Introduction
Throughout
history, human beings have understood the majesty of the mountains and
the vastness of the heavens, even through the use of their primitive
methods of observation. Though, they mistakenly thought these things
would exist forever. This belief formed the backbone of polytheist and
materialist Greek philosophies, and of the religions of Sumeria and
Egypt.
The Qur'an tells us that those who believe this are in grave error.
One of the things that Allah reveals in the Qur'an is that the universe
has been created and that it will come to an end. The universe will,
as will human beings and all other living things, come to an end. This
ordered world, which has functioned perfectly for billions of years,
is the work of the Lord, Who created everything, though it will come
to a grand end at His command, and at a time that He has determined.
The appointed time when the universe and every creature in it, from
microorganisms to human beings, including stars and galaxies, will come
to an end, is called the "Hour" in the Qur'an. This "Hour" refers to
not just any hour; but is a word used specifically in the Qur'an to
refer to that time when the world will come to an end.
Along with the announcement of the end of the world, the Qur'an contains
detailed descriptions of the process of that event: "When the sky bursts
open," "When the oceans surge into each other,"
"When the mountains are pulverized," "When the sun is compacted in blackness…"
The horror and panic that people will experience at this dreadful calamity
is related in detail in the Qur'an; the verses emphasize that there
will be no escape and no place to hide. What we can conclude from this
that the end of the world will be a catastrophe such as the world has
never experienced before. Details of that even may also be found in
other books of ours entitled, The Day of Resurrection, Death Resurrection
Hell. This present book will treat the events that will happen as the
Last Day approaches.
First,
it must be stated that it is clear from a number of verses of the Qur'an,
that the subject of the inevitable end of the world has excited interest
in every period of history. In certain verses, it is related that people
had asked the Prophet Muhammad (saas) about when the end of the world
would come:
They will ask you about the Hour: when is it
due? …( Surat al-A'raf: 187)
They ask you about the Hour: "When will it come?" (Surat an-Nazi'at:
42)
Allah commanded the Prophet (saas) to answer this question in the
following way: "… Knowledge of it rests with my
Lord alone..." (Surat al-A'raf: 187), meaning that only He knows
the date of the Hour. From this verse we understand that knowledge about
when the Hour will come is hidden from human beings.
There must be a divine reason why our Lord keeps the time of the Hour
a secret. For example, it is good for all people, whatever century they
live in, to be "… apprehensive about the Hour"
(Surat al-Anbiya': 49), and to consider the greatness and unbounded
power of Allah. Before that day of horrible anguish overtakes them all
of a sudden, they should understand that, apart from Allah, there is
no place of refuge. If the time of the Hour were known, people living
before the present era would not have felt compelled to think seriously
about the end of the world; they would have been unmindful of the final
events described in the Qur'an.
But, it must be pointed out that there are many verses that tell of
the Hour, and when we examine them we encounter a great truth. The Qur'an
does not indicate the time of the Hour, but it describes those events
that will happen prior to it. One verse related that there are several
signs of the Hour:
What are they awaiting but for the Hour to come
upon them suddenly? Its Signs have already come. What good will their
Reminder be to them when it does arrive? (Surah Muhammad: 18)
From
this verse we learn that the Qur'an describes signs that announce the
coming of the Last Day. In order to understand the signs of this "great
announcement" we must reflect upon these verses. Otherwise, as the verse
indicates, our thinking will be of no use when the Last Day is suddenly
upon us.
Some of that which was said by the Prophet (saas) which has reached
to us deals with the signs of the Hour. In these hadiths of the Prophet
(saas), there are both signs of the Hour and detailed information about
the period just preceding it. This period, in which the signs of the
Hour will occur, is called the "End Times." The matter of the End Times
and of the signs of the Hour have attracted much interest throughout
the history of Islam; it has been the subject of many works of Islamic
scholars and researchers.
When we collect all this information together, we come to an important
conclusion. The verses of the Qur'an and the hadiths of the Prophet
(saas) indicate that the End Times is divided into two stages. The first
period is one in which material and spiritual trials will afflict the
world; the second period to come is called the Golden Age, a time when
the moral teaching of the Qur'an will dominate, producing a deep sense
of well-being in all humans. When this Golden Age comes to an end, and
after the world will have entered a period of social decline, the coming
of the Last Hour will be at hand.
The purpose of this present book is to examine the signs of the Hour
through the verses of the Qur'an and hadiths of the Prophet (saas),
and to show that these signs have begun to appear in our present time.
The fact that the advent of these signs was revealed fourteen centuries
ago should increase a believer's faith in Allah and his devotion to
Him. The following pages have been written keeping in mind our Lord's
promise: "Say: Praise be to Allah. He will show
you His Signs and you will recognize them…" (Surat an-Naml: 93)
There is one particularly important point though that we would like
to draw the reader's attention to: Allah knows the truth about everything.
As with all things, what we know about the end of the world comes only
from what He has revealed to us.
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