Signs Before the Day of Judgement

Surely, knowledge of the Hour is with Allah alone.

Holy Qur�an 31:34

In light of the common links between Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions and teachings, it is interesting to look at what is said regarding the Day of Judgement and the signs of its approach. Judeo-Christian sources mainly consist of the Book of Daniel, Ezekiel, and the Book of Revelations, as well as some scattered sources within other books of the Old and New Testaments.

Islamic sources include the Qur'an and the multiple volumes of the sayings and traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), called ahadith. There are many similarities between what these great traditions say regarding the signs of the Day of Judgement. Even a minimal exposure to Judeo-Christian signs of the End of Time is enough to see that many of the same prophesies exist in the Islamic tradition.

However, the differences are important to point out. Much of the Judeo-Christian teaching regarding these signs are based on frequent reinterpretations of vague Scripture. Whereas the signs enumerated by Islamic sources are quite clear and concrete, with little, if any, room for interpretation. In addition, the vastness of the material available within the Islamic tradition points to the finality of Allah's Message. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Last Messenger sent to humanity, said that Allah has never sent a messenger who did not warn his people about al-Masih ad-Dajjal (the AntiChrist). And it only follows that Allah would give the Last Messenger the most information relating to this subject, as his followers will be the ones experiencing these signs.

What follows is a small sample of the signs which Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) enumerated for us. They have been divided into minor and major signs...

The Minor Signs:

The disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of ignorance (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Ahmad)

Books/writing will be widespread and (religious) knowledge will be low (Ahmad)

Adultery and fornication will be prevalent (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this has never happened without new diseases befalling the people, which their ancestors had not known.) (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Al-Haythami)

When fornication becomes widespread among your leaders (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this will happen when the people stop forbidding evil) (Ibn Majah)

Adultery and fornication will be performed in the open

The consumption of intoxicants will be widespread (Bukhari & Muslim)

Women will outnumber men......eventually 50:1 (Bukhari, Muslim, & Ahmad)

Killing, killing, killing (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Ahmad)

The nations of the earth will gather against the Muslims like hungry people going to sit down to a table full of food. This will occur when the Muslims are large in number, but "like the foam of the sea".

People will beat others with whips like the tails of oxen (Muslim) ?The Slave Trade

The children will be filled with rage (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)

Children will be foul (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)

Women will conspire (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)

Rain will be acidic or burning (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)

Children of fornication will become widespread or prevalent (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)

When a trust becomes a means of making a profit (at-Tirmidhi, Al-Haythami)

Gains will be shared out only among the rich, with no benefit to the poor (at-Tirmidhi)

Paying zakat becomes a burden and miserliness becomes widespread; charity is given reluctantly (at-Tirmidhi & Al-Haythami)

Miserliness will be thrown into the hearts of people (Bukhari)

Episodes of sudden death will become widespread (Ahmad)

There will be people who will be brethren in public but enemies in secret (He was asked how that would come about and replied, "Because they will have ulterior motives in their mutual dealings and at the same time will fear one another.") (at-Tirmidhi)

When a man obeys his wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly while shunning his father (at-Tirmidhi)

When voices are raised in the mosques (at-Tirmidhi)

People will walk in the marketplace with their thighs exposed

Great distances will be traversed in short spans of time

The people of Iraq will recieve no food and no money due to oppression by the Romans (Europeans) (Muslim)

People will hop between the clouds and the earth

A tribulation will enter everyone�s home (Ahmad)

The leader of a people will be the worst of them (at-Tirmidhi)

Leaders of people will be oppressors (Al-Haythami)

People will treat a man with respect out of fear for some evil he might do (at-Tirmidhi)

Men will begin to wear silk (at-Tirmidhi)

Female singers and musical instruments will become popular (at-Tirmidhi)

When singers become common (Al-Haythami)

People will dance late into the night

When the last ones of the Ummah begin to curse the first ones (at-Tirmidhi)

People will claim to follow the Qur'an but will reject hadith & sunnah (Abu Dawood)

People will believe in the stars (Al-Haythami)

People will reject al-Qadr (the Divine Decree of Destiny) (Al-Haythami)

Time will pass rapidly (Bukhari, Muslim, & Ahmad)

Good deeds will decrease (Bukhari)

Smog will appear over cities because of the evil that they are doing

People will be carrying on with their trade, but their will only be a few trustworthy persons

Wealth will increase so much so that if a man were given 10,000, he would not be content with it (Ahmad & Bukhari)

A man will pass by a grave and wish that he was in their place (Bukhari)

Earthquakes will increase (Bukhari & Muslim)

There will be attempts to make the deserts green

The appearance of false messengers (30 dajjals) (Bukhari)

Women will be naked in spite of being dressed, these women will be led astray & will lead others astray (Muslim)

The conquest of Constantinople by the Muslims (Ahmad)

The conquest of India by the Muslims, just prior to the return of Jesus, son of Mary (peace be upon both of them)(Ahmad, an-Nisa'i, at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)

When people begin to compete with others in the construction of taller buildings (Bukhari)

There will be a special greeting for the people of distinction (Ahmad)

The Euphrates will disclose a treasure (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that whoever is present should not take anything from it) (Bukhari & Muslim)

Two large groups, adhering to the same religious teaching will fight each other with large numbers of casualties (Bukhari & Muslim)

Wild animals will be able to talk to humans (Ahmad)

A man will leave his home and his thigh or hip will tell him what is happening back at his home (Ahmad)

Years of deceit in which the truthful person will not be believed and the liar will be believed (Ahmad)

Bearing false witness will become widespread (Al-Haythami & Ahmad)

When men lie with men and women lie with women (Al-Haythami)

Trade will become so widespread that a woman will be forced to help her husband in business (Ahmad)

A woman will enter the workforce out of love for this world (Ahmad)

Arrogance will increase in the earth (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)

Family ties will be cut (Ahmad)

There will be many women of child-bearing age who will no longer give birth.

There will be an abundance of food, much of which has no blessing in it.

People will refuse when offerred food.

Men will begin to look like women and women will begin to look like men The Major Signs:

Although they appear here in no particular order, it is important to point out that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that these last, major signs will follow each other like pearls falling off of a necklace...

Masih ad-Dajjal (The AntiChrist)

The Mahdi

The appearance of Masih al-�Isa (Jesus Christ), the son of Mary (peace be upon him)

Ya�juj and Ma�juj (Gog and Magog)

The destruction of the Ka�bah and the recovery of its treasure

Emergence of the Beast

The smoke

Three major landslides (one in the East, one in the West, and one on the Arabian peninsula)

The wind will take the souls of the believers

The rising of the sun from the west

The fire will drive the people to their final gathering place