On January 4, 2010, the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, was inaugurated in Dubai. Due to the latest revolution in communication, this inauguration event was watched by viewers around the world from their homes through television. This inauguration ceremony of Burj Khalifa, which millions of people worldwide watched with keen interest, was, in fact, also a symbolic inauguration of the end of the world. It appeared to be a mere announcement of the completion of the world’s tallest building, but in reality, it was a proclamation of the completion of God’s greatest creation, the Earth, and the lives of its inhabitants. It was an announcement that the time granted to the inhabitants of Earth is ending, the time to demolish every construction is approaching, and the beginning of the end has started. Unfortunately, very few people were aware of this aspect. Today’s meeting will discuss this topic in detail.
The great revolution of the land of Arabia
The marvels of human craftsmanship are scattered across Dubai, most notably, the Burj Khalifa, the pinnacle of human creation that stands as the most superior masterpiece ever constructed on the surface of this planet. This building stretches up to 828 meters in height, surpassing the previously tallest building in the world located in Taiwan, known as Taipei 101, which stood at 508 meters. Thus, the Burj Khalifa exceeds the former tallest building by a remarkable 320 meters, an extraordinary accomplishment in itself. This achievement is not limited to the Burj Khalifa alone; the race for erecting the world’s tallest buildings continues in the Arabian soil. Dubai’s Palm Tower, Jeddah’s Kingdom Tower, and Kuwait’s Mubarak al-Kabir Tower are among the structures set to be constructed over the next decade, with each aiming for heights ranging between one to two kilometers, thus moving the scale from meters into kilometers.
Erecting such high skyscrapers is no child’s play; it requires an extraordinary number of additional resources and economic abundance, which, at present, is abundantly available to the Arabs. The financial prosperity of the Arabs has a unique background. A few decades ago, the Arabian Peninsula was nothing but a barren desert with almost no means of income. Herding goats and looting were the main occupations of the people. If the sacred sites of the Harmain and the historical significance associated with the last Prophet were not tied to this region, perhaps we would know as little about this area as we do about the Gobi Desert, which is to say, virtually nothing. A revolution occurred in this arid and barren land not too long ago when a vast sea of oil was discovered in the Arab region. In the modern era, this became the largest reservoir of energy, without which the contemporary world would practically be crippled. Consequently, the wealth from around the world started flowing into this region, drastically changing the living conditions of its inhabitants. Those who had seen this region a few decades ago, or at least have seen photographs from that era, can imagine the extent of the profound and extraordinary revolution that completely transformed the lifestyle of the people.
Another significant aspect of this region was that, despite the abolition of slavery worldwide, the system of slavery was still robustly practiced here. However, when the wealth of petroleum linked this region to the international community, it became untenable for slavery to be eradicated globally while remaining intact here. Consequently, during the 1960s, various countries of the Arabian Peninsula sequentially abolished slavery at the governmental level. Qatar did so in 1952, Saudi Arabia and Yemen in 1962, the United Arab Emirates in 1963, and Oman announced the end of slavery in 1970. Thus, if a woman who was the property of a man became pregnant while she was enslaved, she could give birth in such a manner that her daughter would be born a free woman, owning the house as its mistress. This was a societal change in one aspect, transforming the lives of female slaves, and on the other hand, it was a period in which a revolution occurred within just one generation that drastically altered the nation’s life. If a mother was raised in poverty, her offspring were born into the lavish lifestyle of the wealthy. These social and economic revolutions, though seemingly distinct, occurred simultaneously and were conveyed to the community as one of the greatest predictions of the apocalypse in the treasure of Hadith, marking an exceptionally extraordinary event.
The Hadith of Gabriel
In the Quran, it is repeatedly mentioned in various contexts that angels exist in the unseen and do not appear before humans in their true form. If such an appearance ever occurs, it is considered an extremely extraordinary event. We will explain it in the light of an incident involving Prophet Abraham, during which the world was engulfed in idolatry. Prophet Abraham traversed the civilized world of his time, advocating for monotheism, yet only three true believers were destined to be his companions: his wife Hagar, his other wife Sarah, and his nephew Lot. Prophet Lot, who was a prophet himself, was sent to the towns near the Dead Sea, situated between present-day Jordan and Israel. However, his people surpassed idolatry, reaching the extremes of sexual immorality. It was divinely decreed that this community should be destroyed and a new nation should emerge from the progeny of Abraham. The angels who were tasked with conveying these two pieces of news to Prophet Abraham appeared before him in human form. Initially, Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) did not recognize them as angels. However, the angels eventually revealed their true nature to him, bringing glad tidings about the future births of Isaac and Jacob, and also informed him that they were sent to destroy the community of Lot.
This detail clarifies that angels engaging in conversation in human form is an extraordinary event and occurs rarely. The most significant instance in this regard during the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions was when the esteemed angel Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to the Prophet in human form and asked him some questions. This entire incident is detailed in the Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim and is commonly referred to as the Hadith of Gabriel. It’s a detailed narration where, after Gabriel’s departure, the Prophet informed his companions that it was Gabriel who had come to teach them their religion. Sitting with the Prophet, Gabriel had asked several questions, one of the last being about the signs of the Day of Judgment. In response, the Prophet said that one of the signs would be that a slave woman will give birth to her mistress, and another sign would be seeing barefoot, naked, destitute shepherds competing in constructing tall buildings.
This noble Hadith does not require any explanation or commentary. Its interpretation can be witnessed with one’s own eyes in the deserts of Arabia, where there is a race to construct the tallest buildings in the world. Just a few decades ago, a revolution occurred in which, within a single generation, the offspring of slave women became mistresses in terms of their social status and financial position.
This narrative stands as a living testament to the authenticity of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and has emerged as a living miracle in our times. It is one of the most significant and extraordinarily conveyed hadith in the collection of Hadith regarding the signs of the Day of Judgment. It was entirely possible that this conversation between the Prophet Muhammad and Gabriel (peace be upon them) could have occurred in private, with the Prophet later informing others about it. However, the purpose of Gabriel appearing before the companions and engaging in this conversation was likely to ensure that people understood the significance of this dialogue. This is why prominent figures among the companions, such as Umar, who is known to transmit relatively few narrations, is among those who have relayed this hadith.
The emergence of Gog and Magog (Ya’juj and Ma’juj)
The significance of the sign mentioned in this narrative is that the appearance of Gog and Magog coincides with the sole sign of the Day of Judgment mentioned in the Quran, namely the emergence of Gog and Magog. The Quran describes this event, stating that “Until that time arrives when Gog and Magog are let loose and they launch an onslaught from every high place and the true promise (of the Day of Judgement) draws near, then all of a sudden, these disbelievers stare in astonishment and cry out: “Woe be to us! We remained indifferent to it. In fact, we were wrongdoers.” (Al-Anbia21: 96-97)
The identity of Gog and Magog can be traced back from the Bible, where they are mentioned in a similar context. At the time of the Quran’s revelation, these terms were already known in the religious literature of the People of the Book. Just as the Quran indirectly references them in response to a question posed by the Jews in Surah Al-Kahf, the Bible also mentions them as a nation from the past. Similarly, just as the Quran speaks of their future emergence as a sign of the Day of Judgment’s approach, the Bible too refers to them in the context of theological events, indicating their appearance as a sign of the end times.
According to the Bible, these people are descended from Japheth, the third son of Noah. For most of history, they led a savage and uncivilized lifestyle. Initially residing in the north, they eventually spread far and wide to the east and west of the world. Over time, many of their groups adopted civilization and gradually established a distinct identity separate from Gog and Magog, evolving into a civilized nation. In the modern era, as the light of civilization reached every corner of the world, no group remained uncivilized. In reality, there is no group currently existing in the world that identifies itself as Gog and Magog. However, it is also a fact that the white populations residing in Europe, America, and Australia, the red nation of Russia, and the yellow peoples of the Far East and China are among the descendants of Gog and Magog. These are the civilized nations that currently hold leadership and dominance in the world. In the last 500 years, these people have seized global leadership from the Semitic peoples and gradually advanced in science and technology to the point where they now hold power over the world. It is these descendants of Gog and Magog who have brought about a revolution in science and technology that, on one hand, has elevated humanity to the pinnacle of progress, and on the other, has endangered the very existence of humanity by creating environmental and moral pollution.
The revolution in Arabia mentioned at the beginning of the article is essentially a byproduct of the Gog and Magog era revolution. It’s the technology that powers machines with petrol, discovers oil and gas reserves from beneath the earth’s surface and makes them usable in iron machines, constructs towering buildings like the Burj Khalifa, and broadcasts the opening ceremonies of such buildings live to the entire world. This is all a result of the revolution initiated by Gog and Magog, leading to supremacy and power across the globe. If any group has dominated the world with their power and conquered it, it is the descendants of Gog and Magog.
These nations have, on one hand, elevated civilization and culture to their zenith through advancements in scientific and social sciences, and on the other hand, this scientific revolution has led to significant moral and environmental corruption. We will detail this moral corruption, and the environmental corruption will be discussed in its context.
Moral deviations and the corruption of the modern era
In human history, four types of moral deviations have always caused great corruption in collective human life: polytheism, sexual deviance, economic injustice, and unjust killing. From the era of Prophet Abraham to the time of Prophet Moses, peace be upon them, the Holy Quran mentions four nations that fell into such grave sins. Prophet Abraham’s own people were deeply involved in the worst form of polytheism; during his time, polytheism had spread throughout the civilized world, leading to the destruction of Abraham’s nation. Prophet Lot’s people, who were Abraham’s nephew’s community, indulged in the worst form of sexual deviance, i.e., homosexuality, resulting in their destruction for this crime. Among the descendants of Abraham was Prophet Shuaib, whose people lived at the junction of a great ancient trade route and would cheat passing caravans by tampering with the weights. During the time of Prophet Moses, Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites and treated them harshly. His tyranny included the decree twice to kill every newborn Israelite boy, representing the ultimate extent of oppression, barbarism, and unjust killing.
To guide humanity out of this situation and to always present the straight path as a practical example before them, God decided to raise an entire nation from the descendants of Prophet Abraham. The purpose of the angels’ visit to Prophet Abraham was to give him the glad tidings of Prophet Isaac and Prophet Jacob, which was essentially the news of the foundation of a nation. Prophet Abraham settled his son Isaac and grandson Jacob in Palestine. During the time of Prophet Joseph, Jacob’s son, they moved to Egypt and over approximately five centuries, they became a full-fledged nation. Through Prophet Moses, this nation was liberated from the slavery of the Pharaoh of Egypt and served as a model for guidance in the world for nearly one and a half thousand years. Periods of misguidance befell on this nation intermittently, but God’s prophets in every era called them back to the right path. However, by the time of Prophet Jesus, their misguidance had increased so much that they became irreformable as a nation. Consequently, they were relieved of their leadership role and subjected to a state of subjugation until the Day of Judgment.
After that, for nearly five centuries, the followers of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) continued this service. Then, God raised the last Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him), from the descendants of Ishmael, the elder son of Abraham, in the land of Arabia. For the past 1500 years, the message of truth and righteousness has been conveyed to the world through his community. This spans approximately three and a half thousand years during which God took extraordinary steps to guide humanity. Prophets and messengers, their scriptures, communities, and laws—everything was used for guidance. However, in the last 200 years, under the leadership of Gog and Magog, humanity has cast away its entire spiritual and faithful journey. For the first time in human history, a step beyond polytheism was taken by denying the existence of God and the Day of Judgment. The denial of religion became prevalent in the world as a philosophical background and practical pursuit for the first time. It was also the first time that, for almost half a century, a great state, namely the Soviet Union, opposed the existence of God and worship of Him in the form of communism.
During this era, the sanctity of God, along with the sanctity of human life, was violated to an incomparable extent. The wars of the industrial age caused chaos in the world unlike anything seen in history before. Humans developed weapons that were killing machines designed to erase entire cities from existence. Millions of people were killed in just the two World Wars, a toll unprecedented in human history. Since then, continuous large and small wars have used these lethal machines, resulting in millions more being killed or disabled.
In this era, humanity has shattered all records in terms of sexual deviance. Obscenity, nudity, and fornication have always existed in human societies, but it was only in the modern era that these became a lifestyle. The widespread acceptance of nudity, obscenity, and fornication in this era is unparalleled in history. Magazines, newspapers, cinema, television, photography, fashion, and the internet have unleashed a flood of nudity and obscenity that has entered every home. Moreover, globally, the actions associated with the people of Lot, which refer to homosexuality, have now been accepted in much of the civilized world.
In the realm of economic injustice and oppression, the modern world, through its capitalist system, was at the forefront. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the communist revolution in the Soviet Union imposed some checks on the capitalist system, and the interest-based capitalist system was somewhat controlled. Yet, the defeat of communism turned capitalism into an unrestrained force. In the coming years, this force, through globalization, the monopoly of multinational companies, and the capitalist mindset, will exploit the poor and vulnerable to an extent that will make past stories of exploitation seem forgettable. The specter of interest, the expanding population, scarcity of resources, the use of food as fuel, and the issue of water scarcity will in the coming days further constrict the lives of ordinary people. Capitalists, the powerful, and the usurers will initiate a new era of oppression on humanity.
Along with this moral corruption, Gog and Magog have also created environmental havoc. Scientists worldwide are declaring global warming a significant threat in the coming days. However, the capitalists responsible for this, continue their policies unchecked due to their economic and political power. As a result, it appears that in the next century, the earth will no longer be habitable for humans.
The negligence of the Muslim Community
This was a period when the Muslim Community could have been expected to rise for the guidance of humanity and lead it towards the straight path outlined by the Holy Quran. To achieve this, Allah specially supported Muslims. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the entire Islamic world was enslaved by Western powers, but Allah created circumstances that led to the freedom of Muslims worldwide within half a century. Apart from saving them from political slavery, Allah also liberated them from economic slavery. The oceans of petroleum made the scattered Muslims a necessity for the world. Politically and economically free, these Muslims were located in the heart of the world – in North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia, making them geographically well-placed to reach non-Muslims worldwide.
Above all, Allah bestowed a special grace by providing Muslims with a period of peace from international conflicts, allowing for internal development. This period enabled Muslims to benefit from the rivalry between Russia and the West, focusing on moral reform and fighting against poverty and ignorance. Externally, Allah made preaching the religion easier by two special arrangements: Firstly, the field of science, which was opposed to religion and God until the nineteenth century, began to unveil discoveries at the start of the twentieth century that were either in accordance with religious beliefs or at least not against them. For the first time in the scientific era, religion became an intellectually and logically acceptable theory. Secondly, the devastation of the two World Wars also made it clear to human societies that ignoring religion and ethics and trying to solve life’s problems solely based on science is far-fetched; this attitude was even endangering human survival. Thus, the path for the public acceptance of religion was smoothed, and a return to religion began worldwide.
These were the ideal opportunities that made it easier than ever in human history to deliver the message of the true religion to the world. Unfortunately, Muslim leadership wasted all these opportunities. Politics became so dominant in their minds that they first fought with the rulers of their own countries, then it was the turn of the Soviet Union, and now they are confronting the West. This approach, focused on invitation and guidance versus aspirations for political dominance, is exactly the attitude that led to the downfall of the Israelites; first under Nebuchadnezzar and then under Titus of Rome, they faced divine wrath and were eventually stripped of their leadership role. The recent history of Muslims, the behavior of their intellectual and religious leadership, and the public’s blind following clearly show that instead of learning from the Israelites, they have decided to follow in their footsteps.
The decisive communication of the true faith and its practitioners
This is the detailed background in which humanity is entering into the last of the journey of life and the end of humanity is near. However, before the end of the this journey, one task is still to be done, i.e. the decisive communication of the righteous religion. Unfortunately, Muslim leadership lost most of these opportunities over the last century, failing to utilize the blessings bestowed upon them. Now, it depends on Allah’s wisdom whether He chooses a small group of Muslims or grants guidance to some non-Muslims to carry out the final duty of complete guidance and communication. After this task is accomplished, humanity will have to decide whether to submit to God or continue pursuing a worldly life as their ultimate goal, choosing between faith & morals or oppression & corruption. If humanity chooses the former, they may be granted more respite; otherwise, human history may conclude, giving way to a new world free from injustice and oppression.
For this purpose of communicating the true faith, Allah has made special arrangements, such as the advent of the Information Age, which enables even a few individuals to perform the duty of communicating the true faith, a task that was previously the collective responsibility of an entire Community for over three and a half thousand years. Moreover, the obscurities and rigid imitations that clouded the fundamental teachings of faith, morality, and divine law brought by the Arabic Prophet during the period of decline have been removed. Today, the religion is present in its pure form, devoid of any adulteration and with its full argument. Scholars who can articulate the invitation of the Holy Quran and the guidance of the Arabic Prophet beyond sectarian biases have emerged.
One last thing
For humans, the life of this world and its problems have always been of fundamental importance. Home, children, marriage, career, love and romance, poverty, and illness have always been causes of happiness and sorrow in every era. However, according to the Creator and Sustainer of this world, the coming world and its joys and sorrows hold more importance than this world. Allah’s last messenger, Prophet Muhammad, and His last book, the Holy Quran, especially focus on warning people about the Day of Judgment and the world that will be established after it. Warning people about the Day of Judgment in the presence of the Lord of the Worlds is one of the primary objectives of prophethood. Accordingly, in many places in the Holy Quran, the attribute of ‘Warner’ is mentioned for the Messenger of Allah, generally translated as ‘one who scares’. However, in the context used in the Holy Quran, it means to warn about a very important reality, not to scare about something terrifying. My purpose in discussing the details related to the Day of Judgment in this article is not to create fear and depression among people, but to inform them that the world for which people have forgotten Allah and His presence will be destroyed, and with it, a new world will begin where real and eternal life will start.
This new world will be the ultimate in terms of blessings and punishment. From the aspect of blessings, this world will be free from all flaws and weaknesses. It will be an eternal world where every problem of life for good people will be solved, and there will be no old age, illness, disability, need, poverty, despair, depression, sorrow, or trouble. Youth, health, strength, honor, beautiful sustenance, and abundance of blessings will be the reward for these people of faith. On the other hand, the life of those who disobey Allah will be devoid of all kinds of happiness and full of sorrow and pain. They will have to endure punishment, moment by moment, according to their sins. They will realize that the past world for which they forgot their Lord was nothing but deception and illusion. For the sake of this deception, they chose eternal loss.
But before this eternal blessing and punishment, we all have one last chance to decide. Humanity has to make a final decision, and each of us has to make a final decision too. Hereafter or this world, invitation or hatred, worshiping God or self-indulgence, following the Messenger or sectarianism, emotions and prejudices or knowledge and invitation. The decision we make will determine our eternal future. This is a great opportunity to stand with God and truth now, meaning that the honor that the companions of the Prophet at the end of times received will be given to this small group of his Community. The end of the world has begun, and we should all prepare for it. We all have to make a decision because the Day of Judgment has not been established yet, and death has not come yet, but death is coming soon, for every individual and for all of humanity. This death of humanity is the Day of Judgment.