Religious prohibitions gaining acceptance The prevailing...

Religious prohibitions gaining acceptance The prevailing lifestyle of our own time, which has spread so widely in the last several decades and makes no distinction between what religion prohibits and allows, while tolerating all kinds of debauchery, reflects the environment depicted in the hadiths. Several hadiths describe this dark environment, the harbinger of the Mahdi's emergence, as follows: The Mahdi will not emerge unless disbelief invades everywhere and is openly committed in the public.

What rules in such times is the invasion by disbelief... That is its power. (Mektubat-i Rabbani, 2:259) The Mahdi will emerge following the instance of such vile corruption (fitnah) whereby all of the prohibitions are regarded as lawful. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 23) The Occupation of Afghanistan Pity poor Taliqan (a region in Afghanistan) that at that place are treasures of Allah, but these are not of gold and silver.

(Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 59) There is an indication that Afghanistan will be occupied during the Last Days. The Russian invasion of Afghanistan took place in 1979 (1400, according to the Islamic calendar). In addition, this hadith draws attention to Afghanistan's material riches. Today, large oil deposits, iron basins, and coal mines that have not been commercially exploited yet have been detected there.

Stopping the flow of the Euphrates river Stopping and interrupting the flow of the Euphrates river is one sign of the Mahdi's emergence. Soon the river Euphrates will disclose the treasure (the mountain) of gold, so whoever will be present at that time should not take anything of it. (Bukhari) It (the Euphrates) will uncover a mountain of gold (under it). (Abu Dawud) Many respected books of hadith mention both of these events.

Al-Suyuti mentions this hadith as 'the stopping of water.' Indeed, the Keban Dam has stopped the flow of the River Euphrates. The surrounding land has become as valuable as gold for various reasons, such as electricity production and higher soil fertility through the irrigation and transport facilities that Keban dam has made possible. The Keban dam and the others constructed over the River Euphrates resemble a concrete mountain, and wealth as valuable as gold comes out of it.

Therefore, dam takes on the properties of 'the golden mountain.' (Allah knows best).