The Madinah and Bab al-Ilm Iran programme marked its 14th consecutive anniversary in the summer of 2016, with this being the first time that I decided to embark upon the course following my university education. This was also the first ever year in the programme that participants were bestowed the honour of being guests in the holy city of Qom for the birth anniversary of Sayeda Masouma (sa), as well as being in Mashhad for the corresponding celebrations for Imam Ridha (as).
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09 January 2026 / 20. Rajab 1447
Fact or Fiction?
Shias on social media faced a mini-viral syndrome following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Aal e Saud of Saudi Arabia. Traditions predicting that the time of the Re-Appearance of our Imam (atfs) were being posted, liked, shared and re-tweeted everywhere.
However, the natural question was: How authentic are such hadith? Can we really pick on one event as a signifying the beginning of the End of Times?
Ask an Alim – a Q&A platform jointly hosted by The World Federation & Africa Federation – was the ideal place to present such queries and have them answered. Check out what our scholar has to say on these questions:
- Can we consider the death of King Abdullah of Saudi as one of the signs of the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (atfs)? What is our responsibility in this regard? Read answer
- What is the authenticity of the hadith narrating: ‘Whoever guarantees the death of Abdullah, I guarantee him the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (as)?’ Read answer
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