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Islamic eschatology

Islamic eschatology (Arabic: عِلْم آخر الزمان في الإسلام, ‘ilm ākhir az-zamān fī al-islām) is a field of study in Islam concerning future events that would happen in the end times. It is primarily based on sources from the Quran and Sunnah. Aspects from this field of study include the signs of the final age, the destruction of the universe and Judgement Day.[1][2][3]

The primary characters in apocalyptic Islamic narratives are: the Mahdi ("Guided One"), Isa (aka Jesus) who descends from heaven in a Second Coming, the Dajjal ("Deceiving Messiah" aka False Messiah, viewed as similar to the Antichrist figure in Christianity), and the Beast. Of these, Jesus and the Dajjal are mentioned in the Quran; while the other figures are solely found in later writings.


The general consensus of the Muslim religious establishment is that the end times will be preceded by a series of signs. However, Islamic texts from the Classical era, Middle Ages, and modern times have differed enormously as what those signs might include. Suggestions have included an era of trials and tribulations, immorality, mighty wars, unnatural phenomena, an invasion by Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) into Arab lands, and/or the return of justice to the world.[4] Once all the events are completed, the universe shall be destroyed and every human being would be resurrected to be held accountable for their deeds.[5][6]

Sources for Islamic eschatology[edit]

Alike with other tenets of Islamic faith, sources of Islamic eschatology are taken from two primary sources: the Quran which was written in the early 7th century CE, and Sunnah literature (stories about the Islamic prophet Muhammad's life and sayings) which was written some 250 years later, in the late 9th century CE.[7] However, while the Quran repeatedly exhorts its readers/listeners to prepare for the final "Hour", it contains almost no information about the end times. Almost all content of Islamic eschatalogical narratives comes from the hadith (notably Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim), and from later extrapolation and speculation by major Islamic authors (notably Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid, al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi, Al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, and as-Suyuti)).[8][9]

Senseless immorality would prevail. The prevalence of tyrants, alcohol, usury, satanic music, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and disobedience by wives, murders, lying and cheating, lack of interest in and ignorance of religion.

Unnatural phenomenons would occur. The rise of frequent sudden deaths, excessive lightning, destructive rainfall, terrible drought, a huge cloud of smoke, the opening up of huge cracks in the earth, the sun rising in the west, the breeze that take the souls of the faithful.

The appearance of dark, satanic evils such as the , Gog and Magog.[14][15]

Antichrist

The arrival of messianic saviors such as the and Jesus, who along with divine intervention, will restore justice.[16][17]

Mahdi

The arrival of Judgement Day is prophesied to be preceded by apocalyptic signs of its arrival in various hadith collections.[11][12][13]


The signs are divided into two categories.[18][19] Minor signs are uneventful signs that happen in the timeframe of centuries. Major signs are seismic events that happen very rapidly and is the immediate precursor to the end.[20][21][22][23]


Savior and evil-doing figures that appear in the major signs include:


[37]

Small Resurrection[edit]

Small Resurrection (al-qiyamah al-sughra) happens, when the soul is separated from the body. The soul then turns to the afterlife (akhira or malakut), where it is interrogated by two angels, Munkar and Nakir.[38]


This grave period is known as the Barzakh, similar to the intermediate state in Christianity.

The return to the same material body, someone had during lifetime, that will be restored.

[63]

Conjunction of the with a Mithali body, which is congenial to the worlds of Barzakh and the Akhirah.[64]

soul

Resurrection with a Hurqaliyati body, accordingly a second invisible body, that survives death.

[65]

Visitation of tombs[edit]

Death is also seen as a homecoming.[85] When people visit tombs, they are having a specific spiritual routine.[85] The correct way to visit someone's tomb is to recite parts of the Quran and pray for the deceased.[85]

(1165–1240 CE), Al-futūhāt al-makkiyya (Meccan Illuminations);[190] Among other things, Ibn Arabi wrote that "70,000 Muslim, all descended from Isaac" would follow the Mahdi and chanting "Allahu Akbar!", and crumble the ramparts of Constantinople; The Great Battle would take place on the plain of Acre.[191]

Ibn Arabi

(1214-1273 CE), Al-tadhkira fī ahwāl al-mawtā wa umūr al-ahkīra (Remembrance of the Affairs of the Dead and Matters of the Hereafter);[192] Known for his opposition to both partisanship in Islam and the Umayyad dynasty, Al-Qurtubi prophesied the Mahdi would emerge in Morocco and preach there for ten years before rescuing the Muslims of Spain and moving on to conquer the Byzantines.[193]

Al-Qurtubi

(c. 1300–1373 CE), Ashrāt al-sāʿat (Signs of the Hour);[194] Popular among the ulama and common people of Syria for his preaching of strictness, Ibn Kathir had a highly developed vision of the signs of the Last Hour. The Mahdi was distinct from the Shia Hidden Imam; there would be great battles between Muslims and Byzantines, and then with the forces of the Dajjal.[195]

Ibn Kathir

(1332–1406), Kitāb al-ʿibar (Book of Examples);[196] Despite his association with modernism, Ibn Khaldun thought none of what was mentioned in the Quran of "the hour" and its signs was "subject to the least ambiguity"; he endorsed apocalyptic hadith in the collections of Bukhari and Muslim (but not other collections), as well as the "classical scenario" of end times.[197]

Ibn Khaldun

Jalal al-Din (1446-1505), fatwa on "the descent of Jesus, son of Mary at the end times" from Al-hāwī lil-fatāwī.[198] Al-Suyuti preached against the millenarian claim that the earth would end in 1000 A.H. (1591 C.E.), believing Judgement Day would come in 1500 A.H. (2076 C.E.).

al-Suyuti

(1213-1288 CE), Theologus Autodidactus (circa CE 1270). In the form of a theological fiction novel, he wrote on Islamic eschatology where he used reason, science, and early Islamic philosophy to explain how he believed al-Qiyamah would unfold.[199]

Ibn al-Nafis

"" (from Sahih al-Bukhari by ibn Hajar al-Asqalani).

Fath al-Bari

Esposito, John, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press, 2003,  0-19-512558-4.

ISBN

Richard C. Martin, Said Amir Arjomand, Marcia Hermansen, Abdulkader Tayob, Rochelle Davis, John Obert Voll, Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, MacMillan Reference Books, 2003,  978-0028656038.

ISBN

Lawson, Todd (1999). . Journal of Quranic Studies. 10: 23–49.

Duality, Opposition and Typology in the Qur'an: The Apocalyptic Substrate