THIS MATTER WILL NOT OCCUR UNTIL 2/3 OF THE PEOPLE ARE GONE

_________________________________________

Peace and blessings be upon you,

It is narrated from Imam As-Sadiq [peace be upon him] that he said:

لا يكون هذا الأمر حتّى يذهب ثلثا الناس)، فقيل له: فإذا ذهب ثلثا الناس فما يبقى؟ فقال(عليه السلام): (أما ترضون أن تكونوا الثلث الباقي)

"This matter will not occur until two-thirds of the people are gone." It was said to him: "If two-thirds of the people are gone, what will remain?" He (peace be upon him) replied: "Do you not wish to be the remaining third?" [1] [2] 

The apparent meaning of this narration is that the Imam Mahdi (peace be upon him) will not appear or emerge until two-thirds of the people are gone. The destruction of two-thirds of the population is imagined to happen through a global war or devastating epidemics. The Imam clarified that this destruction does not include Muslims or believers, which suggests that war is more likely than an epidemic, as wars can break out between powerful nations, and only the strong, capable nations would be involved, leaving the weaker nations unaffected. This would lead to the survival of the people in those nations while others in the participating countries perish. It is less likely that such destruction would occur through an epidemic, as diseases do not discriminate between strong and weak nations.

However, it may be inferred from another narration that the disappearance of two-thirds of the people could occur through both war and epidemic. Imam Al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said:

قدام القائم موتان، موت أحمر وموت أبيض، حتّى يذهب من كلّ سبعة خمسة، الموت الأحمر السيف، والموت الابيض الطاعون

"Before the appearance of the Qa’im, there will be two deaths: the red death and the white death, until five out of every seven are gone. The red death is the sword, and the white death is the plague." [3]

And the following has also been narrated from him (peace be upon him) in another narration:

(يا أبا محمّد! إنّه لا بدّ أن يكون قدّام ذلك الطاعونان: الطاعون الأبيض، والطاعون الاحمر)، قلت: جعلت فداك أي شيء الطاعون الأبيض؟ وأي شيء الطاعون الأحمر؟ قال: (الطاعون الأبيض الموت الجارف، والطاعون الأحمر السيف...)

'O Abu Muhammad! Indeed, there must be, before that, two plagues: the white plague and the red plague.' I [the narrator] said: 'May I be your ransom, what is the white plague? And what is the red plague?' He said: 'The white plague is the sweeping death, and the red plague is the sword...' [4]

And the following has been narrated from Imam Al-Bāqir (peace be upon him):

(يا ميسّر! كم بينكم وبين قرقيسا؟) قلت: هي قريب على شاطىء الفرات، فقال: (أما إنّه سيكون بها وقعة لم يكن مثلها منذ خلق الله تبارك وتعالى السماوات والأرض، ولا يكون مثلها ما دامت السماوات والأرض، مأدبة للطير تشبع منها سباع الأرض وطيور السماء، يهلك فيها قيس ولا يدعى لها داعية)، قال: وروى غير واحد وزاد فيه: (وينادي مناد هلّموا إلى لحوم الجبّارين)

‘O Muyassar, how much distance is there in between you and Qirqisiya?’ I said, ‘It is near to the banks of the Euphrates’. So he (peace be upon him) said: ‘But, there will transpire an event with it, the like of which has never happened since Allah (تبارك وتعالى) Created the Heavens and the earth, nor will the like of it happen so long as the Heavens and the earth remain. It will be a banquet for the birds. The lions of the earth and the birds of the skies would satisfy their hunger. Qays would be killed in it and there will be no helper called for him’. (The narrator) said, ‘And someone else has reported an addition to it: ‘And a caller will call out, ‘Come to the meat of the tyrants!’ [5]

The Sunnis have also narrated, in their sources, something that alludes to this, such as the hadith about the Euphrates receding to reveal a mountain of gold:

(لا تقوم الساعة حتّى يحسر الفرات عن جبل من ذهب،يقتتل عليه الناس، فيقتل تسعة أعشارهم)

'The Hour will not come until the Euphrates recedes to reveal a mountain of gold, and the people will fight over it, killing nine-tenths of them.' [6]

From what has been presented, we can assume the occurrence of a world war before the appearance of Imam Mahdi [peace be upon him], as these narrations collectively indicate the destruction of the people; the cause is most likely war... Let us also not forget the possibility of a change in these matters [the concept of bada'] as well.

And may you remain under the care of Allah.

References

[1] Kamal al-Din wa Tamam An-Ni'mah, Ash-Shaykh As-Saduq, Volume 1, Page 684

[2] Bihar Al-Anwar, Allamah Al-Majlisi, Volume 52, Page 207

[3] Kamal Ad-din wa Tamam An-Ni'mah, Ash-Shaykh As-Saduq, Volume 2, Page 655

[4] Bihar al-Anwar, Allamah Al-Majlisi, Volume 52, Page 119

[5] Al-Kafi, Shaykh Al-Kulayni, Volume 8, Book 1, Chapter 451, Hadith 1

[6] Kanz Al-‘Ummal, Al-Muttaqi Al-Hindi, Vol. 14, Page 203

﷽

______________________________________________

Question

Answer

______________________________________________

May God's peace and mercy be upon you

Is it true that a world war will occur and a third of the world will remain before the appearance of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance)?"

______________________________________________