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A Change of Systems
In this hadith, our Prophet (may God bless
him and grant him peace) foretold that the
Mahdi would come when "time is interrupted."
Many scholars interpret this expression
as a "differentiation of time" when a "change
of systems" takes place. What is meant by
this "change of systems" may be the collapse
of communism, the governing ideology of
many nations, toward the end of the twentieth
century.
One of the major reasons for the bloody
wars and massacres that characterized the
twentieth century was the rule of communist
ideology, which was a product of materialist
philosophy. This ideology was influential
on a global scale, and many countries were
either ruled by the communist regimes for
decades or were the target of communist
rings. Communism was the reason for the
cold war, which continued until the 1990s,
as well as the most ruthless assassinations.
Apart from attempting to spread their
ideology by fighting other countries, communist
regimes oppressed their subjects and killed
large numbers of people through executions,
mass massacres, harsh conditions in prison
camps, and food and other scarcities.
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Stalin,
the murderer of 40 million people.
Lenin, the communist leader
who committed the most cruel
massacres.
Mao, the killer of approximately
60 million people. |
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The world's bipolar system, which
began in 1945, ended with the Soviet
Union's collapse. This was also considered
the beginning of a new world order.
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According to historians' estimates, communist
regimes caused the deaths of 120 million
people during the twentieth century. Most
of them were civilians, not soldiers. Tens
of millions of people died because of the
rigid and savage characteristics of communist
regimes. Apart from this, millions of people
who were subjected to atrocities fled their
native lands. As a result, they lost all
of their possessions and lands, and lived
in constant fear of being arrested for various
political or ideological "crimes" or of
being subject to further atrocities.
However, these supposedly powerful and
invincible regimes began collapsing one
after the other in the late 1980s. The pulling
down of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was the
most distinctive symbol of this collapse.
Two years later, the Soviet Union, the largest
and most powerful communist state, collapsed,
and the Eastern Bloc soon followed suit.
Other communist regimes collapsed one after
the other. This sudden end of the bi-polar
world order that had existed since the end
of the Second World War was totally unexpected.
Now, a new world order is in the process
of coming into being. The "change of system"
mentioned in the hadith thus is materializing
in our own time.
Today, the last ideological and political
remnants of communism are disappearing and
the world is being cleansed of this bloody
ideology. With the spread of Islamic ethics,
the atrocities, pain, ignorance, and poverty
finally will be eradicated, and humanity
will attain beauty, wealth, prosperity,
and peace. As a manifestation of His forgiveness
and grace, God will offer humanity an end
to darkness, war, massacre, and sorrow.
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