Signs of the Last Hour: Minor and Major Signs

1. Belief in the signs of the Last Hour

وَنُؤْمِنُ بِأَشْرَاطِ السَّاعَةِ مِنْهَا: خُرُوجُ الدَّجَّالِ، وَنُزُولُ عِيسَى بْنِ مَرْيَمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ، وَنُؤْمِنُ بِطُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا، وَخُرُوجِ دَابَّةِ الْأَرْضِ مِنْ مَوْضِعِهَا
We believe in the signs of the Hour: the emergence of the Dajjāl, the descent of Jesus son of Mary from heaven, the sun rising from the west, and the Beast of the Earth coming forth from its place.

Ashrāṭ al-sāʿah means the signs of the Last Hour. Belief in them affirms the unseen events conveyed through the Messenger ﷺ. Each sign is understood according to its own reported description.

2. Minor and major signs

The signs of the Hour fall into two classes: minor signs and major signs.

The minor signs are those whose appearance began after the Prophet’s mission and continues up to the coming of the Mahdī. Some have appeared and others remain.

Major signs are extraordinary events near the end of time, including the Dajjāl, the descent of Jesus, Gog and Magog, and other momentous events. The two classes should not be confused with one another.

3. The loss of knowledge and spread of ignorance

A report from Anas describes several signs of the approaching Hour:
أَنْ يُرْفَعَ الْعِلْمُ وَيَظْهَرَ الْجَهْلُ
Knowledge will be taken away and ignorance will become widespread.

The removal of knowledge is not merely the disappearance of written books. It also involves the loss of sound religious learning among people and the spread of ignorance in its place. The sign underscores the value of sound knowledge and guidance.

4. Signs of moral disorder

The narration from Anas also counts the spread of wine-drinking and fornication among the signs. Another narration mentions trials, killing, and the great number of women.

Being a sign does not mean being approved. The predicted spread of a sin does not make that sin lawful or desirable. These reports describe moral deterioration, not a command to accept wrongdoing as legitimate.

5. Trials and loss of trust before the Hour

Abū Hurayrah’s report describes changes before the Hour: the spread of trials, much killing and bloodshed, the loss of trustworthiness, and the diminishing of religious learning.

The loss of amānah is not restricted to taking someone’s property; it includes betraying entrusted duties and failing to discharge rights faithfully. These signs concern moral decline as well as outward events.

6. Decline in obedience and public wrongdoing

Conditions preceding the Hour also include widespread disobedience, mistreatment of parents, the severing of family ties, and open wrongdoing. Prayer, recognition of the lawful and unlawful, and the protection of people’s rights nevertheless remain obligations.

A prediction is not a permission. Foretelling a sin does not license it. Knowledge of later moral disorder must not be used to normalize wrongdoing.

7. An outline of the great signs

The major events discussed near the end of time include:
1. The appearance of the Mahdī.
2. The emergence of the Dajjāl.
3. The descent of Jesus.
4. The coming of Gog and Magog.
5. The sun rising from the west.
6. The emergence of the Beast of the Earth.
7. The spread of smoke.
8. The destruction of the Kaʿbah.
9. A final fire.

Each sign has its own characteristics and should be explained with the related scriptural proofs and reported details.

8. The Mahdī: lineage and identity

The appearance of the Mahdī is counted among the great signs. His name is given as Muḥammad and his father’s as ʿAbd Allāh. He will be a descendant of Fāṭimah through the line of al-Ḥasan, may Allah be pleased with them.

He will be associated with Madinah. His emergence does not begin a new prophethood; rather, it marks leadership within the community of Muḥammad ﷺ, characterized by justice and guidance.

9. Allegiance to the Mahdī and his reform

At the appearance of the Mahdī, righteous people from Syria and Iraq will come to the Sacred House and pledge allegiance to him. His rule begins with this allegiance in Makkah.

His defining work will be the establishment of justice and decisions in accordance with the law of Muḥammad ﷺ. Where wrongdoing has spread, his leadership will become a means of reform, not the introduction of an independent new religious law.

10. Important events during the Mahdī’s rule

Justice will be established during the Mahdī’s rule; disputes will diminish and believers will experience security. He will lead forces and uphold justice against oppression.

Justice and adherence to the Prophetic law mark his leadership. Jesus will descend during his lifetime, and Jesus will pray behind him. The Mahdī will eventually die, and Jesus will lead his funeral prayer.

11. The emergence and description of the Dajjāl

The emergence of the Dajjāl is one of the great signs. He is a particular individual associated with deception and false claims. His physical description includes a defect in one eye and a distinctive identifying mark.

The letters k-f-r will appear between his eyes or on his forehead and will be recognizable to believers. His trial rests on deception and false divinity, not on any genuinely divine power.

12. The Dajjāl as an extraordinary trial

The Dajjāl will bring a severe trial. Extraordinary-seeming events associated with him may deceive people, and he will use his claims and apparent wonders to mislead those whose faith is weak.

An unusual event is not proof of truth. In this trial, outward spectacle must be distinguished from reality. Believers’ criterion remains monotheism and the truthful teaching of the Prophet ﷺ, not deceptive appearances.

13. The Dajjāl’s movements and the believers

The Dajjāl will travel through many regions and attempt to draw people into his trial with great speed. Fear and deception will accompany his activity, although he will not have the same access everywhere.

Steadfastness in monotheism and faith is central to the believer’s response. The number of followers, rapid movement, or spectacular claims cannot make him a prophet or deity. His end will follow the descent of Jesus.

14. The descent of Jesus

Jesus will descend from heaven as a major sign of the Hour, during the trial of the Dajjāl. A congregation under the Mahdī will be preparing to pray in the congregational mosque of Damascus.

Jesus will descend near the white minaret on its eastern side and pray behind the Mahdī. This prayer emphasizes that the law followed after his return will remain the law of Muḥammad ﷺ.

15. The end of the Dajjāl

After Jesus descends, the Dajjāl will flee upon seeing him. Jesus will pursue and kill him at the gate of Ludd, bringing his trial to an end.

Jesus will then confront those followers who persist in supporting the Dajjāl’s false claim. The event marks the collapse of that deception and the triumph of truth over the claim of false divinity.

16. Religious reform after the descent

During Jesus’ return, the religion of Muḥammad ﷺ will be upheld. He will break the cross, kill the swine, and reject false religious claims. He will not bring a new independent law.

These actions express the restoration of monotheism and the authority of Islamic law. False beliefs about Jesus will be overturned without treating his descent as a contradiction of the finality of Muḥammad’s prophethood.

17. Gog and Magog and the barrier of Dhū al-Qarnayn

The emergence of Gog and Magog is another great sign. Sūrat al-Kahf describes a barrier built by Dhū al-Qarnayn to restrain their destructive activity.

Near the Hour the barrier will open or collapse, and Gog and Magog will come out in great numbers, bringing widespread disorder. The building of the barrier and their final emergence are two distinct stages in the account of the same people.

18. The spread of Gog and Magog

After Gog and Magog emerge, their great numbers and destructive activity will cause widespread disorder. People will seek safety, and Jesus will lead the believers with him toward a place of refuge.

Their vast numbers indicate the severity of the trial. Ordinary human measures will not be sufficient to end it, and refuge will be sought in supplication to Allah.

19. The destruction of Gog and Magog

Jesus and the believers with him will pray to Allah. A divinely sent affliction will destroy Gog and Magog. Birds will remove their bodies, followed by rain that cleanses the earth.

Their destruction comes by Allah’s power. The account brings together human inability, supplication, and divine deliverance as distinct parts of the event.

20. Peace and the death of Jesus

After the destruction of Gog and Magog, the earth will experience a time of peace and blessing. People will live in security. Jesus will later die, and the Muslims will perform his funeral prayer and bury him.

These events belong to his life after the descent. Descent and death are distinct stages; his return is associated with the end of trials and the establishment of truth.

21. Just leadership and what follows

After the death of Jesus, a righteous ruler called Jahjāh is mentioned. He will rule justly, but wrongdoing and disorder will later spread again.

Conditions near the end of time do not remain unchanged: one period may be marked by justice and security and another by corruption. These reports do not serve to identify particular present-day individuals or governments.

22. The sun rising from the west

The sun rising from the west is a great sign of the Hour. The Prophet ﷺ foretold that the sun will one day rise from the opposite direction to its usual rising.

This will not be an ordinary sunrise. It will mark a decisive stage in the approach of the Hour. What lies outside the normal course of the world is not beyond Allah’s power.

23. Faith after the western sunrise

After the sun rises from the west, the door of repentance will close and newly professed faith will no longer bring the same benefit. Before that sign there is opportunity for belief and repentance; after it the situation changes.

Faith embraced before the sign is not equivalent to a new profession after the decisive sign has appeared. The distinction concerns the significance of belief during the time of moral choice.

24. The emergence of the Beast of the Earth

وَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِنَ الْأَرْضِ تُكَلِّمُهُمْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا لَا يُوقِنُونَ
When the decree falls upon them, We shall bring out for them a beast from the earth that will speak to them, because people had not been certain of Our signs. (al-Naml 27:82)

The Beast of the Earth is a great sign that will emerge from the ground. Its appearance belongs to the later events surrounding the Hour, and the verse explicitly mentions its speech to people.

25. The mark associated with the Beast

The Beast will speak to people and place distinct marks on believers and disbelievers. A luminous mark will distinguish a believer, while another sign will distinguish a disbeliever.

This is not an ordinary physical characteristic or a humanly chosen badge. It is an extraordinary distinction connected with the signs of the Hour, making the difference publicly recognizable in a way not known earlier.

26. The final smoke

A great sign of the Hour is the appearance of a widespread smoke or haze. It will bring an extraordinary condition affecting people across the earth.

This sign belongs to the final period and is not treated as identical to an ordinary weather event. It appears among the major changes and trials foretelling the Hour.

27. The destruction of the Kaʿbah

Near the Hour a man from Abyssinia will destroy the Kaʿbah. A report states:
لَا يَسْتَخْرِجُ كَنْزَ الْكَعْبَةِ إِلَّا ذُو السُّوَيْقَتَيْنِ مِنَ الْحَبَشَةِ
No one but a man with thin shins from Abyssinia will remove the treasure of the Kaʿbah.

The sanctity of the Sacred House remains a religious duty. The reported future destruction of its building is a distinct sign, not permission to violate its sanctity.

28. The final fire coming from Yemen

Among the final signs is a fire emerging from the region of Aden in Yemen. It will drive people toward the region of Syria, where their gathering is described.

A narration mentions: وَآخِرُ ذَلِكَ نَارٌ تَخْرُجُ مِنَ الْيَمَنِ ... تَسُوقُ النَّاسَ إِلَى الْمَحْشَرِ — the last of the signs is a fire from Yemen that drives people to the place of gathering. This event belongs to the final dissolution of worldly life.

29. The closing events and the Hour

The signs of the end will appear in different stages. Some concern the deterioration of morals and conduct; others are extraordinary events beyond the ordinary course of the world.

Minor signs include the decline of learning, ignorance, trials, and the spread of wrongdoing. Major signs include the Mahdī, the Dajjāl, the descent of Jesus, Gog and Magog, the western sunrise, the Beast, the smoke, the Kaʿbah’s destruction, and the final fire.

Belief in these reports means affirming the transmitted information without introducing details not established by it.