Lives of the Prophets: The Story of Prophet David* (Dawud)
Background
Ibn Katheer states: Prophet Dawud*, belongs to Judas, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham. He is Allah's servant, messenger and vicegerent in Jerusalem. As previously mentioned, when Prophet Dawud* killed Goliath. Bani Israel loved Prophet Dawud* and were attached to him. He succeeded Talut (Saul) as a king and Allah granted him prophethood as well. Thus, he became both a king and a prophet and a messenger.
Allah says: "And David slew Goliath; and Allah gave him power and wisdom and taught him whatever (else) He willed. And did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, the earth would indeed be full of mischief: but Allah is full of bounty to all the worlds." (TMQ 2:251) This means were Allah not to appoint kings to rule people, the strong amongst them would humiliate the weak. Thus it is reported, the king resembles Allah's shade on earth. The Caliph Uthmaan Ibn Affaan said, Allah establishes by means of the ruler what He may not establish by means of the Qur'an.
Miracles of Dawud
Allah says: "We bestowed Grace aforetime on David from Ourselves: 'O ye Mountains! sing ye the Praises of Allah with him, and ye birds (also)!' And we made the iron soft for him - (commanding), 'Make thou coasts of mail, balancing well the rings of chain armor, and work ye righteousness; for be sure I see (clearly) all that ye do." (Saba': 10-11)
Allah further says: "It was Our Power that made the hills and birds celebrate our praises, with David: it was We who did (all these things). It was We who taught him the making of coasts of mail for your benefit, to guard you from each other's violence: will ye then be grateful?" (AI Anbiyaa': 79-80)
Allah also says: "And remember Our servant David, the man of strength: for he ever turned (to Allah). It was We that made the hills declare in unison with him, Our praises, at eventide and at break of day, and the birds gathered (in assemblies): all with him did tum (to Allah). We strengthened his kingdom, and gave him wisdom and sound judgement in speech and decision. "(Saad: 17-20)
Dawud’s voice and Dhikr (with mountains and birds)
Allah has granted David a very pleasant voice. When he recited his Book, the Psalms, in a pleasant voice, the birds gathered in assemblies to recite with him and the hills declared in unison with him Allah's praises in the evening and at dawn. Once Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, passed by Abu Musa AI-Ashari at night while he was reciting the Qur'an. He (Abu Musa) had a very pleasant voice so the Prophet stopped to listen to his recitation and said, "He has been gifted with one of Prophet Dawud*'s psalms." Abu "Uthmaan An-Nahdi said: I have heard the lute and wood-wind instrument, but I have never heard a more pleasant voice than that of Abu Musa AI-Ashary.
Dhikr
We also talked about what it means for creation to worship Allah. Allah made the birds and mountains repeat the Dhikr of Prophet Dawud* in a fashion that people could comprehend and this was one of the many special miracles that was given to Prophet Dawud*. That aside, we must realise that the creation is in constant remembrance of Allah but in a fashion or a dimension that we cannot comprehend.
For example, it is mentioned in the Qur’an that the lightning glorifies Allah. But how can we perceive this and we talked about the scientific explanation behind the production of thunder and its relationship to the generation of lightning. And we compared this to somebody observing human beings whilst they were praying and the scientific explanation for the production of sound from the chest and vocal cords through the mouth is very different to standing the words meaning behind saying 'SubhanAllah' or 'Allahu Akbar'. The difference in perception around we see of creation and how reality it managed to glorify praise Allah.
Hence the importance of trying to undertake as much Dhikr of Allah as we can in addition to the obligatory times we do the form remembrance when we pray five times a day.
Dawud – Iron Man
We also talked about the miracle of Prophet Dawud* being able to mould iron with his bare hands - the original 'Iron Man'! Not only that we talked about how Allah taught him to make new technological advancements in military equipment and technology. This was the production of chainmail armour in a fashion that gave military superiority to the army of Prophet Dawud*. Before this, armour was mainly sheets of metal which reduced flexibility and was quite heavy. Following this new invention it was clear that the chainmail allowed the soldiers for greater flexibility in movement as well as being much lighter to wear.
Being thankful for technology
This raises the important discussion point around general advancements in technology and learning and how, despite seeing all the technological advancements in our civilisation today, we tend to attribute and acknowledge the source of the use as being the inventors and we fail to give any real credit to Allah for facilitating these inventions. For example, how was the first loaf of bread made!? Hence, in our everyday life we should be constantly thanking Allah for all the technology and advancements that we see around ourselves and use all the time. We should also be thankful for the gifts and the knowledge that we have. We briefly talked about the student undertaking a PhD thesis and acknowledging that all the benefit comes from Allah and any mistakes in this piece of work from himself. In addition, if we do have special gifts from Allah we should be thankful for these and grateful for these and not too boastful that any achievements that we receive through these gifts are purely personal and we should realise that it is only through Allah facilitating these achievements that we managed to achieve whatever we do actually achieve! Hence, passing exams is not solely through our own hard work but is related to Allah supporting as in that process and giving as the talents and abilities to achieve them.
Being thankful for knowledge
And the final point related to this is that all the knowledge that we have today is built upon knowledge from yesterday and the source of knowledge can be traced all the way back to Allah teaching Adam the names of everything. Hence, that is the source of all knowledge and we should be grateful for that. We have previously talked about this in greater detail when we talked about knowledge, source of knowledge and the feral child. This relates to the example of the first loaf of bread in civilisation many thousands of years ago!
Main Topic: The Minor and Major Signs of the Day of Judgment
Some of the Minor Signs of the Day of Judgment
In the hadith of Jibreel, when he asked about the Hour, the Prophet* said, “The one who is asked does not know any better than the one who is asking.” However, the Prophet* has told us many of its signs. In the area of the signs of the Day of Judgment, there are many weak ahadith and many strong ahadith – below are a selection from the stronger ahadith.
• The Coming of The Prophet*
• The Death of The Prophet*
• The Opening of Jerusalem
• Plague
The Prophet* said, a death that will eat you away like a certain illness that afflicts goats. This is referring to plague. It occurred in 18H.
• The Abundance of Wealth
The Prophet* said, “Wealth will be so abundant that a man will be handed 100 dinar (a small weight of gold) and they wouldn’t be satisfied.”
• Times of Trials and Tribulations
The Prophet* says in the hadith narrated by Muslim: “Do good deeds before the times of trials and tribulations that are like the darkness of night.” Do the good deeds before the trials and tribulations are like darkness of night, spreading all over. Then The Prophet* said that during those times, a man would be a believer in the morning, but a disbeliever by night time. And a man would be a believer at night time, but a disbeliever by the morning. The Prophet* said because they are selling their religion for a worldly benefit.
• The Beginning of the Fitna: Assassination of ‘Uthmaan
• The Battle of Al-Jamal
• The Battle of Siffeen
• Al-Khawaarij
• Battle of Nahrawand
• Death of Al-Hussain ibn Abi Talib
• False Prophets
Abu Hurayrah narrated that The Prophet* said, “The Day of Judgement will not occur until 30 false prophets arise. Every one of them is claiming that he is a messenger.”
• The Spread of Peace
The Prophet* says, “But Allah will complete this religion. Allah will give victory to this religion until the traveller will leave from sam’aa to Hadramawt, and not fear anyone but Allah and the wolf on their sheep.” The Prophet* said, “There will be a time when the land of the Arabs will be rivers and forests (it will be green). And the traveller would leave from Iraq to Makkah, fearing no one but getting lost.”
• The Appearance of a Fire in Hijaaz
The Prophet* said, “The Hour will not be established until a fire will come out of the land of hijaaz that will throw a light on the necks of the camels of Busra.”.
• The Wars with the Turks
The Prophet* said, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Turks. People with small eyes, round, red faces and flat noses. Their faces will look like shields coated with leather. The Hour will not be established until you fight with people whose shoes are made of hair.”
• Loss of Trust
The Prophet* said, “If trust is lost, then wait for the Hour.” If there is no more trust, wait for the Hour; it’s the end of the Hour. The Sahabi asked The Prophet* asked, “How will trust be lost?” The Prophet* said, “When authority is given to those who do not deserve it, then wait for the Hour.” When the leaders are sufahaa` (people with lack of understanding of religion).
• Knowledge will Subside and Ignorance will Prevail
The Prophet* said, “Some of the signs of the Day of Judgement is that knowledge will be lifted up and ignorance will replace it.”
• The Increase of Security Forces
The Prophet* said, “There will be a time when there will be security forces, they leave in the morning with the wrath of Allah on them, at night they come home with the wrath of Allah on them. Be careful, don’t be one of their associates.”
• Zina (adultery) Prevails
The Prophet* said, “Zina will prevail.” The Prophet* said, “If zina will prevail until people will advertise for it in public, then Allah will inflict on them diseases which did not exist before.”
• The Spread of Riba
The Prophet* said, “Approaching the Day of Judgement, approaching the hour, riba would be widespread.” [AtTabarani]
• The Decoration of Mosques
The Prophet* said, “A time will come when people will be proud of – or will compete – in building mosques.
• Construction of Tall Buildings
The Prophet* said, “You will find the barefoot, naked, poor shepards of goats and sheep competing in building tall buildings.” [Muslim]
• The Slave Woman gives birth to her Owner
This is the famous hadith of Jibreel, in Bukhari and Muslim. Jibreel asked The Prophet* about the signs of the day of judgment. The Prophet* said that one of the signs is that the woman would give birth to her master, or that the slave would give birth to her master.
• Bloodshed Spreads
The Prophet* says, “A time will come when haraj will be widespread.” The Sahabah asked, “What is haraj?” The Prophet* said, “It is an Abyssinian word (from habasha). It means killing.” [Bukhari]
• The Shrinking of Time
Bukhari, Abu Hurayrah said that The Prophet* said, “Approaching the Day of Judgement, time will shrink.” The Prophet* said, “The Day of the judgement will not occur until time shrinks. The year will be like a month, and a month will be like a week, and a week will be like a day, and a day will be like an hour and an hour would be like burning a leaf.”
• The Proximity of Markets
The Prophet* said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgment is that markets will be close to each other.”
• Spread of Trade
The Prophet* said, “Business and trade will be so widespread.” The Prophet* said, “Businesses will be so widespread, to the point where the woman will be helping her husband with the business.”.
• Appearance of Shirk
The Prophet* said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgement is that some tribes would follow disbelievers and some would worship idols (pagan worship).”
• Zalzaal (Earthquakes)
The Prophet* said in a hadith, “Earthquakes will be frequent.” In another hadith by Ahmad, The Prophet* said, “O son of Hawaala (a companion), if you see khilafaa appraoach the holy land (Palestine), then the time for earthquakes and disasters and great issues is approaching. And the Hour, at that time, will be closer to the people than the my hand to your head.”
• Sinking, Stoning and Turning into Animals
At-Tirmidhi, The Prophet* said, “In the end of this Ummah, there will be sinking, stoning and turning into animals.”
• Rise of the Low
Ibn Maajah, Abu Hurayrah said that The Prophet* said, “There will be tricky (wicked) years, where the liar will be believed and the truthful will not be believed. The untrustworthy will be trusted and the trustworthy will not be trusted. The Ar-Ruwaybadah will speak.” The Sahabah asked, “Who are the Ar-Ruwaybadah?” The Prophet* said, “The low person.”
• You will Give Salaam Only to those You Know
The Prophet* said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgement is that you will give salaam only to those you know.”
• Women Who are Dressed, but Naked
Muslim, The Prophet* said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgement is that there will be women who are dressed, but naked. Their heads are like the humps of camels [referring to the hairstyle]. They will not enter jannah or even smell it, enough though the smell of jannah can be smelled from a long distance (in another hadith: a distance of 70 years).”
• Cars
Ahmad, The Prophet* said, “In the future, there will be men of my Ummah sitting over surooj [saddle] on things that are similar to camels, but not exactly camels. And they descend from these vehicles at masaajid but their wives are dressed, but naked. Curse them, for they are cursed.”
• True Dreams of the Believers
The Prophet* said in a hadith narrated by At-Tirmidhi, “Towards the end of time, the dream of the believer almost never lie.”
• Spread of Qalam
The Prophet* said, “Approaching the Day of Judgement, the pen will prevail.”
• Expansion of the Crescent (Hilaal)
The Prophet* said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgement is that the crescent will be bloated.”
• Lies and Fabrication in Religion
The Prophet* said, “Approaching the end of time, there will be dajjaloon (people who pretend to be something they’re not – imposters). They present you with talk that you did not hear and your fathers never heard before. Beware of them. Don’t let them mislead you and misguide you.”
• Shayateen Coming
Muslim, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al ‘Aas said, “There are some devils imprisoned in the ocean. They were imprisoned by Sulaymaan. A time will come when they will come out and they will recite to people Qur’an and they are going to claim that it is Qur’an and Sacred Books.”
• False Witnessing
The Prophet* says, in a hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, “Approaching the Day of Judgement will be false witnessing and concealing the true witness.”
• The Woman to Man Ratio will Increase
The Prophet* said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgement is that the number of women would increase and the number of men would decrease so there would be 50 women for 1 man.”
• Sudden Death
At-Tabarani, The Prophet* said, “One of the signs of the Day of Judgement is that sudden death would occur frequently.”
• Hostility Between the People
The Prophet* was asked about the Hour. The Prophet* said, “Only Allah know, but I will tell you some of the signs. There will be fitna and haraj.” The Sahabah asked, “What is haraj?” The Prophet* said, “It means, in the language of Abyssinia, Killing.” Then he said, “People would not know each other.”
• The Arabian Peninsula becomes Green with Rivers Again
Imam Muslim narrates that the Prophet* said, “The Day of Judgement will not occur until the land of the Arabs becomes gardens and rivers again.”
• Lots of Rain, but Nothing Grows
The Prophet* said, “The Day of Judgement will not occur until a widespread rain will fall over the people, but nothing will grow.”
• Euphrates Uncovers a Mountain of Gold
The Prophet* said, “Soon the river Euphrates will disclose the treasure (the mountain) of gold, so whoever will be present at that time should not take anything of it.” Bukhaari, Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet* said, “The Last Hour would not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people would fight. Ninety-nine out of each one hundred would die but every man amongst them would say that perhaps he would be the one who would be saved (and thus possess this gold.)” [Muslim]
• Animals and Objects Speaking
There was a shepherd with his sheep. A wolf attacked and took one of the sheep. The shepherd followed it and took his sheep back. The wolf sat back, with his legs in the air – like a person – and said, “Itiqillah (fear Allah). You are taking away food from me that was sent to me by Allah.” The shepherd said, “What an amazing thing! A wolf sitting like a man and speaking to me!” The wolf said, “I will tell you something more amazing. The Prophet* is in Yathrib [what Medina was called at the time], and he is teaching the people about the nations before.” The shepherd, who was not Muslim at the time, went to Medina and went to The Prophet* and told him what happened. The Prophet* gathered all of the sahabah and told the shepherd, “Tell them what you heard.” The shepherd told them and then the Prophet* said, “The Day of Judgement will not occur until the beasts will speak to you…..and your legs would speak to you.”
• Desire of Dying
The said Prophet*, “The Hour will not be established till a man passes by a grave of somebody and says, ‘Would that I were in his place.’” [Bukhari]
• Population of the Romans Increases
Muslim, the Prophet* said, “The Day of Judgement will occur and the Romans are the largest nation, in terms of number.”
• Opening of the Constantinople
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Apostle* saying, “You have heard about a city the one side of which is in the land and the other is in the sea (Constantinople).” They said: “Allah’s Messenger, yes.” Thereupon he said: “The Last Hour would not come unless seventy thousand persons from Bani lsrail would attack it. When they would land there, they will neither fight with weapons nor would shower arrows but would only say: “There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest,” that one side of it would fall. Thaur (one of the narrators) said: I think that he said: “The part by the side of the ocean.” Then they would say for the second time: “There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest” that the second side would also fall. And they would say: “There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest” then the gates would be opened for them and they would enter therein and, they would be collecting spoils of war and distributing them amongst themselves that a noise would be heard and It would be said: “Verily, Dajjal has come.” And thus they would leave everything there and would turn to him. [Muslim,]
• Reign of Qahtaan
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet* said, “The Hour will not be established until a man from Qahtaan appears, driving the people with his stick.” [Bukhaari
• Medina Expelling the Evil
The Prophet* said, in a hadith by Bukhari, that a time would come when a man would call his cousin and his relative, telling him, “Come to the luxurious life. Come to the luxurious life.” Prophet* said, “Medina is better for them, if they know.” Then the Prophet* said, “In the name of the One in Whose Hand is my soul Allah], anyone who leaves Medina and gives it up, Allah will replace in Medina someone better than him.” Then the Prophet* said, “Al-Medina is like a furnace that separates the impurities and Medina will expel all of the impurities out.”
• A Blessed Wind Taking the Souls of the Believers
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that The Prophet* said: “Verily Allah would make a wind to blow from the side of the Yemen more delicate than silk and would spare none but cause him to die who has faith equal to the weight of a grain. [Muslim]
• Destruction of the Ka’bah
The Prophet* said, “The ones who will transgress against the sanctity of Al-Ka’bah will be its people (meaning the Ummah).” No enemy can destroy the Ka’bah. The only transgression against it will be when this Ummah transgresses it. The Prophet* says, “When that happens, don’t ask about the perishing of the Arabs.” Then The Prophet* says, “Abyssinia would come and they would destroy al-Ka’bah and they would take out the treasures of the Ka’bah.”
• Al-Mehdi
The Prophet* says that there will be one of your khulafaa` that will give out money without counting. Muslim and Imam Ahmad. Abu Sa’eed AlKhudri reported that the Prophet* said, “I am giving you the good news of Al-Mehdi, who will be sent to Ummah during times of disputes. And there will be a lot of earth problems. He will replace the oppression and injustice of the world with justice. And he will fill the hearts of the Ummah of Muhmmad* with satisfaction and content.”
The Major Signs of the Day of Judgment
The Prophet* says, “The major signs are deeds in a string. When the string is cut, all of them would fall down.” [Ahmad].
This hadith is in Muslim. These signs are not in chronological order. Hudhaifa ibn Usaid Ghifari reported: Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said: “What do you discuss about?” They (the Companions) said, “We are discussing about the Last Hour.” Thereupon he said: “It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (Allah be pleased with him), the Gog and Magog, and land-slidings in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly [the land of mahshar].” [Muslim]
• Ad-Dajjaal
Narrated ibn ‘Umar: Once Allah’s Apostle* stood amongst the people and then mentioned the Dajjal saying, “l warn you against him (i.e. the Dajjal) and there was no prophet but warned his nation against him. No doubt, Noah warned his nation against him but I tell you about him something of which no prophet told his nation before me. You should know that he is one-eyed, and Allah is not one-eyed.” [Bukhari]
The Prophet* said: “I have told you so much about the Dajjal (Antichrist) that I am afraid you may not understand. The Antichrist is short, hen-toed, woolly-haired, one-eyed, an eye-sightless, and neither protruding nor deep-seated. If you are confused about him, know that your Lord is not one-eyed.” [Abu Dawood]
The Prophet* said that nothing from the time Adam was created until akhirah is a greater fitna than ad-dajjaal. Hudhaifa and Ibn Mas’ud met together. Hudhaifa said: I know more than you as to what there would be along with the Dajjal. There would be along with him two canals (one flowing with water) and the other one (having) fire (within it), and what you would see as fire would be water and what you would see as water would be fire. So he who amongst you is able to see that and is desirous of water should drink out of that which he sees as fire. [Muslim]
One day, The Prophet* talked about the ad-dajjaal so much, we thought that he was just outside of Medina. When we went to go meet The Prophet*, he knew that. He felt that we were worried. The Prophet* said, “What’s wrong with you?” They said, “You have talked about him so much – up and down- that he thought that he’s next to the palm trees of Medina.” The Prophet* said, “If he comes out and I am with you, then I’ll take care of him for you. If he comes out and I am not with you, then everybody is responsible for himself. And I ask Allah to protect every Muslim. He’s a young man and one of his eyes is bulging out. If you ever live to his time and see him, read on him the first ayah of surah al-Kahf.” That is the protection. Abu Darda’ reported Allah’s Apostle* as saying: “If anyone learns by heart the first ten verses of the Surah al-Kahf, he will be protected from the Dajjal.” [Muslim]
The Prophet* said that he will come out between ash-Shaam and Iraq, and he will corrupt the whole world, right and left. Then The Prophet* said, he will stay on earth for 40 days. One day is like a year; one day is like a month; one day is like a week and then the rest of his days are like your regular days.
The Prophet* said…. “He would appear on the way between Syria and Iraq and would spread mischief right and left. O servant of Allah! adhere (to the path of Truth).” We said: “Allah’s Messenger, how long would he stay on the earth?” He said, “For forty days, one day like a year and one day like a month and one day like a week and the rest of the days would be like your days.” We said: “Allah’s Messenger, would one day’s prayer suffice for the prayers of day equal to one year?” Thereupon he said: “No, but you must make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer).” We said: “Allah’s Messenger, how quickly would he walk upon the earth?” Thereupon he said: “Like cloud driven by the wind.
“He would come to the people and invite them (to a wrong religion) and they would affirm their faith in him and respond to him. He would then give command to the sky and there would be rainfall upon the earth and it would grow crops. Then in the evening, their posturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. He would then come to another people and invite them. But they would reject him and he would go away from them and there would be drought for them and nothing would be left with them in the form of wealth.
“He would then walk through the waste, land and say to it: Bring forth your treasures, and the treasures would come out and collect (themselves) before him like the swarm of bees. He would then call a person brimming with youth and strike him with the sword and cut him into two pieces and (make these pieces lie at a distance which is generally) between the archer and his target. He would then call (that young man) and he will come forward laughing with his face gleaming (with happiness)
How to Protect Yourself from Ad-dajjaal
- Imaan.
- Al Isti’aadah – Seek refuge in Allah from him. One of the du’aa that The Prophet* would say after Salah very frequently: ‘O Allaah, I take refuge in You from the punishment of the grave, from the torment of the Fire, from the trials and tribulations of life and death and from the evil affliction of the Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal.’
- Read the opening of Surah al-Kahf or the last part of Surah al-Kahf.
- Avoiding him. The Prophet* said: “Let him who hears of the Dajjal (Antichrist) go far from him for I swear by Allah that a man will come to him thinking he is a believer and follow him because of confused ideas roused in him by him. [Abu Dawood]
• The Coming of Isa (Jesus)
The second sign, in terms of order, is the descending of Isa*. The location of the descending will be Damascus. The Prophet* pinpointed Damascus and said, next to the eastern white minaret. At the time, when The Prophet* said this, there wasn’t any masjid in Damascus; it was part of the Roman Empire; it was Christian. Nevertheless, The Prophet* said he [Isa] will descend next to the eastern white minaret in Damascus. Al-Masjid Al-Amawi is the biggest of the masaajid of Damascus.
“And he [Isa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)] shall be a known sign for (the coming of) the Hour (Day of Resurrection) [i.e. 'Isa's (Jesus) descent on the earth]…”
The Prophet* says in another hadith: “What will your situation be when the son of Mary will descend amongst you and your Imam is from within yourselves?” Because when Isa arrives, he will walk in and the Muslims are about to pray – the ‘iqaamah was made in the masjid. When Al-Mehdi sees Isa, he will retreat and he will ask him (Isa) to lead the prayer. But Isa* will tell Al-Mehdi that the ‘iqaamah was made for you, therefore you lead the salah. This is a great honor for this Ummah – that Isa will pray behind one of the followers of Muhammad*. Obviously, after that Isa* will resume the responsibility, but at that time Al-Mehdi will led because the ‘iqaamah was made for him.
In At-Tirmidhi. The Prophet* says Isa ibn Maryam would descend next to the eastern white minaret of the masjid. He has two yellow garments, and he will be placing his two hands on the wings of angels.
There is a hadith in Muslim which says that after Ya`juj and Ma`juj: [...]Then Allah would send rain which no house of clay or (the tent of) camels’ hairs would keep out and it would wash away the earth until it could appear to be a mirror. Then [Allah would give order to] the earth would be told to bring forth its fruit and restore its blessing and, as a result thereof, there would grow (such a big) pomegranate that a group of persons would be able to eat that, and seek shelter under its skin and milch cow would give so much milk that a whole party would be able to drink it. And the milch camel would give such (a large quantity of) milk that the whole tribe would be able to drink out of that and the milch sheep would give so much milk that the whole family would be able to drink out of that and at that time Allah would send a pleasant wind which would soothe (people) even under their armpits, and would take the life of every Muslim and only the wicked would survive who would commit adultery like asses and the Last Hour would come to them. [Muslim]
In another hadith by Imam Ahmad, “The Prophets are half-brothers. Their religion is one, but their mothers are different. And Isa is the closest one to me because there is no prophet between me and him. And he would descend. When he comes down, know him. He is average height and he has fair skin and he will be wrapped in two garments which have a yellowish color. His hair looks as if it is wet and dripping with droplets of water, even though it’s dry. He will crush the cross. And he will rid the earth from pigs. And he will abandon jizya. And he would call all mankind to Islam. All of the religions, Allah will destroy them in his time, except for Islam.” The Prophet* says, he would stay for 40 years and then he would die and the Muslims would pray on him. He has to come down to earth, because Allah created us from this earth. We would live on this earth and die on this earth.
• Yajuj and Majuj
Yajuj and Majuj [Gog and Magog] are two tribes. The Prophet* said, “On the day of Resurrection Allah will say, ‘O Adam!’ Adam will reply, ‘Labbaik our Lord, and Sa’daik.’ Then there will be a loud call (saying), Allah orders you to take from among your offspring a mission for the (Hell) Fire.’ Adam will say, ‘O Lord! Who are the mission for the (Hell) Fire?’ Allah will say, ‘Out of each thousand, take out 999.’ At that time every pregnant female shall drop her load (have a miscarriage) and a child will have grey hair. And you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet not drunk, but severe will be the torment of Allah.” (22.2) (When the Prophet mentioned this), the people were so distressed (and afraid) that their faces got changed (in color) whereupon the Prophet* said, “From Yajuj and Majuj nine-hundred ninety-nine will be taken out and one from you. You Muslims (compared to the large number of other people) will be like a black hair on the side of a white ox, or a white hair on the side of a black ox, and I hope that you will be one-fourth of the people of Paradise.” On that, we said, “Allahu-Akbar!” Then he said, “I hope that you will be) one-third of the people of Paradise.” We again said, “Allahu-Akbar!” Then he said, “(I hope that you will be) one-half of the people of Paradise.” So we said, “Allahu Akbar.”[Bukhari]
Some other hadith that talk about Yajuj and Majuj: [...] He ['Eesa] would then search for him (Dajjal) until he would catch hold of him at the gate of Ludd and would kill him. Then a people whom Allah had protected would come to Jesus, son of Mary, and he would wipe their faces and would inform them of their ranks in Paradise and it would be under such conditions that Allah would reveal to Jesus these words: “I have brought forth from amongst My servants such people against whom none would be able to fight; you take these people safely to Tur”, and then Allah would send Yajuj and Majuj and they would swarm down from every slope. The first of them would pass the lake of Tiberius and drink out of it. And when the last of them would pass, he would say: “There was once water there.” Jesus and his companions would then be besieged here (at Tur, and they would be so much hard pressed) that the head of the ox would be dearer to them than one hundred dinirs and Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would supplicate Allah, Who would send to them insects (which would attack their necks) and in the morning they would perish like one single person. Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then come down to the earth and they would not find in the earth as much space as a single span which is not filled with their putrefaction and stench. Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then again beseech Allah, Who would send birds whose necks would be like those of bactrin camels and they would carry them and throw them where God would will. Then Allah would send rain which no house of clay or (the tent of) camels’ hairs would keep out and it would wash away the earth until it could appear to be a mirror. … [Muslim]
Qur’an tells us the story of Dhul-Qarnayn. He was a king who lived thousands of years ago: Until, when he reached between two mountains, he found, before (near) them (those two mountains), a people who scarcely understood a word. They said: “O Dhul-Qarnain! Verily! Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) are doing great mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?” He said: “That (wealth, authority and power) in which my Lord had established me is better (than your tribute). So help me with strength (of men), I will erect between you and them a barrier. Give me pieces (blocks) of iron,” Then, when he had filled up the gap between the two mountain-cliffs, he said: “Blow,” till when he had made it (red as) fire, he said: “Bring me molten copper to pour over it.” So they [Yajuj and Majuj] were made powerless to scale it or dig through it. Dhul-Qarnain) said: “This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the Promise of my Lord comes, He shall level it down to the ground. And the Promise of my Lord is ever true.” And on that Day [i.e. the Day Yajuj and Majujwill come out], We shall leave them to surge like waves on one another, and the Trumpet will be blown, and We shall collect them all together. [18:93-99]
[ I have not gone into any details about these signs outlined above but I have covered them before in the Study Circle and will do the following signs next time, InshaAllah. Please visit the website for more details: www.harborneislam.blogspot.com ]
• Sinking of the Earth
• The Smoke
• Rise of the Sun from the West
• The Beast
• The Fire
