At the time when anarchy and confusion would envelop the whole world...

At the time when anarchy and confusion would envelop the whole world; when seditions would arise (one after the other); when highways and roads would become insecure and groups attack each other; when neither would the old have mercy on the young nor the young respect the old; at that moment God would let a person from the progeny of these two (Imams Hasan and Husayn ( ‘a )) rise up to capture (and destroy) the strongholds of misguidance and conquer hearts that have been covered by the veil of ignorance and unawareness (and have been deprived of recognizing the truths).

He will rise up at the end of time—just as I rose up at the beginning of time—and fill the world with justice and equity just as it had been full of injustice and oppression.”[^3] Horrendous Crimes The crimes of oppressors and leaders throughout history have been very dreadful and horrible. The pages of history are replete with oppression, injustices and crimes perpetrated by tyrannical and bloodthirsty rulers such as Genghis Khan, Hitler and Attila[^4] against weaker nations.

Yet, the crimes that will be committed in the world prior to the advent of Imam Mahdi ( ‘atfs ) are among the most horrifying crimes that can ever be imagined. The execution of very young boys on the gallows; the burning of children and dipping them into molten liquids; cutting human beings into pieces by iron saws, axes, and mills are among the painful actions that governments which regard themselves as champions of human rights will perpetrate.

It is the occurrence of such barbarities that will manifest the importance of the government of Hadrat Mahdi ( ‘atfs )—based on the description of the hadith s—as the sanctuary of the deprived. Imam ‘Ali ( ‘a ) described the painful events of that period in this manner: “Verily, the Sufyani will commission a group to gather the children in a certain place. Then, he will heat the oil to be used in burning them.

The children will say: ‘If our fathers were opposing you, what is our sin in that we have to be burnt?’ He will select two children with the names of Hasan and Husayn and will hang them on the gallows. Thereafter, he will proceed toward Kufah and behave the same way toward the children there, hanging two children with these same names at the door of Kufah Mosque. From there he will go out and commit crimes again.