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Our Prophet (saas) refers to the beginning of a new calendar in the words 'the 7,000-year life span of the world'
1. Hadiths transmitted from our Prophet (saas) reveal that the life span of the Earth will be 7,000 years.
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Anas Ibn Malik narrates that the Messenger of Allah (saas) said: THE LIFE SPAN OF THE WORLD IS SEVEN DAYS IN THE DAYS OF THE HEREAFTER. Almighty Allah has said: ONE DAY IN THE SIGHT OF YOUR LORD IS LIKE A THOUSAND OF YOUR YEARS.
ALLAH WILL ASCRIBE THE EQUIVALENT OF GOOD DEEDS OF THE SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS OF THE AGE OF THIS WORLD to the one who meets the need of any of his brothers in the faith on the path of Allah as if he spends his days in fasting and his nights in worship.
(Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 88)
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Amr ibn Yahya, we informed ibn Zayd about the existence. May Allah be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of Allah (saas) said: THE LIFE SPAN OF THE WORLD IS SEVEN DAYS
IN THE AFTERLIFE DAYS. Almighty Allah said that a day in the sight of the Lord is like a thousand of your years. 1
(Suyuti, Al-kashf `an (fi) Mujawazat Hadihi l-umma al-Alf, al-Hawi lil Fatawi, p. 10)
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At-Tabarani Alkabiyr says: We told Ahmad ibn Annadril Askari and Jafar Ibn Muhammad al-Aryani (or Uryani) and they both said; We told Alvaliyd Ibn Abdul Malik Ibn Sarhul Sahrani and we told Sulayman ibn Ataulqureyshilharbi, and Addehaak Ibn Zamlil Jahni said of Amr Ibn Abi Shajeati Ibn Rabiil Jahni and Sullamatu Ibn Abdillahil Jahni:
I had a dream and told it to Messenger of Allah (saas). He spoke the words inside him: O Messenger of Allah, I am with you on a seven-stepped pulpit, and you are on its highest degree. He (saas) said: As for the seven-stepped pulpit, I am on the highest step, THE LIFE OF THE WORLD IS SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS ...
(Suyuti, Al-kashf `an (fi) mujawazat hadihi l-umma al-alf, al-hawi lil Fatawi, p. 10)
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They narrated from Daqqaq Ibn Zaid Al-Juhani:
I told the Messenger of Allah (saas) of a dream I had had. In that dream the Messenger of Allah (saas) was at the top step of a seven-stepped pulpit. He said: THE SEVEN-STEPPED PULPIT YOU SEE IS THE SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS OF AGE OF THIS WORLD.
(Al-Burhan fi 'Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 89)
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According to these hadiths, which appear in the book Al-Burhan fi 'Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman by Husamaddin al-Muttaqi, one of the greatest Sunni scholars, our Prophet (saas) put the life span of the world at 7,000 years. Hadiths putting the life span of the world at 7,000 years also appear in the works of many other Sunni scholars, including Muttaqi’s Kanz ul-Ummal, hadith no. 16459, Muhammad Tahir Ibn Ali al-Hindi ‘s Tezkiret al-Mawduat, I/223, Imam Sahavi’s al-Maqasid al-Hasana (transmitted by Daylami), I/693, hadith no. 1243, Al Munawi’s Fayz al-Qadir, III/547, hadith no. 4278 (transmitted by Daylami) and Bayazid Bistami’s Miftah al-jifr. This is clear evidence that Sunni scholars are in complete agreement on the subject.
2. According to a hadith narrated by many scholars, including Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, the great hadith scholar and founder of the Hanbali school, our Prophet (saas) refers to the beginning of a new calendar, saying, the time that had passed in the world up until him was 5,600 years:|
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal transmitted in his Ilel:
FIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED YEARS HAVE PASSED FROM THIS WORLD.
(Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 89)
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These dates, which our Prophet (saas) reveals as the world having a life span of 7,000 years and 5600 having passed up until the time of the Prophet (saas), need to be evaluated within a specific calendar. However, these dates must very definitely not be evaluated as the beginning of human history when the Prophet Adam (as) was sent down to Earth. If calculations such as the beginning of the Islamic calendar with the hegira of our Prophet (saas) from Mecca to Medina, or the Christian calendar beginning with the birth of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh), are performed before and after these dates, then it appears that this 7000-year period described by our Prophet (saas) may have been given according to a date of an event which was accepted as a landmark during his time. It may be a reference to many important dates that have occurred throughout the lives of the prophets, for example the birth of the Prophet Ibrahim (as) or the Prophet Nuh (as), or the prophet hood being bestowed on the Prophet Ibrahim (as), or the Prophet Ibrahim (as) migrating from one place to another or the beginning of the flood when the Prophet Nuh (as) boarded the Ark, or the flood’s end, or many other similar events that have taken place in the lives of other prophets. The important thing here is that our Prophet (saas) makes a calculation based on the beginning of the calendar in question and puts the life span of the world at 7,000 based on that calendar, saying that 5,600 years have passed between the beginning of that calendar and himself.
The great Sunni scholar Al-Barzanji states that the life span of the ummah will not exceed the year 1500 (Islamic calendar). (Allah knows the truth.)
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THE LIFE OF THIS COMMUNITY WILL EXCEED 1,000 YEARS, YET BE LIMITED TO 1,500 YEARS....
(Muhammad ibn `Abd ar-Rasul Barzanji, Al-Isha`ah li Ashrat as-Sa`ah, The Portents of the Doomsday, p. 299)
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Suyuti’s statement made on the basis of the hadith handed down from our Prophet (saas) is also that the life of the Ummah will not go past the year 1500:
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THE LIFE OF MY COMMUNITY WILL NOT EXCEED 1,500 YEARS.
(Suyuti, al-Kasfu an Mujawazati Hazihil Ummah al-Alfu, al-hawi lil Fatawi, Suyuti. 2/248, Tafsir Ruh-ul Bayan. Bursawi 4/262, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Kitab al-Ilal, p. 89)
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The life span of the community is one thing and that of the world another. Said Nursi, the greatest mujaddid of the last 1000 years, says that Muslims will remain on the true path until a command comes from Allah, and will be victorious until around 1506 with Doomsday probably taking place in 1545 (Allah knows the truth):
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“A group from my community will remain in truth until Allah’s command.” The abjad calculation of the clause “A group from my community...” which is 1542 (2117) implies its (the community’s) time of survival. The abjad calculation of the clause “will remain in truth” (when the gemination mark is counted) gives 1506 (2082); it indicates until that date (2082) it will continue its work of enlightenment evidently and obviously, and maybe victoriously; then until 1542 (2117) in secrecy and defeat. The abjad calculation of the clause “until Allah’s command” (when the gemination mark is counted) suggests that DOOMSDAY WILL BEFALL the unbeliever in 1545 (2120).
(Kastamonu Addendum, p. 33)
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According to the statements from the Sunni scholars Al-Barzanji and Imam Suyuti and from the Master Said Nursi, based on the hadiths of our Prophet (saas), the life of the Muslim community will not exceed the 1500s (Islamic calendar). (Allah knows the truth.)
1 A day with your Lord is equivalent to a thousand years in the way you count. (Surat al-Hajj, 47)
