The Violent Woes to Which Muslims
are Subjected
 

At the end of time, their rulers will cause My people severe trouble in such a way that there will be no comfort for Muslims anywhere. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi' 'Alamat
al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 12)

  

 

Woe to this community because of those slaying rulers. These cruel ones frighten even the silent and submissive, apart from those who obey them. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi' 'Alamat
al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p.13)

  

 

"The cruelty of leaders… is one of the portents of doomsday. (Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rasul Barzanji,
Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p.143)

 

 

... There will be no home which strife does not enter, and no Muslim who is untouched by it. This will continue until a rajul (a man of gnosis and illumination) from my line appears. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi' 'Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p.25)

 

 

(A portent of doomsday is) sinners raising their voices in the mosques and the sinners having victory and dominion over devout believers in place of the commandments of the religion. (Mukhtasar Tazkirah Qurtubi, p. 450)

  

 

I swear that (great) misfortunes will befall to the people and one will not find any refuge from cruelty and tyranny. At such a troublesome time, God will send someone from my descent. (Mukhtasar Tazkirah Qurtubi, p. 437)

 

This hadith points out that before the Mahdi comes, those who lack religious morals and have a cruel and merciless character will come to power in some Muslim countries. This is one of the signs indicating that the coming of Mahdi and the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is drawing nigh.

In another hadith, our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) tells that due to all this oppression at the End Times, sincere Muslims may be forced to hide their beliefs and perform their acts of worship in secret:

 

Just as how hypocrites lead their lives in secret among you today, a time will come when believers will try hard to lead their religious lives among others. (Ibn Sunni, Hadiths related to the End Times, p. 12)

 

Many stories regarding Saddam's cruelty appeared in media.
Der Spiegel (June 16 2003) called Saddam and his family the "The Crime Clan".
Newsweek magazine covered Saddam's crimes in its issue dated February 17, 2003.
Sabah, September 25, 2000, "Unjust Saddam"
Radikal, April 12, 2003, "Caos, Poverty"
Aksiyon Magazine, April 14, 2003 "Radiation bomb experiment"

As a matter of fact, some contemporary Muslim rulers oppress Muslims and crush people with their oppressive and despotic regimes. They prevent Muslims from living by their religion and performing their acts of worship. Meanwhile, economic conditions make life hard. In other countries, people are subjected to trouble because their rulers are unqualified to rule.

Examples of some incidents taking place in such countries are as follows:

In Iraq which lost about one million of its 3 million population in the war against Iran, the Fascist dictator Saddam Hussein has applied unbearable torture and atrocities to his people.

Instability and turmoil have ruled in Afghanistan ever since the Soviet occupation in 1979 and some Afghanistan authorities which never represented the real Islam have established a very oppressive, ruthless and intolerant system.

Syrian Muslims suffered a myriad of atrocities during Hafez Assad's rule that lasted 30 years. Some cities were entirely destructed during the massacres which also led to rapes of women and all kinds of torture to men.

Djibouti, one of the tiny countries in Africa, has been ruled by a harsh regime under which, between 1977 and 1991, about 2 thousand Muslims were slaughtered and 7 thousand people were arrested and tortured without any justification.

In Somalia, an oppressive regime led by Major General Mohammed Siad Barre, which targeted at Muslims directly, was in power for about 20 years between 1969 and 1991.

Tunisia was ruled by Habib Burghiba's dictatorship for 31 years. Declaring himself as "the Life President," Burghiba oppressed people during his entire rule.

It is also worth to say that the reason of this situation prevalent in some Muslim countries is lack of knowledge about the morality of Islam. One of the common features of the regimes exerting pressure on Muslims is their being repressive, cruel ideologies based on power. This is surely incompatible with the morality of religion. Consequently, what needs to be accomplished is to carry out ideological struggles against these ideologies in question. An ideology that is defeated on the ideological basis can hardly survive. In this sense, the duty of Muslims is to present the errors and deviances of these ideologies and call them to the right path by telling them the true morality of religion. With this method that is in compliance with the morality of the Qur’an and the sunnah of our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace), all these cruelties will end by God’s permission and the Muslim world will attain a celebratory future.