Beast of the Earth
The Beast of the Earth (Arabic: دَابَّة الأَرْض, romanized: Dābbat al-Arḍ), also called "The Dabba/Dabbah" is a creature mentioned in Surah An-Naml: Ayat 82 of the Quran and associated with Judgement Day. For this reason, the Beast of the Earth is often mentioned in eschatological writings as a sign of Judgement Day close to the event of the sun rising in the west. The Quran doesn't offer details about the nature of the Beast of the Earth, but various interpretations have linked it to the Beast of the Earth mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation or to the monsters from Turkic mythology. It is also claimed by few hadiths that the beast, ad dabbah will mark on the forehead and on the nose of the people, the mark on the forehead may depict that one would be a believer and the mark on the nose will tell that it was a disbeliever.
Interpretations[edit]
Traditional[edit]
According to the medieval Sunni theologian Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, there is nothing mentioned in hadith reports attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad about the nature of this creature, but it is mentioned in narrations circulating around the time of his successors. Wahb ibn Munabbih stated that such a "beast" spoke to the people of Sodom from under the earth.[6]
Contemporary[edit]
The majority of contemporary Islamic scholars accept the traditional exegesis of the Beast of the Earth, the Dābbat al-Arḍ as a literal creature who will appear in the end times. However, another interpretation, backed by Muhammad Ali, holds that this Beast is related to materialistic tendencies, and thus the Dābbat does not appear at the end of the world, but rather will doom a given nation or society.[7]
Yet another interpretation, promoted by United Submitters International, is that the Creature of the Earth is the computer, as the materials that are used are of synthetic earthly origin.[8] A related idea, based on the rise of artificial intelligence, suggests that an AI might be able to warn and remind humans, telling them how far they have come from righteousness and the belief of a creator.
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