqamu sha'nuha 'indakum hatta yaqula ahadukum hal dhakara nabiyyukum shay'an min hadhihi al-ashya') That the end of time will not come until you see amazing things, unbelievable things, (أُمُورًا عِظَامًا - umuran 'izaman), grandiose things, things that are just unbelievable. And then he said (يَتَفَاقَمُ شَأْنُهَا فِي صُدُورِكُمْ - yatafaqamu sha'nuha fi sudurikum). This matter will become increasingly, increasingly grave towards you.

It's matter, the affair. Tafaqum is things that move towards a critical head where people become more, increasingly more concerned. Now if you look now at what's happening in the world, things are becoming so frightening that people are becoming increasingly more concerned and increasingly more confused at the same time.

The Fluctuation of Faith

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that in those days, (يُصْبِحُ الْمَرْءُ مُؤْمِنًا وَيُمْسِي كَافِرًا - yusbihu al-mar'u mu'minan wa yumsi kafiran) A man will wake up in the morning a believer and go to sleep a kafir. And he also warned about people would go just to see the dajjal. (يَحْسِبُ نَفْسَهُ مُؤْمِنًا - yahsibu nafsahu mu'minan) He'll think that he's a mu'min. But he will become confused by the arguments of the dajjal. The dajjal will literally confuse his mind, his intellect. And he warned us, the Prophet (peace be upon him), but let me get to these other matters.

Same-Sex Marriage

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, (نِكَاحُ الْمَرْأَةِ بِالْمَرْأَةِ وَالرَّجُلِ بِالرَّجُلِ - nikahu al-mar'ati bi al-mar'ati wa ar-rajuli bi ar-rajul) That a man will marry a man, and a woman will marry a woman. And he said, nikah, and it doesn't mean zina. Because at that time things like that were happening. They knew about zina. The zina is mentioned in the Qur'an. He said (نِكَاحُ الْمَرْأَةِ - nikahu al-mar'ah) Which is primary meaning is marriage. That a man will marry a man, and a woman will marry a woman.

And now this is in the legislation in the Supreme Court in the United States of America, in which they have legalized in certain states, the marriage of two of the same sex. Become legal. And we're witnessing this in our own time. And this is gonna become a norm. Now one of the other things that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, (يَسْتَغْنِي الرِّجَالُ بِالرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاءُ بِالنِّسَاءِ - yastaghni ar-rijalu bi ar-rijali wa an-nisa'u bi an-nisa') people feel sexually satisfied, a male with a male, and a female with a female.

Again becoming an increasingly gross matter in the cities all over the world. The proliferation of homosexuality and lesbianism. Unbelievable things that people... Wallahi, twenty, thirty years ago, even in these countries, people couldn't openly admit these things, they would lose their jobs. And this is becoming a norm. Within our own lifetime, in the last few years, these things are becoming norms. This is something phenomenal, really.

The Sleep of Heedlessness

And I think we're just all asleep. We're just watching these things happen in the daydreams. I mean, we have to really think about these things. These are deeply frightening matters that we should be concerned about, that our children are growing up in environments in which human beings grow... They're not even human beings, less than human beings. Worse than animals, because even the animals don't do that. And they'll try to use proof that monkeys have homosexuality amongst them.

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Qur'an uses the monkey as the lowest example, the lowest metaphor for a human being. In fact, he said, in the end of time, people would... They'll dance all night with... And he said, (عَلَى رُؤُوسِهِمُ الْمَعَازِفُ - ‘ala ru’usihim al-ma’azif) On their heads are musical instruments. And now people wear these things on their head, over their head, these phones, and they dance to musical instruments that are on their heads.

With their tape recorded and radios and these things. And he said, (يُصْبِحُونَ قِرَدَةً وَخَنَازِيرَ - yusbihoona qiradan wa khanazir) They'll wake up monkeys and pigs. And this is called *maskh*. And the *maskh* of the people of the last days is an internal *maskh*. It doesn't mean they literally take the forms of monkeys and pigs. Their inner reality will be monkeys and pigs.

So homosexuality, yes, you do find it amongst the monkeys. But the fact is, that is what you're imitating. We imitate Bani Adam. We imitate the prophets. We want to be like the (الصِّدِّيقُونَ وَالشُّهَدَاءُ وَالصَّالِحُونَ - as-siddiqoona wa ash-shuhada'u wa as-salihoona) - Quran 4:69) We don't want to be like monkeys and pigs. So that you use as a proof for your own deviation the monkey and pig is a sign of your own gross, pathetic state and condition.

Driving to Mosques and Immodest Women

And yet these things are put forward like they're rational arguments or something like that. Unbelievable conditions. (أُمُورًا عِظَامًا - umuran ‘izaman) The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, that people, he said, that people would drive up to the masjids. And he said, (يَرْكَبُونَ عَلَى مَعَاتِرَ - yarkaboona ‘ala ma’atir) Which means they would ride very elegant seats. Now *ma'atir* was the seats of the kings. The seats of the kings would be considered like now the seats of cars. They're like king seats of the ancient times. The kings were the ones that rode in the closed containers like a *hodaj* for women. The noble women used to ride in the *hodaj*, which was very similar to a car.

It looks like a car in its outward form. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said they would drive right up (عَلَى أَبْوَابِ مَسْجِدِ - ‘ala abwabi masjid) Now in the old days they didn't bring the animals near the masjid. So it doesn't make any sense that they would drive right up to the... And he said, that those people would come in and pray, and their women would be naked.

(كَاسِيَاتٌ عَارِيَاتٌ - kasiyatun ‘ariyat - Sahih Muslim 2128) Their women would be naked. And they would go in and they would pray. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said (لَا خَلَقَ لَهُمْ - la khalaqa lahum - Sahih Muslim 2128)

They have no *khalaq*, they have no portion of the *akhira*. And he said (مَلْعُونَاتٌ - mal’unat - Sahih Muslim 2128) They're people that are cursed. They're sick people. I mean, this is the type of condition that we're in.

Two Types from Hellfire

It's unbelievable. We're literally daydreaming, going through life daydreaming. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that you will see, he said (صِنْفَانِ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ مِنْ أُمَّتِي - sinfani min ahli an-nari min ummati - Sahih Muslim 2128) From my *ummah*, two types I haven't seen them. And then he said, the first one he said, (رِجَالٌ لَهُمْ أَسْيَاطٌ كَأَذْنَابِ الْبَقَرِ يَضْرِبُونَ النَّاسَ - rijalun lahum asyatun ka’adhnabi al-baqari yadriboona an-nas Sahih Muslim 2128) They would have these *adhnaab* like the tails of donkeys, of cows, which are the whips that these despicable soldiers of these tyrants in the Muslim countries. And you see them carrying their sticks.

And this is the interpretation that Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti gave, that these are the police that do the orders of the tyrants. And they go and they beat the people. And this is happening in all of the prisons and the jails in the Muslim countries right now. People that pray and fast, young men and women that pray and fast are being beaten by these despicable, less than human beings.

No Excuse for Following Orders

And those people are for the fire. And they have no excuse before Allah to say that we're just doing what we were told. Even the *kuffar* reject that as a proof. And you look at the Nuremberg trials when they condemned those people who said we were just following orders. No, you have a conscience. You've been given a *damir* by Allah and you have to reflect on that fact.

You have to reflect on that. Because Allah says that (إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا كَانُوا خَاطِئِينَ - inna fir’awna wa hamana wa junudahuma kanu khati’in) - Quran 28:8) all of them are in the wrong. You can't just say, oh, I was just following orders. That's not an excuse with Allah. (لَا طَاعَةَ لِمَخْلُوقٍ فِي مَعْصِيَةِ الْخَالِقِ - la ta’ata limakhluqin fi ma’siyati al-khaliq - Musnad Ahmad 1095) There is no following the created one if it means disobeying the creator. And this is what the Islam came to take us out of this 'ubudiyyah, this (عُبُودِيَّةٌ لِلْمَخْلُوقِينَ - ‘ubudiyyatun lil-makhluqin).

The worship of created things. This is the pre-Islamic disease of the Persians and the Romans. The Arabs, interestingly enough, did not worship their leaders. This is something they learned from the Persians and the Romans.

Following the Path of Previous Nations

Following the hadith (لَتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ شِبْرًا بِشِبْرٍ وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا جُحْرَ ضَبٍّ لَدَخَلْتُمُوهُ - latattabi’unna sanana alladhina min qablikum shibran bi shibrin wa dhira’an bi dhira’ hatta law dakhalu juhra dabbin ladakhaltumuh - Sahih Bukhari 3456) interesting thing, now they've left the worship of divine kings. These

Europeans have left all that, the worship of their rulers. I mean, they throw them out of office. But the Muslims now, everywhere you look, there are statues and pictures of these tyrants.

And the Muslims, they put their picture out of fear in their shops. You go to Syria and somebody who doesn't have the picture of this traitor in that place, he doesn't have the picture and somebody going, what's the matter? Don't you like the Hafiz Assad? Don't you like him? Something wrong with you? Where's the picture? Like it's a 'ubudiyyah. And he's too afraid to say (لَا تَدْخُلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ بَيْتًا فِيهِ كَلْبٌ أَوْ صُورَةٌ وَهَذَا صُورَةُ الْكَلْبِ - la tadkhulu al-mala'ikatu baytan fihi kalbun aw surah - Sahih Bukhari 3225) The angel doesn't come in a house where there's a dog or a picture, so what about a picture of a dog? They're too afraid to say that.

Compassion for the Oppressed

And really from one sense, we can't blame them. You know? Wallahi. I mean, we should have pity. (شَفَقَةً عَلَى أُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ - shafaqatan ‘ala ummati Muhammad) We should have pity for these people. And many of them have suffered because of their... just not even speaking out, just not conforming, just not going along with it. So I'm not in any way making fun of those people. Really, we should have compassion for those people. It's a wretched condition to be in, but this is our state.

Zakah Seen as a Fine

And many signs, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, zakah would be seen as maghram, like it's some kind of fine. People wouldn't pay zakah. I mean, if you had zakah al-fitr, just of the Eid al-fitr, there would be no starvation in the world. If one billion people gave the zakah that they're supposed to give, and there must be something going on. Where is all that zakah going to? I want to know. Where is it going? If one billion people are paying zakah al-fitr, where is it going to? I mean, really, have you thought about that?

Every Ramadan, each one of us is supposed to take for every member of the family, the amount of grain to take to the poor people. So why the people dying of starvation? And people in Muslim countries, in Somalia, died of starvation. In Iraq now, dying of starvation, this is not exaggeration, it's not making up people dying of starvation. In Muslim country, where's the zakah? Why isn't it being sent there? Because the governments hoard it. That's what they do. They collect zakah and then they just hoard it. And this is part of this whole tribulation that we're in.

When Aspirations Are Only Stomachs

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, (كَيْفَ بِكُمْ إِذَا هِمَّتُكُمْ إِلَى بُطُونِكُمْ - kayfa bikum idha himmatukum ila butunikum) What's your state when your highest aspirations are just your *batan*, your stomach? And that means (لُقْمَةُ الْعَيْشِ - luqmatu al-'aysh). That's *ma'isha*, that all you care about is your livelihood. It's just how to fill your stomachs. (كَيْفَ بِكُمْ إِذَا هِمَّتُكُمْ إِلَى بُطُونِكُمْ وَأُمُورُكُمْ إِلَى نِسَائِكُمْ - kayfa bikum idha himmatukum ila butunikum wa umurakum ila nisa'ikum)? And your matters go to the women folk, which is not a denigration of women.

But the *dunya* affairs are to be the affairs. The woman's domain is the domestic domain. She is the (رَبَّةُ الْمَنْزِلِ - rabbatu al-manzil). But the man is supposed to be taking care of the society. (الْأَمْرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْيُ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ - al-amru bi al-ma’rufi wa an-nahyu ‘an al-munkar - Quran 3:110) And one of the meanings of that is when men behave like women. Because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said at the end of time, for every one man there would be 50 women.

And many *ulema* have interpreted that to mean they would be (فِي مَقَامِ النِّسَاءِ - fi maqami an-nisa’) Because like I mentioned last night الرِّجَالُ (*ar-rijal*) is a *maqam*, it's a station. And there would be only one (قَيِّمٌ فِي خَمْسِينَ - qayyimun fi khamsin). It means there would be only one upright person who was able to fulfill the deeds, those things that Allah has made incumbent on them.

The Death of Hearts

So all of these things of this end of time is just extraordinary. Now I just want to briefly just... I mean, I could go on and on because I've read too much about this stuff and it just really, it'll get you... You know, it'll put you into a very... And you know, I'm... Subhanallah. Because it's happening all around. I just feel like we're just like asleep. We're sleepwalking just in a daze. And that's a type of reaction psychologically. People become numb. They can't... They have this desensitization. They stop feeling things. They stop, their hearts die. And that's one of the signs of the end of time. (مَوْتُ الْقُلُوبِ - mawtu al-qulub).

And Ibn Abi Jamrah said, (قَدْ يَكُونُ حَقِيقَةً وَقَدْ يَكُونُ مَجَازًا - qad yakunu haqiqatan wa qad yakunu majaza). Maybe it's in reality. Now one of the phenomenon of the modern society is the sudden death of the heart attack. Literally hearts die. And traditionally that was very rare. That disease didn't... People didn't have C.A.D. because they didn't eat the fats that they eat now.

Obesity and Hemorrhoids as Signs

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, one of the signs of the end of time was fat plumpness. People would be fat. And he said, (تَظْهَرُ الْبَوَاسِيرُ - tazharu al-bawasir). Which means people would have hemorrhoids. Which is an extraordinary hadith and it's a sound hadith. Which indicates people would sit around all day doing nothing because that's the way you get those things. If you're out working and moving about, you don't get that stagnation. It's a liver stagnation even in western medicine.

Where there's no... The liver is not detoxifying and you get this stagnation in the veins. So there's not proper circulation because people aren't moving about. And that was something that old people got. Not young people. Now in western civilization and I... My time in the hospital, that was like prison. The time that I spend in the hospital wallahi. I just... Everybody has *bawasir*. It's amazing. And I saw it as a sign of the end of time. I just said, (صَدَقَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ - sadaqa rasulu Allah). I mean, it's amazing that he even mentioned that.

Because he was a very shy man and he didn't mention things, you know, that... He was very shy about. But he's telling us so that we can know, so we recognize the age we're living in.

Understanding the Dajjal

Now the importance of all this... And just to say a few things about the *dajjal*. First of all, the *dajjal* is... There are many interpretations of the *dajjal*. I think the best interpretations of the *dajjal* is to actually look in the Arabic language at what the word means itself. Because the Qur'an and the hadith are revealed in the Arabic language. So you always have to look at the Arabic language. What does the (لِسَانُ الْعَرَبِ - lisan al-'arab) say?

Now *dajjal* has many meanings. The most primary meaning is an imposter. And this is used by Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) when somebody asked... He was asked about a man who was a *muhaddith*. And he said (هُوَ الدَّجَّالُ مِنَ الدَّجَاجِلَةِ - huwa ad-dajjalu min ad-dajajilah) He's an imposter from the imposters. Now, the man who related that said (أَوَّلُ مَرَّةٍ سَمِعْتُ الدَّجَّالَ يُجْمَعُ لِلدَّجَاجِلَةِ - awwalu marratin sami’tu ad-dajjala yujma’u lil-dajajilah) That was the first time I ever heard anybody put the *dajjal* with *dajajila*. Because normally it's *dajjalun*.

So the point being is that he was saying the man was pretending to be something he wasn't. That's what he was doing. And that is the first and primary meaning of the *dajjal*. It is somebody who is pretending to do something that he is not. Now what the (الْمَسِيحُ الدَّجَّالُ - al-masih ad-dajjal) does is he's pretending to be the messiah.

The True Messiah and the False One

Now if you look at the messiah. The messiah, the (الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ - al-masihu ibnu Maryam) is called (رُوحُ الله - ruhu Allah - Quran 4:171). He's called the spirit of Allah. Which does not mean in any way that he was divine like Saint John of Damascus, Yahya ad-Dimashqi tried to say to the Muslims, in fact it began the whole *fitna* of *khalq al-Quran* because the Qur'an is called (كَلِمَةُ اللهِ - kalimatu Allah) Isa is called (كَلِمَةُ اللهِ - kalimatu Allah - Quran 4:171), and is the Qur'an *makhluq* or *ghayr makhluq* because *kalimatu Allah* is (صِفَةٌ مِنْ صِفَاتِ اللهِ - sifatun min sifati Allah) and the *sifah* is *ghayr makhluq* and so Isa is... That was the rationalization or argumentation that the Christians were using which is a sign that they were thinking too. They weren't stupid people.

And the Muslims, they actually argued with the *ulama* in the presence of Muawiyah. There was an inter-religious dialogue between the Saint John of Damascus at the *qasr* of Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) and the *ulama* argued and they defeated him. Now the point being is that the Isa (peace be upon him) is literally the embodiment of spirituality. He is the embodiment of the *ruh* and the *ruh* is the opposite of the *jasad* and part of his mission was to take people that were immersed in gross materialism and take them into spirituality.

The Dajjal's Inversion

Now part of what the *Dajjal* will do is take people who are immersed in deep spirituality and put them into gross materialism. And if you will look at the phenomenon that is taking place all over the world now is people are turning away from the spirit and moving completely into the *dunya* as if the *dunya* is a savior. People now believe that they will be fulfilled and happy by being successful in this world.

And Allah when He says (قُلْ هَلْ تُنَبِّئُكُم بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا - qul hal nunabbi'ukum bi al-akhsarina a'malan - Quran 18:103) And this is one of the ayat you're supposed to read to protect you from the Dajjal. Should we not tell you those who will lose everything. (الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا - alladhina dalla sa'yuhum fi al-hayati ad-dunya - Quran 18:104) Those who have completely lost all of their endeavors in the life of this world. (وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا - wa hum yahsaboona annahum yuhsinoona sun'an - Quran 18:104) And they reckon, they think that they are doing well.

The Meaning of Sun'an

Now the word in Arabic, Allah could have said (وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ عَمَلًا - wa hum yahsaboona annahum yuhsinoona 'amalan) Allah could have said that. But He said (صُفْعًا - sun'an) Now if you look at the word sun'an it means to manufacture. When you make something, it's not an action. In other words, if I (عَمِلْتُ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا - 'amiltu 'amalan salihan) I did a good action. But you don't say (صَنَعْتُ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا - sana'tu 'amalan salihan) You don't say that in the Arabic language. Sun'an means that you make something with your hands. That's the word that it means.

And they think that they are making good things with their hands. Now one of the meanings of dajjal in the Arabic language is people that spread their merchandise all over the world. And you can look it right up there in lisan al-'arab. That that is one of the meanings. That it's a group of people that spread their goods, their manufactured goods all over the world.

Covering the Earth with Filth

Now the other meaning of dajjal means to spread the earth, to cover the earth with filth. And literally the word in Arabic, and I won't use a foul word, but the word in Arabic literally means crap. That they will spread the earth with crap. And if there's one thing that sums up the age we're in, it's that the earth has been flooded with foulness. Completely flooded with foulness. Both psychological pollution, which nobody ever talks about. You can't even go into a store without having music piped into your head.

Nobody talks about air pollution, the air pollution of sound, of the sound waves that are filled. I mean right now I can take a box and turn it on and get all of this madness. This rap music and this rock music and all of this sickness. It's floating about in the atmosphere. And I really, I think, and you might think I'm crazy, I don't care. I think that's having an effect on people's heads. Because we're like transmitters, the brain is like a transmitter. And people are walking around all confused. They're walking around in these states and conditions really sick.

Remembering Allah Until They Call You Mad

People are sick, there's people walking around all over the place talking to themselves. And you see people driving around. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, and it's a sound hadith (اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ حَتَّى يَقُولُوا مَجْنُونٌ - udhkuru Allaha hatta yaqulu majnun) Remember Allah until they say he's mad. And what does that mean? That people see that he's always moving his mouth. Because that was a sign of mad people.

And now you see people driving all over in their cars singing these stars. And they're in a state of madness. Because that's not remembering Allah. That's remembering dunya. All those songs about dunya. You see some old man singing love songs. You know, I mean people... I want to think, I used to hear from these patients, these older people. They would tell me, I can't sleep at night. What? And I used to tell people, really, that's the whole point.

Insomnia as a Gift

When you get old, you're not supposed to sleep at night. That's something you do when you're young. When you get old, you're supposed to be thinking about akhira, thinking about dying. So insomnia, there's no insomnia for the Muslim. Insomnia just means you're supposed to be up doing ibadah. It's a gift from Allah. I mean people used to love that they didn't feel tired at night. They used to praise Allah for that state.

In fact, coffee... The Yemeni scholar, Abu Hassan al-Shadiri, not the famous Moroccan, but the Yemeni scholar, Abu Hassan al-Shadiri, who's attributed with the discovery of coffee in Yemen, was a Yemeni scholar who kept sleeping at night. And he wanted to do tahajjud. And so he had a dream in which an angel came to him and showed him the boon tree, and showed him how to make the boon. And taught him.

And that's why the Yemenis to this day, now they drink coffee just to talk all night. But in the old days, they used to drink it to memorize the Quran. And to this day, the ulama of Yemen, and I heard this from more than one, they used to praise kahwa because they said (بِهَا حَفِظْتُ كِتَابَ اللهِ - biha hafiztu kitaba Allah) With that drink, I memorized the book of Allah. Or (بِهَا حَفِظْتُ الْعِلْمَ - bila hafiztu al-'ilm) So they used to praise it.

The Debate About Coffee

And in the books, the Maliki books, when the kahwa first came, because kahwa in the Arabic language is one of the words for wine. In classical Arabic, and there was a debate, like the Mormons consider it prohibited. But there was a debate whether it was intoxicant. Because if you have never drinking coffee, and you drink, especially like Turkish coffee, you'll think something, this is serious stuff. It's like a drug.

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