There is well known hadeath that was reported by Omar ibn Al-Khtaab (عمر رضي الله) who said

عن عمر رضي الله عنه قال “بينما نحن جلوس عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ذات يوم إذ طلع علينا رجل شديد بياض الثياب شديد سواد الشعر لا يرى عليه أثر السفر ولا يعرفه منا أحد حتى جلس إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فأسند ركبتيه إلى ركبتيه ووضع كفيه على فخذيه  قال يا محمد أخبرني على الإسلام فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الإسلام أن تشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله وتقيم الصلاة وتؤتي الزكاة وتصوم رمضان وتحج البيت إن استطعت إله سبيلا قال صدقت قال فعجبنا له يسأله ويصدقه       قال فأخبرني عن الإيمان قال أن تؤمن بالله وملائكته وكتبه ورسله واليوم الآخر وتؤمن بالقدر خيره وشره قال صدقت قال فأخبرني عن الإحسان قال أن تعبد الله كأنك تراه فإن لم تكن تراه فإنه يراك قال فأخبرني عن الساعة قال ما المسؤول عنها بأعلم من السائل قال فأخبرني عن أماراتها قال أن تلد الأمة ربتها وأن ترى الحفاة العراة العالة رعاء الشاة يتطاولون في البنيان قال ثم انطلق فلبثت مليا ثم قال لي يا عمر أتدري من السائل قلت الله ورسوله أعلم قال فإنه جبريل أتآكم يعلمكم دينكم” رواه مسلم

One day, while we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), a man came whose clothes were exceedingly white and whose hair was exceedingly black. There were no signs of travel seen on him and none of us knew him. He approached and sat down by the Prophet (PBUH) resting his knees to his and placing the palms of his hands on his thighs. Then he said: “O Muhammad, inform me about Islam.”

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “Islam is to testify that none is worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish the prayer, to pay the Zakat, to fast in Ramadan, and to make the pilgrimage (Hajj) to the House (i.e.the Ka’bah) if you are able to do so.”

The man said, “You have spoken the truth.”  We were amazed that he was asking him and telling him and them affirming what the Messenger said.

Then the man said, “So inform me about Eman (Faith).”

The Prophet (PBUH) said, “It is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in the Divine Decree (Qadr), both the good and the bad.”

Then man said:  You have spoken the truth. Then inform me about Ihsan.”

The Prophet (PBUH), “It is to worship Allah as though you see Him and if you are not able to see Him then He sees you.”

The man said: “Then inform me about the Hour (i.e. the Day of Judgment).”

The Prophet (PBUH) said: “The one being questioned is not more knowledgeable about it than the questioner.”

The man said, “Then, inform me about its signs.”

The Prophet (PBUH) said, “That the maid gives birth to her Mistress and that you will see the barefooted, naked, destitute shepherds competing in construction of high buildings.”

Then the man departed and I stayed for a time. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) asked me: “do you know who the questioner was?”

I said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.”

He said, “He was Jibreel who came to teach you your religion.” (Related by Muslim)

I want to place special emphasis on the last statement that was made by the Prophet (PBUH) which is “He came to teach you your religion”.

This means that the religion of Islam involves four elements ad these are:  Islam, Eman, Ihsan and the signs of the Day of Judgement.

These 4 elements address all aspect of your life, current and future.  

The definition of Islam provides the physical rituals that are involved in your personal relationship with Allah. 

The definition of Eman provides the articles of belief that are settled in your heart.  

The definition of Ehsan provides the control of your relationship with all creations under the continuous monitoring by Allah. 

The fourth element provides some signs of the day judgment and these represent future events that you, as a Muslim, need to know to be prepared for it and establish plans to face when they arrive, particularly since most of these signs represent tribulation and challenges.

No one knows the time of the Hour (the day of Judgement) except Allah and this is clear in the Quran

يَسۡـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلسَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرۡسَٮٰهَا‌ۖ قُلۡ إِنَّمَا عِلۡمُهَا عِندَ رَبِّى‌ۖ لَا يُجَلِّيہَا لِوَقۡتِہَآ إِلَّا هُوَ‌ۚ ثَقُلَتۡ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ‌ۚ لَا تَأۡتِيكُمۡ إِلَّا بَغۡتَةً۬‌ۗ يَسۡـَٔلُونَكَ كَأَنَّكَ حَفِىٌّ عَنۡہَا‌ۖ قُلۡ إِنَّمَا عِلۡمُهَا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَڪۡثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ (١٨٧)

“They ask you about the Hour, “When is it due to happen?” Say, “Its knowledge is only with my Lord. No one can unfold it except He at its time.

It weighs heavy in the heavens and the earth. It shall not come upon you but suddenly.” They ask you as if you were aware of it. Say, “Its knowledge is only with Allah, but most of the people do not know.” (Al-Arfaf 7:187)

يَسۡــٴَـلُكَ ٱلنَّاسُ عَنِ ٱلسَّاعَةِۖ قُلۡ إِنَّمَا عِلۡمُهَا عِندَ ٱللَّهِۚ وَمَا يُدۡرِيكَ لَعَلَّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ تَكُونُ قَرِيبًا (٦٣)

“People ask you about the Hour (i.e. the Day of Judgment). Say,” Its knowledge is only with Allah.” And what can let you know? May be, the Hour is near.” (Al-Ahzab 33:63)

Because of these verses that affirm that only Allah know the time of the Hour, the companions refrained from asking the Prophet (PBUH) about information related to the Hour. 

Why it is important to know the signs of the hour?

Because of the importance of the events that precede Hour for Muslims, Allah revealed several of them in the Quran and the Prophet (PBUH) also provided many additional details on his own without being asked.

Why, we should care about these events that will occur before the Hour!  These are major events that will have dramatic impact on how we live on earth and we, as Muslims, who have been told about them, should be the most prepared to face them.  (The question is:  are we doing any preparation!!)

How many Signs and their classification methods:

Based on the Quran and the authentic hadeath, scholars have identified more than eighty (80) signs of the Hour but they differed in the method of their classifications.

Some classify them as “minor signs” and “major signs.” Others classify them as signs that have passed, signs that can be observed at present,” and “signs that have yet to occur.

While the Prophet (PBUH) told us in the hadeath we discussed of two of the events that will occur before the last hour.  We have actually observed the fulfillment of these two signs in our time. 

The Prophet (PBUH) said that one of the signs is that the maid gives birth to her Mistress.  In the past the explanation was that this is a metaphor (مجاز) for the disrespect of the daughter to her mother and treating her as maid.  But now we can interpret literary (حقيقي) after we witness now the business of the womb for hire and availability of surrogate mothers.  This business takes advantage of the poor women by paying them money to carry the child of the rich couples.

The prophet (PBUH) also mentioned another sign and this is that the barefooted, naked, destitute shepherds competing in construction of high buildings. The people whom the Prophet (PBUH) was talking about are the people of Arabia and now we are witnessing the fulfillment of this sign when we hear of the completion on who has the highest building.

List of some of the tallest buildings in the Arab League

In addition to the two signs that were given in this hadeath, both the Quran and other hadeath of the Prophet (PBUH) identified many other signs.  Some of them have already occurred and others remains.  One of the interesting per-hour account was reported by Abi Saeed Al-Khudry (أبي سعيد الخدري) that the Prophet (PBUH) said:

قال أبي سعيد الخدري قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: “والذي نفسي بيده لا تقوم الساعة حتى تكلم الرجل عذبة سوطه وشراك نعله وتخبره بما أحدث أهله من بعده ” (رواه أحمد و الترمذي (

“By the One in Whose Hand is my soul! The Hour will not be established come until the tip of a man’s hip and the straps on his sandal (shoe) speak to him of what occurred with his family after he left.” 

While early Muslims accepted this pre-Hour event as real, they were not have been able to interpret what it meant and thus they designated the hadeeth as good but strange (حسن غريب).  But we see its fulfillment now with the advent of cellphones and pager and their advancements.   

Why it is important of knowing the Pre-Hour Signs

1. Focus on developing technologies that protect humanity in face of the expected calamities
2. Allow for better understanding certain Surat in the Quran that seems unclear without taking these signs into account.

Let me illustrate the first objective of the importance of knowing about the pre-hour signs by presenting few of the pre-Hour signs that we have been warned about thru the Quran and the hadeath and offer a suggestion on what technologies need to be developed to face them to allow our survival and that of humanity:

Dust Storm: It has been revealed that there will major dust storm that will engulf the earth and shield the sun for a year.  What we need to do to allow us to survive under such a condition.  

• Shouldn’t we work on develop efficient air filtration systems to allow us to survive under dusty environment.
• Shouldn’t we start developing technologies to allow for food production in the absence of the sun?

Earthquakes:  It has been revealed that after certain cosmic events, the number and the intensity of earthquakes will increase and sink holes will be developed.  What should we do to ensure that our building survive earthquakes? 

• Shouldn’t at least we start developing building codes that ensure that our homes and business withstand these earthquakes.
• Shouldn’t we start developing methods to minimize the impact of sink holes on building and on roads.

Random killing: It has been revealed that random killing will become so spread.  What we should do to protect ourselves?

• Shouldn’t we plan on how to set systems to prevent it from coming to our society and how to protect ourselves if we face it?

Changes in the solar system: It has been revealed that the earth will be bombarded by star or massive asteroid that will be able to penetrate the earth atmosphere and not only cause major damage such as creating the dust storm and increasing earthquakes but can also render all our communication satellites useless.  What should we do to survive without all satellite-based communication systems?

• Shouldn’t we plan to set systems to allow us to continue our communication in the absence of satellites by for example increasing the number of communication cables.
• Shouldn’t we keep current paper copy of our records such as banking accounts to ensure that our wealth is not lost thru the loss of all cloud stored records?
• Shouldn’t we develop plans to protect ourselves when all our defense systems that are based on satellite communications including GPS rendered useless.

We need to realize that because of the importance of the pre-hour signs, Allah revealed them to all His Messengers.  Therefore, you will find many of them that are revealed in the Quran and in the sayings of our Prophet (PBUH) also exist in the Torah and the Bible and even in far older religious books. 

What I have presented are just few examples on why it is important to know of these pre-hour signs to prepare for them because the question is not whether these signs will happen, the question is when will they happen.  Since we don’t know when, we should always be prepared to face them when they happen.  This is no different than being prepared for death when it happens though none of us knows when his death will happen. 

The 2^nd main objective of studying the signs of the hour is to allow for better understanding certain Surat in the Quran that seems unclear without taking these signs into account.

Many of the signs of the hour in the Quran are related to punishments that the Prophet (PBUH) threatened the disbelievers with but they have not been fulfilled during his life and will be fulfilled after the Prophet’s death.   This reinforces a very important point:

 “The Prophets message was neither solely for the Quraysh and the Arabs nor for the time of his mission.  The Prophet’s message is for all people and for all times until the coming of the hour. 

Therefore, when you read of warnings, you should not limit these warning to a specific period of time, but it is for all times as long as there are people who continue to reject the message of the Prophet (PBUH).  This is clear from the following verses that confirm that the warning that Allah promised to inflict the disbelievers with will be realized either during the life of the Prophet or after his death as Allah says:

وَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعۡضَ ٱلَّذِى نَعِدُهُمۡ أَوۡ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَإِلَيۡنَا مَرۡجِعُهُمۡ ثُمَّ ٱللَّهُ شَہِيدٌ عَلَىٰ مَا يَفۡعَلُونَ (٤٦)

“No matter whether We show you (during your life) some of what We have promised to them, or We cause you to die Us (before it), still they have to return to Us. Then, Allah is witness over what they do.” (Yunus 10:46)

فَٱصۡبِرۡ إِنَّ وَعۡدَ ٱللَّهِ حَۚقٌّ۬ فَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعۡضَ ٱلَّذِى نَعِدُهُمۡ أَوۡ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَإِلَيۡنَا يُرۡجَعُونَ (٧٧)

“Therefore, be patient. Surely, Allah’s promise is true. Then, (O Prophet,) whether We show you (in your life) a part of what We have promised to them, or make you die (before they are punished), in any case they have to be returned to Us.’ (Ghafir 40:77)

Also, in Surat Al-Rad

وَإِن مَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعۡضَ ٱلَّذِى نَعِدُهُمۡ أَوۡ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَإِنَّمَا عَلَيۡكَ ٱلۡبَلَـٰغُ وَعَلَيۡنَا ٱلۡحِسَابُ (٤٠)

“And if We show you (O prophet) some of what We have promised to them, or We cause you to die (before that), in both cases you have only to convey the message, and on Us is the reckoning.’ (Al-Rad 13:40)

Did the Prophet (PBUH) threatened the disbelievers with punishments and what were their nature.

Verse 92 from Surat Al-Isra clearly shows that the Prophet (PBUH) warned the disbelievers of the sky falling on them since they were challenging him to bring on them what he promised. 

وَقَالُواْ لَن نُّؤۡمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ تَفۡجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ يَنۢبُوعًا (٩٠) أَوۡ تَكُونَ لَكَ جَنَّةٌ۬ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ۬ وَعِنَبٍ۬ فَتُفَجِّرَ ٱلۡأَنۡهَـٰرَ خِلَـٰلَهَا تَفۡجِيرًا (٩١) أَوۡ تُسۡقِطَ ٱلسَّمَآءَ كَمَا زَعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡنَا كِسَفًا أَوۡ تَأۡتِىَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕڪَةِ قَبِيلاً (٩٢)

“They said, “We shall never believe in you unless you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth. (90) Or you have a garden of date palms and grapes, and cause rivers to gush forth therein abundantly. (91) Or you cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you claimed, or you bring Allah and angels before us face to face.” (Al-Isra 17:90-92)

The same threat was confirmed in Surat Al-Shuara (الشُّعَرَاء) with some details that whatever will fall on them from the sky will cause them to stand with their necks stretched so their eyes will continue be focusing on it:

لَعَلَّكَ بَـٰخِعٌ۬ نَّفۡسَكَ أَلَّا يَكُونُواْ مُؤۡمِنِينَ (٣) إِن نَّشَأۡ نُنَزِّلۡ عَلَيۡہِم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ ءَايَةً۬ فَظَلَّتۡ أَعۡنَـٰقُهُمۡ لَهَا خَـٰضِعِينَ (الشُّعَرَاء)

“It may be that thou tormenting yourself because they do not believe. (3) If We will, We can send down on them from a sign from the sky on which their necks will stay in submission.” (Al-Shuara 26:3-4)

As I said, as long as there are people who continue to reject the Prophet (PBUH), this threat of something falling form the sky as punishment will remain.  In Surat Saba, the warning was repeated and was expanded to include sink holes to swallow them.

أَفَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاْ إِلَىٰ مَا بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيهِمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَهُم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۚ إِن نَّشَأۡ نَخۡسِفۡ بِهِمُ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ أَوۡ نُسۡقِطۡ عَلَيۡہِمۡ كِسَفً۬ا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٲلِكَ لَأَيَةً۬ لِّكُلِّ عَبۡدٍ۬ مُّنِيبٍ۬ (٩)

“Have they not, then, looked to the sky and the earth that lies before them and behind them? If We so will, We would make the earth swallow them up, or cause pieces of the sky to fall upon them. Surely, in this there is a sign for a servant (of Allah) who turns to Him.“  (Saba 34:9)

Then we find more detailed on the form of expected punishment in Surat Al-Dukhan and this involves a visible smoke that will engulf the earth:

بَلۡ هُمۡ فِى شَكٍّ۬ يَلۡعَبُونَ (٩) فَٱرۡتَقِبۡ يَوۡمَ تَأۡتِى ٱلسَّمَآءُ بِدُخَانٍ۬ مُّبِينٍ۬ (١٠) يَغۡشَى ٱلنَّاسَ‌ۖ هَـٰذَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ۬ (١١)

“But they, being in doubt, are playing around. (9) So, wait for a day when the sky will produce visible smoke (10) That will envelop people. This will be a painful punishment. (11)” (Al-Dukhan 44:9-11)

Surat Al-Nijm gives an affirmation that the punishment will be coming, and it is approaching:

أَزِفَتِ ٱلۡأَزِفَةُ (٥٧) لَيۡسَ لَهَا مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ كَاشِفَةٌ (٥٨)

“The Imminent (event) has approached. (57) There is no one, beside Allah, can disclose it (can remove it).” (Al-Najm 53:57-58)

This punishment will be very expansive that every town will see it as we can infer from Surat Al-Isra:

وَإِن مِّن قَرۡيَةٍ إِلَّا نَحۡنُ مُهۡلِڪُوهَا قَبۡلَ يَوۡمِ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ أَوۡ مُعَذِّبُوهَا عَذَابً۬ا شَدِيدً۬ا‌ۚ كَانَ ذَٲلِكَ فِى ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ مَسۡطُورً۬ا (٥٨)

“There is no town but We are to destroy it before the Day of Resurrection, or punish it with severe punishment. That is set forth in the Book.” (Al-Isra 17:58)

Based on these verses, we can formulate a picture that should help us interpreting several Surat such as and Surat Al-Tariq (الطّارق) (86) and Surat An-Naziat  (النَّازعَات) (79)

I think I should stop here and next week inshallah will present the picture of the punishment from the verses of the Quran and use to give coherent meaning to Surat Al-Tariq.   Until we need inshallah next week, you may want to the tafseer of surat Al-Tariq to allow you to judge the Tafseer I plan to give, inshallah. 

Dua