First Sermon:

All praise is due and belongs to Allâh . We praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness and repent to Him. We seek refuge with Allâh  from the evils of ourselves and from the wickedness of our own deeds. Whomever that Allâh  guides, none can mislead him, and whomever He sends astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allâh  alone with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ تَمُوتُنَّ إِلاَّ وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ )

(O ye who believe, fear Allâh  as he should be feared and die not unless you are Muslims) [Al-Imran: 102]

( يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاء وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ وَالأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا )

(O people fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul. From it, He created its spouse, and from both of them scattered many men and women. Fear Allâh , by whom you ask one another, and (fear) the wombs (lest you sever its relationship). Allâh  is ever watching over you.) [An-Nisa: 1].

( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا * يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَالَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَمَن يُطِعْ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا )

 (O you, who believe, fear Allâh  and say sound statements. He will mend your deeds for you and forgive your sins. Whosoever obeys Allâh  and His Messenger shall win a great victory) [Al-Ahzab: 70-71].

There is no day that is greater, more critical and more terrible than the Day of Resurrection. Allâh  the Almighty said,

( يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُواْ رَبَّڪُمۡ‌ۚ إِنَّ زَلۡزَلَةَ ٱلسَّاعَةِ شَىۡءٌ عَظِيمٌ۬ * يَوۡمَ تَرَوۡنَهَا تَذۡهَلُ ڪُلُّ مُرۡضِعَةٍ عَمَّآ أَرۡضَعَتۡ وَتَضَعُ ڪُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمۡلٍ حَمۡلَهَا وَتَرَى ٱلنَّاسَ سُكَـٰرَىٰ وَمَا هُم بِسُكَـٰرَىٰ وَلَـٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ ٱللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ)

O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) is a terrible thing. (1) The Day you shall see it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling, and every pregnant one will drop her load, and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet they will not be drunken, but severe will be the Torment of Allâh [Hajj: 1-2].

He the most Glorified and Exalted said,

( يَوۡمً۬ا يَجۡعَلُ ٱلۡوِلۡدَٲنَ شِيبًا )

On a Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) that will make the children grey-headed? [Al-Muzzammil: 17].

He the most Glorified and Exalted further said,

( يَوۡمَ يَفِرُّ ٱلۡمَرۡءُ مِنۡ أَخِيهِ * وَأُمِّهِۦ وَأَبِيهِ * وَصَـٰحِبَتِهِۦ وَبَنِيهِ * لِكُلِّ ٱمۡرِىٍٕ۬ مِّنۡہُمۡ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ۬ شَأۡنٌ۬ يُغۡنِيهِ )

That Day shall a man flee from his brother, (34) And from his mother and his father, (35) And from his wife and his children. (36) Everyman, that Day, will have enough to make him careless of others [Abasa: 34-37].

When the last hour sets in no repentance would be accepted from a penitent nor would any excuse be accepted from the apologetic.

It is out of the mercy of Allâh , the Almighty to make signs and portents that warn of its imminent occurrence as Allâh  the Almighty said,

( فَهَلۡ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا ٱلسَّاعَةَ أَن تَأۡتِيَہُم بَغۡتَةً۬‌ۖ فَقَدۡ جَآءَ أَشۡرَاطُهَا )

Do they then await (anything) other than the Hour, that it should come upon them suddenly? But some of its portents (indications and signs) have already come [Muhammad: 18].

What is meant by the Arabic word "Ashraatuha" in the verse is its signs and portents.

These signs are categorized into minor and major. None of the major signs has occurred up till now. As for the minor signs, there are some that have occurred and cannot recur. There are some that have occurred and can recur, while there are some that are yet to occur. This is precisely the gist. Come on; let us address them in some details:

O believers! Among the signs of the Last Hour that have occurred and can never recur, are the following:

First: Commission of Prophet Muhammad, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), as evidenced his saying, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), "I and the Last Hour have been sent like this and (he while doing it) joined the forefinger with the middle finger (Agreed upon).

Second: The death of the Prophet, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), for it is among the signs of the Last Hour also, as evidenced by his saying, " Count six signs that indicate the approach of the Hour: my death..." (Al-Bukhari).

Third: Splitting of the moon: Allâh , the Almighty said:

( ٱقۡتَرَبَتِ ٱلسَّاعَةُ وَٱنشَقَّ ٱلۡقَمَرُ )

The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder [Al-Qamar: 1].

On the authority of Ibn Mas'ood, while we were with the Messenger of Allâh  (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), in Mina, when the moon was cleft asunder into two parts. Part of it was behind the mountain, and part of it before it. The Messenger of Allâh  (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said to us: 'Bear witness' "(Agreed upon).

Fourth: the fire of Hejaz: Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said: " The Hour will not be established till a fire will come out of the land of Hijaz, and it will throw light on the necks of the camels at Busra " (Agreed upon).

Moreover, Busra is a city in Sham (Great Syria). Al-Imam An-Nawawi says, "In our time, during the year 654AH, fire emerged in the city of Madinah. It was a very great inferno from the eastern side of Madinah behind the Harrah (a land with baked like stones and there are two Harrah in Madinah: the Eastern and Western Harrah), Knowledge about this has been transmitted successively among all the people of Sham".

Slaves of Allâh ! Among the minor signs that have occurred but can recur are the following:

First: Appearance of persons laying false claims to prophecy: The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said: " The Last Hour shall not be established until nearly thirty imposters, Dajjal appear, each of them claiming that he is the Messenger of Allâh  " (Agreed upon).

Second: Large number of killings: The Messenger of Allâh  (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, "The last Hour will not come unless there is frequent pandemonium. They said: What is pandemonium? Thereupon he said: Bloodshed. Bloodshed "(Agreed upon).

That will be so much so that people would kill each other for the most trivial reason, even for no reason. The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, " By Him in Whose Hand is my life, a time would come when the murderer would not know why he has committed the murder, and the victim would not know why he has been killed "(Muslim).

Third: Assignment of authority to the unqualified persons: The evidence for this is word of the Prophet, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), "When authority is given to those who do not deserve it, then wait for the Last Hour " (Al-Bukhari).

Fourth: deformed and degradation and defamation: The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, "Just before the Last Hour comes there will be transformations, the earth collapsing, and Qadhf. (i.e. the throwing of stones perhaps as a means of punishment for slander and tyranny)". (Ibn Majah).

According to the transmission of At- Tirmidhi, a man from among the Muslims asked: O Messenger of Allâh , and when is that? He said, "When singing slave-girls, music, and drinking intoxicants spread."

Fifth: The widespread of ignorance about religion: Anas narrated that the Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said: " From among the portents of the Last Hour are (the following): Religious knowledge will be taken away (by the death of Religious learned men); (Religious) ignorance will prevail; Drinking of Alcoholic drinks (will be very common); There will be prevalence of open illegal sexual intercourse". (Agreed upon).

O Muslims! There are some minor signs that have not occurred up till now, and here you are with some of them:

First: Prosperity and development in the land of Arabia: The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, " The Last Hour will not come before wealth becomes abundant and overflowing, so much so that a man takes Zakah out of his property and cannot find anyone to accept it from him and till the land of Arabia becomes meadows and rivers". (Muslim).

Second: The size of the new moons would be large as they appear. The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, "It is among the signs of the Last Hour to see the crescent approaching, and it would be said, this is for two nights, and for the mosques to be taken as pathways" (At-Tabarani).

Third: The emergence of a mountain of gold in the Euphrates River: The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, "The Last Hour will not come to pass before the River Euphrates dries up to unveil the mountain of gold, for which people would fight. Ninety-nine out of one hundred will die (in the fighting)". (Agreed upon).

The Prophet, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), has advised his nation, saying: "Whosoever may be alive at that time, should not take anything of it" (Agreed upon).

Fourth: The Muslims would defeat the Jews, and the inanimate objects would assist the Muslims. The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, "The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allâh , there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say so, for it is of the trees of the Jews"(Muslim).

Slaves of Allâh ! Those are the minor signs of the Last Hour. We are left with the discussion about the major signs of the Last Hour. The Prophet, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), has compiled a number of those signs in the hadith of Hudhaifah bin Usaid Al-Ghiffari who said, " Allâh 's Messenger (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said: What do you discuss about? They (the Companions) said. We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (Allâh  be pleased with him), the Gog and Magog, and land-slides in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly "(Muslim).

• Concerning the Smoke, Allâh the Almighty, stated it when He said,

(فَٱرۡتَقِبۡ يَوۡمَ تَأۡتِى ٱلسَّمَآءُ بِدُخَانٍ۬ مُّبِينٍ۬ * يَغۡشَى ٱلنَّاسَ‌ۖ هَـٰذَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ۬ * رَّبَّنَا ٱكۡشِفۡ عَنَّا ٱلۡعَذَابَ إِنَّا مُؤۡمِنُونَ )

Then wait you for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke. (10) Covering the people. This is a painful torment. (11) (They will say): "Our Lord! Remove the torment from us, really we shall become believers!" [Ad-Dukhan: 10-12].

• As for the Antichrist (Ad-Dajjal), it is one of the greatest temptations, about which the Prophet, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh be upon him), said, " There would be no creation (creating more trouble) than the Ad-Dajjal right from the creation of Adam to the Last Hour " (Muslim). Hence, every prophet warned his people against him. The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, "I indeed, warn you against him (i.e. the Dajjal) and there was no prophet but warned his nation against him".

In a certain narration, he said, " And there will be written between his (Ad-Dajjal's) eyes (the word) Kafir (i.e. disbeliever)". (Agreed upon).

The Messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), described him saying, "He is a man with a huge body, red complexion and curly hair and blind in one eye. His eye looks like a protruding grape "(Agreed upon).

• Regarding the Beast, the Qur'an has spoken about it:

( وَإِذَا وَقَعَ ٱلۡقَوۡلُ عَلَيۡہِمۡ أَخۡرَجۡنَا لَهُمۡ دَآبَّةً۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ تُكَلِّمُهُمۡ أَنَّ ٱلنَّاسَ كَانُواْ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا لَا يُوقِنُونَ )

And when the Word (of torment) is fulfilled against them, We shall bring out from the earth a beast for them, to speak to them because mankind believed not with certainty in Our Ayât (Verses of the Qur'ân and Prophet Muhammad) [An-Naml: 82].

Moreover, the Prophet, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said, "The beast will appear, so it would tag the people on their nostrils. Then they would live long among you until a man would buy a camel. Then it would be said: From whom did you purchase it? He would say, from one of the people with tagged nostrils" (Musnad Ibn Al-Ja'd).

• As regards the Descent of Jesus from the heaven, the Messenger of Allâh (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), has stressed it saying, " The Last Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax" (Agreed upon).

It is he that will kill the Antichrist. The Messenger of Allâh  (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), says, " When the enemy of Allâh  would see him, it would (disappear) just as the salt dissolves itself in water and if he (Jesus) were not to confront him at all, even then it would dissolve completely, but Allâh  would kill him by His hand and He would show them their blood on his lance (the lance of Jesus Christ)" (Muslim).

• Emergence of the Gog and Magog. Allâh , the Almighty said,

(حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا فُتِحَتۡ يَأۡجُوجُ وَمَأۡجُوجُ وَهُم مِّن ڪُلِّ حَدَبٍ۬ يَنسِلُونَ * وَٱقۡتَرَبَ ٱلۡوَعۡدُ ٱلۡحَقُّ)

Until, when Ya'jûj and Ma'jûj (Gog and Magog) are let loose (from their barrier), and they swoop down from every mound. (96) And the true promise (Day of Resurrection) shall draw near (of fulfillment) [Al-Anbiyaa: 96-97].

They are trying hard to get out of the rubble where Zulqarnain had incarcerated them. On the authority of Zainab bint Jahsh, the Prophet (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), came to visit me one day frightened and he said: "La ilaha illAllâh  (There is no god worthy of worship but Allâh ). Woe to the Arabs because of an evil which has drawn near! Today an opening of this size has been made in the barrier restraining Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog people)." And he (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him) made a circle with his thumb and index finger " (Agreed upon).

• Sunrise from the west: the Messenger of Allâh (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said: "The Last Hour will not be established until the sun rises from the west" (Agreed upon) ...

What distinguishes the major signs from the minor ones is that the major signs would occur successively and continuously for the messenger of Allâh , (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him) has said, "The signs are like beads systematically arranged in a string; the string is cut and they follow one another" (Al-Hakim).

Second sermon:

All praise is due and belongs to Allâh . May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon the final Prophet.

Dear beloved ones! One may ask: What is the benefit and advantage of knowing those signs? That is why we say: There are so many advantages, including the following:

First: Satisfy human instinct to look to the future and learn its events, and those signs are images of future events and the end of the world.

Second: Remembering the Day of Resurrection: Whenever the Muslim perceives one of the signs of the Last Hour; he remembers it and that would create in him the vigor to work righteousness.

Third. Increase in the faith of the believer: That is when he sees those unseen events, which the Messenger of Allâh  (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), has told us of actually occurring.

Fourth: knowledge of the legal provisions regarding some of those signs, and how to deal with them, as the Prophet (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), said about the Mountain of Gold, which the Euphrates would unveil: "Whosoever may be alive at that time, should not take anything of it".

Also, when the noble companions asked him about the day whose span is like a year at the emergence of the Antichrist; if a day prayer shall suffice them? He replied: No, you must make an estimate of its extent". (Muslim).

Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) came to the Prophet, (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), in the form of a man, and asked him about the portents of the Last Hour ... (Agreed upon). Similarly, the Prophet (May the blessings and peace of Allâh  be upon him), despite his large number of responsibilities and concerns he told the people about them and even explained them in details. He was not to do so except for the importance of knowing these signs.

Now, dear Muslim brother! Having known the signs of the Last Hour, and having seen how most of the minor signs have occurred, and that the major signs will occur in sequence and succession; such that as the first occurs, the latter would follow immediately... Could you work for that Day! Could you go ahead of time before a time when remorse will not avail? Here is the Holy Qur'an setting forth a warning for us:

( فَأَقِمۡ وَجۡهَكَ لِلدِّينِ ٱلۡقَيِّمِ مِن قَبۡلِ أَن يَأۡتِىَ يَوۡمٌ۬ لَّا مَرَدَّ لَهُ ۥ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ‌ۖ )

So set you (O Muhammad) your face (in obedience to Allâh, your Lord) to the straight and right religion (Islâmic Monotheism), before there comes from Allâh a Day which none can avert it. [Ar-Roum: 43].

O  send your blessings upon Prophet Muhammad…