What Are the Signs of the Day of Resurrection?

By Editorial Staff

As everything that has a beginning has an end, the world around is so. There will come a specific time, which God the Almighty only knows, when the universe will vanish and ruin, and another world will commence thereafter. This time is sure and cannot be averted. A Muslim believes that the Day of Resurrection is undisputable and it will come at sudden because none but God knows its accurate date. Almighty Allah says,

They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Hour (the Last Day): 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 Allah , but most of the people do not know.” (Al-A`raf 7:187)

Almighty Allah replies to those who asked Prophet Muhammad about the time of the coming of the Day of Resurrection that neither Muhammad nor anyone else knows the specific time of that Day. It is only God who knows the time of the Last Day.

However, Prophet (peace be upon him) told us that although this time is unknown to everyone but there are some signs that will antecede it. These indications serve as an alarm for people to get prepared for the coming of this crucial time. Scholars divided the signs of the Last Day into 2 categories: minor signs and major signs. The below hadith mentions some of the minor signs:

`Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a man (who turned to be an angel) come to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and asked him some questions. One of them is “Inform me about the Hour (i.e., the Day of Resurrection).” He (peace be upon him) replied, “I have no more knowledge thereof than you”. He said, “Inform me about some of its signs.” He said, “They are – that a bondswoman gives birth to her own master, and that you will find the barefooted, naked, poor shepherds competing one another in the construction of higher buildings.” (Muslim)

As for the major sings, Hudhaifa ibn Usaid Al-Ghifari reported:

“Allah’s Messenger (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 Antichrist), the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him), the Gog and Magog, and land-slides 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 the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly. (Muslim)

With regard to the signs of the coming of the Last Day, Sheikh Yasir Qadhi talks to us in this interesting video. Do not miss watching it.