(Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p.

(Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 29) There have been four great kings on the earth:two were believers and two unbelievers. The believers were Dhu'l-Qarnayn and Sulayman, and the unbelievers were Nimrod and Bakhtinasr. There will be a fifth king, from the People of my House.

(Ibn al-Jawzi) The situation before the Mahdi's emergence o 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) 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.

As a matter of fact, some contemporary Muslim rulers oppress Muslims and crush people with their oppressive and despotic regimes. In other countries, people are subjected to trouble because their rulers are unqualified to rule. Muslims in some countries, particularly Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Tunisia, and Djibouti, are oppressed by their respectives, and so are subjected to various hardship and problems.

Muslims are prevented from practicing their religion and worshipping, and economic difficulties make life harder. o There will be a dusty and smoky tribulation like patches of dark night... (Abu Dawud) The word 'tribulation (fitnah)' implies anything that turns peoples' reason and hearts away from the true path, or war, incitement, chaos, disorder and conflict. The tribulation in the hadith will leave smoke and dust behind it, we learn.

Furthermore, the way that tribulation is described as 'darkness' in the hadith, can be seen as an indication that its origins are unclear, that it is unexpected. Looking at it from that regard, it is probable that the hadith is referring to one of the world's worst terrorist attack, on the cities of New York and Washington in the United States on September 11, 2001.

Therefore, this most saddening act of terror, which caused the lives and injuries of thousands of innocent people, may well be that 'tribulation like patches of dark night' foretold by the hadith as the sign of the Mahdi's emergence.