Muslim Views . May 201830

SALIM PARKER‘HASTEN to do good deeds before tribulations come likepatches of dark night, when aman will wake up as a believerand by evening he will be a kaafiror, in the evening he will be a believer and by morning he willbe a kaafir, selling his religion forsome worldly gains.’ (Muslim:169)

We are constantly reminded ofthe end of time. Numerous men-tions are made of the Final Hour,the time just before Judgement

Day with hadiths mentioning thesigns that will be present.

Ahmed [46] states that Hud-hayfah ibn Usayd al-Ghiffaari re-ported saying: ‘The Messenger ofAllah (SAW) saw us from a roomwhile we were talking about theHour. He said: The Hour will notcome until you see ten signs: therising of the sun from the west; thesmoke; the beast; the emergence ofYajooj and Majooj (Gog andMagog); the appearance of NabiEsa (peace be upon him); the Daj-jaal (antichrist); three landslides –one in the west, one in the east and

one in the Arabian Peninsula; andfire which will emerge from the di-rection of Aden and will drive – orgather – the people, stopping withthem whenever they rest overnightor during the siesta hour.’

The Kaabah and the HolyQuran are the two central entitiesof Islam. The Kaabah has been de-stroyed or damaged before but hasalways been rebuilt. There willcome a time when it will be de-stroyed and not resurrected.

One of the last signs indicatingthe Final Hour before the Day ofResurrection is the destruction of

the Kaabah by Zul-Suwayqatayn.He is from Abyssinia (Ethiopia)and it is prophesied that he willdestroy the Kaabah in order tosteal its treasure and Kiswah(Kaabah’s cover).

The very Kaabah that is in ef-fect the centre of the Muslim uni-verse, whose foundation was laidby our Father Nabi Adam (AS),built by Nabi Ibrahim (AS) and as-sisted by his son Nabi Ismail (AS),will be no more.

Abdullah ibn Amr reportedthat he heard the Prophet (SAW)say: ‘Zul-Suwayqatayn from Al-

Habasha (Abyssinia or Ethiopia)will destroy the Kaabah and stealits treasure and Kiswah (cover). Itis as if I can see him now; he isbald-headed and has a distortionin his wrists. He will strike theKaabah with his spade and pick-axe.’

Ibn Abbas reported that theProphet (SAW) said: ‘As if I seehim now: a black person with thinlegs plucking the stones of theKaabah one after the other.’

Another annual event will ceaseto exist as well. Bukhari reportedthat Shuba narrated that theProphet (SAW) said: ‘The Hour(of resurrection) will not occur tillthe Hajj is abandoned.’ So, as theFinal Hour approaches, there willbe no Hajj, no Kaabah and veryfew people of faith.

Many discussions have beenheld around the content of theQuran. The written text may bedestroyed but the memorisation ofits content has been a constant inIslam. It is permanently etchedinto the memory, the minds andhearts of many hufaadh and it iswidely held that even during thereign of the worse oppressors, theliving Quran could never be sup-pressed.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah bepleased with him) said: ‘The Mes-senger of Allah (SAW) said: TheKaabah will be destroyed by Dhul-Suwayqatayn from Ethiopia. AndAllah will take the Quran awayfrom the earth, and not one aayahof it will be left in the mus-hafs orin people’s hearts. ‘Allah will notpermit His Book to remain onearth if it is not benefitting anyoneand no one is acting in accordancewith it. So this thing will come topass.’ (Bukhari:1519)

Al-Daarimi narrated that Abd-Allaah ibn Masood said: ‘Recitethe Quran much before it is takenaway.’ They said, ‘These Mus-hafswill be taken away! What aboutthat which is (memorised) in men’shearts?’ He said: ‘Something willcome and take it one night, and inthe morning they will wake upwithout it. They will forget thephrase ‘laa ilaaha ilallah’ and theywill start to recite the sayings andpoetry of the jahiliyyah. That iswhen the Word will be fulfilledagainst them.’

Many are worried about whenthe Last Day will be and try to de-termine its exact time. We have tobear in mind what our Prophet(SAW) prepared us for. When aman went to the Prophet (SAW)and asked: ‘What is the exact dateof the Day of Judgment?’ theProphet (SAW) answered: ‘Whathave you prepared for that day?’

The Prophet (SAW) gives posi-tive guidance as to how everyMuslim should concern him orherself, before anything else, withperforming good deeds and acts ofworship so as to be safe on thatday. It is commonly held that be-fore the Final Hour, a wind willtake away the souls of all true be-lievers and only the non-believerswill remain on earth. At that time,there will be no Kaabah, noQuran and no Muslims.

We should all be mindful thatthe only protection against thedarkest time before resurrection isthe constant engagement of beingtrue Muslims.

When the Kaabah will be no more

It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: ‘The Kaabah will be destroyed by Dhul-Suwayqatayn from Ethiopia. And Allah will take the Quran away from theearth, and not one aayah of it will be left in the mus-hafs or in people’s hearts. Photo SALIM PARKER