Only Allaah Knows when and how the (final) Hour will come
Fatwa No: 7553

Question

I would like to know what was said in other religions about the end of the world.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is obligatory on every Muslim to believe in the Day of Judgment, the reckoning and the Siraat (a bridge extending across Hell), and to believe in Hell and Paradise. Believing in the Day of Judgment requires belief in all that precedes that Day, namely the fact that the whole universe will perish and the Hour will come. However, only Allaah The Almighty  knows when the Hour will be, for He Says (what means): {They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Hour: when is its arrival? Say, "Its knowledge is only with my Lord. None will reveal its time except Him. It lays heavily upon the heavens and the earth. It will not come upon you except unexpectedly." They ask you as if you are familiar with it. Say, "Its knowledge is only with Allaah, but most of the people do not know."} [Quran 7:187]

{Indeed, Allaah [alone] has knowledge of the Hour} [Quran 31:34]

Moreover, when Jibreel (Gabriel) asked the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , about the Hour, he replied that he, too, knew nothing about it. [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

However, there are signs that will precede the Hour, like for instance, the emergence of Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj (Gog and Magog), the appearance of the Antichrist, the descent of ‘Eesaa (Jesus) and his killing the Antichrist and the Jews, along with the arrival of the Daabbah (The Beast) and the rising of the sun from the west.

This is the Muslims’ belief concerning the Hour. Indeed, it is based on the Quran and Sunnah. The beliefs of the Jews and the Christians are false and groundless. They believe that Christ will come and fight the Muslims. Also, some atheists believe that the universe will come to perish through natural factors, namely expansion and explosion. They deny all the previously-mentioned signs and the idea of resurrection and reckoning and this is, of course, another false and baseless claim.

Muslims should not preoccupy themselves with the beliefs of others that are full of doubts and contradictions.

Allaah Knows best.

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