The emergence of the beast

Among the signs of the Hour will be the emergence of a beast from the

earth. It will be very strange in appearance, and extremely huge; one

cannot even imagine what it will look like. It will emerge from the earth

and shake the dust from its head. It will have with it the ring of Solomon

and the rod of Moses. People will be terrified of it and will try to run

away, but they will not be able to escape, because such will be the decree

of Allah. It will destroy the nose of every unbeliever with the rod, and

write the word "Kafir" on his forehead; it will adorn the face of every

believer and write the word "Mu'min" (true believer) on his forehead, and

it will speak to people.

Allah SWT said:

"And when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), We shall

produce from the earth a Beast to (face) them: it will speak to them,'"

(al-Naml 27.82)

Ibn 'Abbas, al-Hasan and Qutadah said that "It will speak to them"

(tukallimuhum) means that it will address them. Ibn Jarir suggested that

it means that the Beast will address them with the words "'for that

mankind did not believe with assurance in Our Sings" (al-Naml 27:82 -

latter part of the Ayah). Ibn Jarir reported this from 'Ali and 'Ata' It

was reported from Ibn 'Abbas that tukallimuhum means that the Beast will

cut them, i e, it will write the word "Kafir" on the forehead of the

unbeliever. It was also reported from Ibn 'Abbas that he will both address

them and cut them; this suggestion incorporates both of the previous

suggestions; and Allah knows best.

We have already mentioned the Hadith of Hudhayfah ibn Usayd, in which the

Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) is reported to have said, "The Hour

will not come until you see ten signs: the smoke; the Dajjal; the Beast;

the sun rising from the West; the descent of Jesus son of Mary; Gog and

Magog; and three landslides - one in the East, one in the West, and one in

Arabia, at the end of which fire will burst forth from the direction of

Aden (Yemen) and drive people to the place of their final assembly."

Abu Hurairah said: "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said,

'Hasten to do good deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun

from the West, the smoke, the Dajjal, the Beast, the (death) of one of you

or general tribulation." (Muslim.)

Baridah said: "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) took me to a

place in the desert, near Makkah. It was a dry piece of land surrounded by

sand. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'The Beast will

emerge from this place. It was a very small area." (Ibn Majah.)

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa

sallam) said, "The Beast of the Earth will emerge, and will have with it

the rod of Moses and the ring of Solomon." It was also reported that he

said, "(The Beast) will destroy the noses of the unbelievers with the

ring, - so that people seated around one table will begin to address one

another with the words "O Believer!" or "O Unbeliever!" (i e, everyone's

status will become clear). (Ibn Majah.)

'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr said, "I memorised a Hadith from the Prophet

(sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) which I have not forgotten since. I heard

the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) say, 'The first of the signs (of

the Hour) to appear will be the rising of the sun from the West and the

appearance of the Best before the people in the forenoon. Whichever of

these two events happens first, the other will follow immediately.'"

(Muslim). That is to say, these will be the first extraordinary signs. The

Dajjal, the descent of Jesus (alayhe salam), the emergence of Gog and

Magog, are less unusual in that they are all human beings. But the

emergence of the Beast, whose form will be very strange, its addressing

the people and classifying them according to their faith or unbelief, is

something truly extraordinary. This is the first of the earthly signs, as

the rising of the sun from the West is the first of the heavenly signs.

The Rising of the Sun from the West

ALLAH SWT says: "Are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or

thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the Signs of thy Lord? The day that

certaof thesigns of thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to

believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness

through its faith. Say: 'Wait ye: we too are waiting'" (al-Anam 6:158.)

It was reported from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that the Prophet (sallallahu

alayhe wa sallam) explained, "The day that certain of the Signs of thy

Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then",

referring to the rising of the sun from the West. (Ahmad.)

Abu Hurairah said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) said, 'The

Hour will not come until the sun rises from the West. When the people see

it, whoever is living on earth will believe, but that will be the time

when - No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it

believed not before'" (Bukhari.)

It was also reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe

wa sallam) said, "The Hour will not come until the sun rises from the

West. When it rises and the people see it, they will all believe. But that

will be the time when 'No good will it do to a soul to believe in them

then'" (Bukhari.)

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa

sallam) said, "There are three things which, if they appear, 'No good will

it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before nor

earned righteousness through its faith' They are: the rising of the sun

from the West, the Dajjal, and the Beast of the Earth." (Ahmad, Muslim,

Tirmidhi.)

Abu Dharr said, "The Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam) asked me, 'Do

you know where the sun goes when it sets? I said, 'I do not know'He said,

'It travels until it prostrates itself beneath the Throne, and asks for

permission to rise again. But a time will come when it will be told, 'Go

back whence you came.' That will be the time when 'No good will it do to a

soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned

righteousness through its faith'" (Bukhari.)

'Amr ibn Jarir said, "Three Muslims were sitting with Marwan in Madinah,

and heard him say, whilst talking about the Signs of the Hour, that the

first of them would be the appearance of the Dajjal. The three went to

'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, and told him what they had heard Marwan say

concerning the Signs. 'Abd Allah said, 'Marwan has not said much. I

memorised a Hadith like that from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhe wa

sallam) which I have not forgotten since. I heard the Prophet (sallallahu

alayhe wa sallam) say: The first of the signs will be the rising of the

sun from the West, and the emergence of the Beast in the forenoon.

Whichever of the two comes first, the other will follow immediately'"

"The 'Abd Allah, who was widely-read, said, 'I think that the first to

happen will be the rising of the sun from the West. Every time it sets, it

goes beneath the Throne, prostrates itself, and seeks permission to rise

again. A time will come when three times it will seek permission and will

receive no reply, until, when part of the night has passed and it realises

that even if it were given permission, it would not be able to rise on

time, it will say: "O my Lord, how far the rising-point is from me! What

can I do for the people now?" Then it will seek permission to go back, and

it will be told: 'Rise from where you are now' - and it will rise from the

West'" Then 'Abd Allah recited the Ayah:

"No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not

before nor earned righteousness through its faith." (Ahmad.)

Some scholars interpret "the rising of the sun from the West" as meaning

that Islam will appear in the West, as strong as it was in the beginning,

and that the people of the West will carry the flag of Islam.

The Smoke Which Will Appear At the End of Time

MASRUQ said: "While a man was giving a speech among the people of Kindah,

he said, 'There will be smoke on the Day of Resurrection which will

deprive the hypocrites of their hearing and sight, but the believers will

only suffer something like a cold' We were terrified, so we went to Ibn

Masud, who was reclining. When he heard about this, he became angry and

sat up, and said: 'O people, whoever knows a thing, let him say it; but

whoever does not know, let him say, "Allah knows best." It is a part of

knowledge, when one does not know something, to say "Allah knows best."

Allah SWT said to His Prophet Mohammad (sallallahu alayhe wa sallam):

"Say: 'No reward do I ask of you for this (Qur'an), nor am I a pretender'"

(Sad 38:86.)

"Quraysh were being slow in embracing Islam, so the Prophet (sallallahu

alayhe wa sallam) prayed against them, saying, 'O Allah, help me against

them by sending seven years of famine like those of Joseph.' They were

afflicted by a year of famine in which they were destroyed, and ate dead

animals and bones. They began to see something like smoke between the sky

and the earth. Abu Sufyan came and said, 'O Mohammad! You came to command

us to keep good relations with our relatives, and your people have

perished, so pray that Allah may relieve them'"

The Ibn Mas'ud recited,

"Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke

(or mist) plainly visible,

Enveloping the people: this will be a Penalty Grievous.

(They will say:) 'Our Lord! Remove the Penalty from us, for we do truly

believe!

How shall the Message be (effectual) for them, seeing that an Apostle

explaining things clearly has (already) come to them?

Yet they return away from him and say: 'Tutored (by others), a man

possessed!

We shall indeed remove the Penalty for a while, (but) truly ye will revert

(to your ways)." (al-Dukhan 44:10-15)

Ibn Maud asked: "Will their punishment in the Hereafter be removed so they

can go back to their Kufr?"

Allah SWT said:

"One day We shall seize you with a mighty onslaught: We will indeed (then)

exact Retribution!"

(al-Dukhan 44:16)

"...and soon will come the inevitable (punishment)!" (al-Furqan 25:77)

These Ayat refer to the Day (Battle) of Badr.

Allah SWT said:

"Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans (Byzantines) have been defeated - in a land

close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be

victorious - within a few years'"

(al-Rum 30: 1-3) (Bukhari.)

This speaker's suggestion - that the idea that the smoke would be on the

Day or Resurrection was not a good one - made Ibn Masud react angrily. But

the smoke will appear before the Day of Resurrection; it will be one of

the signs, which are: the Beast, the Dajjal, the Smoke, and Gog and Magog,

as the Ahadith narrated from Abu Sarihah, Abu Hurairah and other Sahabah

indicate.

As mentioned in the Sahih Ahadith, the fire which will appear before the

Day of Resurrection will burst forth from the direction of Aden, and drive

the people to the place of their final assembly. It will move with them

and halt with them, and will devour any who lag behind.