What the Hour is

The Hour (as-Sa'ah) is the moment this world ends, and the Day of Resurrection begins. Believing in it is part of believing in the Last Day, one of the six pillars of iman.

• It is sure to come. Allah says: the Hour is coming, and I keep it almost hidden, so that every soul is paid for what it strives for¹.
• It will come suddenly². Nabi ﷺ said it will come while two people have spread out a cloth to sell, and they will not finish the sale or fold it, and while a man lifts food to his mouth, and does not eat it³.
• Nabi ﷺ held up two fingers together and said: I was sent, and the Hour, like these two⁴. His coming was itself a sign that the end is near, compared to all the time before.

This chapter covers the signs before the Hour. What happens after it, the Resurrection, the gathering and the judgement, is in Resurrection and judgement.

Only Allah knows when

This is the first and most important rule about the Hour. The Quran says it many times.

• They ask you about the Hour: when will it come? Say: its knowledge is with my Lord only. No one but He will show it at its time. It will come to you only suddenly⁵.
• With Allah alone is the knowledge of the Hour⁶.
• They ask you about the Hour. What do you have to do with telling its time? Its end is with your Lord⁷.

Even Jibril was not told. In the famous hadith of Jibril, he asked Nabi ﷺ: tell me about the Hour. Nabi ﷺ said: the one being asked knows no more about it than the one asking⁸. The best angel asked the best messenger, and neither knew the time.

Why Allah told us the signs

If the time is hidden, why did Nabi ﷺ tell us signs? The hadith show a few reasons:

• To wake us up. Nabi ﷺ said: hurry to do good deeds before six things come: the sun rising from the west, the smoke, the Dajjal, the beast, your own death, or a trial that covers everyone⁹.
• To protect us. He warned us about the Dajjal in detail, so that no believer is fooled when he comes.
• To strengthen faith. When a sign he told us about comes true, it shows he spoke the truth from Allah.

Scholars put the signs in two groups:

The minor signs

From the hadith of Jibril

Jibril asked: then tell me about its signs. Nabi ﷺ said: that a slave woman gives birth to her mistress, and that you see barefoot, poor shepherds competing in building tall buildings¹⁰. Scholars explain the first in more than one way, for example children treating their own mothers like servants. The second is easy to see in our time: people who were very poor becoming rich and racing to build higher.

Signs that have already appeared

• The sending of Nabi ﷺ himself¹¹, and his death, and the opening of Jerusalem to the Muslims. He counted these among six signs¹².
• The splitting of the moon: the Hour has come near, and the moon has split¹³.
• People claiming to be prophets. He said about thirty liars would come, each claiming to be a messenger of Allah¹⁴.

Signs about people and the world

Nabi ﷺ said that before the Hour¹⁵¹⁶:

• Religious knowledge becomes less, as scholars pass away, and ignorance spreads.
• Drinking alcohol and zina (sex outside marriage) become common and open.
• Killing increases, and earthquakes become many.
• Time seems to pass quickly.
• Wealth becomes so much that a rich person worries no one will take his zakat.
• People compete in tall buildings.
• A man passes a grave and says: I wish I were in his place, because of the trials around him.

A Bedouin asked: when is the Hour? Nabi ﷺ said: when trust is lost, wait for the Hour. He asked how it is lost. He said: when matters are given to people who are not fit for them¹⁷.

The ten major signs

Once the Companions were talking about the Hour. Nabi ﷺ came and said: it will not come until you see ten signs before it¹⁸. He named them:

• The order. The hadith lists them, but not all in order. Nabi ﷺ said the first of the signs to appear is the sun rising from the west, or the beast coming out to people in the morning, and whichever comes first, the other follows close behind²⁰. Scholars explain in different ways how this fits with the other signs. The Dajjal, then Isa, then Yajuj and Majuj come in that order, as one long hadith describes²¹. Beyond that, Allah knows best.
• The smoke. The Quran mentions a day when the sky brings a clear smoke that covers people²². Ibn Mas'ud explained that ayah as the famine that hit Quraysh in Makkah²³. Other scholars say a smoke near the end is meant, as in this list. Allah knows best.

The Dajjal, and how to be protected

The Dajjal (the great liar) is the biggest trial before the Hour. Nabi ﷺ said: every prophet warned his people about him²⁴. He described him in detail, so that no believer is fooled.

How to know him

• He is blind in one eye, and your Lord is not. The word kafir (disbeliever) is written between his eyes²⁵. He will claim to be god. One look shows he is a created, faulty man.
• His tricks. He comes with what looks like water and fire. What people think is water is fire, and what looks like fire is cool, sweet water²⁶. So his rewards are a trap, and his threats are empty.
• He brings rain and crops to those who follow him, and drought to those who refuse. He stays on earth forty days: one day like a year, one like a month, one like a week, and the rest like normal days²⁷.
• The Companions asked: on the day like a year, is one day's salah enough? He said: no, estimate the times and pray²⁸. Even then, salah goes on.
• He cannot enter Makkah or Madinah. Angels guard every road into them²⁹.

Protection

• Surah Al-Kahf. Nabi ﷺ said: whoever memorizes the first ten ayat of Surah Al-Kahf will be protected from the Dajjal³⁰. He also told anyone who meets him to recite its opening ayat over him³¹.
• The dua at the end of salah. After the tashahhud, seek refuge with Allah from four things, the last being the trial of the Dajjal³². This is the same dua taught in Death and the grave.
• Stay away from him. Nabi ﷺ said: whoever hears of the Dajjal, let him keep far away. A man will go to him thinking he is a believer, and end up following him because of the doubts he stirs up³³.
• Know your Lord. The best protection is knowing that Allah is perfect and nothing is like Him. No man who eats, walks and has a blind eye can be Allah.

The return of Isa

Muslims believe that Isa (Jesus) son of Maryam was not killed and not crucified. Allah raised him up³⁴. Ahl al-Sunnah agree that he will come back down before the Hour, based on many sahih hadith.

• Nabi ﷺ swore: the son of Maryam will soon come down among you as a just judge. He will break the cross, kill the pig, and end the jizya tax. Wealth will be so much that no one will accept it, and one sujud will be better than the world and all it holds³⁵.
• He comes down at the white minaret in the east of Damascus, with his hands on the wings of two angels. He finds the Dajjal and kills him at the gate of Ludd³⁶.
• When he comes, the leader of the Muslims asks him to lead the salah. He says no: some of you are leaders over others, an honor from Allah for this ummah³⁷.
• Allah says every one of the People of the Book will believe in him before his death³⁸. Abu Hurairah linked this ayah to his return³⁹.

Yajuj and Majuj

The Quran tells of Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog), two huge peoples who spread harm on the earth. A righteous king, Dhul-Qarnayn, built a great wall to hold them back⁴⁰. He said: this is a mercy from my Lord. When my Lord's promise comes, He will level it⁴¹.

• Allah says: when Yajuj and Majuj are let loose, they rush down from every high place⁴².
• One day Nabi ﷺ came in, worried, and said: la ilaha illallah, a hole has been opened in the wall of Yajuj and Majuj like this, and he made a ring with his thumb and finger⁴³.
• They come out after Isa has killed the Dajjal. They pass a lake and drink it dry. Allah tells Isa to take the believers to Mount Tur for safety. Isa and the believers make dua, and Allah destroys Yajuj and Majuj all at once. Then rain washes the earth, and it gives its blessings again⁴⁴.
• Even after Yajuj and Majuj, people will still do Hajj and Umrah to the Kaaba⁴⁵.

The lesson in their story: the believers are not saved by their own strength. They are saved by dua.

The sun rising from the west

Nabi ﷺ said: the Hour will not come until the sun rises from the west. When people see it, they will all believe. But that is the time when believing does not help a soul that did not believe before⁴⁶.

• Allah says: on the day some of your Lord's signs come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it did not believe before, or earn good through its faith⁴⁷.
• So this sign closes the door of starting new faith and repentance. Until then, the door is open. Today it is open for you.
• The beast. Around the same time, the beast comes out of the earth and speaks to people⁴⁸⁴⁹. We do not add details beyond what is sound.

Al-Mahdi

He is not in the list of ten, but you will hear about him. Most of Ahl al-Sunnah believe in him from hadith graded sahih.

• Nabi ﷺ said: the Mahdi is from my family, from the children of Fatimah⁵⁰.
• He will have the same name as Nabi ﷺ, and his father the same name as his father. He will fill the earth with justice, after it was filled with oppression⁵¹.

How to live with this

A Bedouin came and asked: when is the Hour? Nabi ﷺ answered with a question: what have you prepared for it? The man said: nothing much, except that I love Allah and His Messenger. Nabi ﷺ said: you will be with those you love⁵².

That is the whole point of this chapter. Nabi ﷺ turned the question from when to what am I doing about it.

• No date-setting. Only Allah knows⁵³.
• No conspiracy theories. Do not try to match every news story, leader or invention to a hadith. It wastes time and spreads fear.
• No panic. The signs were taught by a messenger who was a mercy to the worlds⁵⁴. Every warning came with a way to be safe.
• Your own hour comes first. For each of us, death comes before the Hour. Prepare for that, and you are prepared for both. See Death and the grave.
• Keep doing good. Learn the first ten ayat of Al-Kahf, say the dua after the tashahhud, keep your salah, and hurry to good deeds⁵⁵.

Common questions

A video says the Hour will come in a certain year. Should I believe it?

No. Allah says its knowledge is with Him alone⁵⁶, and even Nabi ﷺ said he knew no more than Jibril about its time⁵⁷. Anyone who gives a date is guessing. Do not share it.

Is a certain famous person, company or technology the Dajjal?

The Dajjal is a man, blind in one eye, with kafir written between his eyes, who claims to be god⁵⁸. Nabi ﷺ described him so clearly so that we would not guess. Labeling people or things as the Dajjal is not from the Sunnah.

Someone says the Mahdi has appeared, and asks me to follow him.

Be very careful. Many have made this claim through history. Hold to the Quran and Sunnah, and ask trusted scholars. You do not need to follow anyone in order to be a good Muslim today.

My children heard about the Dajjal and are scared.

Tell them Allah is stronger than everything, the Dajjal cannot enter Makkah and Madinah⁵⁹, and Isa will defeat him⁶⁰. Then teach them the first ten ayat of Al-Kahf as their shield⁶¹. A child with a plan feels safe.

Should I quit my job, stock up, or move away because the end is near?

No. No one knows how near it is. Nabi ﷺ taught us to keep working, raising families and doing good. Prepare your heart and deeds, not a bunker.

If the sun rises from the west, can people still repent?

Not for someone who did not believe or repent before it⁶²⁶³. That is why the time to turn to Allah is now, while the door is wide open.

Do Christians and Muslims both believe Isa will return?

Both believe he will return, but Muslims believe he returns as a human prophet and servant of Allah, following the way of Muhammad ﷺ⁶⁴, not as god. We explain our belief kindly, without arguing.