Islamic eschatology is a topic that continuously grabs the attention of many Muslims due to its grave importance in Islamic theology. Its contents embody many supernatural events that are bound to be witnessed by many, and this further amplifies the fascination of many with this genre of scripture in the Islamic tradition. A major category of Islamic eschatology revolves around the signs of the Hour: the signs and events that manifest prior to the Day of Judgement, indicating its dire imminence. These signs, which were foretold the Prophet, serve as reminders to the Muslim community so that they may prepare themselves and be attentive to the Hour and Day of Judgement. Despite this topic's grave importance, many weak and historically inauthentic hadiths are carelessly circulated in many Muslim circles today. Perhaps what makes the matter even more challenging is the fact that some popular Muslim public figures continue to disseminate such weak traditions, further facilitating the spread of inauthentic narratives. This book serves as an attempt to prove the Muslim community with an accessible and comprehensive collection of authentic hadiths on the signs of the Hour, and perhaps it can be the stepping stone for a more mature discourse on Islamic eschatology.

In recent times things have become very confusing and we have begun to see in book stores and on websites speculations about future events, based on ayah and hadeeths which refer to these future events concerning the signs of the Hour. Sometimes you hear about the appearance of the Mahdi, sometimes you hear that the final battle between the Good and the Evil is close at hand, other time you hear some thing happening in the East or in the West. So, learn about the Final hour and it signs by reading this book which is backed by proofs from Quran and Hadith.

This book offers a new approach to the vexing question of how to write the early history of Islam. The first part discusses the nature of the Muslim and non-Muslim source material for the seventh- and eighth-century Middle East and argues that by lessening the divide between these two traditions, which has largely been erected by modern scholarship, we can come to a better appreciation of this crucial period. The second part gives a detailed survey of sources and an analysis of some 120 non-Muslim texts, all of which provide information about the first century and a half of Islam (roughly A.D. 620-780). The third part furnishes examples, according to the approach suggested in the first part and with the material presented in the second part, how one might write the history of this time. The fourth part takes the form of excurses on various topics, such as the process of Islamization, the phenomenon of conversion to Islam, the development of techniques for determining the direction of prayer, and the conquest of Egypt. Because this work views Islamic history with the aid of non-Muslim texts and assesses the latter in the light of Muslim writings, it will be essential reading for historians of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or Zoroastrianism--indeed, for all those with an interest in cultures of the eastern Mediterranean in its traditional phase from Late Antiquity to medieval times.

Nineteenth-century Sudan, wracked by religious, cultural, and political differences, is brilliantly evoked in the most ambitious book yet by this talented novelist. This, Mahjoub's latest novel, centers around the Battle of Omdurman---one of the great colonial wars in Britian's attempt to gain control over the Sudan. Mahojoub brings this period to life with perception, honesty, and integrity. This is a story of fighting men, most Sudanese but some British; some showed wisdom, but for the most part they were either mad or misguided. Mahjoub writes with a profound, poetic intensity that illuminates a wide range of characters; from the cook to the Mahdi, from an Arab prostitute to the gentle Hawi, whose powerful message combines with the judgment and blindness of the other characters to bind the story together in a satisfying yet disturbing way.