Small Signs Of The Day Of Judgement

[Yvone Samiento]

Whileinterpretations of what the Quran and hadith say about the end times are "diverse and complex",[1] the signs of Judgment Day's arrival include disruptions in the order of both human morality and the natural world; but also the appearance of the saviors, Mahdi and Jesus, which "is seen to represent the ultimate victory of the ummah of Islam ... in some senses".[2] Piety will be lost as music, wine drinking, usury, homosexuality, disobedience by wives and fornication abound, and the earth will be destroyed. However during this era ʿĪsā (Jesus) and the Mahdi will also vanquish the Antichrist figure al-Dajjāl, while Allah will eliminate the monstrous Gog and Magog, liberating the world from injustice and restoring sharia.[3]

The signs have been divided into minor and major by commentators. They are reported in various ḥadīth collections,[4][5] and described in commentaries of various medieval Muslim scholars, including al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, and Muhammad al-Bukhari, among others.[6][1] Islamic apocalyptic literature describing Armageddon (or fitna) is often known as Al-Malhama Al-Kubra (The Great Epic), or (in Shia Islam) Ghaybah (Occultation).[7][8]

The trials and tribulations associated with it are detailed in both the Quran and the hadith, (sayings of Muhammad) which are "diffuse and fragmented".[9] These are elaborated on in creeds, Quranic commentaries (tafsịrs), and theological writing,[10] eschatological manuals andcommentaries of the Islamic expositors and scholarly authorities such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, Muhammad al-Bukhari, and Ibn Khuzaymah who explain them in more detail.The signs and many other social aberrations are detailed in such works as Muḥammad ibn Rasūl al-Ḥusaynī al-Barzinjī's al-Ishā'a li-ishrāṭ al-sā'a,[11] and Mishkāt al-maṣābīḥ.[12] Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun, is said to introduce "a full and detailed discussion of the various theories regarding the mahdi and the traditions considered most authoritative in relation to it."[13]

One source, Islam House, lists 50 signs, 10 of which "are past, 13 are present and 27 are future".[28] Islamic Finder website, lists 48 signs, 9 of which are past, 13 "are happening at present", and 26 are "yet to happen".[29] Islam Question and Answer lists 28 Minor Signs and 10 major signs.[23] Islam Online lists similar numbers: 10 past, 13 "Present?", 27 future.[24]

The appearance of the Mahdi, (a Leading figure) is said to be a link between the minor and major signs. In the ḥadīth literature, it is mentioned that minor signs will occur first, then the Mahdi will come and then the major signs. There is debate over whether they could occur concurrently or must be at different points in time. Some sources divide the signs into those that have already occurred, that are happening at present, and that are yet to happen.[30][31]

Following the second period, the third will be marked by the ten major (aka greater) signs known as alamatu's-sa'ah al-kubra (the major signs of the end).[note 26][43]These signs offer "more detail" in their accounts of the final days, but there is "considerable variation" in the different versions of these stories.

According to scholar Jean-Pierre Filiu, the collections of hadith[46] Sahih Muslim[47] "organizes the chronology of the major signs and portents of the Hour, organizing the in a sequence of ten events.""the first will be three entombments" (khasf)[48] (also called "sinking of the earth" or earthquakes or landsides)[23] where "the earth will open up and people will be buried alive"

Journalist Graeme Wood reports that in Islamic apocalyptic literature Gog and Magog are a subhuman pestilence who are released from thousands of years of imprisonment sometime after Isa's descent to earth. After much killing, pillaging and devouring of vast resources they are wiped out after "Allah commands an insect or worm to burrow into their necks and kill them".[74]

The Sufyani (Arabic: سفیاني) is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology. According to hadith, Sufyani will be a tyrant who will spread corruption and mischief. According to Shia hadith, Sufyani will rise in the month of Rajab.[76] The predicted location of his arrival is in Damascus.

Sufyani is a distinctly different individual than Dajjal.[77] It is said that he will kill children and rip out the bellies of women. The Sufyani will murder those from the household of the Prophet and will rule over Syria. When the Mahdi appears, Sufyani will send an army to seize and kill him. However, when Sufyani and his army would reach the desert of Bayda, they would be swallowed.[78]

Mahdi (Arabic: ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, ISO 233: al-mahdīy), meaning "Rightly Guided One" is a messianic figure in Islamic tradition who will "rid the world of bid'ah (innovation), reestablish Sunnah and teach religion...".[2] The word Mahdi does not appear in the Quran (al-hadī, or "guide" appears twice),[13] but is found in hadiths and is said to be the sign between Minor signs and Major signs of Day of Resurrection.[79][80][81][82] Some Shia Muslims regard him as the first sign of the third period.[83] Hadith reports state that he will be a descendant of Muhammad through Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and cousin Ali's son Hassan. According to Shias, Mahdi will be looked upon to kill Dajjal to end the disintegration of the Muslim community, and to prepare for the reign of Isa (Jesus), who will rule for a time thereafter. According to Sunnis, Mahdi will be against Dajjal and will have some Muslim communities in Shaam and that Jesus will return to kill Dajjal. The Mahdi will fulfill his prophetic mission, a vision of justice and peace, before submitting to Jesus' rule.[84] The physical features of Mahdi are described in the hadith; he will be of Arab complexion, of average height, with a big forehead, large eyes, and a sharp nose. He will have a mole on his cheek, and be recognized by the Muslim community while he sits in his own home. As written by Abu Dawud, "Our Mahdi will have a broad forehead and a pointed (prominent) nose. He will fill the earth with justice as it is filled with injustice and tyranny. He will rule for seven years."[85] Other sources say five or nine years.[86] In some accounts, his reign will be followed by a cold wind causing everyone with the smallest measure of human-kindness or faith, to die and be carried straight to heaven. Therefore, only the wicked will remain and be victims of terrible animals and Shayateen, until the day of resurrection.[87]

Though the predictions of the duration of his rule differ, hadith are consistent in describing that Allah will perfect him in a single night, imbuing him with inspiration and wisdom, and his name will be announced from the sky. The Mahdi will bring back worship of true Islamic values, and bring the Ark of the Covenant to light. He will conquer Constantinople and Mount Daylam and will regard Jerusalem and the Dome as his home. His banner will be that of Muhammad: black and unstitched, with a halo. Furled since the death of Muhammad, the banner will unfurl when the Mahdi appears. He will be helped by angels and others that will prepare the way for him. He will understand the secrets of abjad.[8]

Islamic literature predicts that the Mahdi will be followed and assisted in his fight against evil "by a bygone prophet who will come back to earth". This prophet will not be Muhammad (as non-Muslims might expect) but ʿĪsā (Jesus), "praised in the Quran as the Messiah and the 'Word of Allah.'" "The usual interpretation" of the prophecy of Jesus's return to earth is that He "will put an end to his own worship, symbolized by the cross, and re-establish the dietary laws that Christianity abandoned but Jews and Muslims still observe."[88] While the Quran is not explicit about Jesus' return,[89] many Muslims believe that two Quranic verses suggest his second coming during the end times.[90] The verse that is the basis of Islamic belief that Jesus did not die on the cross, but ascended into heaven:

Tabari, author of one of the most important Sunni tafsirs, argues that the verse refers to Jesus, who will unite all believers under the banner of Islam. (There is no mention of ʿĪsā from Q.43:58-62, though an ambiguous male singular pronoun "he" is used.)[90] Hadiths further elaborate the events following Jesus arrival.[92] According to Sahih al-Bukhari and a number of other hadith, Jesus will descend among Muslims, "break the cross, kill (or slaughter) the pig and abolish (or remove) the Jizya".[90][93] Although traced back to Abu Hurairah, one of the sahaba, such hadiths might actually have been introduced later during civil wars in the early Abbasid Caliphate, when a savior was expected. While for Shias, the Mahdi will be the savior, some Sunnis tended to expect Jesus' return. (Other sources expect Isa is the Mahdi, "mahdi" meaning "the divinely-guided one", a title rather than a distinct person).[13] During the early Abbasid Caliphate, wearing crucifixes in processions and holding pigs in public, was forbidden. Otherwise, the breaking of the cross, might reflect general disapproval of this symbol by Muslims, and slaying pigs a reference to Jesus exorcism of Legion.[92]

For Shia, the return of Jesus is considered the third major sign of the last days (along with the appearance of the Mahdi and Jesus's nemesis Masih ad-Dajjal). Like Sunni Muslims, Shia believe in the Hadith describing the return of the Mahdi that will coincide with the return of Isa, who will serve as a just judge before the Day of Judgment.[94] Although Muhammad is the preeminent prophet in Islam, Jesus is mentioned in the Quran, and so is Idris (Enoch), who is said not to have died but to have been raised up by Allah.[95]

Isa will descend from the heavens in al-Quds at dawn, meet with the Mahdi, whose appearance has preceded Isa, and who will lead the people in fajr prayer. After the prayer, they will open a gate to the west to confront and defeat Masih ad-Dajjal. Isa will then lead a peaceful forty-year reign until his death, and be buried in a tomb beside Muhammad in Medina.[96]

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