The Beast - The Last Day
IRAQ and SYRIA
Abu Nadhrah says: "We were sitting in the company of Jabir bin
Abdullah (R.A.) when he said: 'Soon the people of IRAQ will neither
receive any food (grain) nor any money.'" We asked, "Why would such
a thing happen?" He replied, "Because of the non-Arabs." (i.e they
will prevent food from going into Iraq, in the form of "sanctions"
to this day.) He then said: "Soon the people of Shaam (SYRIA) will
neither receive any money nor grain." We asked as to why this would
happen. He replied: "Because of the Romans (christians)."
CONCEITED PEOPLE:
"O ye assembly of Jinns and men! Came there not unto you messengers
from amongst you, setting forth unto you My Signs, and warning you
of the meeting of this day of yours?" Qur'an 6.130-13.
The Beast
The Beast is also a major sign of Qiyamah. Allah says in the Qur'an,
"And when the word is fulfilled concerning them. We shall bring
forth a Beast of the Earth to speak unto them because mankind had no
faith in our revelation." (Surah An-Naml)
Abdullah-b-Umar said, "I memorised a Hadith from the Messenger of
Allah which I have not forgotten. I heard the Messenger of Allah
saying, 'The first of the signs that will come is the rising of the
sun from the place of its setting and the emergence of the Beast
upon the people. Whichever of these two occurs before the other then
the other is right behind it." (Muslim)
Commentating on the above verse Ibne Kathir has said that the beast
will appear very near the end of time. When disintegration,
corruption, kufr and evil prevail, commands of Allah are ignored,
the Deen changed and made a mockery of, it is then Allah will take
out the Beast from the earth. (Ibne Kathir)
Imam Hakim in the light of the above Hadith has said that the rising
of the sun from the west will take place before the emergence of the
Beast. The Beast will appear on the same day the sun has risen from
the west or very soon thereafter. Ibne Hajar after quoting Imam
Hakim mentions, "The wisdom in the Beast appearing after the sun has
risen from the west is that the door of repentance will close at the
time the sun rises from the west. Thus the Beast will emerge to
distinguish the believers from the non-believers completing the aim
of closing the door of repentance." (Fathul-Bari)
Task
The task of the Beast will be to distinguish the believers from the
non-believers, with Prophet Moosa's staff it will draw a line on the
forehead of every believer whereby his face will become bright and
luminous and with the ring of Sulaman it will seal the nose of every
non-believer where by his whole face will become black. Thus there
will be complete distinction between the Muslim and non-Muslirn, so
that if many parties sit at a dinner table, the Muslim and non-Muslirn
will be distinguished. (Abu Huraira-Musnad Ahmad/Tirmidhi)
The Beast will also talk to people. It will say, "Mankind had no
faith in our revelations." (Ibne Kathir)
Place of emergence
Many opinions have been expressed as regards to the place the Beast
will come out from. A few are listed:
1) It will come out from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam in Makkah. This opinion
is based on the hadith reported by Tabrani on the authority of
Hudhaifa-b-Usaid.
2) It will come out three times, from some desert and then go back
into hiding, then from some village and finally from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam.
There are many other opinions most of them report that it will come
out from the Haram of Makkah. (See Tadkirah and Al-Isha'ah)
Nature of the Beast
Many different opinions have been expressed as to the nature of the
Beast and the type of animal it is. A few are shared and explained.
1) Some Ulama are of the opinion that the Beast to come before the
end of time is the very animal which has been mentioned in the
Hadith of Fatimah-b-Qais. Known as the Jassasa (spy) seen by Tamim
Dari and his companions from the tribes of Lakhm and Juzaam on the
same Island as the Dajjal. This is related of being the opinion of
the Sahabi Abdullah-b-Amr-b-al-Aas. (Nawawee's commentary on Muslim)
Fatimah-bin-Qais reported, "I heard the proclaimer of the Messenger
of Allah proclaiming (for) 'Congregational Prayer'. I came out of
the mosque and prayed with the Prophet . When he finished his
prayer, he sat upon the pulpit smiling and said, 'Let every man
remain in his seat.' Then he said, 'Do you know why I have called
you together?' They replied, 'Allah and his Messenger know best.' He
said, 'By Allah, I have not called you together for hope or for
fear, but I have called you together because Tamim Dari a Christian
came and embraced Islam. He narrated a story to me which agreed with
the account I have given to you about the Dajjal (Anti-Christ). He
informed me that he had embarked upon a sea-boat with thirty men of
Lakhm and Jozam. Then the sea waves played with them for a month and
threw them onto an island when the sun was about to set. They sat in
a small side boat and entered the Island. A beast with very coarse
hair met them. They could not tell its front from its back due to
its excessive hair. They asked, 'Woe to thee! Who art thou?" It
replied, 'I am a spy. Go to the man in the monastery, as he is eager
to have your information.' He said, 'When it named a man for us, we
fled away from it lest it might be the devil.' We hurriedly went on
till we entered the monastery and found a big-bodied man whom we did
never see before. He was firmly tied up, his hands tied to his neck,
the place between his knees, and joints tied up with iron chains."
(Muslim)
Camel
2) Some scholars are of the opinion that it is the young of the she
camel of the Prophet Salih. Imam Al-Qurtubi holds the same opinion,
he writes in his commentary of the Qur'an, "The first opinion
(regarding the Beast) is that it is the young of the she-camel of
the Prophet Salih. This is the most correct view and opinion. Allah
knows best.”
Crossing the bridge: “Then the bridge will be laid across Hell." The companions of the Prophet said, ‘O Allah's Apostle! What is the bridge?' He said, "It is a slippery (bridge) on which there are clamps and Hooks like a thorny seed that is wide at one side and narrow at the other and has thorns with bent ends. Some of the believers will cross the bridge as quickly as the wink of an eye, some others as quick as lightning, a strong wind, fast horses or she-camels. So some will be safe without any harm; some will be safe after receiving some scratches, and some will fall down into Hell Fire. The last person will cross by stumbling and crawling over the bridge." (Bukhari)
Allahu alam