Not much to disagree with your words, religions loosing out to materialism and wanting everthing now/fast and added to the corrupted/distorted words by religious leaders over the centuries. Not many find the path, 1 in 1000 some claim, God knows best. Some try to spend in the way of God before they spend the rest on materialistic items, thus cleansing their money from the dust of riba (interest).
Best go to the source - Al Qur'an a Reminder, a Warning and a Mercy for all mankind, some hadiths authentic to be judged by the Qur'an to see if in harmony with the Qur'an.
Qur'an talks about the experts being replaced by the unknowing/misguided, 73 sects in Islam, 72 in Christianity and 71 in Judaism, if I remember correctly - only one from each is the truth according to God's words through angel **riel to Prophet Muhammad, pbuh.
Praying 5 times a day, minimum in these times is pointless without Khushoo, this takes practice to acquire and Muhammad always feared it would be lifted from all before End Times.
As for waiting for the Al Mahdi - "in my line, in my name and my father's name - ie Muhammad Abdullah" (yes long after we have passed at least 2007/2016 - depending on which current Abdullah has a son named Muhammad - if that prediction is correct? and that's the correct family line?) +20 +40 = 2067/2077?), Al Mahdi from hadith is meant to be in his 40''s when he appears as a leader to reunite the Muslims and asks the Messiah to lead prayers in the Damascus Mosque in Syria on his return.
Some hadith say Messiah to break the cross and teach from Al Qur'an, but I don't believe that, as we Muslims have our religion and our Quibla and Jewish/Jewish Christians have their religion and their Quibla. So my thinking is Messiah to reunite his followers alive at that time and Al Mahdi to reunite Muslims alive at that time, God knows best.
The barricades outside the mosque have to be removed for the Messiah to confront the Antichrist outside the mosque according to hadith. Syria has plenty of barricades already, looking like to continue for sometime then, maybe dates above are incorrect and WW3/Antichrist-Dajjal/Al Mahdi and Messiah all arrive much earlier? Scriptures have always said pointless trying to guess the hour, but many Christians/Muslims still believe happening during their lifetime according to surveys.
End of world/judgment day 2117 according to some after a 40 year rule by the Messiah.
But prophesies/current observations not the faith to alter one's character to become more righteous in this life.
Check it out for yourself - read Al Qur'an again and again, if you wish, and draw your own conclusions to follow or not.
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