Sixth sign.Part1

According to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) said to Fatima: “You will be the first of my Family to join me [after my death].” Six months later, what he said took place.

He also told Abu Dharr: “You will be expelled from here [Madinah], will live alone, and will die alone.” All this came true twenty years later.

Once, as he awakened in the house of Anas b. Malik’s aunt, Umm Haram, he smilingly said: “I saw my community waging war on the seas like kings sitting on thrones.” Umm Haram requested: “Pray that I too will be with them.” He said: “You shall be.” Forty years later she accompanied her husband, ‘Ubada b. Samit, on the conquest of Cyprus. She died there, and her grave has ever since been visited by the believers. Thus, what the Prophet foretold proved to be true.Also according to an authentic narration, he declared: “From the tribe of Thaqif, a liar will claim prophethood, and a bloodthirsty tyrant will appear.” With this, he gave tidings of the infamous Mukhtar, who claimed prophethood, and of the barbarous Hajjaj, who killed a hundred thousand people.According to an authentic narration, he said: “Istanbul will be conquered, and blessed are the ruler and the toops that will conquer it.” He thus gave tidings that Istanbul would be conquered by Muslim hands, and that Mehmed the Conqueror would attain a high spiritual rank.

His prediction again proved to be true.

He also said, according to an authentic narration: “Were religion to be hung on the Pleiades, men from Persia would reach up and lay hold of it,” indicating that matchless scholars and saints like Abu Hanifa would emerge from Iran. In addition, he foretold Imam Shafi‘i, saying: “A scholar from Quraysh who will fill all regions of the earth with learning.”

According to an authentic narration, he said: “My community will be divided into seventy-three sects, and only one among them will attain salvation.” He was asked: “Who are they?” He replied: “Those who follow me and my Companions,” meaning the Sunnis or Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a.

He also declared: “The Qadariyya are the Magians of this community,” foretelling the emergence of the Qadariyya sect, which would be divided into different branches and reject Divine Determining or Destiny. He also foretold the Rafida, who would produce various offshoots.

Again according to an authentic narration, he said to Ali: “As was true of Jesus, two groups of people will perish on your account: one because of excessive love, the other because of excessive enmity. Christians, on account of the deep love for Jesus, transgressed the limits and called him-God forbid!-‘the son of God,’ while the Jews, because of their hostility, went to another extreme by denying his message and virtue. Similarly, some will also incur loss through their exaggerated affection toward you. For them is the insulting name of Rafida. And certain others will be excessively hostile to you. They are the Kharijites and the extremist partisans of the Umayyads, who will be called Nasiba.”

I t m a y b e a s k e d h e r e : Love for the Prophet’s Family is a command of the Qur’an and was greatly encouraged by the Prophet. The affection of the Shi‘a may therefore serve as an excuse for them, since deep affection may be likened to intoxication. Why, then, can the Shi‘a, especially the Rafida not benefit from their love, and why is their love described by the Prophet (PBUH) as transgression?

T h e A n s w e r : Love is of two kinds:The First is to love something or someone for the meaning it or he signifies. This means to love ‘Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and the Prophet’s Family in the name of God and of His Messenger. This kind of love augments the love of the Prophet, and becomes a means to love God Almighty. Thus, it is permissible, and its excess is not harmful or aggressive, nor does it call for reproach and hostility towards others.The Second Kind of love takes the means as the object, it is to love something or someone for itself or himself. In it, one does not think of the Prophet, (PBUH) but devotes one’s love to ‘Ali on account of his bravery, and to Hasan and Husayn on account of their greatness and lofty qualities, no matter if one knows the Prophet or recognizes God.

This love is not a means of love for God and His Prophet; besides, when excessive, it results in censure and enmity for others. It is on account of this kind of love that such people held themselves at a distance from Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, and fell into loss. Their negative love, indeed, is the source of misfortune.According to an authentic narration, God’s Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) declared: “When Persian and Roman girls serve you, then calamity and misfortune will be with you, and your struggles will be between yourselves, with the wicked preying on the virtuous.” After thirty years, his predictions came true.