Saturday 13 September 2014

Hadith about satellites

The Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) said about one of the signs of the end of times is that " The dishes (atbaq) will communicate continuously and people will sever their family ties. " (Tabarani, in the chapter Kitab al Fitan). This saying is originally in Arabic.

Commentary on the miracle in this hadith is based on shaykh Hamza Yusuf:

In Algeria and North Africa in Africa, in Arabic, the satellite dish is called "Tabaq" (singular), "Atbaq (plural). The tabaq is a concaved dish and so it makes sense that the Arabs used this word for the satellite. The Prophet used the same word Atbaq for predicting satellites. He also used the modern Arabic word for satellite communications, he said "tuwasal al-atbaq. Thus he said "The dishes will communicate continuously and people will sever their family ties." In other words people will stay at home to watch tv and not visit their relatives or neighbours.

Notes:
1) Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's comments can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLjqXHu2jRI

2) The other word for satellites used in the east is "Sahn". This is an incorrect word for the satellite because a Sahn is a flat dish, and so doesn't apply to satellites.