By: Moulana Aneesur Rahman Nadvi

Today, the whole world is at the risk of coronavirus. Every country is scared of its terror and horror. Both developed and poor countries are employing whatever tricks and tactics they can to contain this virus. But no one is able to find an effective way to contain it. Every country appears helpless in the face of this global threat. Today, more or less the whole world is suffering from lockdown due to its fear. Obviously, the spread of such a pandemic on global scale is an extraordinary event in human history. It has no precedent in the whole human history.

I have been researching on the scientific signs of the doomsday in the light of Holy Qur’an and hadith for past more than a decade. A series of around three dozen researched articles penned by me have been published in national and international journals in Urdu, Arabic and English under the title “Climate Change and Doomsday”, and a sizable part of it is still unpublished. Since the threat of the corona virus began to spread rapidly from China to the rest of the world, I have started rereading the books of hadith to find an indication of this great tribulation of the present age. I was convinced that when the Qur’an and the Hadith mention hundreds of signs of the doomsday, big and small, then there must be a mention of this great global catastrophe that has befallen the whole world today. By the grace of Almighty Allah, I have succeeded in discovering the mention of this tribulation in a number of hadiths in details.

There are at least eight dozen hadiths in which this great tribulation of coronavirus has been mentioned as a major sign of the Hour. The books of hadith in which these narrations are found include Sahih Bukhari, Sunan Abu Dawood, Musnad Ahmad, Sahih Ibn Hibban, Mustadrak Hakim, Musnad Ibn Abi Shaybah, Naeem ibn Hammad’s Kitab al-Fitan, Musnad Bazzaz, Musnad Abdullah ibn Mubarak, Tahawi’s Sharh Mushkil Al-Aasar, Aajuri’s al-Shari’ah, Tabarani’s Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabeer, Ibn Batta’s Al-Ibanat al-Kubra, and Anbari’s Hadith Abi Bakr etc. A study of these hadiths reveals that just as the coronavirus is a mysterious virus and it is spreading in a mystifying way in the world, it has also got mentioned in the same fashion in various hadiths in different styles. An in-depth study of all these hadiths in the light of modern scientific researches, will make the picture clear that this is the same great tribulation that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) foretold to happen near the doomsday. The hadiths not only describe the nature of this great tribulation, but also shed light on how to avoid it. We will discuss some of these hadiths here in detail.

Prediction of Appearance of a Mysterious Global Tribulation
This global tribulation has been mentioned in the hadiths as “fitnatu amya muzlima” (i.e., dark and blind tribulation). One of the most comprehensive hadiths regarding this tribulation has been narrated in the book of Al-Fitan by Naeem bin Hammad (d. 229 AH) which is as follows:

عَن أَبِی هُرَیرَۃَ، رَضِیَ اللَّہُ عَنهُ قَالَ: “الفِتنَةُ الرَّابِعَةُ عَمیَاءُ مُظلِمَةٌ تَمُورُ مَورَ البَحرِ، لَا یَبقَی بَیتٌ مِنَ العَرَبِ وَالعَجَمِ إِلَّا مَلَأَتهُ ذُلًّا وَخَوفًا، تُطِیفُ بِالشَّامِ، وَتَغشَی بِالعِرَاقِ، وَتَخبِطُ بِالجَزِیرَۃِ بِیَدِهَا وَرِجلِهَا، تُعرَکُ الأُمَّةُ فِیهَا عَرکَ الأَدِیمِ، وَیَشتَدُّ فِیهَا البَلَاءُ حَتَّی یُنکَرَ فِیهَا المَعرُوفُ، وَیُعرَفَ فِیهَا المُنکَرُ، لَا یَستَطِیعُ أَحَدٌ یَقُولُ: مَه مَه، وَلَا یَرقَعُونَهَا مِن نَاحِیَةٍ إِلَّا تَفَتَّقَت مِن نَاحِیَةٍ، یُصبِحُ الرَّجُلُ فِیهَا مُؤمِنًا وَیُمسِی کَافِرًا۔۔۔(1)

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Hurayrah that he said: the fourth tribulation will be blind and dark and will wave like the sea. There will be no home left in Arabia and the whole world which will not be filled with humiliation and fear. It will roam in Syria, engulf the whole of Iraq and spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula through the hands and feet. People will be badly caught in this tribulation and there will be so much trouble that good will be considered as evil and evil as good and no one will be able to tell even oops. If efforts were made to contain it from one side it will get open from the other side. A person will be a believer in the morning but will turn nonbeliever in the evening … ” (Al-Fitan, Hadith No. 651)

Here are some of the most important points of this global tribulation mentioned in the above hadith:

1- The most important point of this tribulation is that this tribulation will not take place in one or a few countries but it will be a global one. It will spread to all nations, Arab and non-Arab. Not a single house will be safe from its grip. So, today there is hardly any region or house in the world that is considered safe from the wrath of Coronavirus. In this hadith, along with the mention of Arab and non-Arab nations, all the countries of the Arab world at that time, including Syria, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula, were mentioned.

2- The phrase of the hadith “تَخِبِطُ بِالجَزِيرَۃِ بِيَدِهَا وَرِجِلِهَا” can have two meanings. According to one of them, this tribulation will spread through the hands and feet. That is, this disease will spread by movement of a person suffering from this disease from one place to another and touching objects or humans with his hands. Hence these are the only two reasons why the coronavirus has spread from the Chinese city of Wuhan to other parts of China and from there to the rest of the world.

3- The third point which has been highlighted in this hadith, that this tribulation will fill every house of the world with “humiliation, disgrace, fear and terror”. The main cause of humiliation and disgrace among the people will be the loss of income and the risk of starvation due to shortage of food grains and other essentials, while the fear and terror will ride due to the panic of suffering from this pandemic. Therefore, today people in every country and in every region of the world are facing the same threat of humiliation, disgrace, fear and terror.

4- This tribulation will be so severe that after its emergence, truth and falsehood will be suspected among the people and people will not be able to distinguish between good and evil and they will often be in a state of disbelief after belief and belief after disbelief.

5- This tribulation will be extremely terrible. It will be so terrifying that it will become extremely difficult to overcome it. If efforts were made to push it down in one place, it will raise its head in another place and so on. Therefore, its fear will be everywhere and all the time. There are similar concerns about the corona virus. It commenced in China and spread to other parts of the world. It is said that it is now completely under control in China, but there are still fears that it could strike China again at any time sooner or later.

An Invisible, Blind, Dumb and Deaf Tribulation
As stated in the previous hadith, two words ‘amya’ and ‘muzlima’ have been used in the hadiths to describe this great tribulation. The meaning of ‘amya’ is ‘blind’, and the meaning of ‘muzlima’ is ‘dark’. That is, this tribulation itself will be blind. In addition, it will be so dark that it will not be visible to others. In another hadith, this tribulation has been described as dumb and deaf in addition to describing it as blind. It is narrated from Anas ibn Abi Marsad Ansari that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said:
(2)سَتَكُونُ فِتَنَةٌ بَكَمَاءُ صَمَّاءُ عَمِياءُ ، المُضطَجِعُ فِيهَا خَيٌرٌ مِنَ القَاعِدِ …

(Near the Hour) there will be a deaf, dumb and blind tribulation, in which a person lying down will be safer than a person sitting down …”

That is, this tribulation will not be able to see us, hear us, or speak to us, nor we will be able to see it, speak to it, or hear anything from it. In fact, calling it “dark, dumb, deaf and blind” indicates that it will be a sort of thing which we term as ‘virus’ today. The virus is actually a type of germ, measuring 20-200 nanometers (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter). It is submicroscopic, meaning it is so small that it cannot be seen even with the help of a microscope, nor it consists of a complete cell. In fact, it is smaller than bacteria and can wreak havoc by entering human cells and multiplying there. Therefore, at a time when man was unfamiliar with the concepts like cells, germs and viruses, the imagery and interpretation of viruses could not have been possible in words better than “dark, dumb, deaf and blind”. Therefore, this enemy neither can see us nor we can see it, but it will invisibly and unconsciously spread from one human being to another human being, until it will pose threat to the whole human race.

How can this Tribulation Be Avoided?
The predictions of the hadiths about this great global tribulation do not end here, but many more hadiths have been narrated in this regard which highlight the horrors of this great tribulation. These hadiths also suggest ways to avoid this tribulation. One of the hadiths in this regard are as follows:

عن أبى هريرة قال: قال رسول اللہ صلي اللہ عليه وسلم ”لا تقوم الساعة حتّى تأتى فتنة (عمياء مظلمة) المضطجع فيها خير من الجالس والجالس فيها خير من القائم والقائم فيها خير من الماشى والماشى فيها خير من الساعى۔”)3(

Abu Huraira narrates that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “The Hour will not come until a tribulation (blind and dark) will emerge in which the one who sleeps will be better than the one who sits; the one who sits will be better than the one who stands; and the one who stands will be better than the one who walks; and the one who walks will be better than the one who runs.”

Another hadith in this regard is as follows:
عن عبد اللہ بن مسعود قَالَ: سَمِعتُ رَسُولَ اللہِ صَلَّی اللہُ عَلَیه وَسَلَّمَ یَقُولُ: ” تَکُونُ فِتنَةٌ، النَّائمُ فِیهَا خَیرٌ مِنَ المُضطَجِعِ، وَالمُضطَجِعُ فِیهَا خَیرٌ مِنَ القَاعِدِ، وَالقَاعِدُ فِیهَا خَیرٌ مِنَ القَائمِ، وَ القَائمُ فِیهَا خَیرٌ مِنَ المَاشِی، وَالمَاشِی خَیرٌ مِنَ الرَّاکِبِ، وَالرَّاکِبُ خَیرٌ مِنَ المُجرِی۔۔۔”، قَالَ: قُلتُ: یَا رَسُولَ اللہِ، وَمَتَی ذَلِكَ؟، قَالَ: “ذَلِكَ أَیَّامَ الهَرجِ “، قُلتُ: وَمَتَی أَیَّامُ الهَرجِ؟ قَالَ: “حِینَ لَا یَأمَنُ الرَّجُلُ جَلِیسَهُ “، قَالَ: قُلتُ: فَمَا تَأمُرُنِی إِن أَدرَکتُ ذَلِكَ؟ قَالَ: “اکفُف نَفسَكَ وَیَدَكَ، وَادخُل دَارَكَ “، قَالَ: قُلتُ: یَا رَسُولَ اللہِ، أَرَأَیتَ إِن دَخَلَ رَجُلٌ عَلَیَّ دَارِی؟ قَالَ: “فَادخُل بَیتَكَ”، قَالَ: قُلتُ: أَفَرَأَیتَ إِن دَخَلَ عَلَیَّ بَیتِی؟ قَالَ: “فَادخُل مَسجِدَكَ، وَاصنَع هَکَذَا، – وَقَبَضَ بِیَمِینِهِ عَلَی الکُوعِ – وَقُل: رَبِّیَ اللہُ، حَتَّی تَمُوتَ عَلَی ذَلِكَ.”(4)

Abdullah bin Masood said: I have heard from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) that there will be a tribulation in which the one who sleeps will be better than the one who lies on his side, and the one who lies on his side will be better than the one who sits; the one who sits will be better than the one who stands; and the one who stands will be better than the one who walks; and the one who walks will be better than the one who runs. The narrator said: I asked: When will this happen, O Messenger of Allah? He said, “These will be the days of haraj.” I asked, “When will these days of haraj will be?” He said it will be when a man will not have peace with the one who is sitting next to him. Abdullah said, “I asked, ‘What do you order me to do if I have this period?’ He said, “Enter your house.” I asked, “What do you think if someone enters my house?” He said, “Then go into your room.” I said, “What do you think if he enters there too?” The Prophet (pbuh) said: Do like this (the narrator grabbed his wrist bone with his right hand and explained the gesture) until you die in that state.

These hadiths are explicit and unequivocal in their meaning. They give a complete and excellent explanation of the whole situation arising out of this tribulation of coronavirus, and the measures required to be taken to avoid it. Some of the important points mentioned in these hadiths are as follows:

1 – In these hadiths, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) at the outset announced that a tribulation will take place near the doomsday in which the person lying down will be better than the one sitting; the one sitting will be better than the one who is walking and the one who walks will be better than the one who is running. How beautifully these words from the holy Prophet (pbuh) are portraying the threats posed by the current coronavirus. By such a depiction, it is meant to indicate the degree of risk involved in various postures of a human being at that time and the safer position for him on one hand, and on the other, it is intended to indicate that a person can adopt a less secure position if and when it is deemed necessary. Nevertheless, when this situation arises, the best thing for him is to stay locked in his house.

2 – When the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was asked when such a strict precaution would be required with regard to the human movement, he replied that it would be required during the “Days of Harj”. Inshallah we will discuss this topic in detail later.

3 – When the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was asked about the way to avoid this tribulation, he suggested two ways. The first is that every human being should take control of himself and his hands. This method is very important and essential in controlling the coronavirus because the most important source of the spread of corona virus is the movement of human beings from one place to the other. The virus will spread wherever an infected person travels and touches his hands. In this regard, the last sentence of the hadith is of utmost importance in which it is said that if another person enters his house, he must avoid him and enter his bedroom and if he enters there also the only way to avoid him is to stand tying his hands, that is, not to shake his hands with him, even if he dies in the same position.

4 – The second way suggested by the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) to avoid this tribulation is the home quarantine. He ordered every person to enter his house and lock himself in the house. This is the safest way to avoid this tribulation. According to some hadiths, if a man has a place of his own, or he has only sheeps and goats, he should take shelter there.(5) It suggests that if a person has some means of subsistence whatsoever, he should quarantine himself there only. According to a tradition, in such a time, a person should become the cushion or pillow of his home “hillsun min ahlas al-bayt”.(6) That is, just as the place of a pillow is the most comfortable place in the house, every human being should make himself accustomed to a comfortable place in the house like that of a pillow in order to avoid this great tribulation.

Is Corona Virus a Natural Outbreak or a Man-Made Disaster?
In the previous hadith, when the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was questioned when such a strict precaution would be needed in the movement of humans, he replied that it would be required in the “days of haraj”. That is, such a precaution will be needed when the days of haraj are going on the earth. In addition to the above hadith, many books of hadith, including Bukhari, mention the days of haraj. At least 30 hadiths of the same meaning have been narrated in in this regard. According to a hadith of Bukhari, the meaning of ‘haraj’ is ‘murder'(7) Linguistically, ‘haraj’ means “شدۃ القتل وکثرته” ‘intensity and abundance of murder’(8) Therefore, “days of haraj” means ‘days of intense murder.’ That is to say, such a precaution must be taken during the days of massacre on the earth. According to the words of the hadith, no one will consider himself safe even from the person sitting next to him, as it would put him at the risk of infection.

About 3.08 million people have been infected with the Corona Virus so far (April 28) and 2.12 lakh have died. The current mortality rate of this deadly virus is around 6.9 percent. According to a Harvard University study, 70% of the world’s population could be infected with this virus. That means 5.42 billion of the world’s current 7.75 billion people could be infected. According to the current mortality rate, corona virus could kill 350-400 million people, or it could be even higher as it would be difficult to handle because of the shortage of facilities.

The most important point of the hadiths narrated in this regard is that the word “death” has not been used anywhere in these hadiths, instead the word “murder” has been used, which is an important assertion of hadiths with regard to this virus. Now the question arises here is why this word has been used in the hadiths? The answer is quite clear that the corona virus epidemic did not spread naturally but it was an intentional one. This is part of a biological warfare that the world has been debating for a long time. Biological warfare is forbidden under Islamic law as well as the modern international law. Its perpetration is tantamount to murder. This pandemic was deliberately made to spread first in China and then from China to other countries of the world. Some people might disagree, but there is ample evidence in front of the whole world today which leaves no doubt that the deliberate spread of the corona virus in the world is not a conspiracy theory but a fact. It will suffice us to take a look at some of the evidence in this regard.

1 – Corona virus is said to have been first discovered in animals in the 1930s and in humans in the 1960s. Since then, research on biological weapons has begun in the United States and other countries. Today, many developed countries, including the United States, have these dangerous biological weapons at their disposal. No one denies this. The only question here is which country will use them against whom and when.

2 – In 1981, an American novel title “The Eyes of Darkness”, predicted that by 2020, a biological virus that would affect the human respiratory system would spread around the world. It also stated that this disease will only spread from person to person and that the bacterium will not be able to survive outside the human body for even a short time. This disease is named Wuhan-004 in this novel. Surprisingly, the corona virus also spread from the Chinese city of Wuhan.(9)

3 – A similar biological weapon was shown in the popular Simpson cartoon in 1993. There have been several movies in Hollywood about this virus. These include the Outbreak (1995) and the Contagion (2011). The virus that has been filmed in Contagion is very similar to the Corona virus. It has also been shown in this film that after the spread of this virus, places of worship, shops, markets and airports throughout the world will be closed. The film also shows that after the disease has killed about 30 million people worldwide, scientists will be able to discover a vaccine to prevent the further spread of this virus, and the virus will be controlled eventually.

4 – In 2018, Microsoft founder Bill Gates predicted spread of a mysterious virus in the near future. He also predicted that this disease would kill millions of people in a short period of time.

5 – According to a former Pakistani diplomat, Hussain Abdullah Haroon, a patent for the corona virus vaccine was obtained from the US government in 2006 itself which means this virus had already been invented before that. He also provided its patent number. In 2014, an attempt was made to get the patent from Europe which was granted in November 2019. According to him, Israel has also successfully developed its vaccine but it has not yet been distributed. According to him, Israel will only provide these vaccines to countries that recognize it and accept its terms. According to the diplomat, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is also involved in financing the coronavirus vaccine. The virus was developed in a laboratory in England and transmitted to Chinese city of Wuhan, through Canada.

The important thing here is that when the corona virus started to spread from China to the various parts of the world, the United States blamed China for its spread and tried to call it ‘Chinese virus’, but when China retaliated, and alleged that the virus was brought to China by the US military and US is responsible for its spread in Wuhan, tensions escalated between the two countries. Later, both China and the United States preferred to remain silent on the issue, avoiding further escalation. Anyhow, it is clear from these contentions that the matter here is something else which is being covered up through allegation and counter allegations.

It is also important to note that while the world is in a state of fear and panic over this global pandemic, it is being welcomed in Israel. The Jews are actually waiting for their Messiah right now. An Israeli minister said no one will be able to find a cure for the corona virus because only their Messiah will be able to cure it. Another Israeli minister even claimed that he is talking to the Jewish Messiah. It was as if they were waiting for that moment. In fact, the Jews are preparing to establish a new world order against the backdrop of this whole situation.

However, with such massive evidence, there won’t remain iota of doubt that the spread of the corona virus is part of a greater conspiracy. Obviously, their predictions about the spread of this virus are not based on any revelation from God, as is the case with the hadiths of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) in this regard. Rather, it suggests a long-term planning of enemies of humanity. On the contrary, we are getting a very clear and unequivocal light from the hadiths in which the deaths caused by this tribulation have been described as the days of ‘mass killings’ or ‘massacre’. Obviously, this is the murder of humanity and all its responsibility lies on shoulders of these anti-human elements, be it China, or the United States or any third invisible power behind them.
(to be cont.)

References:
1 – Al Fitan, Na’eem bin Hammad, Hadith no. 651.
2 – Al-Shari’ah, Aamidi, Hadith: 77; Al-Ibana Al-Kubra, Ibn Battah, Hadith: 1.
3 – Tafseer Al Salabi, V. 4, P. 345.
4 – Musnad Ahmed, hadith no. 4286; Sunan Abi Dawood, hadith no. 4256; Albani says it is a Sahi hadith; Sahih Ibn Hibban, 5965; Jami Mamar bin Shaddad, hadith no. 20727.
5 – Sunan Abi Dawood, hadith no. 4256.
6 – Anbari, P. 74.
7 – Sahih Bukhari, hadith no. 7066.
8 – Tajul Aroos, V. 6, P. 275.
9- The Eyes of Darkness, Dean Koontz, Berkley Book, New York, 1981.