The Coming of the Mahdi - Before the End of Time

Summary of an epic speech given to a packed hall by Shaykh Muhammad al-Yacoubi (Syria) on 25th December, 2004 at the great Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Shareef, Birmingham, England.

Notes from Shaykh al-Yacoubi’s speech on the coming of the Mahdi, Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Shareef, Birmingham. 25th December, 2004

Signs
The Hour (Day of Judgement) will not come all of a sudden, in the sense that we have been given signs of its proximity/nearness.

There are three categories of signs of the Hour:

Minor signs (the earliest signs of the Hour; these have already taken place)
Middle signs (these are taking place right now on a day-by-day basis.)
Major signs (the very last signs before the trumpet is blown, and which are being waited for (Mahdi, dajjal, al-Massih, sun rising from the west, etc)

The very first sign of the Hour was to be the death of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam) as is narrated in a hadith.

Certain signs of the Hour such as the drinking of wine, the use of musical instruments and the relegation of trade matters to the women relate to events in the Muslim lands NOT the non-Muslim nations (the West, Russia, Australia, etc)

There is a hadith that when your rulers (again referring to the Muslim lands) are the worst amongst you and your business affairs go to the women, then wait for the Hour i.e. it is very close.

The First Major Sign: Imam al-Mahdi (alaihi salaam)
Points to note about Imam al-Mahdi (alaihi salaam)

He will be from the Ahle Bait (the family of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam))
He will be born in Madinah
His name will be Muhammad ibn Abdullah (the same as that of Rasoolallah (sallallahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam))
He will not be a terrorist or an extremist fanatic who senselessly murders innocent bystanders, no. He will in fact be a Righteous Caliph who will have Political Authority and (most importantly) Divine Authority and both will be recognised; the Creation itself will help him in his task.
He will fill the earth with justice as it was filled with injustice before him
There will be people in Makkah looking for him in the Haram, and once they recognise him, he will be given bai’yah (pledge/allegiance) on the 10th day of Muharram between Maqam-e-Ibrahim and Hajr-e-Aswad (the Black Stone)
His bai’yah will be witnessed on the earth in many (if not all) places. Shaykh al-Yacoubi elaborated that with the advent of T.V. it makes sense that this incident would and could be broadcast to the four corners of the earth.
Once the first group of people (313 of them, the same number as that of the Sahaba at Badr) have given their bai’yah there will be a call from the Unseen clearly audible that this is the Khalifah of Allah and that we all give him our allegiance.
He will run between Makkah and At-Ta’if where he will be confronted by an army and will defeat it.
There will then be an army sent to destroy the Ka’ba but it will be swallowed up by the earth in an earthquake as a sign of the progressing and ultimate victory of Imam al-Mahdi. He will then move and invade further the northern territories (Syria, etc.).

At around the time of the coming of the Mahdi, the children of three rulers will fight over the treasure of the Euphrates that will have been unearthed. Shaykh al-Yacoubi said that whether this treasure is referring to oil or literally gold is arguable; if there is a literal possibility in the interpretation of a hadith then it is given priority so it very well could be gold. However, whoever is alive at that time must not take any portion of this treasure and must stay well clear of it. A sign of the imminent arrival of the Mahdi will be a lunar eclipse on the 1st day of Ramadhan and a solar eclipse in the middle of Ramadhan. Shaykh al-Yacoubi said that in no time in history will there have been such a phenomenon.

Furthermore, the Great Shaykh made some very interesting analysis. He said that Iran is on the way to becoming a nuclear power and with the fact that Pakistan is already a nuclear power, if these two became allies against America and the West (which is very possible) then this would present a serious threat to US interests. He advocated unity between Sunni and Shia Muslims emphasising that we are all Muslims: we all say the same Kalima (obviously not referring to the heretical Shia sects) and that we should stick together as one Ummah. Shaykh al-Yacoubi noted that, therefore, even this current political situation and climate in the Middle East is also ready and prepared for the coming of Imam al-Mahdi (alaihi salaam) in terms of a major turnaround of Western influence and presence in the Middle East.

Important Points about the Mahdi

Shaykh al-Yacoubi taught us that there are two important points that we need to keep in mind:

Imam al-Mahdi will be Ahle Bait
He will be a Mujtahid

Shaykh al-Yacoubi has said that he has met the Qutb (literally ‘pole’), the Greatest Wali of Allah alive today in his dream and that Shaykh al-Yacoubi’s job is to compile a work on the Virtues of the Ahle Bait (keep in mind, reader, that Shaykh al-Yacoubi is himself Ahle Bait, Subhaan Allah!). The family of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam) has always been persecuted throughout history, their rightful portion of the wealth of the Muslims curtailed and today people have no respect, honour or love for the Ahle Bait. Our Imam al-Mahdi is to restore this and the book is now a project of Shaykh al-Yacoubi’s awaiting completion.

The second most important point is that he will be a Mujtahid: one with absolute authority in regards to deriving rulings and law from the Glorious Qur’aan and the Sunnah of the Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa aalihi wa sallam). When Imam al-Mahdi comes, he as a Mujtahid will abrogate the four madhabs of Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam al-Shafi’i and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may the mercy of Allah be on all of them). The Shar’iah states that up until the Mahdi’s advent, it is obligatory to follow one of these four madhabs above. Once Imam Mahdi comes, there will only be one madhab (school of law) and it will be fard upon everyone of us to follow that madhab i.e. the madhab of Imam Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Mahdi (alaihi salaam). Shaykh al-Yacoubi made a very interesting point that the only muslims who will oppose Imam al-Mahdi will be fanatical followers of the four madhabs. I.e. people who will insist that only one of the four madhabs be followed and only them and that even (by implication) Imam al-Mahdi follow either the hanafi, hanbali, shafi or maliki madhabs. This is a wrong attitude and may Allah protect us from such extremism.

How to prepare for the Mahdi

The Respected Imam of the Damascene Grand Umayyad Mosque, Shaykh Muhammad al-Yacoubi (qaddasallahu sirrah) has told us to do the following in preparation:

1. Always remain in high spirits.
He informed us of the incredible calamities (he said at one point that the Muslims are used to calamities!) that have befallen the Muslims in past history and brought to our attention the fact that our current calamities are not as bad as previous ones. He related an incident that in Baghdad once, 1 million people were massacred in 40 days (by, I think, the Mongols). He said Allah has promised that Islam and the Muslims will be victorious and that we really do not need to worry about anything, if are believers. Victory is destined to be with the Muslims. We have, as Believers, to be focused: we have a job to do and we should just get on and do it. If victory comes today, then alhamdulillah. If it doesn’t, then masha Allah. It should not matter to us for we know that the victory of the Muslims will be witnessed either by ourselves or by our children or by our grandchildren, for sure and for certain. Allah always fulfils His promises.

2. Hold to the Deen of Islam.
At the end of the day we have to worry about ourselves and our families FIRST AND FOREMOST (as in the verse of Qur’ aan, Surah Al-Tahrim:6), especially in these times and here in the West. We, individually, are travelling at breakneck speed towards the Hereafter and Judgement Day where we are going to be asked some very difficult questions. We have to learn the Deen, practice it and be ready with our answers for that Day. We are not going to be asked about Iraq, Chechnya, 9/11, or anything else. The first question we are going to be asked is: did you perform salah? This is what we should be concerned about and this is what we should be addressing: this is our job and what we have to do to prepare for the coming of Imam al-Mahdi. I.e. we have to be practicing Muslims because only practicing and believing Muslims will be around Imam al-Mahdi.

Shaykh al-Yacoubi put an interesting but important question to us. If Imam al-Mahdi was here today and asked one of us to recite some Qur’aan for him, would we be able to do so and with proper pronunciation? This is the sad fact that most Muslims today are not practicing Muslims, they do not pray, they do not recite Qur’aan (let alone with proper tajweed), they do not reflect and learn from the Qur’aan and the Sunnah of Rasoolallah (sallallahu alaihi wa aalihi wa wasallam). The Iraqis have their own job to do as do the Chechens, the Afghans, the Kashmiris, etc. Our job is this: to learn the Deen and to practice it, to go out and learn at the very least that knowledge of the Deen that is imcumbent upon us to learn. E.g. the knowledge (‘ilm) of Creed (‘aqeedah), the rulings of the five pillars, the rulings of trade (for businessmen), the rulings of living in non-Muslim lands, etc. He also said in a following talk in Bradford that we need to make all our worries into 1 worry: worry about the Hereafter. If we cannot change our families and ourselves then we will never be able to change the global condition of the Muslims.

[End Notes]
(These notes have not been reviewed or affirmed by Shaykh Muhammad al-Yacoubi or any person, persons or agency representing Shaykh Muhammad al-Yacoubi. These are my own notes taken during the speech and thereafter compiled formally and elaborated on.)

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