their stones, their blood. And what do we offer them? Words. Prayers. Silence. Yes, we are in decline. But this decline… it is not the end. It is the warning. It is the storm before the sunrise. Because the Prophet, peace be upon him, told us that before the appearance of Imam Mahdi, the Ummah would be tested. Tested with trials, with confusion, with hardship. Fitnah would spread like wildfire. Truth would be hard to find. Scholars would be silent, and the masses would follow those who lead them astray. And yet… this darkness is not without purpose. It is to wake us up. Imam Mahdi will not come to a strong Ummah. He will come to a broken one — to gather the shattered pieces, to lift those who have fallen, and to unite a people who have forgotten who they are. But we must ask ourselves: Are we ready for him? Will we recognize him when he comes? Or will we reject him because he does not fit our expectations? Will we be the ones who support him, or the ones who fear him because he threatens our comfort? Imam Mahdi is not coming to entertain. He is not coming to fit neatly into our modern ideologies. He is coming to restore what was lost — even if it shakes the entire world. And if we are not ready, we may find ourselves on the wrong side of history, or worse — the wrong side of truth. So this decline? This pain? These divisions? They are a mercy in disguise. A wake-up call before the final reckoning. Allah, in His infinite wisdom, is shaking the Ummah — not to destroy us, but to wake us up before the Mahdi rises. Because the Ummah cannot be revived until it is first humbled. And revival will not come from politics alone. It will not come from hashtags, or influencers, or slogans. Revival begins in the heart. It begins with tawbah. With Qur’an. With sincere du’a in the depths of the night. With standing for justice even when it’s hard. With speaking the truth even when it costs us. The Mahdi is coming — but he is not coming to save us while we sit idle. He is coming to lead those who are already standing. Already striving. Already awakened. So now we must ask: What are we doing to prepare? Are we purifying our hearts? Teaching our children the deen? Supporting the oppressed? Uniting as one Ummah — not based on ethnicity, but on La ilaha illAllah? The decline of the Ummah is real. Painful. Embarrassing. But it is also temporary. Because with every fall, there is a rise. With every hardship, there is ease. And soon, by the will of Allah, the Ummah will rise again. Not under the banner of a nation, but under the banner of the Mahdi. Under the banner of truth. But until then, we must reflect. Repent. Prepare. This is our time. Not to wait — but to wake up.