In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear brother, thanks for this interesting question, which shows your concern for the fate of your fellow Muslims. We really appreciate the great confidence you place in us and invoke Allah to render our work for His sake.
First of all, we'd like to state that the issue you referred to in your question relates to what is known in Islam as Ghaybiyyat or the Unseen matters. Before answering your question, the eminent Muslim scholar and renowned Da`iyah, Sheikh `Abdel Khaliq Hasan Ash-Shareef points to some basic guidelines that are to be followed when dealing with such issues:
"1.With regard to matters of the Unseen, it's to be stressed that Islam's approach to them is in general terms, not in details.
2. Predictions or prophesies serve as giving warning to the Muslim Ummah, for them to be keen to preserve their religion and be conscious of the schemes of their enemies.
3. This indicates that prediction does not call for laziness or lethargy; rather it draws attention to the importance of hardworking and avoiding evil. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "If the Hour (Day of Judgment) comes while one of you holds a palm seedling in his hand and he can cultivate it, he should do so."
4. For predictions and prophesies, one should only rely on the authentic narrations cited in the genuine collections of Hadith.
5. Islam teaches a Muslim to prepare for his death by doing much good deeds and keeping away from procrastination. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him commanded: "Lead your life as a stranger or a wayfarer.""
Focusing on the question you posed, Sheikh `Abdel Khaliq, goes further:
"The Hadith you mentioned here is in the authentic collections of Hadith by Al-Bukhari and Muslim. Al-Bukhari narrated, on the authority of Abu Huraira , that Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Soon the river "Euphrates" will disclose the treasure (the mountain) of gold, so whoever will be present at that time should not take anything of it." Al-A`raj narrated from Abu Huraira that the Prophet said the same but he said, "It (Euphrates) will uncover a mountain of gold."
Muslim narrated, on the authority of Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, that Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The Last Hour would not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people would fight. Ninety-nine out of each one hundred would die but every man amongst them would say that perhaps he’d be the only one saved (and thus possess this gold)."
Therefore, the incident is confirmed through authentic traditions. However, construing the word “gold” here to mean black gold or oil or real yellow gold cannot be ruled out, though what is mentioned in the narration is “a mountain of gold”. But what we have to bear in mind is that, this matter is related to the Unseen, which no one knows save Allah. Besides, interpreting such matters before their occurrence would be somehow premature.
Moreover, I would like to draw your attention to the second part of the Hadith, narrated by Muslim, which states that " Ninety-nine out of each one hundred would die but every man amongst them would say that perhaps he’d be the only one saved (and thus possess this gold)."
This means that in the course of the event, the majority of those involved will be doomed and their fate will be an inevitable destruction to the extent that only one from among 100 will be saved. Such a tragic end is closely related to their waging an unjust war for the sake of mere worldly gains.
Here, I would like to add that those who beat the drum of war nowadays, especially against the innocent Iraqi people, should watch out for the doom brewing in every corner, pointing to the possibility that the prediction, though we do not know its exact time, may be brought to pass.
In conclusion, we'd like to state that this authentic prediction is true and one day it will come true. However, we cannot stipulate the exact date on which it will happen as its knowledge is absolutely restricted to Allah. It’s quite difficult to interpret any present condition in light of this Hadith."
Here, it’ll be beneficial to read:
Backing Fellow Iraqis .
Attacking Iraq: To Whose Voice Should Muslims Listen?
