Page 18 - Portents and Features of the Mahdi's Comingl

PORTENTS AND FEATURES OF THE MAHDI'S COMING

Signs of the Doomsday fol low one anoth er, like the pie -
ces of a prayer beads fall ing one after the other when its
string is cut.
(Tirmidhi Hadiths)
Painful sit u a tions and griev ous sights will be seen. Strife
will go on and on…
(Al-Suyuti, Portents of the Mahdi, p. 36)
Fitnas (sedi tions) will fol low one anoth er in the near
future. Then, there will be other fit nas and even more
fol low ing them.
(Mukhtasar Tazkirah al-Qurtubi, p. 374, no. 684)
2) THE PROLIFERATION OF SEDITION (FITNAS)
The word fitna (sedi tion) describes events, envi ron -
ments, and con di tions in which all peo ple, espe cial ly
believ ers, face inten si fied tests of their faith. Such tests,
in which liv ing con di tions are dif fi cult and efforts are
made to weak en or destroy peo ple's faith, are all
described as fitna in Islamic sour ces.
The fol low ing had ith describes how believ ers' faith
will weak en prior to the Mahdi's com ing and the caus -
es there of:

The Mahdi, one of my chil dren, comes into being, by
the bless ing of Allah, when the Day of Judgment
approach es and the believ ers' hearts weak en because
of death, hun ger, the dis ap pear ance of the Sunnah, the

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