The Arabic word "fitan" is the plural for "fitnah", meaning sedition. Without further explanations, in Arabic "al-fitan" refers to the period that precedes the end of the world and is characterized: 1) by the emergence of a false, universalistic religion, whose leader is al-Masih ad-Dajjal (the False Prophet per antonomasia) or simply al-Masikh (the Anti-Christ), 2) by a animal monster called ad-Dabbah (the Beast), and 3) by natural cataclysms and wide environmental pollution. The leader of the Islamic believing Community that will win the war against evil is called [[al-Mahdi]], a descendant of the Prophet MuhammadAli.
The Koran only hints to ad-Dabbah, and gives no details about this era; related literature (called itself "fitan) dates back to the beginning of the Abbasid era. It mingles sources and literary genders, and is not a part of the Islamic sciences. Its main sources are: 1) some authentic hadiths dealing with the appearance of al-Mahdi; 2) many unreliable hadiths and 3) novels and tales similar to One Thousand Nights and One Night. The last days of humanity became a common plot for novelists, and many Islamic scholars warned Moslems against the risk to accept as "Islam" was is not but artistic creation and fiction. [b]Most of Islamic authoritative jurists think that all references to al-Mahdi and "fitan" are by no means a compulsory part of the Islamic religion. [/b]Their argument is neither belief ('Aqidah), nor law (Shari'a), nor even ethics (Akhlaq). Doubtful hadiths are not to be quoted or repeated, while the few authentic hadiths can be studied, but are not necessarily to be believed in, nor they have any relevance in interpreting Islamic Law. In Jews terms, they can be described as merely aggadic and non-halachic.