Islamic eschatology is the aspect of Islamic beliefs, predictions, and narratives dealing with end times. Not unlike some other Abrahamic religions, it includes both prophecies of the end of the natural world, of the dramatic events ("signs") signifying its approach; and the afterlife where the dead wait behind barzakh until they are resurrectedLeor Halevi, "The Torture of the Grave Islam and the Afterlife," The New York Times, 4 May 2007, https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/opinion/04iht-edhalevi.1.5565834.html to be judged by God (ḥisbā) for their conduct during their life on earth, and sent to their reward in either Jannah (also called heaven, paradise or the garden) or Jahannam (also called hell, the fire or hellfire).
An estimated one tenth of the Quran—the holy book of Islam—is devoted to "matters eschatological".Lange, Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions, 2016: p.37 Parts of hadīth literature and some of commentaries of various medieval Muslim scholars, including al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, and Muhammad al-Bukhari, among others, are devoted to the subject.Stern, ISIS "The coming final battle", 2015: p.221 Traditionally interest in "apocalyptic speculation" was strongest among mainstream Shia (Twelver Shia), Isma'ili Muslims, and Sunni Muslims on the "doctrinal and geographic margins", while weakest in the heartland of Sunni Islam.Filiu, Apocalypse in Islam , 2011: p.49 A 2012 poll of Muslims in several Muslim-majority countries (Lebanon, Turkey, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco) found that half or more respondents expected the Mahdi (the final redeemer according to Islam) to return during their lifetime.
Theological/doctrinal questions in Islamic eschatology include whether Quranic verses and hadith on eschatology be taken literally or figuratively; who will be sent to paradise or hell; whether consignment to hell is eternal, and if not who will be allowed to leave it; can justice be reconciled with predestination; whether heaven and hell currently exist or will be created at the end of the world; whether there is an "abode" in the afterlife other than paradise or hell, such as Al-A'raf.
Events
Islam teaches that at some "undetermined time in the future" the world will end and Judgement Day will come. Based on details suggested in the Qur'an and elaborations in hadiths, manuals, and the scholarly interpretations, "a sequence of the events" can be prophesied for the day of resurrection and judgement and the time leading up to it.Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.63
Before then, individuals who die will experience the state of Barzakh, which for the sinful is known as the Punishment of the Grave and resembles hell, while the righteous will enjoy something more like paradise.
In the time leading up to the end of the world and Judgement Day there will be portents of their arrival in the form of a terrible "tribulation": widespread moral failings, great battles (Armageddon or fitna), natural disasters, rampaging evil forces including an Antichrist figure (the Dajjal), a violent subhuman group called Gog and Magog, a tyrant spreading corruption and mischief called the Sufyani, but also a "messianic figure" (the Mahdi, a righteous man descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad), assisted by the prophet Jesus (ʿĪsā), who returns to earth to defeat the forces of evil and bring peace and justice throughout the world. Following these portents, a trumpet will sound and the Earth will be destroyed ("and the earth and the mountains are lifted up and crushed with a single blow", Q.69:13); a second trumpet blast will signal a "final cataclysm" (fanāʼ), which is the extinction of all living creatures.Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.71
The afterlife will commence, again with (another) trumpet blast or two, signaling the resurrection of the dead to be judged by God at the Plain of Assembly (Ard al-Hashr). The final judgment (the "Reckoning", ) of each soul will pit "absolute justice" against God's "merciful will". For each person there will be made a book chronicling their deeds (Kitab al-A'mal), to be examined in detail. Once the Judgment is complete, souls will travel over a bridge (as-Sirāt), the righteous proceeding to Heaven, and the wicked slipping off the side into Hell below. Not everyone consigned to Hell will remain there, as "all but the mushrikun (polytheists), have the possibility of being saved"Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.81Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.25 by the intercession of Muhammad.
The pleasure and delights of Jannah and the excruciating pain and horror of Jahannam are described in "exquisite detail" in the QuranThomassen, "Islamic Hell", Numen, 56, 2009: p.405Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.86 and given further elaboration in hadith and other Islamic literature. Secular scholars believe much of Islamic cosmology comes from earlier Mesopotamian and/or Jewish beliefs (the circles of damnation, seven layers of heaven above the earth, fires of purgation below) with Quranic verses interpreted to harmonize with these.Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.9
Sources for Islamic eschatology
There is a plethora of content in Islamic sacred scriptures on the Last Judgment and the tribulation associated with it. The primary sources are the Quran itself, and ḥadīth literature. Muslims believe that the Quran is the verbatim word of Allah, promising reward to the righteous and warning those tempted to disobey his commands. The ḥadīth are accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his lifetime, believed to give more clarity, detail and comprehensive understanding of the Quran, often for scholarly purposes.
Concerning major figures of end times, the coming of al-Mahdī and al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl and the second coming of ʿĪsā, are mentioned in the hadith literature but not the Quran; reports about Sufyani are available in both Sunni and Shia Hadith. Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) are mentioned in two chapters of the Quran, Al Kahf and Al-Anbiya.
The Last Judgment and the tribulation have also been discussed in the commentaries of prominent classical ulama such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, and Muhammad al-Bukhari. Ibn Kathir elaborated a whole apocalyptic scenario with prophecies about the Mahdi, Jesus, and the Dajjal (the antichrist) during the end times.
Apocalyptic literature
According to the branch of Islamic literature dealing with "the last days" before the apocalypse and Day of Judgement,Cyril Glassé, Huston Smith The New Encyclopedia of Islam Rowman Altamira 2003 page 127 those days will be preceded by a number of "signs", immoralities and catastrophes, as well as the advent of apocalyptic figures, both good (e.g. al-Mahdi) and evil (e.g. ad-Dajjāl). They are loosely based on the Quran and the hadith,Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 9 collected around 150–200 years after the canonization of Islamic scripture and features several elements from other religions.Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 9; 301 The first known complete Islamic apocalyptic work is the Kitāb al-Fitan (Book of Tribulations) by Naim ibn Hammad.Whittingham, M. (2020). A history of Muslim views of the Bible: the first four centuries (Vol. 7). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 77 There is no canonical accepted version of the signs of the end times by either Sunnis or Shias.Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 300 While interpretations of what the Quran and hadith say about the end times are "diverse and complex", the signs of Judgment Day's arrival include disruptions in the order of both human morality and the natural world; but also the appearance of Dajjāl and prophet ʿĪsā, which "is seen to represent the ultimate victory of the ummah of Islam ... in some senses".Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.67
There is no universally accepted apocalyptic tradition among either Sunnis or Shias.Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 300 Traditionally, interest in "apocalyptic speculation" was strongest among mainstream Shia (Twelver Shia), Isma'ili Islam, and Sunni on the "doctrinal and geographic margins" e.g., those in present-day Morocco, but was weaker in the Sunni heartland. Various eschatological interpretations exist within Shia Islam. The concept of seven celestial Hells, as well as the idea that after death but before the End Times, one's soul would temporarily wait in either Paradise or Hellfire, are accounted for throughout Isma'ili Shi'i literature. Shia tradition broadly tends to recognize the coming of the Mahdi as signifying the coming punishment for non-believers.
The extensive usage of Hebrew and Syriac vocabulary in Islamic apocalyptic writings suggests that apocalyptic narratives formed from vivid exchange between different religious traditions.Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 299 These exchanges most likely occurred orally among the masses, rather than among scholars.Cook, D. (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 2 A lot of apocalyptic material is attributed to Ka'b al-Ahbar and former Jewish converts to Islam, while other transmitters indicate a Christian background.Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 7-9 Christian apocalyptic literature was known at latest since the 9th century in Arabic.Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 109
Although apocalyptic literature barely cites the Quran, the narratives refer and paraphrase Islamic sacred scripture.Cook, D. (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 302 In contrast to the method of usage of ḥadīth, apocalyptic literature dictates the Quran rather than explaining the text. Thus, David Cook suggested that at a certain point, the Quran was competing with apocalyptic literature rather than complementing it. Cook also insists the Quran is primarily an eschatological work, concerned about the impending Day of Judgement, and not an apocalyptic one.Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 301
Islamic apocalyptic narratives were later expanded and developed by Islamic authors notably Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid, al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi, Al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, and as-Suyuti).Cook, (2002). Studies in Muslim apocalyptic, p. 269-306 The authors list various signs as meanings of the arrivals of the apocalypse. Some references in the Quran were frequently understood as apocalyptic terms, such as fitna,Reeves, J. C. (2005). Trajectories in Near Eastern apocalyptic: a postrabbinic Jewish apocalypse reader (No. 45). Society of Biblical Lit. p. 109 Dabba, and Gog and Magog. At the time of the Mongol conquests, ibn Kathir identified the latter with the historical Turks and Mongols. The apocalyptic writings frequently feature extra-Quranic figures such as the Dajjāl (corresponding to Armilos and Anti-Christ) and the Mahdī. The Dajjāl is supposed to become a cause of misguidance and causes havoc on earth, but is ultimately stopped by either the Mahdī or ʿĪsā (Jesus) who returns to earth from heaven.Hamid, F.A. (2008). The Futuristic Thought of Ustaz Ashaari Muhammad of Malaysia, p. 209, in I. Abu-Rabi' (ed.) The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, pp.195–212
Questions and skepticism