Major and Minor Signs of Qiyamah - Three Periods

Three Periods

There are three periods before the Day of Judgment, also known as ashratu's-sa'ah or alamatu qiyami's-sa'ah, with some debate as to whether the periods could overlap. The first period began at the passing of Muhammad, and the second began with the passing of his companions and ended a thousand years later. The Tartar invasion, 650 years after the death of Muhammad, occurred in the second period. The Mongols, led by Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, attacked Baghdad in 1258 CE and brought the Abbasid caliphate to an end. They massacred millions of Muslims, and the water of the river Tigris turned red with blood. The Qur'an also foretold a fire at Madinah in the Hijaz near Busra in Syria in the second period, which Islamic scholars believe occurred in 654 AH. We are currently in the second period, with the end of days beginning with the appearance of Mahdi.