Signs of the Last Day: The Destruction of Great Cities

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Signs of the Last Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Destruction of Great Cities: Wars and Disasters

One of the pronouncements given to us by the Prophet (saas) about the End Times is the following:

Great cities will be ruined and it will be as if they had not existed the day before.(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-Zaman)

 

 

 

 

In the hadiths, it is revealed that, in the End Times, big cities will be destroyed as if they had never existed. In the past century, many cities were destroyed in such a manner. Only two examples here suffice, Hiroshima after the atom bomb (above), and several cities in Chechnya. (right)

 

 

 

 

 

Experts maintain that the worst natural disaster the world has known was Hurricane Mitch in Central America in 1998.

The ruin of great cities spoken of in this hadith brings to mind the destruction that now arises from war and various natural disasters. Recently developed nuclear weapons, aircraft, bombs, missiles, and other modern weapons, have caused untold destruction. These terrible weapons have brought about a degree of destruction never before seen. Indeed, the great cities targeted are most affected by this destruction. The incomparable destruction of the Second World War is an example of this. With the use of the atom bomb in world's greatest war, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were completely destroyed. As a result of heavy bombing, European capitals and other important cities suffered a great amount of damage. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the damage caused to European cities by World War II:

The resulting devastation had turned much of Europe into a moonscape: cities laid waste or consumed by fire storms, the countryside charred and blackened, roads pitted with shell holes or bomb craters, railways out of action, bridges destroyed or truncated, harbors filled with sunken, listing ships. "Berlin," said General Lucius D. Clay, the deputy military governor in the U.S. zone of postwar Germany, "was like a city of the dead."6

In short, the unprecedented destruction caused by the Second World War conforms entirely to that described in the hadith of the Prophet (saas).

Another cause of the destruction of major cities is natural disasters. It is a statistical fact that the age in which we live has seen an increase in both the number and the seriousness of natural disasters. In the last ten years, disasters caused by climactic changes are a novel phenomenon. A dangerous and unwanted by-product of industry is global warming. Industry is gradually disturbing the balance in the world's atmosphere, giving rise to climactic changes. The year of 1998 was the hottest on earth since records have been kept.7 According to the information of the American National Climate Data Center, the greatest number of weather-related disasters occurred in 19988 For example, Hurricane Mitch has been referred to by a number of observers as

the world's worst natural disaster ever to strike Central America.9

In the last few years, hurricanes, storms, typhoons and other such disasters have had a destructive effect on the American continent as well as in several other places in the world. In addition, floods have caused mudslides, which have engulfed certain centers of population. Furthermore, earthquakes, volcanoes and tidal waves have also caused great devastation. Therefore, all this destruction brought on upon the great cities by these calamities is an important sign in each case.

 

 

 

 

In the last century, a great number of disasters have occurred. In numerous countries, destruction has taken place as a result of which millions have lost their lives. These events are a striking parallel to that mentioned in the hadiths as signs of the End Times. People should now take lessons from these occurrences and adopt the moral teachings of the Qur'an.

 

 

 

 

2001 CAME WITH DISASTERSThe twentieth century is most frequently characterized as the century of disasters. Many deaths were caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods; while many others were caused by civil war, conflicts and by great accidents on the sea and in the air. And this situation has remained unchanged in the first years of the twentyfirst century. The destruction of cities and the annihilation of its peoples appears in the hadiths as signs of the Last Day.

 

 

 

 

 

2001 CAME WITH DISASTERS

 

 

USA11 persons of the same family died in a fire. In a fire in California, at least 2320 hectares of land was destroyed and thousands of people left their homes.

 

NORTHERN EUROPEThe coldest weather ever seen grasped Denmark, northern Germany, Norway and Sweden, many traffic accidents occurred, public transportation came to a halt.

 

 

HOLLAND9 people died in a cafeteria fire.

 

 

POLAND28 people froze to death.

 

 

THE UKRAINEAUkrainian ship sank in the Black Sea, 20 people died.

 

 

RUSSIA150 people froze to death.

 

 

COLOMBIAA clash between leftists and rightists, and conflicts caused 116 deaths.

 

 

SPAINA train collided with a van on the tracks. 11 people died. ETA's terrorism continues.

 

 

FRANCE6 people die in a fire.

 

 

GERMANY4 people die in a plane crash.

 

 

BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA16 people die in a bus accident.

 

 

CHINA56 people die in sea accidents, 21 die in two plane accidents and 37 are killed in a methane explosion.

 

 

COSTA RICA23 persons died over New Year's.

 

 

ALGERIA59 die in five assaults, and 8 die in skirmishes.

 

 

ITALY4 people died while celebrating the New Year, more than 800 were injured by fireworks.

 

KAZAKHISTAN The temperature falls to 52 degrees below zero, 4 people die.

 

 

THE MIDDLE EASTViolent skirmishes between Israel and Palestine.

 

 

CHECHNYA50 die in bloody skirmishes.

 

 

THE SEA OF OMANA Pakistani vessel sank, 35 people die.

 

 

AFGHANISTANIn 10 days, more than 700 Afghans died of hypothermia.

 

KOREA10 die in a snow storm

 

 

EL SALVADOR2000 die in an earthquake.

 

 

EQUADOREA tanker run aground off the Galapagos Islands released hundreds of tons of oil into the sea. It was an environmental disaster that shocked the whole world.

 

 

BRAZILHundreds of people are injured in a fight that broke out in a square in Sao Paolo where 1 million people were celebrating the New Year.

 

 

SUDAN22 persons die in a minibus accident.

 

 

HONDURAS24 persons were killed, most of them with firearms.

 

 

PARAGUAYIn a month and a half 33 people were murdered, or died as the result of traffic accidents, electrocution, and drowning.

 

 

THE CONGO50 dead in a train accident.

 

 

ZAMBIAA ship sank claiming 16 lives.

 

 

SOUTH AFRICA70 die of cholera, 14 die after being struck by lightening.

 

VENEZUELA24 passengers died in an airplane accident.

 

IRAN18 die in a snow storm.

 

KENYA30 villagers die in an attack by cattle thieves.

 

PAKISTAN24 die in a bus accident, 15 in a train accident.

 

ETHIOPIA7 fall victim to religious clashes.

 

 

MOZAMBIQUE8000 people homeless after violent rain storms.

 

 

INDIAMore than 30 thousand die in an earthquake that measured 7.9 on the Richter Scale, 125 die of hypothermia and 4 die in a helicopter accident.

 

 

BANGLADESH31 persons die of hypothermia and 250 perish in traffic accidents.

 

 

JAPANNo day passes without an earthquake.

 

 

SRI LANKA108 people die in clashes.

 

 

THE PHILIPPINESViolent rain storms paralyze the economy.

 

 

 

 

 

Natural disasters, which have not been preventable despite advances in modern technology, have shown just how helpless humanity can be. Earthquakes, mudslides, volcano eruptions, floods, and especially the destruction of large cities, are all important signs.