ÂKHIRZAMAN - آخر الزمان

Literally means the end of time; the final age.

As an Islamic Term: The final period and epoch of the earth's life leading up to qiyâmah; it denotes a specific era characterised by severe trials, moral corruption and ma’nawî crises, yet balanced by the ultimate ma’nawî triumph of the haqiqahs of Islam and îmân.

On the explanation of the hadiths:

طُوبَى لِمَنْ رَآنِي وَآمَنَ بِي، وَطُوبَى — سَبْعَ مَرَّاتٍ — لِمَنْ آمَنَ بِي وَلَمْ يَرَنِي

"Blessed is he who saw me and believed in me; and blessed—seven times over—is he who believes in me without having seen me."1

وَدِدْتُ أَنَّا قَدْ رَأَيْنَا إِخْوَانَنَا... الَّذِينَ يِأْتُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِي وَلَمْ يَرَوْنِي وَيُؤْمِنُونَ بِي

"I would love to have seen our brothers... those who come after me, who believe in me without having seen me."2

— An excerpt from The Twenty-Seventh Word:

Question: It is said that the Sahabah saw Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm, then they believed. We, however, believed without seeing him. Therefore, our îmân is stronger. Moreover, there are riwâyât that indicate the strength of our îmân.

The Answer: At that time, while the prevalent opinion of the world was antagonistic and hostile to the haqiqahs of Islam, the Sahabah — merely by seeing Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm in human form, sometimes even without witnessing a miracle — attained such an îmân that all the entire opinion of the world could not shake their îmân, nor did it cause even a single waswasa to some of them, let alone doubt. As for you, you weigh your îmân against the îmân of the Sahabah. What a vast difference there is between your îmân — which falls into doubt and waswasa at a single word of a European philosopher, even though the entire collective opinion of Islam gives strength and confirmation to your îmân, and even though you behold with the mind's eye not the humanity and physical form of Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm, which is the seed of the Tûbâ tree of nubuwwah, but rather his magnificent and luminous ma’nawî personality, arrayed in and enfolded by a thousand miracles and illuminated through all the nûrs of Islam and the haqiqahs of the Qur'an — and, on the other hand, the îmân of the Sahabah, which remained unshaken in the face of the attacks of the entire world of kufr, Christians, Jews and philosophers!

O claimant! What a vast difference there is between your faint îmân — which, due to its extreme weakness, does not even fully manifest the fardh in your actions — and the intense taqwâ and perfect righteousness of the Sahabah, which demonstrate the strength of their îmân and are the manifestations of their îmân!

As for the narration transmitted in the hadîth meaning, "Those in the âkhirzaman who believe without seeing me are more acceptable," it concerns certain specific individuals and their particular fadhîlahs. Our discussion here in this risale, however, is in regard to the rank of the Sahabah collectively and their universal fadhîlah.

The Addendum to the Twenty-Seventh Word

For the explanation of the mutashâbih hadiths concerning the figures of the âkhirzaman, such as the Dajjal and the Sufyan, as well as the signs of Qiyâmah, please refer to The Fifth Ray.