Basic Beliefs of Islam

Chapter 15 : Explicit Signs of the Qiyamat

Exact timings of the Qiyamat, as mentioned earlier, is an absolute Divine secret. No one knows it except Allah Taala. Even the archangel Israfeel, who has been assigned the duty from the first day to blow the Soor on its appointed time, does not know its exact time and is vigilantly waiting the command of Allah.

But Allah Subhanahu taala has told His last Prophet (sws) some of the major signs which will appear before the commencement of the Qiyamat. This is a great favor to him and his Ummah.

The Holy Prophet (sws) has explained these signs in many different ways. But it was impossible to illustrate the exact signs to the people of his time who were totally unaware of the things which would happen in future.

For example, the people during the time of the Holy Prophet (sws) had no idea about the television, computers and many other sophisticated products of modern technology.

Thus, the Holy Prophet (sws) had used simple symbolic expressions familiar to the people of his time to ascertain the identity of the future events.

It is, therefore, imperative to analyze the metaphorical expressions of the hadith, ser ving as illustration, in order to identify the figurative objects hidden in the words to elucidate the related events of the future. This kind of explanations based on deep research can give the true picture of the scene.

Hudhaifah bin Usaid al-Ghafari, quoting the Prophet (sws), narrated the following 10 specific signs of the Doomsday. Some of them are as follows:

(1) The Smoke (2) Dajjal (3) Dabbatul-Ardh (4) Rising of the sun from the West (5) Re- appearance of Imam Mehdi (as) and Hazrat Isa (as) (6) YaJooj and Majooj.

The Smoke - Climax of the climatic deterioration

According to many traditions, some kind of smoke will spread throughout the world near the Doomsday. This will penetrate the ears (and eyes) of the people.

Possible explanation : It may be the result of big volcanic explosions releasing many kinds of volcanic gases followed by strong wind storms, and excessive meteorite showers. The combined effect of all these catastrophic things can fill the whole atmosphere of the ear th with smoke.

Dajjal - Climax of the spiritual deterioration

According to many hadith, Dajjal will rise near the Doomsday. He will be a powerful ruler and a staunch enemy of the Muslims. He will demonstrate incredible things to attract the people. He will have the means to travel from the East to the West in a day or a part thereof. He will have with him Jannat and Jahannum. He will grant Jannat to his followers and will throw his opponents in his Jahannum.

It is also mentioned in ahadiths that Dajjal will be one-eyed person who will falsely claim that he is the Messiah, awaited by the Jews ( or by Christians ). He will attract a large number of the people living in different par ts of the world and with this increase of power, popularity and prestige, he will finally claim that he is god. The Dajjal will be killed by Imam Mehdi (as). It has been reported in Sahih-e- Muslim, that the Holy Prophet (sws) said:

"There is not, between the creation of Adam up to the appearance of Qiyamat, any matter more difficult than that of Dajjal."

Now it is difficult to hypothesize accurately the nature and picture of Dajjal from the words of the hadith. Many people can imagine Dajjal literally as a one-eyed person. But Dajjal could also be a powerful technologically advanced nation.

A nation who calls himself a Massiha (peace-maker), and a Superpower ( god ). One-eyed person can be interpreted as a developed nation exploring the universe with one eye, i.e., material aspects only.

Today, the United States is being considered by many people as Jannat. There are many Muslims, living in Muslim countries, who desperately wish to migrate to the United States by all means. Green Card for them is like an entry permit of Jannat.

Viewing the technological advancement and spiritual decline of this country in the light of the hadith, one can say that America is the Dajjal. There can be many other countries in the world which can be referred as the Jannat of Dajjaal. The Holy Prophet has warned the Muslims repeatedly about the Fitna of Dajjal. The literal meaning of Dajjal is "The Deceiver " Allah knows better.

Yajuj (Gog) and Majuj (Magog). Nuclear World War

According to the Muslim scholars, Yajuj and Majuj are the two big tribes from the children of Japheth. In Old Testament, Majuj has been referred to the chief of Mashech and Tubal. These places have been identified by the researchers as located now in present Moscow.

Some scholars have also identified the word Mangol as the Chinese word Mangog or Manchog. If this is true than the region associated to Yajuj and Majuj would cover the entire area between Russia and China from the Moscow river to Mongolia.

In the Tafseer Majma-ul-Bayan, the author says that "after dominating the earth, Yajuj and Majuj will aspire to conquer the space. They will shoot the arrows towards the heavens and it will return to them with something like blood-stain on it. So they will say: we conquered the inhabitants of the earth and the heaven."

Allama S. Saeed Akhtar Rizvi has interpreted the arrows as rocket and space-ships. If his analysis is correct then we can conclude from this that the whole story of Yajuj and Majuj indicates a "World War " between the future nuclear powers such as Russia, China and the United States , using the rockets from the various space stations to launch nuclear arsenals.

The Smoke, another major sign of the Qiyamat, may be the result of this nuclear war. Dabba-tul-Ardh The meaning of Dabbat-ul-Ardh is a "walker of earth". There is a lengthy hadiths explaining the nature of Dabbatulardh.