The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Islamic Eschatology: The Major Signs

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The major signs in Islam pointing to “the Hour” are all critical events that are part of the end time sequence of events, beginning with the appearance of the Antichrist. Muslim scholars generally do not try to present a strict chronological order of what is going to ultimately transpire, but the order presented below is representative:

  1. The Appearance of the Antichrist, called the Dajjal. Despite the importance of this individual, he is never mentioned in the Qu’ran, only in the Hadith. He will be a Jew born in Iran to parents who have been childless for 30 years. He will have only one eye. He will claim to be a prophet, and then he will claim to be divine. He will deceive many by his godliness and his miracles. He will go forth with an army of 70,000 Jews and 70,000 Tartars, and he will conquer all the world except Mecca and Medina. His reign will last for 40 days during a time when one day will be like a year. Some passages of the Hadith indicate that he will have the word “Infidel” written on his forehead. His reign is characterized by cruelty and deceit. He has a militaristic mentality. His purpose is to be deified, worshiped, and to reign. There are many parallels between the Islamic Dajjal and the Antichrist revealed in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.
  2. The Return of Jesus will put an end to the reign of the Antichrist. (Keep in mind that the Qu’ran teaches that Jesus was not crucified or resurrected. Rather, he was simply lifted up to Heaven before His enemies could kill Him. One of the reasons He must return is so that He can experience death, like all other men.) Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives and then head to Damascus to confront the Antichrist. He will pursue the Antichrist south into Israel and will kill him “at the gate of Ludd.” That is modern day Lod, located near Tel Aviv. It is the site of Israel’s international airport. The defeat of the Antichrist will result in the eradication of the Jewish people.
  3. The Invasion of Gog & Magog will occur at this point. This is mentioned in the Qu’ran (18:83-99 and 21:96). It is developed in many Hadith passages. Gog and Magog are presented as two nations with an army so large that when its soldiers finish drinking from the Sea of Galilee, no water will be left in the sea! They will invade Palestine from the north, and they will besiege Jesus and His companions. Jesus will cry out to Allah to save them, and Allah will respond by sending deadly insects (similar to the locusts of Revelation 9) who will destroy the invading armies. (All this imagery is based on Ezekiel 38 and 39.)
  4. The Reign of Jesus will follow the defeat of Gog & Magog. Jesus will proclaim Islam to be the true religion and all Christians will convert. All other religions will be eliminated. All crosses will be broken, and all pigs will be exterminated. Jesus will be the sole ruler on earth, heading up an Islamic theocracy. He will be a just ruler. Every harmful beast will be domesticated. There will be abundant rain and plentiful harvests. All weapons of war will be converted into tools of agriculture, and there will be world wide peace. (All of this imagery is taken from the book of Isaiah.) The reign of Jesus will last for 40 years. He will go to Mecca regularly to perform rituals of pilgrimage. Twenty-one years into His reign, He will marry and begat children. Nineteen years later He will die. He will be buried in Medina next to Mohammad where He will await the Day of Resurrection like all other humans who have died. When Jesus dies, all believers will also die peacefully and gracefully. (This is the Islamic equivalent of the Rapture — that is, the removal of all the righteous from the world.) Unbelievers will be left behind to indulge their passions.
  5. The Appearance of the Beast — At this point a good “Beast” will be “produced from the earth.” The Beast will call the world to acknowledge Allah. He will wear the ring of Solomon and carry the rod of Moses. Those who reject his message will have the word “Infidel” written on their foreheads. What ultimately happens to the Beast is never revealed.
  6. The Smoke — According to the Qu’ran, a cloud of smoke will suddenly arise and engulf the world. This phenomenon will cause severe suffering.
  7. Three Land Slides — Additional suffering will be caused by three great landslides which will occur in three different parts of the earth, one in the East, one in the West, and one in Arabia.
  8. A Miracle of Nature — One of the last signs before “the Hour” will be an incredible miracle. The sun will rise in the West!
  9. A Great Fire will break out “south of Eden” (in the area known today as Yemen). The conflagration will become worldwide and will be so intense that it will drive Mankind to the place of final assembly before the Day of Resurrection. That place will be in Syria (which includes modern day Palestine).
    We are now almost ready for “the Hour,” the Day of Resurrection. But first, some comments about the Islamic concept of the intermediate state between death and resurrection. Muslims believe in the immortality of the soul. Upon death, the grave is visited by two angels named Munkar and Nakir. These angels question the person and assess his deeds. They then make a preliminary determination as to the person’s ultimate fate. If that is Paradise, the grave is loosened for relaxation and the person is in a state of bliss until the Day of Resurrection. If the angels decide the person deserves to go to Hell, the grave will be tightened and the person will remain in a state of torture until the Day of Resurrection. So, all people are subjected to two judgments, a preliminary one at death, and a final one at the time of the resurrection.
  10. The Three Trumpets — After the worldwide gathering of people to Syria, the first of three trumpets will be blown. The first is called “the trumpet of terror.” It is a wake-up call that will strike terror in the hearts of all people. After an unspecified period of time, a second trumpet will be blown. It is called “the trumpet of the swoon.” It will result in every living thing in Heaven and on earth dying except God Himself, any He desires to spare, and the martyrs who are alive in Paradise. Even the angel of death will experience death! When the universe becomes void of all life, Allah will proclaim His sovereignty. Three times He will shout, “I am the Mighty One!” Then He will shout three times: “To whom does the kingdom belong today?” When no one answers, He will say, “It belongs to the only One God, the Conqueror.” The time period between the second and third trumpets is not specified, but during that time, Allah creates new heavens and a new earth. Upon their completion, the third trumpet will be blown. It is “the trumpet of resurrection.”
  11. “The Hour” or the Day of Resurrection — The inhabitants of Heaven will be the first to be resurrected. While this is occurring, Allah will cause the bodies of the dead on earth to start regrowing underground. When these bodies are ready, He will order the blowing of the third trumpet and the spirits of the dead will enter their bodies and the bodies will come forth from their graves. There is only one resurrection. The saved and the unsaved are resurrected at the same time. Mohammad will be the first human being to be resurrected. All those resurrected will be naked, barefooted, and uncircumcised. Abraham will be the first person to be clothed by Allah. He will be seated facing Allah’s throne. Mohammad will then be clothed and will be seated at the right hand of Allah.>
  12. The Day of Reckoning — There will be an interval after the resurrection before judgment is conducted. This “Day of Reckoning” will be a time of unbearable toil and agony due to both physical and psychological suffering. Great fear will grip the hearts of people. No one will be exempted from this anguish except the prophets and those devout Muslims whom Allah decides to spare. No reason is given for this period of suffering. For pagans, it is a continuation of their suffering in the grave. For believers, it seems to serve some purgatorial purpose. How long this time of suffering will last is unspecified.
  13. The Day of Judgment — At this point Allah descends from Heaven to judge all humanity and the jinns. The jinns are genies created from smoke. These are supernatural spirits that play a prominent role in Islamic literature. The Qu’ran indicates that the jinns are subject to condemnation because they heard the message about Allah and His Prophet, and they rejected it because they were allured by the pleasures of the world. People will be judged as to their reception of Mohammad’s message and their ethical conduct. Allah will validate the preliminary judgment at the grave by weighing the good and bad deeds of each person. This is called the concept of “the Scale.” The deeds of all people will be weighed in Allah’s scales to determine their eternal destiny.
  14. Crossing the Bridge — Following judgment, every person must cross a bridge that spans the gulf of Hell. Mohammad will be the first to cross. Those who are condemned will fall from the bridge into Hell. The faithful will be able to cross to the other side. But because Allah is an arbitrary god, even the faithful will cross in fear, hoping He does not change His mind.
  15. The Gathering at the Pool — Once the faithful cross the bridge safely, they will gather at the Pool of the Prophet. They will be allowed to drink from the pool, and the intense thirst that afflicted them on the Day of Reckoning will finally be satisfied.
  16. The Intercession — At the pool, Mohammad will begin to intercede with Allah to allow the faithful to enter Paradise. How long this intercession will last is not stated, but Allah will finally give in to it and allow the faithful to enter Paradise. Simultaneously, a second form of intercession will take place. The angels, the prophets, the martyrs, and the faithful will intercede in behalf of those who have been condemned to Hell, asking that if they have “an atom of faith” in their hearts Allah will show mercy toward them by delivering them from Hell. To prove He is merciful, Allah will dip His hand into Hell and bring out a formidable number of people. Dr. Samuel Shahid observes: “In this case, the mercy of God annuls His justice and the laws of God become dysfunctional or inapplicable” (p. 218). Only the polytheists will be eternally consigned to Hell where there will be no end to their suffering.
  17. Paradise — The Eternal Abode is divided into several parts. Heaven itself is the eternal abiding place of God, with His prophet Mohammad at His right hand. There are seven heavens beneath God’s Heaven. The first, of pure virgin silver, is Adam’s residence. The second, of pure gold, is where Jesus and John the Baptist will reside. The third, made of pearls, is for Joseph; the fourth, of white gold, is for Enoch; and the fifth, of silver, is for Aaron. The sixth and seventh are reserved for Moses and Abraham. The rest of humanity will live in what is referred to as “the Garden.” It is a perfect environment where all desires are granted and fulfilled. People are richly adorned and live in mansions. They are involved in never-ending feasts. Perpetual virgins are awarded to the faithful. Ordinary Muslims receive 40 each. Martyrs who died in jihad receive 72 each. No matter how many times one of these women engage in sex, they become a virgin once again. The sexual desires that were strictly limited on earth are unleashed in Paradise. This prospect serves as an incentive for young men to give themselves as suicide martyrs in the cause of jihad. Much of the Islamic imagery about Paradise is borrowed from Zoroastrianism.
  18. Hell — Like the Islamic Heaven, the Muslim Hell is made up of seven levels. The first level is the purgatorial area that some Muslims will have to pass through. Christians are confined to the second level. The third level is for Jews. A people called the Sabeans are relegated to the fourth level. The fifth level is for Zoroastrians, the sixth is for idolaters, and the seventh is for hypocrites. Humans will be punished in Hell by demons. The tortures will continue eternally. One Hadith passage says that Mohammad claimed that most of the occupants of Hell would be women.

In the last part of this series on Islamic Eschatology, we will look at some of the more bizarre advice given by the Hadith.

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Dr. David Reagan

Dr. David Reagan is the Founder and Evangelist Emeritus of Lamb & Lion Ministries. He is a life-long Bible student, teacher, and preacher and he led over 45 pilgrimages to Israel. Dr. Reagan was the host of the radio then television program Christ in Prophecy for nearly 40 years.

6 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • The article says "In the last part of this series on Islamic Eschatology, we will look at some of the more bizarre advice given by the Hadith."

    MORE bizarre than this? Whoa!

    (posted Anon2 again…I don't want some islamic kook trying to get his 72 virgins by killing ME)

  • "California has become the first state in the nation to ban so-called “reparative” or conversion therapy aimed at changing a minor’s sexual orientation.

    Under the terms of a bill signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday, therapists who use such techniques on children and teens will face disciplinary action from the agencies that license them."

    May the wrath of God come upon Gov. Brown and the legislators.

  • Does the Jewish text have an end time theme? Definitely Mohammad took Christian endtimes and scripture to create Islamic religion but how did he get it? Was it from the Greeks or was that later? Also Christians have the Old Testament from the Jews but do they have anything similar to our Revelation? I know Jews are waiting for the Messiah. Seems the antichrist is going to trick a lot of people: one religion waiting for Jesus(Jews) another waiting for Jesus(Muslims as some kind of ruler). Just goes to show Jesus is real and had to have already been or how would they know about him. Of course they see Jesus as just a man. Do the Jews acknowledge a man named Jesus dieing on the cross? Well Christians know the truth about Jesus and I hope none will be tricked by what or whoever claims to be Jesus when the end is here. Yes, I know we are suppose to be raptured by then but I mean the ones that may come to the truth by the testimony of the two witnesses. Anyway it is getting crazier and crazier.

  • “Definitely Mohammad took Christian endtimes and scripture to create Islamic religion but how did he get it?”

    Mo lived on route 666 in the desert and regularly chatted with the drivers of the camel train when they stopped for refuelling. Under the stars, camp fire, no tv, he heard the Jewish and Christian version of events during a chat before bed. So he told a story which was a mishmash of Judaism, Christianity and his old pagan religion which included the desert demon, moon god Allah, which was the strongest out of a choice of several thousand gods worshiped at the Kaaba in Mecca. His story is named the qur’an.

    Anon 2 ½ 🙂

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