Signs of Qiyamah

all praise is due to allah, the creator and sustainer, and may his choicest peace and blessings be upon his pious servants, foremost among them our beloved nabi, sayyidena mohammed (sallallahu alayhi wasallam).

the quraan reminds us time and again that this universe has been created temporarily and at an appointed time it will surely be annihilated, "everyone thereon will be annihilated and only the countenance of your mighty and glorious sustainer shall remain." the exact date and time of this event, termed as qiyamah, is known to allah alone, "verily allah alone has the knowledge of the hour," (quraan). the quraan and the hadeeth have however informed us about various signs which will occur prior to qiyaamah and which will be indicative of the closeness of the event. it is indeed very unfortunate to note that despite having before us the various warnings and signs regarding qiyaamah which have been mentioned by none other than rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), and handed down to us via the authentic of the noble companions, yet certain people professing to be muslims attach no importance whatsoever to these teachings. instead, they show deep interest in the baseless vague predictions of some kaafir. inaccurate and being capable of interpreted in various ways these predicitinos hold no shari importance. it was because of this sad state of affairs which undoubtedly is the result of weak imaan, that this book "signs of qiyamah" has been compiled, through which, it is hoped that the noble teachings of our belove nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) are presented before us so that we may reform ourselves and attain eternal bliss.

 this extremely sinful servant of allah earnestly appeals to the ulama to inform him about any errors and misrepresentations which are found in this book. it is the dua of this sinner that may allah accept this humble effort and make it a meansof salvation for himself, his parents, asatiza, relatives, and those who assisted in making this publication possible. aameen.

signs of qiyamat:

all praise is to allah ta'ala, our creator and provider. salaam on his best of rasuls, hazrat muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), the universal guide who expounded the deen-ul-islam which provides salvation in this world, the grave and the aakhirat. blessing be upon the sahabah (r.a.) who were living examples displaying the practicality of our beautiful shariat.

man obtains knowledge and information via three basic sources viz.

1.      the five senses.

2.      imagination and "aqal" (intellect).

3.       inner illumination (kashf, ilham, wahy).

these are various forms of spiritual inspirations:

"wahy" - divine and protected revelation that is only granted for the guidance of mankind through the ambiyaa (a.s.) and come in three ways:

1.      "wahy qalbi" - related to the heart.

2.      "kalam-illahi" - direct speech with allah ta'ala.

3.       "wahy malaki" - via the angels.

(faizal bari p4-8 of allama anwar shah kashmiri and uloom-ul-qur'an p31-32 of moulana m. taqi osmani).

 further "wahy" can be divided into two types:

1.      matloo - often recited (qur'an).

2.      ghair matloo - not often recited (ahadith - sayings of rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)).

kashf and illham are two separate entities. according to imam rabbani, kashf is termed sensation while ilham is closer to intuition. ilham is more accurate than kashaf because the latter is the lifting of the veil from something and the former is a direct inspiration into the heart. (faiz-ul-bari. vol. 1 p19)

 imam ghazali (r.a.) states: "kashf is bestowed on a pious person who is steadfast in zikr. piety is the gateway to zikr and zikr is gateway to kashf" (ihya-ul-uloom. vol.3), whilst it is recorded in faiz-ul-bari vol. 1 p17 "what the aulias see through kashf and the ambiya via their insight while awake, cannot be seen by others".

 however, in relation to dreams, fatah-ul-bari vol.12 p315 reads: "dreams can be interpreted in a number of ways and according to certain rules. while every human being dreams, ilham is vouchsafed only to the virtuous and chosen few".

 concerning the preditions etc. of non-believers, allah ta'ala says: "lo! the devils do inspire their minions" sura 6 verse 122. this proves that the devil whispers into their hearts. further allah ta'ala says: "shall i inform you upon whom the devil descend! they descend on the evil, sinful and false ones." sura 26 verses 221/2. the inspiration of the devil is confined to those who are steeped in apostasy, heresy, and shirk.

 the simple and fundamental guideline is: "every kashf, ilham or dream shall be judged in the light of the qur'an and sunnah and if contrary to the qur'an and sunnah they shall be rejected."

 the signs of qiyamat thus form an integral part of iman. rejection of it is kufr.

 the signs of qiyyamat are divided into two sections:

1. minor: these are the signs from the birth of rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) to the time of the appearance of hazrat imam mahdi.
2. major: these are the signs from the appearance of imam mahdi to the blowing of the trumpet.

i have only translated the text of aalalaat-e-qiyyamat aur nuzul-e-essa - if one is interested in references then refer to the original text.

 i pray to the almighty allah to grant us the taufeeq to awaken us from the deep slumber we are in and to shrug off the thick sheer cloak of neglect which presently enshrouds us and to take the responsibility to show the path of salvation to the whole of mankind.

 by the grace of allah ta'ala, this booklet was translated in masjid-un-nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), madina munawwara, during my haj trip to the blessed land. may allah make this a source of illumantion in the darkness of the grave insha-allah. (ameen).

minor signs:

qiyamah will come when...

 hadhrat abu musa ash'ari (r.a.) narrates that rasulallah (sallallahu alayhii wassallam) said, "qiyamah will come...

1.      when it will be regarded as a shame to act on quranic injunctions.

2.      when untrustworthy people will be regarded as trustworthy and the trustworthy will be regarded as untrustworthy.

3.      when it will be hot in winter (and vice versa).

4.      when the length of days is stretched, i.e. a journey of a few days is covered in a matter of hours.

5.      when orators and lecturers lie openly.

6.      when people dispute over petty issues.

7.      when women with children come displeased on account of them bearing offspring, and barren women remain happy on account of having no responsibility of offspring.

8.      when oppression, jealousy, and greed become the order of the day.

 

9.      when people blatantly follow their passions and whims.

10.  when lies prevail over the truth.

11.  when violence, bloodshed and anarchy become common.

12.  when immorality overtakes shamelessness and is perpetrated publicly.

13.  when legislation matters pertaining to deen is handed over to the worst elements of the ummat, and if people accept them and are satisfied with their findings, then such persons will not smell the fragrance of jannat.

14.   when the offspring become a cause of grief and anger (for their parents).

 the following is part of a lengthy hadith narrated by hadhrat abdullah ibn mas'ood (r.a.) when he inquired from rasulallah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) about the signs of qiyamah.

1.      music and musical instruments will be found in every home.

2.      people will indulge in homosexuality.

3.      there will be an abundance of illegitimate children.

4.       there will be an abundance of critics, tale-carriers, back- biters and taunters in society.

5.       people will establish ties with strangers and sever relations with their near and dear ones.

6.      hypocrites will be in control of the affairs of the community and evil, immoral people will be at the helm of business establishments.

7.      the masjid will be decorated, but the hearts of the people will be devoid of guidance.

8.      the courtyards of masjids will be built beautifully and high mimbars (pulpits) will be erected.

9.      gangsters and evil people will prevail.

10.  various wines will be consumed excessively.

 auf bin malik (r.a.) says: i came to rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) while he was in his skin tent during the tabuk expedition. he said to me, "count six things before the advent of qiyamah:

1.      my death

2.      the conquest of jerusalem

3.      mass deaths amongst you people, just as when sheep die in large numbers during an epidemic

4.      abundance of wealth to such an extent that if a person were to be given a hundred dinars he will still not be satisfied

5.      general anarchy and bloodshed, that no arab household will be spared from it

6.      then a life of peace as a result of a peace agreement between you and the banil asfaar
(romans) which they will break and attack you with a force consisting of eighty flags and under each flag will be an army of twelve thousand men." (hadith: sahih bukhari).

iraq and syria:

 abu nadhrah says: "we were sitting in the company of jabir bin abdullah (r.a.) when he said: 'soon the people of iraq will neither receive any food (grain) nor any money.'" we asked, "why would such a thing happen?" he replied, "because of the non-arabs." (i.e they will prevent food from going into iraq, in the form of "sanctions" to this day.) he then said: "soon the people of shaam (syria) will neither receive any money nor grain." we asked as to why this would happen. he replied: "because of the romans (christians)."

conceited people:

hadhrat abbas (r.a) narrates that rasulallah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) has said, "islam will spread far and wide, across the seas. horses will cross the land and seas in the cause of jihaad. then a time will come wherein a group of people will emerge which recites the quraan. they will claim,

'we have recited the quraan and is there anyone who understands the quraan better than us? there is no one more proficient than us in the study of the quraan.'

then rasulallah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) asked the sahaba, "do you see any good in their claims?" the sahaba replied, "no". rasulallah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) said, "but these conceited claimants will be from my ummah and will be the fuel of the fire."

major signs:

the major signs (i.e. events after the emergence of imam mahdi) imam mahdi and his followers bring peace and justice to the world.

1.      rumors of emergence of dajjal ("anti-christ")... 3 years of drought.

before the emergence of dajjal there will be three years of drought. the first year, the skies will retain 1/3 of its water, the second year 2/3, and all of its water the third year.

2.      dajjal appears

dajjal appears. his followers, the yahudis, will number 70,000 and will wear expensive silk attire and carry double edged swords.

3.      hadhrat isa (a.s.) (jesus) appears
hadhrat isa (a.s.)descends during the lifetime of imam mahdi.

4.      dajjal ends at the gate of hudd
hadhrat isa (a.s.) destroys dajjal at the gate of hudd, near an israeli airport, in the valley of “ifiq.” the final war between the yahudi's will ensue, and the believers will be victorious.

5.      total peace
with the death of dajjal (the anti-christ), all wars will end. jihad will be stopped; peace, harmony, and tranquility will be on earth. the earth will produce abundant crops and fruit. the people will submit to one god.

6.      hadhrat isa receives revelation
the revelation tells that the yajooj and majooj will soon be released and the believers should be taken to mt. toor (sinai).

7.      yajooj and majooj ("gog and magog") released
the yajooj and majooj surge forth in large numbers. they destroy everything in their path in their effort to conquer the world. they will be released in two groups.

8.      yajooj and majooj reach jerusalem
when they reach mount khamrin in jerusalem, they will proclaim to have conquered the world. then the will shoot arrows into the sky to conquer the heavens. the arrows will return blood stained.

9.      hardhships on mount toor
scarcity of provisions and hardships will afflict the muslims. hadhrat isa (a.s.) and the muslims will pray for the removal of the calamity.

10.  yajooj and majooj killed by infections
their prayers were answered and the yajooj and majooj develop boil infections, causing them to burst simultaneously as a result.

11.  earth full of stench of corpses
hadhrat isa (a.s.) and his companions pray again and huge birds are sent to pick up the yajooj and majooj corpses and dispose of them in nahbal (according to tirmidhi), the ocean or elsewhere.

12.  peace on earth!
it will rain for forty days and the earth will be cleansed. muslims will burn the bows and arrow of yajooj and majooj for 7 years. life will be peaceful while hadhrat isa (a.s.) is alive. the earth will be bountiful. hadhrat isa will live 19 years after marriage.

13.  hadhrat isa passes away and buried next to muhammed (s.a.w.)

14.  other leaders follow after hadhrat isa (a.s.)
jahjaan from qahtaan, from a tribe in yemen, will rule as the next khalifa. muquad, from a tribe of banu tamim will also be a deputy.

15.  society slowly decays and kufr sets in

 the final signs of qiyaamah:

1.      the caving in of the ground

the ground will cave in: one in the east, one in the west, and one in hejaz, saudi arabia.

2.      the forty day smoke/fog

fog or smoke will cover the skies for forty days. the non-believers will fall unconscious, while muslims will be ill (develop colds). the skies will then clear up.

3.      the night of three nights

a night three nights long will follow the fog. it will occur in the month of zil-hajj after eidul-adha, and cause much restlessness among the people.

4.      the rising of the sun in the west

after the night of three nights, the following morning the sun will rise in the west. people’s repentance will not be accepted after this incident.

5.      the beast from the earth appears

one day later, the beast from the earth will miraculously emerge from mount safaa in makkah, causing a split in the ground. the beast will be able to talk to people and mark the faces of people, making the believers’ faces glitter, and the non-believers’ faces darkened.

6.      the breeze from the south

a breeze from the south causes sores in the armpits of muslims, which they will die of as a result.

7.      destruction of the ka’aba

the ka’aba will be destroyed by non-muslim african group. kufr will be rampant. haj will be discontinued. the qur’an will be lifted from the heart of the people, 30 years after the ruler muquad’s death.

8.      final sign of qiyaamah: fire in yemen

the fire will follow people to syria, after which it will stop.

9.      commencement of qiyaamah

some years after the fire, qiyaamah begins with the soor (trumpet) being blown. the year is not known to any person. qiyaamah will come upon the worst of creation.