Task The task of the Beast will be to distinguish the believers from the non-believers, with Prophet Moosas staff it will draw a line on the forehead of every believer whereby his face will become bright and luminous and with the ring of Sulaman it will seal the nose of every non-believer where by his whole face will become black. Thus there will be complete distinction between the Muslim and non-Muslirn, so that if many parties sit at a dinner table, the Muslim and non-Muslirn will be distinguished. (Abu Huraira-Musnad Ahmad/Tirmidhi) The Beast will also talk to people. It will say, Mankind had no faith in our revelations. (Ibne Kathir) Place of emergence Many opinions have been expressed as regards to the place the Beast will come out from. A few are listed: 1) It will come out from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam in Makkah. This opinion is based on the hadith reported by Tabrani on the authority of Hudhaifa-b-Usaid. 2) It will come out three times, from some desert and then go back into hiding, then from some village and finally from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam. There are many other opinions most of them report that it will come out from the Haram of Makkah. (See Tadkirah and Al-Ishaah) Back to content Nature of the Beast Many different opinions have been expressed as to the nature of the Beast and the type of animal it is. A few are shared and explained. 1) Some Ulama are of the opinion that the Beast to come before the end of time is the very animal which has been mentioned in the Hadith of Fatimah-b-Qais. Known as the Jassasa (spy) seen by Tamim Dari and his companions from the tribes of Lakhm and Juzaam on the same Island as the Dajjal. This is related of being the opinion of the Sahabi Abdullah-b-Amr-b-al-Aas. (Nawawees commentary on Muslim) Fatimah-bin-Qais reported, I heard the proclaimer of the Messenger of Allah proclaiming (for) Congregational Prayer. I came out of the mosque and prayed with the Prophet . When he finished his prayer, he sat upon the pulpit smiling and said, Let every man remain in his seat. Then he said, Do you know why I have called you together? They replied, Allah and his Messenger know best. He said, By Allah, I have not called you together for hope or for fear, but I have called you together because Tamim Dari a Christian came and embraced Islam. He narrated a story to me which agreed with the account I have given to you about the Dajjal (Anti-Christ). He informed me that he had embarked upon a sea-boat with thirty men of Lakhm and Jozam. Then the sea waves played with them for a month and threw them onto an island when the sun was about to set. They sat in a small side boat and entered the Island. A beast with very coarse hair met them. They could not tell its front from its back due to its excessive hair. They asked, Woe to thee! Who art thou? It replied, I am a spy. Go to the man in the monastery, as he is eager to have your information. He said, When it named a man for us, we fled away from it lest it might be the devil. We hurriedly went on till we entered the monastery and found a big-bodied man whom we did never see before. He was firmly tied up, his hands tied to his neck, the place between his knees, and joints tied up with iron chains. (Muslim) Camel 2) Some scholars are of the opinion that it is the young of the she camel of the Prophet Salih . Imam Al-Qurtubi holds the same opinion, he writes in his commentary of the Quran, The first opinion (regarding the Beast) is that it is the young of the she-camel of the Prophet Salih . This is the most correct view and opinion. Allah knows best. Back to content Opinion Explained The people of Thamud were Arabs who lived a couple of hundred years after the Prophet Noah in a place called Hijr which today is known as Madaain Salih in the North of Arabia near Tabuk. Blessed in provisions and livelihoods their land was fertile with green gardens and running springs and they skilfully carved spacious houses out of mountains. They were ungrateful to Allah as they worshiped the stone idols they carved with their very own hands. Thus Allah honoured Salih from amongst them with Prophethood and sent him as a Messenger to the people of Thamud to bring them out of darkness into light. Salih conveyed the message of Allah day and night and called them to the worship of Allah with wisdom and kind-heartedness but the people of Thamud decided to remain blind. Finally, they like the communities before them asked to see a miracle. They said, O Salih take out a ten month pregnant she-camel from a mountain which then gives birth to a young that has the same body and stature as the mother. Having seen the miracle they refused to believe. The she-carnel was a sign of Allah, very large and unusual in form and the people were warned that they would be destroyed if they treated it with evil. All the other animals were afraid of Prophet Salihs camel and would run away whenever she and its young came to drink water. Thus bounds were arranged. However, after a very short period they broke the agreement and decided to kill the camel of Allah. A group hid waiting for the camel on its return from the well with its child. Shooting an arrow they injured it and finally killed it paving the way for the destruction of the entire community. On seeing its mother in trouble the child fled to the mountains and disappeared. This young is referred to in the second opinion. Extraordinary Animal 3) Some are of the opinion that the Beast to come is an animal that has features of many different animals. The same is reported from Abu Zubair. Describing the Beast he has reported that, Its head is like that of a bull, eyes like that of a pig, ears like that of an elephant, horns like that of a stag, neck like that of an ostrich, chest like a lion, colour like that of a tiger, flanks like that of a cat, tail like that of a ram, feet and legs like that of a camel and a distance of 12 cubits between every two joints. (Tadhkirah) Back to content Snake Some scholars are of the opinion it is the Snake which guarded the Holy Kabah. Imam Al-Qurtubi relates this as being the opinion of Ibne Abbas. (Al-Qurtubi) Obeying Allahs command the Prophet Ibraheem with the help of his son Ismail built the Holy Kabah. He dug a well inside the Holy Kabah which was to the right of who entered it and acted as a safe to all the gifts that were presented to the Kabah which were kept inside it. At the time of Jurhum the gold and silver were stolen many times from the Kabah thus the tribe of Jurhum decided to choose a man amongst them to keep guard. Unfortunately, one day the guard himself decided to steal the gifts of the Kabah. Taking the opportunity as it came he climbed down the well and began to gather what he could in a piece of cloth. While he was busy Allah sent a stone on him, which closed the well and thus he was unable to escape. From that day Allah sent a snake to guard the Kabah. The snake lived in the well guarding the gifts of the Kabah for over 500 years. Exposed to the wearing factors of nature the walls of the Kabah at the time of Quraish (slightly before the time Prophet received Prophethood) had become weak and part of the covering had also burnt, thus the Quraish decided to rebuild the Kabah. However, the snake prevented them from demolishing the Holy Kabah every time they tried. Finally they stood at the Place of Ibrahim and prayed, Oh Allah if you are happy in its rebuilding then make it possible and take care of this snake. Allah sent an eagle which took the snake towards Ajyaad. This snake is referred to in the forth opinion. (Tarikh-Makka) Many other opinions have been expressed as regards to the nature of the Beast. However, finding myself inclined towards Abu Amr Uthman Ibne Sad al-Mukri ad-Danis opinion I conclude with his words, There are many narrations in regards to the physical description, length, and nature of the Beast but most of these are Mawqoof on the Sahaba or those after them. As for those that are Marfoo only a few are sound thus we cannot assert anything in regard of its description and nature except that which is proven from the authentic Marfoo narrations and that it is a huge creature that will come out from the Earth, a beast other than man, nobody will be able to escape it. It will stamp the Muslim by writing believer between his eyes, and stamp the non-Muslim by writing Kafir between his eyes. (As-Sunan Al-Waridah Fil-Fitan)
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 07:05:40 +0000