Muhammad’s sayings about the Last Day

After Muhammad’s death, tens of thousands of his sayings were collected together and recorded and written down by various Muslim scholars, who then sifted through these anecdotes and organised them into categories of reliability, such as shahih (authentic), hasan (good), da’if (weak) mawdhu’a (fabricated), or munkar (denounced).   

   These collections of anecdotes, known as hadith reflect, enlighten and explain passages of the Quran and Muhammad’s own thoughts and actions. Hadiths classified as sahih or hasan have been used to form the basis of Sharia (Islamic Law).

   There are six canonical hadith collections that are widely accepted by Sunni Muslims. The two most famed for their reliability are those of Persian scholars Muhammad al-Bukhari (810–870) and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (817–875). However, even these two collections, known as Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim respectively, were not compiled until well over 200 years after Muhammad’s death. By then  hundreds of thousands of spurious and embellished anecdotes were in existence, none more so than Muhammad’s supposed sayings relating to the terrors of the Day of Judgement for Jews, Christians  and other infidels, compared to the delights of Paradise for the faithful. 

The ten signs of the Last Day

Muhammad’s concept of the Last Day is heavily influenced by the Christian concept of the Day of Judgement as described in St Matthew’s Gospel, with references to the last trumpet, the Resurrection of the Dead, and the second coming of Jesus/Isa. However, according to Muhammad and his revelations in the Quran, Christians are ‘deluded’’ in believing that Jesus died on the Cross, and wicked and idolatrous to claim that Jesus was the Son of Allah. 

   In this Apocalyptic scenario, therefore, the Messiah Isa (Jesus), though miraculously born of a virgin by Allah’s will, is merely the mortal prophet of Islam who preceded Muhammad, who claimed himself to be ‘the last and seal of the prophets of Islam.’

   ‘The apostle said, “The Last Day will not come until you see ten signs beforehand.” He listed: smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus, son of Mary, the Gog and Magog, and land-slidings in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia, at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the gathering place.’ (Sahih Muslim, 6931)

   According to Muhammad, Muslims alone will recognize Dajjal, ‘blind in the right eye which looks like a bulging grape’, as the False Messiah or Anti-Christ because of the Arabic letters Kaaf (k), Faa (f), Raa (r), on his forehead which spell the word Kufr (disbelief). 

The coming of Jesus and his battle with Dajjal

According to Muhammad, the world will be saved by Jesus/Isa descending from heaven to kill the Anti-Christ/Dajjal and his followers.

   The apostle said, “Then Prophet Isa, son of Maryam, will descend during fajr (sunrise prayer) and will set out in pursuit of Dajjal. All those who embraced the evil of Dajjal shall perish even as the breath of Jesus touches them. The breath of Jesus shall precede him as far as the eye can see and the Dajjal will be captured at the gate of Lod. Then, Dajjal will begin to melt, as salt dissolves in water. The spear of Jesus shall plunge into Dajjal's chest, ending his dreaded reign.’ (Sahih Muslim 5228)

Islam’s annihilation of the Jews

According to Muhammad, the Jews will be exterminated by Muslims. ‘The apostle said, ‘The last hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, until the Jews hide behind a stone or a tree, and the stone or tree will say: “Muslim, or servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him.” But the Gharqad tree will not say this, for it is the tree of the Jews.’ (Sahih Muslim 2922/6985)

The defeat of the Christian Byzantine empire

Muhammad also predicted that there would be a great battle against al-Rum, the Christian Roman Byzantine Empire, in which Muslim forces would finally conquer Constantinople without weapons:

   ‘They will just say, ‘There is no god but Allah and Allah is supreme, and the gates will open for them. They will enter the city, and start collecting spoils of war and distributing them amongst themselves when a noise will be heard saying, ‘Verily Dajjal has come.’ (Sahih Muslim 2920)

  It was this prediction that was to inspire successive Muslim attempts to conquer Constantinople for over seven centuries until the city finally fell to the fanatical forces of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in 1453CE. 

The triumph of Islam

According to Muhammad, Isa (Jesus) will then denounce Christians as idolators and proclaim the Truth of Islam. Christianity will become extinct. The Crucifix, symbol of Christianity, will be destroyed, all pigs slaughtered as unclean, and there will of course be no more need for the jizyah (the Islamic tax that Muhammad imposed on subjugated People of the Book).

The Coming of Jesus and the Destruction of the Cross

‘The Prophet said, “The Hour will not begin until Isa, son of Maryam, comes down as a just judge and a just ruler. He will break the Cross, kill the swine, and abolish the jizyah, and wealth shall become so abundant that no one will accept it.” (Ibn Majah 4078) (Sahih Bukhari Vol 4, Bk 55, 657)

All battles will cease and ‘the earth will be filled with peace just as a vessel is filled with water. All people will be united and none shall be worshipped except Allah.’ (Ibn Majah 4077)