For what is happening in the world, locally and abroad, we turn to SABC, CNN and BBC. For  why its happening, we turn to QSC – Qur’an and Sunnah Channel. In fact, QSC has an additional feature that no other satellite station has: it has a “future fast forward” button that tells us what will happen in the near future as well as the far future. What we see now on SABC, CNN and BBC, QSC already showed it millions of years ago, so let us rather tune in to the real divine station, not the biased and inaccurate earthly ones.

As the sickening and gruesome mass killing continue in Syria, and its people either become refugees or sitting ducks, everyone’s eyes will be glued on the television, the newspapers or the internet on how the media will spin its web of lies to justify the murderous USA absurdity of “ killing and destroying in order to stop the killing and destroying.” As the bombs fall, we will wonder: “Is taking a life with a bullet or a knife acceptable, but not with chemicals?” Some will ask: “ If bullets killed millions over a 2 year period, the west is OK with it. But if you use chemical warfare for one day supplied by the west themselves, then you are in trouble.” Western logic assumes that everyone in this world are idiots.

This is why, as Muslims, we need to use divine logic to make sense of these events. Divine logic comes by taking a few steps back from the actual events, and turning on QSC and asking: “Why?” Politicians and sociologists cannot give us the answers, only the Creator and Designer of politics and society can. In fact, all of our problems arise because mankind thinks that the system of the Almighty is BBB – “Brutal, Backward or Boring”, so he has designed his own system which he thinks is PPP – “Profitable, Progressive, and Proper.” The result of all this is that at the moment, we are witnessing man using man-made political, financial and social systems to govern himself to destroy himself. Daily, we see heart-wrenching accounts of innocent people being slaughtered like chickens in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan. In Africa, we have babies who are abducted daily by the hundreds to be sold as prostitutes or harvested for their organs. Just across our borders, we have millionaires who are kidnapped for dollars, and locally, we have criminals who think that robbing a home is like playing a game of hide and seek: “Ready or not, I’m coming!”

What will still happen?

In order to understand what is happening in Syria, we need to know that everything and everyone – besides the Almighty, has a lifespan. During this lifespan, everything and everyone will goes through various stages, resulting finally in death. A tomato starts off as a seedling placed in soil somewhere in the Free State. After it sprouts, it grows in to a small flower. It then further develops until it takes shape and becomes green, then red. It is then harvested and transported to the nearest supermarket where Aunty Mariam will buy it to make a sandwich for her children. The birth of death of the tomato may be about three months. Likewise, the earth has a time of birth and it has a time of death, and all what’s happening today is part of that development which will result in the earth dying one day. It’s a divine decree that must come to pass.

The present Syrian crisis is part of a divine prophecy that will appear towards the end of time. According to the exact words of this prophecy, our Master Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Iraq would withhold its dirhams (currency) and qafiz (measure of oil), Syria would withhold its mudd (measure of food) and dinar (currency), and Egypt would withhold its irdab (measure of grain) and dinar (currency). You would recoil to that position where you started, you would recoil to that position where you started. The bones and flesh of Abu Hurairah will bear testimony to it.” (Sahih Muslim, no: 6923)

We are all aware of the USA-led invasion of Iraq which resulted in over a million people being killed, the oppressive oil-for food programme, and the military occupation which only ended in September 2012. This invasion caused untold human suffering, not only for the people of Iraq, but for the entire world. As oil became scarce, the price shot up and caused a world-wide depression. The current Syrian crises, the second part of this prophecy, is also set to worsen the depression and when Egypt finally falls to foreign occupation after Syria, the world will most probably collapse economically and technologically. Only when this happens, will Islam be able to rise its head and offer some sort of organised resistance.

Those who are dreaming of the “boom after the depression” or hoping to make some long-term economic decisions or investments, should know that the capitalistic interest-economy and all artificial currencies only have a few spadefulls of sand left until they will be buried forever. Prosperity will only return to the world when justice is restored.

The prophecies of the end of time, called Malahim, indicate to us that before the final war between the Muslims and the Jews, some Muslims will allied themselves with a group of Christians and conquer Turkey – another Muslim country to taste war. However, the Christians will claim that victory was achieved by their effort, and break their treaty with the Muslims. The entire Christian world will then unite under 80 flags or countries, each flag having 12 000 men, and practically the entire Middle-East will be subdued in an indescribable massacre that only time will reveal. Most of the Arabs will be wiped out due to this. Although the armies will not conquer Makkah and Madinah, they will reach until Khaiber. Some traditions indicate that the area of Najd (central Arabia) will be the headquarters of those who will betray the cause of Islam, and 70 000 Jews of Isfahan (Iran) will be from those who will be part of it.

It is only when matters will reach this alarming proportions that this sleeping and largely negligent ummat will wake up, organise themselves and start fighting back systematically – not with the view of regaining their countries, but for incorporating all the land under the greater glory of Islam. It is at this point that no doubt will remain as to the incumbency of  jihad (holy warfare) upon the able-bodied Muslims of the world. A tradition states that even if a person were to “crawl over ice to join the army,” he should do so. These wars will no more be regarded as regional, for secular rights, internecine or political, but solely for the sake of Islam. Arabia will first be re-conquered by the true Muslims, then Persia, then Rome (Europe), and finally Syria. It is towards this last leg of the wars leading up to ultimately victory and the re-conquest of Palestine that Imam Mahdi will make his appearance. He will come from Madinah to Makkah, whence the pious of the time will proclaim him as the Mahdi. He will then proceed to join his army general named Mansoor from Khorasan (part of Afghnistan and Iraq) who will don white clothing and black turbans, and both will meet in Syria for the final showdown against Israel.

According to a very terrifying  hadith: “There will be a terrible fight and the Muslims will prepare a detachment (to fight unto death in the last battle against Syrian occupation) who will not return, but victorious. They will fight until night will intervene, and both will return without victory and both will be totally wiped out.” (Sahih Muslim, no. 6927) The hadith continues that in this fashion, every Muslim will die daily until the fourth day whence the Muslims will gain victory. But the Muslims will not be able to rejoice over the booty as 999 people out of every 1000 would’ve been killed. However, as soon as they would hang their swords on the olive trees, a cry will be heard that the Dajjal had made his appearance and ten horsemen will be sent to verify the news. Other traditions speak of Muslims fleeing from the battlefield, most probably the hypocrites of the time, and their repentance will never be accepted thereafter. At about this time, Sayyadina Isa (Jesus) will descend from the sky and land in the Jami Masjid of Damascus in order to slay the Dajjal. This will take place at Ludhia, near the Tel-Aviv airport. His body will be disgracefully dumped in a well that the Jews have unsuccessfully tried to destroy for many years now.

All the wars will then culminate in a battle between the Muslims and the Jews on the banks of the River Jordan. At that time, according to a Hadith in Musnad Ahmed, Israel will have its Eastern border as this very same river which was not even named as such when this prophecy was mentioned. Thus, Israel will expand before it finally ceases to exist. According to the exact words of this tradition: “War will be fought in a country smaller than the end-bone of the spinal cord. The world will gather for its sake as if it’s the richest nation in the world for which the world has gathered to feast. Its leader will surrender the banner to the leader of all evil (Dajjal) who will come from the furthest western shores. Then is the beginning of its end as it will wail to the world to come to its aid.” This war will end with Israel being once again incorporated in to the Muslim lands.

The above brief account, although telling us of the millions more who will still die, restores some of our confidence and lifts our spirits. Muslims and Islam will ultimately triumph. However, the period of the glory of Islam will not last very long, before the world once again plunges in to the worst form of tyranny. For Muslims, our reward is not dominion of this world, but a life of eternity in paradise. Thankfully, at such time, the Muslims will be taken away by a fog that will cause them to painlessly die, the words of the Qur’ an will be uplifted and Doomsday will dawn upon the worst of creation.

Lastly, readers are cautioned not to rely on the internet for information on the  malahim wars as many have been fabricated in order to mislead the Muslims. Also, there is absolutely no indication in the traditions as to the exact chronological order of things to happen, and the time span – but as Muslims, we believe that the will of  the Almighty will come to pass, no matter how hard the disbelievers work to obstruct it. Some scholars have calculated that Isreal will end by 2023, but all these are based on speculation.

If the invasion of Libya was like a match thrown in an oil can, the invasion of Syria will be like a bomb thrown in nuclear plant. At the moment, Syria is the only place in the world where people sleep at night on earth, and wake up in the morning in heaven!

Although Syria is not rich in any natural resources like Zimbabwe, it is a strategic place for the triumph of Islam at the end of times. Our Master Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) blessed Syria (called Sham, which incorporates Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine too) as well as Yemen and said that a “the wing of an angel is above it.” This is the land where majority of the previous prophets are buried, but is also the land where the most amount of struggle between truth and falsehood took place, the place where powerful nations like ‘Ad and Thamud were utterly destroyed. Syria is place that decides the fate of the world.

The present Syrian war is nothing but a continuation of the divine exercise in separating the disbelievers and the hypocrites from the true believers: separating the filth from the pure. The position of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Palestine and Yemen have become clear as daylight on Syria. The sell-outs and hypocrites of this ummah have shown themselves. The haughty superpowers and the European nations – nothing more than huge ammunition stores, – have revealed who have bought their nefarious service of murder and mayhem. The upholders of truth have seen their true enemies, and although they may not have any superpower on their side, they have the Almighty.

 But there is also a downside to this horrible war. Many innocent men, women and children have been mercilessly butchered for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. For such people, death is a mercy for them as they have tasted martyrdom in their own home, rather than on faraway battlefields. The Almighty knew that they could not have handled more humility and difficulty, so He granted them martyrdom as a mercy. The sheer amount of martyrs may even attract the mercy of the Almighty to grant the Muslims eventual victory. Although the huge piles of mutilated bodies stacked up like sheep carcasses and the sight of innocent babies with gaping holes in their bodies may sicken us, but for them, they are already in a better world. This sorry state of affairs is meant to jolt me and you, the people left on the world, to decide: will we side with the hypocritical regimes to whom the flames of unrest will definitely reach and for which we may attain some comfort in this world, or will we be on the side of truth and be able to bear the hardship in upholding Islam?
 
As we are deciding which side to take, let us see what does QSC (Qur’ an and Sunnah Channel) say about why people are dying like flies today, locally and abroad:

1. It must be remembered that in this world, no benefit or harm befalls a person, except that the Almighty willed it to happen – millions of years ago already. This is called faith in predestination (qada wal-qadr). A person may be earning a million dollars a day, or 20 000 people may be killed in a hour through chemical weapons – all of this happens only through the permission of the Almighty. You are thus never alone in your prosperity, and nor are you alone in your adversity. Because we haven’t understood this basic concept, people are killing and harming others simply because their own feeling of insecurity forces them to think that they will be killed or harmed if they do not do so first. To prevent harm, we don’t have to commit harm. Rather seek protection from harm from the One who prevents harm. Don’t take matters in to your hands, leave it in the hands of the All-Compassionate.

2. Sometimes, the Almighty intentionally reduces an entire nation to refugees through war or an entire country to ashes through natural causes. This is called “forced mercy cleansing” and we have to be grateful for it. Chances are, if the Almighty left us in our state of heedlessness, corruption and sin, we would’ve died on disbelief and would’ve been eternally denied the pleasures of the hereafter. Generally, people in trouble and difficulty remember their Lord, not people in comfort and wealth. The prayers of the oppressed are normally accepted as their hearts are torn in a million places. The supplication of the distressed is more beloved than the burp of the satiated. And sometimes, the Almighty prolongs our problems simply to keep on hearing our begging and anguished cries.

3. Calamities, also called “rude shocks” or “silent sticks,” teach us vital lessons in order to perfect our faith. It is part and parcel of our life-experience designed to increase our faith and patience (sabr). The Egyptians revolted in Egypt under Morsi due to shortage of food. How can a nation who cannot withstand hunger be able to rule in the name of the Almighty? Khilafat or Islamic ruling requires many noble qualities, and these wars are the tuning grounds to attain that spiritual perfection, leading up to the eventual victory under Imam Mahdi.

4. The Egyptian military coup taught us that we cannot attain our goals using western systems and western technology. Democracy and technology are there for Muslims to become westernised, not Islamised. As soon as the usage of western systems and technology produce results not suitable to the west, they will snatch it away from us. This is the reason why western education, technology and democracy may be beneficial to a certain degree, but we automatically inherit its secular outlook and shameless morals.

5. The Ummah is a whole, with its many members scattered all over the globe, is one entity. Although the heartland of Islam is the Middle-East, Muslims are to be found in every country of the world today. And just as the stock exchange in New York and the dollar rate affects every individual in the world, the actions of every Muslim affect every Muslim in the world. However, its major effects become more manifest in the populous areas. So if Muslims are being killed in the Middle-East, every Muslim has contributed to this situation and every Muslim has a twofold duty to eradicate this problem by: 1) Contributing financially to alleviate the plight of those suffering in the refugee camps and of those defending their lives and properties, and more importantly, 2) Reform ourselves so that our actions do not affect the innocent across the globe.

6. All our actions – good or bad – have an effect on society and the Almighty punishes us in this world already for SOME of the sins we commit here. Just like non-payment of zakaat generally leads to droughts and famine, there are two specific sins that lead to either our enemies killing us like flies, or we killing ourselves like cockroaches. These are 1) Love of the world to the degree that we forget death; and 2) Creating such an environment for ourselves that we not only stop commanding towards the good, but we start regarding good as evil. Muslims have been so much corrupted by wealth that we now have evidence that many so called “terrorists” were killed simply because someone misled them with false information. Our sister Aafiya Siddiqui, the only female languishing in an American prison with males, was simply a barter for big money. If Muslims can put a price on human lives and their dignity, why should the Almighty care for us?

7. At the moment, according to a hadith, we have entered the time of absolute dictatorship, which will only worsen by the day, after which the glorious era of Imam Mahdi will arrive for a short while, to be again followed by evil and strife. Our Master Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has said that in this era, you will find such rulers that if you obey them, they will lead you to disbelief. If you disobey them, you will be killed. You will be given a cruel choice – choose to be an oppressor and be spared, or choose to be the oppressed and be killed: “A time will come that a person will be made to choose between being helpless or committing evil. Whoever of you reaches that time, choose helplessness over transgression.” said our Master (peace be upon him). (Mustadrak Haakim, no. 38458).

8. At such a time, we have been guided not to be involved in politics. We have been asked to destroy our weapons as people will kill or be killed for no apparent reason according to a hadith in Sahih Muslim, no: 8728. “There will be much strife and killing before the last day. It will not be with the disbelievers, but the killing of my nation amongst themselves. It will be that one person from my nation will meet another and will simply kill him. The intelligence of the people of that age will be snatched away and only the wretched will rule over you. They will think that they are doing the right thing, whereas it will not be so,” said our Master (peace be upon him) (Kanzul Ummal, vol. 11, page 130). We should become like the son of Prophet Adam, Habil, who told his brother Qabil, who wanted to kill him: “You can kill me if you wish, but I will not even lift my hand towards you. I wish that every killing after this be attributed to you, but I do not want to have any part in it.” It may sound absurd not to defend oneself, but doing so will only lead to further bloodshed.

Finally, we take comfort in the fact that the Almighty does not impose a burden on mankind more than he can bear.  For us, we cannot be passive spectators in these world-altering events.  We need to play our part in order to once again usher in the glorious age of Islam.