Islamic eschatology


Islamic eschatology is the aspect of Islamic beliefs, predictions and narratives dealing with end times. Not unlike some other Abrahamic religions, it includes both prophesies of the end of the natural world, of the dramatic events signifying its approach; and the afterlife where the dead wait behind barzakh until they are resurrected to be judged by God for their conduct during their life on earth, and sent to their reward in either Jannah or Jahannam.
An estimated one tenth of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, is devoted to "matters eschatological". 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. Traditionally interest in "apocalyptic speculation" was strongest among mainstream Shia, Isma'ili Muslims, and Sunni Muslims on the "doctrinal and geographic margins", while weakest in the heartland of Sunni Islam. A 2012 poll of Muslims in several Muslim-majority countries found that half or more respondents expected the Mahdi 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 made by hadiths, manuals, and the interpretations of scholars,
"a sequence of the events" can be prophesied for the day of resurrection and judgement and the time leading up to it.
Before then, individuals who die will experience the state of Barzakh -- for the sinful known as the Punishment of the Grave and resembling 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, natural disasters, rampaging evil forces including an AntiChrist figure, a violent subhuman group called Gog and Magog, a tyrant spreading corruption and mischief called the Sufyani -- but also a "messianic figure", assisted by the prophet Jesus, 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, ; a second trumpet blast will signal a "final cataclysm", the extinction of all living creatures.
The afterlife will commence, again with trumpet blast or two, signaling the resurrection of the dead to be judged by God at the place of assembly. The final judgment of each soul will pit "absolute justice" against God's "merciful will". For each person there will be made a book chronicling their deeds, to be examined in detail. Judgment complete, souls will start over a bridge , the righteous proceeding to heaven, the wicked slipping off the side into hell below.
Not everyone consigned to hell will remain there, as "all but the mushrikun, have the possibility of being saved" 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 Quran 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 with Quranic verses interpreted to harmonize with these.

Apocalyptic literature

According to the branch of Islamic literature dealing with "the last days" before the apocalypse and Day of Judgement, those days will be preceded by a number of "signs" -- immoralities and catastrophes, as well as the advent of apocalyptic figures, both good and evil. They are loosely based on the Quran and the hadith, collected around 150–200 years after the canonization of Islamic scripture and features several elements from other religions. The first known complete Islamic apocalyptic work is the Kitāb al-Fitan by Naim ibn Hammad. There is no canonical accepted version of the signs of the Endtimes by either Sunnis or Shias. 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 dajjal and prophet Isa, which "is seen to represent the ultimate victory of the ummah of Islam... in some senses".
There is no universally accepted apocalyptic tradition among either Sunnis or Shias. Traditionally interest in "apocalyptic speculation" was strongest among mainstream Shia, Isma'ili Islam, Sunni on the "doctrinal and geographic margins"—such as present day Morocco—but was weaker in the heartland of Sunni Islam. 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. These exchanges most likely occurred orally among the masses, rather than among scholars. 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. Christian apocalyptic literature was known at latest since the 9th century in Arabic.
Although apocalyptic literature barely cites the Quran, the narratives refer and paraphrase Islamic sacred scripture. 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.
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). 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, 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 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 who returns to earth from heaven.

Questions and skepticism

Western scholars agree that the apocalyptic narratives are strongly connected to the early jihad wars against the Byzantine Empire and civil wars against other Muslims. McCants, writes that the fitan of the minor and lesser signs come from the fitan of the early Islamic civil wars, Second Fitna, Third Fitna ), where Muhammad's companions and successor generations fought each other for political supremacy. "Before and after each tribulation, partisans on both sides circulated prophecies in the name of the Prophet to support their champion. With time, the context was forgotten but the prophecies remained." Smith and Haddad also write that "the political implications of the whole millennial idea in Islam, especially as related to the understanding of the Mahdi and the rise of the 'Abbasids in the second Islamic century, are very difficult to separate from the eschatological ones." They also argue that it's "difficult to determine whether" Muḥammad "actually anticipated the arrival" the Mahdi as "an eschatological figure" – despite the fact that "most of the traditions about the Mahdi are credited to Muḥammad." Filiu has also stated that "the apocalyptic narrative was decisively influenced by the conflicts that filled Islam's early years, campaigns and jihad against the Byzantine Empire and recurrent civil wars among Muslims." Consequently, the reliability of hadith on end times has been questioned.

Resurrection and final judgement

In Islam, "the promise and threat" of Judgement Day,
has been called "the dominant message" of the Quran,
and is considered a fundamental tenet of faith by all Muslims, and one of the six articles of Islamic faith. The Day of Resurrection is mentioned frequently in the Quran, especially in early Meccan Surahs, when all beings, including humans, animals, and jinn, will be judged.
Two themes "central to the understanding of Islamic eschatology" are:
  1. the resurrection of bodies joined with spirits in a "reunion of whole, cognizant, and responsible persons", and
  2. a final judgement of the quality of each persons life "lived on earth and a subsequent recompense carried out with absolute justice through the prerogative of God's merciful will".

    Resurrection theories

Although Islamic philosophers and scholars were in general agreement on a bodily resurrection after death, interpretations differ in regard to the specifications of bodily resurrection. Only a few philosophers, such as Ibn Sina, explicitly rejected bodily resurrection, arguing that true pleasure cannot be experienced through the body, and that returning to it at the time of the Greater Resurrection would be unjust. The most prominent theories on the nature of bodily resurrection are that:
  • the same material body the resurrected individual had during lifetime will be restored;
  • conjunction of the soul with a mithali body, which is congenial to the worlds of Barzakh and the Akhirah;
  • resurrection with a hurqaliyati body, accordingly a second invisible body, that survives death.
The trials, tribulations and details associated with resurrection are detailed in the Quran and the hadith, and have been elaborated on in creeds, Quranic commentaries, theological writing, and eschatological manuals to provide more details and a sequence of events on the Day. Islamic expositors and scholarly authorities who have explained the subject in detail include al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, Muhammad al-Bukhari, and Ibn Khuzaymah.