Islam and the End of the World
On our journey so far we've seen the amazing insight into the future
that the Prophet Muhammad was given.
In fact, his predictions went far
beyond the events that would impact the people of our present age, as
they extend to the momentous, world-changing events that will take place
just before the end of the world: "The Prophet once delivered a speech in
front of us wherein he left nothing but mentioned (about) everything that
would happen till the Hour" [273].
The Hour is the time when the end of
the world will take place, and God says in the Qur'an that it is knowledge
that He alone possesses: "They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Hour:
when is its arrival? Say, 'Its knowledge is only with my Lord'" [7:187].
Although God alone knows its exact timing, the Prophet Muhammad
was inspired with knowledge of the minor signs and major signs that
will precede it, indicating when the end is near. Islam goes into immense
detail about the signs of the end of the world. Prophet Muhammad taught
that the world will one day descend into a state of unprecedented evil.
Even for those who try to resist evil and follow religion, it will be a time
of immense hardship: "There will come upon the people a time when
holding onto the religion will be like holding onto hot coal" [274]. This
will be an age characterised by corruption at all levels of society with
people living in a spiritual void. It is against this backdrop that mankind
will witness the emergence of the greatest trial and tribulation that will
ever befall it, the Dajjal: "From the time of the creation of Adam until the
Hour begins, there will never be a bigger creation than the Dajjal" [275].
The Dajjal is the False Messiah, or Antichrist, who will appear near the
end of time, claim to be God on earth and demand our obedience and
worship. Prophet Muhammad went into great detail describing the Dajjal's
appearance.
He even revealed some information about the Dajjal that no
other Prophet knew of: "I am to say something about him [Dajjal] that no
Prophet has said to his people: You should know that he is one-eyed, and
God is certainly not one-eyed" [276]. Prophet Muhammad even specified
which eye would be blind: "The Dajjal is blind in his right eye and his eye
looks like a protruding grape" [277].
We are informed that the Dajjal will
perform wonders that will amaze people, for example he will command
the sky and its rain, such that those who submit to him will have crops,
but those that reject him will suffer from drought:
He would then give command to the sky and there would be rainfall
upon the earth and it would grow crops. Then in the evening, their
pasturing animals would come to them with their humps very high
and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. He would
then come to another people and invite them. But they would reject
him and he would go away from them and there would be drought
for them and nothing would be left with them in the form of wealth.
[278]
He will spread corruption throughout the earth and ultimately amass many
followers. Prophet Muhammad taught that although this is a great age
of evil, some true believers will still remain: "A group of people from my
nation will always remain triumphant on the right path and continue to
be triumphant..." [279]. It is at this time that a righteous man will appear.
He is known as the Mahdi, which means "guided one". The Mahdi will
unite the believers under one banner and lead them in a fight against the
Dajjal. At this critical juncture in history, which represents the ultimate
battle between good and evil, God will send the true Messiah, Jesus the
son of Mary.
Islam teaches that Jesus, although a great Prophet of God,
is nothing more than a man, just like Muhammad and the rest of God's
Prophets. Jesus will descend from heaven while resting his hands on the
wings of two angels, coming down to the white minaret in the East of
Damascus, Syria. He will join the Mahdi and the believers who will all
come together and Jesus will kill the Dajjal [280]. He will restore peace
and justice and there will be so much blessing that money will be plentiful to such an extent that no one will need charity [281]. Jesus will break
the cross, which symbolically represents his rejection of the idolatry that
was ascribed to him by Christians after he left the earth. Jesus will live
for forty more years on earth during which time he will rule the world.
He will then die and be buried [282].
The Prophet Muhammad taught that every Prophet warned his people
about the Dajjal: "I warn you of him, and there was no prophet but warned
his followers of him" [283]. In addition, the Qur'an informs us that every
nation has, at some point in its history, been sent a messenger by God:
"We sent a messenger to every community, saying, 'Worship God and
shun false gods'" [16:36]. So, we should expect to find mention of events
similar to the Islamic account in other ancient religions.
This is exactly
what we find when we examine the other Abrahamic religions of Judaism
and Christianity. Judaism also speaks of great battles in which the nations will gather against believers. The Messiah is a kingly figure whose
government will be the centre of all world government, ushering in an
era of peace, with no more wars. He will establish God's law on earth, and
all mankind will worship one God and live a more spiritual and moral
way of life [284]. Christianity teaches that the Antichrist, a false Messiah,
will be a man who will emerge near the end of the world, performing
great signs and wonders that will deceive many. This is when Jesus will
return to earth, descending from heaven on the clouds. Jesus will fight
and defeat the Antichrist, after which he will establish the kingdom of
God on earth [285]. Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest surviving
religions, also has similar concepts. It teaches that the world will enter an
age of evil where deceit and greed will rule. Family bonds and piety will
disappear. It is said that the rulers will be so corrupt that they will see
the killing of a righteous person to be no worse than killing a fly. Great
battles will take place and good will ultimately triumph over evil [286].
Other religions also overlap with Islam. Hinduism teaches that in each
cycle of the universe, there is a final age known as the Kali Yuga which is
characterised by impiety, violence, and decay. This is a dark age in which
sin will increase and prosper, while virtue will fade. People will deceive
one another when they buy and sell, and they will enjoy that which has
been forbidden in the scriptures. The kings of the earth will rob their
subjects and take pleasure in inflicting punishments upon the innocent.
The inhabited regions of the earth will be afflicted with famine because
of a lack of rain and crops. In Hinduism, the source of all evil is a demon
called Kali who will manifest on earth. This is when a man called Kalki
will appear, who will have great prowess, glorify God and defeat the
demon Kali. He will restore peace and order in this world, ushering in a
new age of prosperity [287].
This common ground between all these different ancient religions should
not come as a surprise, as Muhammad claimed that every Prophet warned
his people about the Dajjal. So Muhammad not only revealed what would
happen in the future, but he clearly had insight into the ancient past as
well, which is another sign of prophethood. It's important to note that
while these different religions do support one another when it comes
to many aspects of the End Times, they also contradict one another on
fundamental theological issues. This is an indication that not everything
they teach is the truth as they make different claims. Had all the teachings
of these different religions originated from Prophets who were divinely
inspired by the same God, then it stands to reason that they would be
in perfect harmony without any contradictions. This brings to mind a
critical question, how can the sincere truth seeker differentiate between
what in these ancient religions has been falsified and what genuinely
originates from a prophet of God? In chapter 2, we saw that the Qur'an
and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad have immense insight into the
future, which establishes their divine credentials and authority. We have
also seen that they are flawlessly preserved by virtue of having been continuously memorised by masses of people through history, which means
we can trust what they teach because they can be traced back directly to
the Prophet Muhammad. In fact, one of the names of the Qur'an is 'Al
Furqan', meaning "the Criterion between truth and falsehood". So the
Qur'an not only confirms the scriptures that came before it, but also
corrects the falsehoods that have entered them: "And We have revealed to
you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded
it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by
what God has revealed…" [5:48].
Why did God grant us some insight into the future? It's important to
note that prophecies are not present for the sake of entertainment; they
serve a noble purpose. Earlier in the book, we looked at many examples
of accurately fulfilled predictions made by Muhammad. Such prophecies
are a means by which God establishes the truth of His own existence to
mankind, for only He could have inspired Muhammad with such knowledge. They also serve as a means of allowing us to distinguish His true
prophets from the many false prophets that are out there. Prophecies are
our looking glass into the future and act as signposts to turn our attention
to important people and events ahead of time. From this point of view,
they are a form of guidance, and so we should investigate them for our
worldly benefit. These prophecies also carry spiritual significance: many
of them relate to signs of the coming Day of Judgement and so they serve
as a reminder to mankind that each fulfilled prophecy brings us one step
closer to the momentous day when we will stand before our Creator. God
reminds mankind in the Qur'an: "Closer and closer to mankind comes
their Reckoning: yet they heed not and they turn away" [21:1].
The Prophet Muhammad taught that a critical astronomical sign will
occur close to the end of the world: "Whoever repents before the sun
rises from the west, then God will forgive him" [288]. We are informed
that God will one day cause the sun to rise in the opposite hemisphere.
This is a momentous event of cosmic proportions that signifies the imminent end of the world and a point of no return for mankind when our
repentance will no longer be accepted by God. This is one of the major
signs of the end of the world, and in this chapter we've covered other
major signs which have also yet to happen. Some of us may feel disconnected from such prophecies, perhaps we view them as far-off events
in the distant future and so we may feel secure in the thought that the
end of the world is not something we will have to worry about during
our own lifetime. But the reality is that every one of us will experience
an end of the world, death. For every human being, the end begins the
moment we die. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, the graveyards are filled
with people whose lives came to an end when they least expected it. The
Prophet Muhammad captured this sentiment when he responded to a
question about when the world would end. He was asked, "When will
the Hour be established?" Muhammad responded by saying, "What have
you prepared for it?" [289].
This brings us to the purpose of life. A popular view about life is that it
is "just a game". However, is life just a game? The Qur'an informs us that
this is not the case: "And We created not the heavens and the earth, and
all that is between them, for mere play" [44:38]. God tells us that we were
created for a noble purpose, to worship Him: "I created jinn [spirits] and
mankind only to worship Me" [51:56]. Many people think of worship
as just prayer, but in Islam it is so much more than that. It also includes
loving, obeying, and showing gratitude to God for everything that He has
given us: "If you tried to count God's favours you could never enumerate
them…" [14:34]. Our temporary life here on earth is a test, and ultimately
every living soul will die and return to God: "Every soul is certain to taste
death: We test you all through the bad and the good, and to Us you will
all return" [21:35]. God didn't create the universe and everything in it
only to leave us all to our own devices. The test of our earthly life is to
see who will submit to God and follow His guidance, and who will reject
it.
The core message of the Qur'an is that there is only one God and He
alone is worthy of our worship. God is eternal, having neither beginning
nor end. God is not a man, nor does He resemble anything else in the
creation, rather He is the creator of everything in existence, and He is
absolutely unique:
Say, 'He is God the One,
God the eternal.
He begot no one nor was He begotten.
No one is comparable to Him.' [Qur'an, Chapter 112]
Not only is life not a game, but our death here on earth is not the end of
our existence; it marks a new chapter in which we will return to God. The
Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad were not just sent as guides for our
earthly existence, they both provide an immense amount of detail about
the world's demise and the eternal hereafter. Islam reveals that after the
major signs such as the Dajjal, Mahdi and return of Jesus, the world will
enter its final phase. At an hour that is known only to God, the divine
command will be issued for the trumpet to be blown, a momentous event
which signifies the commencement of the Day of Judgement. The trumpet
blast will reverberate through creation. The sky will be torn apart, the
earth will convulse, and the mountains will disintegrate. The Qur'an tells
us that everything will be destroyed and everyone will die:
When the Trumpet is sounded a single time, when the earth and
its mountains are raised high and then crushed with a single blow,
on that Day the Great Event will come to pass. The sky will be torn
apart on that Day, it will be so frail. [69:13-16]
A second trumpet blast will sound and all of mankind will be resurrected
back to life:
The Trumpet will be sounded and behold! They will rush out to
their Lord from their graves. They will say, 'Woe to us! Who has
resurrected us from our resting place?' They will be told, 'This is
what the Lord of Mercy has promised, and the messengers told the
truth.' [36:51-52]
We will stand on a vast level plain with no landmarks at all: "We shall
make the mountains move, and you will see the earth as an open plain.
We shall gather all people together, leaving no one" [18:47]. The earth
will have been completely transformed: "When the earth is turned into
another earth, the heavens into another heaven, and people all appear
before God, the One, the Overpowering" [14:48]. Prophet Muhammad
informed us that we will be so overwhelmed by what is happening that
even though we will be raised naked, barefoot, and uncircumcised, we
will be in far too much terror to take note of our nakedness:
'The people will be assembled barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised.'
I said, 'O Messenger of God, will the men and women look at each
other?' The Prophet said, 'The matter will be too serious for them to
notice.' [290]
The Qur'an explains that all the years and decades we spent here on earth,
all the pleasures we experienced and hardships we endured, will be a
distant memory. Our present lives are but a drop in the ocean compared
to the hereafter. As we stare into eternity, our entire life will feel as if it
were a brief passing moment:
When the trumpet is sounded and We gather the sinful, sightless,
they will murmur to one another, 'You stayed only ten days [on
earth]'– We know best what they say– but the more perceptive of
them will say, 'Your stay [on earth] was only a single day.' [20:102-
104]
Every action that we perform during our lives is being recorded and
we will have to answer to God for everything we have said and done:
"On that Day, people will come forward in separate groups to be shown
their deeds: whoever has done an atom's weight of good will see it, but
whoever has done an atom's weight of evil will see that" [99:6-8]. We
mentioned earlier that our temporary lives here on earth are a test, and
like with any test there will be an outcome. Those who believed in God,
worshipped Him alone without associating any partners with Him, and
did righteous deeds, will be rewarded with eternal bliss in Paradise: "…
while those who believe and do good deeds will be the inhabitants of
the Garden, there to remain" [2:82]. For those who chose to reject God
and His guidance, there is a terrible punishment in store: "And for those
who disbelieved in their Lord is the punishment of Hell, and wretched
is the destination" [67:6]. Islam values the good and those who accept
the truth. It contrasts those who obey God and thereby do good, and
those who are defiantly disobedient, and thereby do evil: "Then is one
who was a believer like one who was defiantly disobedient? They are not
equal" [32:18]. We have a choice: to embrace God's eternal unbounded
mercy, or to run away from it. Accepting His mercy, by responding to
His message, and obeying, worshipping and loving Him, will facilitate
our eternal happiness in Paradise. Rejecting and running away from
God's mercy will ultimately lead to spending eternity in a place devoid
of His love, a place of unhappiness – Hell. Remember, we have a choice.
We decide to embrace His mercy or to escape. We have the free will
to choose. The choices we make in this life will shape our fates in the
eternal hereafter.
Perhaps you want to get an answer to these important existential questions, but have been put off in the past because of bad experiences. There
are people throughout history who have understood the psychological
and spiritual needs that we have as humans. While some philosophers
and spiritual people have made sincere attempts to uncover deep and
profound truths about human nature to help and improve our lives,
others have sadly exploited this need and manipulated people for their
own benefit. However, this does not mean that all religions must be bad because
some are bad; this is an important point and a common mistake that many
make. Religion is a very powerful tool for control and there will always
be people who are going to manipulate it. But that does not mean that
we shouldn't try hard to get to the truth.
The numerous examples that we've analysed span
different societies throughout history. They're a feature of the poor as
well as the rich, religious as well as secular, the ancient past as well as the
present. While such beliefs and practices are more common among certain
groups of people than others, and even vary from place to place, they are
a feature of virtually every culture that has ever existed. If you've made it
to the end of this book then it suggests that you are somewhat intrigued
with the world of the unseen, which perhaps you never even realised.
Today, millions of people believe in false prophets and follow false systems for guidance in life. We're willing to follow false prophets, manmade systems, and baseless superstitions, but why don't we accept the
real guidance when it comes from God? When we have access to real
guidance from the creator of the universe who knows the past, present
and future, why is it that people don't follow that guidance? Imagine if
some being did have the bigger picture about human existence and we
could access that knowledge. Just imagine the blessing and benefit one
would get if this energy was directed to the One who really does have
the bigger picture. God revealed the Qur'an, the final book of revelation
for mankind, to lead us away from following falsehood: "Truth has (now)
arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound
to perish" [17:81].
Along our journey, we have seen that Muhammad was a truly special
human being. He had a lifelong reputation of honesty, even among his
enemies. He tirelessly stood for truth and justice, and was steadfast in
his divinely ordained mission to liberate mankind from falsehood. God
empowered him with a remarkable insight into the unseen, to help us
distinguish him from the many false prophets out there. We have also
seen external evidences of Muhammad's Prophethood, which can be
found in the ancient prophecies of other religious scriptures such as the
Bible. These act as signposts for his arrival, thousands of years before
he was even born. We have analysed Muhammad's life, personality and
teachings from many different angles, and they all point to the conclusion
that he is a genuine Prophet. People from false religions and those who
want to manipulate and mislead want to hide this truth, they don't want
people to know it. Our job as human beings is to be totally committed
to finding the truth and then submitting to it when it is made manifest
to us. Will you be misled by those who sell the truth for a small price, or
will you accept that there is nothing worthy of worship except God and
that Muhammad is His Messenger?
Accepting that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is indeed a
messenger from God and following him would lead to tranquillity in this
life and eternal bliss of Paradise in the next. Rejecting him after you have
heard of him and understood his message would mean you are rejecting
God. In consequence, you would be heading towards eternal hellfire:
"Whoever does evil will be repaid with its like; whoever does good and
believes, be it a man or a woman, will enter Paradise and be provided for
without measure" [The Qur'an, 40:40].