the Major Religions” (p. 214) as meaning that it will occur after the drought, after which, he claimed, the Dajjal will come.

Yet neither it nor any other report, to my knowledge, contains anything indicating this specific timing. It may therefore be before or after that; indeed, what seems more likely is that it will be shortly before the Hour.

It is useful here to relate to readers what is stated in the aforementioned book (p. 210) concerning the depletion of water:

“The American Worldwatch Institute published a study indicating that the world has extracted enormous quantities of groundwater. In Texas and New Mexico, there is now a possibility that the groundwater in this region will be completely depleted; and in the northern regions, the groundwater level is falling by 12 feet every year. (Al-Ahram, 1/10/1985).

“A study in the United States indicated that the world will face an irremediable shortage of water resources, and that conventional means of providing water—such as dams, reservoirs, and canals—will be of no avail. (Al-Ahram, 2/10/1985). The Federal Climate Analysis Center in the United States likewise announced in a statement that the temperature of the Pacific Ocean’s waters is rising. This phenomenon affects climatic conditions throughout the world, leading to worsening drought in Africa and Australia; floods in China; thunderstorm-driven torrents in Peru and Ecuador; and storms and hurricanes in the United States, Canada, and South Africa. (Al-Ahram, 16/10/1986).”

I then found a corroborating chain for al-Masʿūdī in ʿAbd al-Razzāq (11/373/20779), from Maʿmar, from al-Aʿmash, from al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who said … He did not say: “from his father.” *