ISLAMOPHOBIA: WHAT IS IN A NAME?

Islamophobia: What Is in a Name?
Analysis of US Press Coverage of the Term after 9/11
By Eid Mohamed

In this in-depth study, the author traces the multifaceted definitions given to a term that has been increasingly employed after 9/11, that is : “ Islamophobia” He offers a reading through a number of U.S newspapers headlines before and after the magnanimous event that rocked the world back in September 2001. He concludes that even though the term Islamophobia was used so commonly in the U.S press after 9/11 , it became ambiguous because it is defined in a number of meanings.

Introduction

Coined in Great Britain a decade ago, the neologism Islamophobia appeared in 1996 by the self-proclaimed Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia. The word literally means undue fear from Islam. However, it is used to mean prejudice against Muslims. It joins more than 500 other phobias spanning virtually every aspect of life.

The term has achieved a degree of linguistic and political acceptance to the point that the secretary-general of the United Nations presided over a December 2004 conference entitled "Confronting Islamophobia." Also, in May 2005, a Council of Europe summit condemned Islamophobia. (Pipes,”Islamophobia?”).

The American media and the media of many other Western countries always tend to link Islam and Muslims in general with the 9/11 attacks. This was the time when a number of terrorists hijacked some American airplanes from airports and used them to attack the Pentagon and the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.

The World Trade Center is the symbol of America's economic supremacy, while the Pentagon stands for its military power. Islam and Muslims have been described by the U.S media as the source of terrorism, religious fanaticism, and cultural backwardness.

Moreover, some U.S politicians parrot the media and refer to the same picture of Islam and Muslims. This was extremely evident when former US president George W. Bush used the term crusade to describe his "war on terrorism," recalling the famous wars waged by the West against Arabs and Muslims in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. Meanwhile, Muslims are being asked to reform their educational programs so that they may be kept at a distance from radical Islam.

In the U.S, this wave of fear and hatred against Islam and Muslims is defined by the term Islamophobia, which was initiated in Europe in the 1990s. The term was rarely mentioned in US newspapers before 9/11. However, it became increasingly common soon thereafter.

The term was rarely mentioned in US newspapers before 9/11. However, it became increasingly common soon thereafter.

For example, a Lexis -Nexis search in US newspapers before 9/11 yields 41 stories in which the term is mentioned (see Table 1). Within three months after 9/11, the term was mentioned in only 12 stories in US newspapers. From September 11, 2001, to September 11, 2002, the term recurred in 35 stories. Then, from September 11, 2002, to September 11, 2003, it appeared in 22 articles.

Surprisingly, thereafter came a wave of increase in the use of the term. From September 11, 2003, to September 11, 2004, the term was mentioned in 44 stories. This number increased in the following year to 82 occurrences. The rise continued: In the period between September 11, 2005, and September 11, 2006, the term appeared in 117 articles. In the following year, the number increased and reached211 occurrences.

Thus, since September 11, 2001, and up until now, stories mentioning the term in popular US newspapers continue to increase.

Table 1. US Newspapers that mentioned the term Islamophobia before 9/11

Number of articles
1 The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
1 Atlanta Journal and Constitution
4 The Boston Globe
3 Chicago Sun-Times
1 The Christian Science Monitor
3 Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City )
1 Investor's Business Daily
1 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel New York Post
1 The New York Times
1 New Times, Inc. Publications
1 News & Record (Greensboro, North Carolina)
1 Plain Dealer
2 Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina)
1 San Jose Mercury News (California)
1 The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey
1 St. Petersburg Times
5 University Wire
2 USA Today
1 The Washington Post
3 Washington Times
6 Washington Post
41 Total

The objective of this research is to trace the meaning of Islamophobiain US press coverage since 9/11 and to throw light on the unsteady meaning of the term and its multifaceted connotations. The paper addresses one decisive question that needs to be answered: What are the multifarious uses of Islamophobia in US newspapers after 9/11?

A study of the usage of the term in US newspapers after 9/11 indicates the extent to which the term had an occasionally changeable meaning during the last few years. People are still confused about Islamophobia as a term and about its existence or inexistence in real life.

What is expressed in US newspapers is but a reflection of the ambiguity of the term, about which long discussions have taken place in US media. Sometimes, the term seems to be a hat rack on which people hang their political inclinations and hidden agendas. Other times, the term proves to have a verifiable existence.

This study endeavors to follow the analytical approach as a method of research so that the nature and background of Islamophobiacan be revealed and the main tenets shared by the different definitions of this term in US newspapers can be rendered and compared.

Furthermore, the comparative approach will be used to verify the validity of the arguments about Islamophobia and check whether the concept is a myth or reality. Through analyzing the US press coverage of Islamophobia, three different meanings of the term can be identified:

1.Islamophobia denotes speech and behavior that are derogatory to all Muslims and Arabs. In this sense, Islamophobia is a horrible disease that needs to be diagnosed and treated.

2. Islamophobia is the fear of "Muslim and Arab terrorists." Such fear is exemplified in the traumatic attacks of 9/11 and other horrible attacks in different areas of the world in which Muslims and Arabs were allegedly involved. This usage makes the term seen in the right place. The users of the term confine it to the doers of these murderous attacks, and they require Muslims and Arabs to better introduce themselves and their religion to the Western societies so that this phobia can be eliminated.)

3. Islamophobia is a myth or invention that is used by Muslims and Arabs in defense of themselves and their religion against any kind of criticism. In this usage, the term stands as an illegitimate shield against legitimate action and speech. The term itself turns into a threat to the US, as this usage of the termmakes use of people's agitation toward any discrimination based on religious belief or ethnicity. The term is seen by some as no more than a method of deception or a trick that is used to draw people's attention to a buzzwordthat hides illegal content.

One of the challenges that face the study of using the term Islamophobia in US newspapers is that identifying what each article is trying to prove requires a detailed analysis of a large number of articles so that valid conclusions can be reached.

In fact, since 9/11, a corpus of 556 stories about the term was written in US newspapers. Thus, the research method sought allows one to gain an overview of a wide-ranging corpus. This can be achieved through the method of search available at LexisNexis, which provides articles with the term Islamophobia in headlinesand lead paragraphs.

This method of search — which produces 93 articles published between September 11, 2001, and December 5, 2007 — guarantees a considerably wide audience, especially those readers who quickly scan the headlines and lead paragraphs rather than read the whole articles (see Table 2).

These 93 articles are classified according to the aforementioned meanings of Islamophobia. All these articles were carefully studied, but a detailed analysis of representative ones can reveal the evolution in the prominence given to the term over time and highlight the changing connotations of the term.

The importance of this paper lies in proposing different interpretations of Islamophobiaas a term and in showing the contradicting nature of some of these interpretations.

Table 2. Newspaper articles on Islamophobia used for this study
Number of articles
1 Ann Arbor News (Michigan)
4 Atlanta Journal and Constitution
1 The Boston Globe
2 Chattanooga Times Free Press
2 The Christian Science Monitor
1 Los Angeles Daily News
2 Daily News (New York)
3 Daily Variety
3 Forward
2 Houston Chronicle
2 Investor's Business Daily
1 McClatchy-Tribune Business News
1 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
4 Mobile Register (Alabama)
7 The New York Sun
1 The New York Times
1 The News and Observer
1 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
1 Pittsburgh Tribune Review
1 Philadelphia Inquirer
1 Plain Dealer
3 Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)
1 Press Enterprise
1 San Diego Union-Tribune
1 Seattle Times
1 South Bend Tribune
3 St. Petersburg Times
13 Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia)
3 University Wire
3 Wall Street Journal
9 Abstracts The WashingtonPost
9 WashingtonTimes
93 Total

Islamophobia: Anti-Muslim Racism

Soon after the fatal attacks of 9/11, the Americans began to ask questions about the "unknown" enemies called Muslims and Arabs. They turned to media to find answers to their questions. The answers were given by analysts and reporters who have little or no knowledge of the Muslim and Arab history, culture, and values. Also, some politicians tend to exploit the public's fear and anger for their own political agendas.

Televangelist Pat Robertson said that Muslims were worse than Nazis. Televangelist Jerry Falwell described Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as a "terrorist," while Preacher Jerry Vines described him as a "demon-obsessed pedophile" (Pintak, Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas).

Ann Coulter, one of America's most controversial commentators, wrote in a column published on September 13, 2001 (and was quickly quoted around the world), "We should invade [Muslim] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity" (Pintak, Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas).
Ann Coulter, one of America 's most controversial commentators, wrote in a column published on September 13, 2001 (and was quickly quoted around the world), "We should invade [Muslim] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity"

Although millions of Muslims worldwide have denounced and condemned the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the image of Arabs and Muslims has been growingly tarnished after 9/11. A 2006 pollconducted by ABC News and Washington Post showed that almost half of all Americans expressed an unfavorable opinion of Muslims and Arabs: 45 percent think Islam does not teach respect for the beliefs of non-Muslims; nearly 6 in 10 think Islam is prone to violence (ABC News).

On September 8, 2001, the United Nations World Conference Against Racism issued the following statement: "We also recognize with deep concern the increase in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in various parts of the world, as well as the emergence of racial and violent movements based on racism and discriminatory ideas against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities" (Neuffer, “ UN Conference Agrees on a Plan to Fight Racism”).

Thus, the conference concluded that there is a connection between the terms anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, on one hand, and the term racism, on the other. In this sense, the two terms transcend the limited meaning of hating a certain Jewish, Muslim, or Arab group into hating all Jews, Muslims, and Arabs. This confession by the United Nations that there is something alive called Islamophobia is not isolated from real life. Stories abound in US newspapers regarding Islamophobia as a phenomenon in the American society.

In fact, the term Islmophobia existed before 9/11, but the murderous attacks of 9/11 made it more visible as if it were newly coined in the US. According to the "Today's Quote" column in the Houston Chronicle, during a daylong UN seminar on Islamophobia, the following statement was given by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan:

When a new word enters the language, it is often the result of a scientific advance or a diverting fad. But when the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry, that is a sad and troubling development. Such is the case with Islamophobia.(Annan, The Houston Chronicle)

Of course, after 9/11, Islamophobia became a hot issue on most US news channels; however, even before 9/11, the issue of Islamophobia was present on these channels.

The pre-9/11 Islamophobia phenomenon is evident in a statistic published in the U.S. Newswire on August 22, 2001:

According to a national report released today by a prominent national Islamic advocacy group, incidents of anti-Muslim discrimination rose 15 percent in the past year. That report, titled "Accommodating Diversity" and published by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), details more than 360 incidents and experiences of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination, stereotyping, bias, and harassment. (US Newswire, August 22, 2001)

The report relates incidents, "many of which involved denial of religious accommodation in the workplace (48 percent) or schools (15 percent), included thirty Muslim employees in Minnesota who walked off the job because they were denied the right to pray, a correctional officer in New York who was denied the right to wear a beard, a woman in Illinois who was fired for wearing a religiously mandated headscarf, Muslim students in Virginia who were told they could no longer hold obligatory Friday prayers in school, and even a shotgun attack on a mosque in Tennessee that left one worshiper wounded" (US Newswire, August 22, 2001).

The events of 9/11 and the rhetoric accompanying the US-led "War on Terror" have heightened anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments, giving credence to confrontational theories, such as Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations." It is not strange that the term Islamophobia recurs in US newspapers in the post-9/11 era more than it does in the newspapers of any other Western country.

It is evident that"Anti-Islamic sentiment in the country swelled in the aftermath of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001" (Gunderson, “Lectures Target Islamophobia”). This swell of hatred is due to the horrible events that were connected with Islam and Muslims.

In the Houston Chronicle, Melanie Markley wrote an article entitled "Condemning 'Islamophobia': Recent Attacks Raise Fears of New Rash of Crimes Against Muslims." Markley stated, "Last week's attempted firebombing of an Islamic center in El Paso represents the latest in a renewed rash of hate crimes against Muslims in Texas,' the director of Houston's Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday" (Markley,”Condemning Islamophobia: Recent Attacks Rise Fears of New Rash of Crimes Against Muslims”)

In a letter to the editor of Herald News (Passaic County, New Jersey), a Muslim American wrote,

Muslims frequently have to deal with people using terms such as "radical Islamists," "Islamofascism," "Islamic fanatics," etc. As a Muslim who has grown up in Muslim countries, these terms hold no meaning for me, but I recognize that they work to promote a fear of Islam and Muslims among our fellow Americans.

Due to 9/11 attacks, fear accompanied or followed by hatred of all Muslims/Arabs became common in American society. All Muslims/Arabs are now associated with "terrorism," "violence," "radicalism," "Islamism," and "Al-Qaeda."

The "radicalism" and "fanaticism" frequently referred to are not a function or product of Islam and therefore should not be associated with Islam. True, there may be Muslims, Christians, or Jews who commit violent acts in the name of their religions, but it is important to note that their religions do not condone these acts of violence. (Letters to the Editor, Herald News, September 15, 2007)

Here, we notice the explanation of the phenomenon as a phobia, where fear of a few is represented as fear held by all. Islamophobia is criticized by this Muslim American because it is a term that should be used in describing terrorists, radicals, and fanatics, not all Muslims and all Arabs. The writer believes that this phobia is unjustified if it is a feeling toward a whole race or a certain ethno-religious group.

In Confronting Islamophobia in Educational Practice, a book edited by Barry van Driel, Lorraine Sheridan indicates that interest in knowing Islam and Muslims increased after 9/11 "but did not always lead to greater understanding or acceptance of Islam and Muslims" (Driel164).

Sheridanconnects the lack of understanding Islam and accepting Muslims with the increase in the number of hate crimes against Muslims in the West, especially after 9/11. Sheridan adds that in the 9/11 attacks, "Islam went from anonymous to terrorist" (Gunderson “Lectures Target Islamophobia”).

The writer states that the FBI records indicate that "hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims in the US increased by 1,700 percent in 2001." The book indicates that the increase in hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs is built on Islamophobic attitudes toward this race and this religion. The book lays much emphasis on the importance of education in the process of confronting this violent wave of Islamophobia.

What is proposed in this book leads us to observe the mix between Muslims and Arabs in the way the term Islamophobia is used. This usage of the term regards all Arabs as Muslims and makes all of them subject to the same post-9/11 hate crimes.

Muslim Arabs make up only 15 percent of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. The biggest numbers of Muslims are found in Indonesia, India, Pakistan Bangladesh, Malaysia, China, Iran, Nigeria, and Turkey, and none of these countries is anArab country. For example,Indonesia alone has Muslims more than those living in the entire Arab World.

This invites us to study the term, not only from a religious perspective but also from a racial one. There is a general trend that views all Muslims as belonging to a single race and that regards their political goals as one and the same.

In an article published in the Monitor (McAllen, Texas), while discussing French president Nicolas Sarkozy's expected policy on immigration, the writer stated,

The most intriguing issues are immigration and policy in the greater Middle East [all Arab nations, Iran, Turkey and Israel], … traditional ties with the Arab World, historically tangled relations with Israel, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, claims to a special role in Mideastern settlement, a search for a place in the world arena and one's own identity, and the impact of the domestic political and socio-demographic situation on foreign policy, is this about Russia or France? (Belenkaya, "Sarkozy's Conundrum")

Again, Islamophobia is linked to the Middle East and the Arab World. This is affirmed in the same story:

A number of Muslim countries are wary about Sarkozy's Islamophobic image, all the more so considering his Jewish roots and "friendship with Israel."

This link between "Sarkozy’s Islamophobic image" and his "friendship with Israel" while the struggle in the Middle East is frequently called the Arab-Israeli conflict (not the Islamic-Israeli conflict) asserts the fact that Arabs and Muslims are always perceived as identical.

The way the link between race and religion is obvious in US newspapers after 9/11 calls attention to some voices that equate Islamophobia with racism. Dr. Abduljalil Sajid, chairman of the Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony, UK, refers to this in his article "Islamophobia: A New Word for an Old Fear." He stated that Islamophobia is "a new form of racism."

It is worth noting that the primary sources of US newspapers used in this study regard Muslims and Arabs everywhere as essentially the same. Race and religion are interwoven with each other in the term Islamophobia.

It is worth noting that the primary sources of US newspapers used in this study regard Muslims and Arabs everywhere as essentially the same. Race and religion are interwoven with each other in the term Islamophobia.

In a Philadelphia Inquirer article, the following stereotypes were mentioned among other post-9/11 ones:

Muslim equals Arab equals "unscrupulous pathological fanatic or terrorist with primitive motives," especially post-9/11.

These stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims "continue to be fueled by Hollywood images, media clichés, and just plain ignorance. They include the three B's: bomber, belly dancer, billionaire."

This was also evident in what was published by the Washington Post about fliers that appeared all over the campus of George Washington University: "Campus police moved quickly to remove the fliers, university leaders began investigating how they got there and student groups met last night to deplore the posters, which had a photo of an Arab and description of 'typical Muslim' features such as 'suicide vest,' 'hidden AK-47' and "peg-leg for smuggling children and heroin'"

In the poster shown below, it is evident that Muslim and Arab are regarded as being the same.

This takes us to what can be called political culture (i.e. introducing political views into the cultural arena). In fact, the last few decades of the relationship between the West and the Middle East were governed by such kinds of politics-oriented cultural themes. It is evident that no line of demarcation is drawn between what is political and what represents peoples' cultures. Politics muddies the cultural atmosphere.

That is why we find terms like Islamophobia becoming an ambiguous combination of contradictory meanings. Media again heavily contribute to shaping unsettled cultural views on such terms by introducing so many interpretations of the same term with respect to a vast array of disparate incidents.

Actually, this problem of US press coverage has been addressed in certain panel discussions in which some Muslim scholars repeatedly referred to the misuse of certain terms of the Islamic culture. This misuse results in conveying negative meanings to the American reader.

For example, in the University Wire, Aminah McCloud, professor of Islamic World studies at DePaul University, focused on "how the misuse of language has led to misunderstandings of Islam.” Jihad, for example, traditionally refers to personal struggle with temptation and desire but has come to be associated solely with holy war" (The University Wire, October 25, 2007).

It is through the use of such terms that ambiguous definitions also became attached to even non-Muslims, often cobbling up many races and cultures under the term Islamophobia.

Phobia is always connected with the "unknown" or the "unseen." In promoting this kind of Islamophobia, some news channels tend to make the term seem as if it were made up of a collection of different things, the combination of which is a phobia in itself.

It is generally accepted that phobias arise from a combination of external events and internal predispositions. It is also believed that genetics, brain chemistry, and lifeexperiences combine to play a major role in the development of anxiety, disorder, and phobia.

Hence, we can say that Islamophobia is not the outcome of the late 20th century; on the contrary, it has something to do with the relation between the East and the West throughout history. Islam is always connected with the Arab World, which is an area of interest in the Middle East.

To the Western peoples, Islam and the Arab World are almost the same, so this kind of phobia has always been there in the Western heritage. It passed from one generation to another.

Before 9/11, the term was connected to the struggle between the Arabs and Israel. Moreover, before the 20th century, this kind of distrust and mutual fear between the East and the West was there since the Crusades. This leads us to the second meaning of Islamophobia in US newspapers:Islamophobia is fear.

Islamophobia: Fear of "Muslim or Arab Terrorists"

The term Islamophobia cannot be extricated from its origin: Islam and phobia. The word Islam refers to the religion founded in the Arabian Peninsula more than 1,400 years ago. The Arabic word islam is derived from the root salem, which means to be in peace, and salam, which means to surrender. So, the word islam means peace and surrender.

Islam as a religion refers to both meanings at the same time: It means surrendering oneself to Allah's will, and thus enjoying the peace of mind and soul. The suffix phobia usually means fear, but in the term Islamophobia, its use is similar to its appearance in homophobia, where prejudice or hate are more precise usages than just fear.

In the Plain Dealer, Kevin O'Brien wrote an article entitled "'Islamophobia' Is a Smoke Screen." He stated, "It's nonsense to imply that Americans fear everything about Islam. What Americans fear, when they give Islam any thought at all, is the segment of it that uses violence to promote its agenda — nor are Americans enthralled with the agenda itself. Ohio may not want casinos, but it doesn't want Sharia law, a state religion or a governor who issues a daily fatwa, either."

O'Brien makes fear of Islam and Muslims connected not with Islam as a religion or with its adherents in general but with what is announced as part of Islam by the so-called Muslim terrorists in their promoting of violence and terror. The segment of Islam to which O'Brien refers remains the source of this phobia about Islam.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer, Gloria Gelman stated, "Islam should be feared because it is an oppressive and aggressive religion. It exerts control over people through bondage and fear, and does not permit individuals to think for themselves."

The unknown is always unjustly judged. Unfortunately, Islam is taken from the mouths of terrorists' rifles. It is to be noted that this article regards fear as connected with Islam as a religion rather than with the people who follow Islam.

But, why at this time of the late twentieth century that people in the West started to fear Islam and dreadfully look to Muslims? Islam has existed for more than 1,400 years during which there have been so many clashes between the Islamic World and the West, yet the term Islamophobia has never been there. Even during the Crusades, the aim announced by the West was to rescue the Christians and recover the Holy Land from Arabs and Muslims, but again the aim was not called Islamophobia.

It is also so strange that the term, which dates back to the early 1990s, appeared after the West (the US and its allies) had become the ultimate and only global power after the breakdown of the Soviet Union. Here, we should refer to something that backs up the supremacy of the West: The increase in numbers of Muslims in the West.

Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in most European countries, as well as the US. This kind of fear is expressed in the US press by former Republican congressman Virgil H. Goode. In St. Petersburg Times, he stated, "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped" (Maxwell, "Religious Intolerance Is Un-American").

Goode fears the cultural bombs that might "destroy the American values and traditions," which is why he calls for closing the US borders to prevent those Muslims or Arabs from stepping with their cultural goods into US soil. This is a strange proposal from a US politician. In fact, he needs to remember that the US is a multicultural nation and that multiculturalism is part and parcel of the US identity. Fear does not always come from rifles and bombs; sometimes it comes from cultures and thoughts.

So, why fear from Islam in particular? Goode went on to say, "The Ten Commandments and 'In God We Trust' are on the wall of my office. A Muslim student came by my office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, 'As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, the Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office" (Maxwell, "Religious Intolerance Is Un-American").

Thus, it is evident that fear does not always come from rifles and bombs; sometimes it comes from cultures and thoughts. In a book published in 1999, John L. Esposito indicated that with "the breakup of the Soviet empire, Islam constitutes the most pervasive and powerful force in the world …. It has been all too tempting to identify another global ideological menace to fill the 'threat vacuum' created by the demise of communism." (Esposito, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?).

While the term Islamophobia was used before 9/11 to refer to fear from Islam, it is now used to refer to hatred toward Islam and Muslims.
This book, which appeared before 9/11, discusses whether the so-called Islamic threat is real. A thorough reading of the book left one convinced that such a threat is nothing but a myth. However, the unprecedented traumatic attacks of 9/11 have made so many Americans doubt Esposito's views. This implies that post-9/11 Islamophobia has donned a new cloak that misunderstands Islam and refuses to accept Muslims.

The importance of referring to this new meaning of Islamophobia emanates from the importance of realizing that 9/11 has initiated a new way of looking at things and a new way of chronicling terms and concepts. While the term Islamophobia was used before 9/11 to refer to fear from Islam, it is now used to refer to hatred toward Islam and Muslims. Whereas some may have thought before 9/11 that Islamophobia was illogical and inexcusable, the situation is different after 9/11. Now, these feelings of fear and, most of the time, hatred are justified after the traumatic attacks of 9/11.

Esposito wrote his book and defended his viewpoint regarding the unjustified fear from the "Islamic threat" because there were no attacks like those of 9/11. After these attacks, many people turned to books going in the other direction and predicting a clash of civilizations and an inevitable war between the West and the East.

In the Washington Times, Tony Blankley wrote, "Of course Islamophobia is a repulsive mentality — suggestive of old-fashioned hate of others. But, as Denmark's leading Islamic scholar Jacob Skovgaard-Peterson explained in 2004, there is a different and growing phobia, which he named 'Islamistphobia.' This is not an atavistic hatred of another man's skin or faith or last name but is instead the fear of the ideas and conduct of radical Muslims" (Blankley, "Islamistphobia-Phobia — There Is More to Phobia Than Phobia Itself").

But we are not told by Skovgaard-Peterson or by Blankley about the criteria based on which a person can be called a radical Muslim. The term radical Islam might be used to refer to anything that is not Western. What Skovgaard-Peterson referred to as "the fear of the ideas and conduct of radical Muslims" can be applied to whatever looks different from the Western culture. Thus, what is referred to as "fear of radical Islam" by non-Muslims in the West is going to be termed Islamophobia by Muslims.

In the Washington Times, Diana West wrote, "Only one faith on earth may be more messianic than Islam: multiculturalism. Without it — without its fanatics who believe all civilizations are the same — the engine that projects Islam into the unprotected heart of Western civilization would stall and fail. It's as simple as that. To live among the believers — the multiculturalists — is to watch the assault, the jihad, take place unrepulsed [sic] by our suicidal societies. These societies are not doomed to submit; rather, they are eager to do so in the name of a masochistic brand of tolerance that, short of drastic measures, is surely terminal." (West, "Facing Hard Facts: Islam Is a Global Menace").

It is clear that the words of this writer are rife with the smell of conspiracy theories and Huntington's Clash of Civilizations. She refuses multiculturalism that will do nothing but produce terrorists and enemies. For her, it is better to prescribe one model and change the face of life "for those nations that lie back in ignorance and backward ideas."

Peoples can be different and can have a variety of cultures, including customs, ideas, etc. Nevertheless, no one culture is wrong. Each culture is correct according to its criteria.

This takes us back to what Blankley mentioned about "radical ideas and conduct." West solves the equation by calling for one culture that has the upper hand over other "uncivilized" cultures. She pays no heed to the fact that peoples' cultures cannot be totally imported because they are the product of human work and thought.

No one culture can claim the uncontested right to provide an ultimate recipe for any nation. Peoples can be different and can have a variety of cultures, including customs, ideas, etc. Nevertheless, no one culture is wrong. Each culture is correct according to its criteria. Thus, one can note the absence of this understanding in the interpretation of Islamophobia that adopts a monocultural approach.

In the New York Sun, Daniel Pipes wrote, "While prejudice against Muslims certainly exists, 'Islamophobia' deceptively conflates two distinct phenomena: fear of Islam and fear of radical Islam. I personally experience this problem: Despite writing again and again against radical Islam the ideology, not Islam the religion, I have been made the runner-up for a mock "Islamophobia Award" in Great Britain, deemed America's "leading Islamophobe," and even called an "Islamophobe Incarnate" (Pipes, "What I Really Am Is an "Islamism-ophobe").

Here, Pipes wants to say that he is being against what he calls radical Islam rather than being against Islam in general. But, again, how can one regard a certain part of Islam as radical and another part as not radical? There may be so many answers to this question, but none of them would be adequate. This is due to the fact that a question in the US or the West in general cannot be answered in the East, and vice versa.

The problem is that most of the issues raised against Islam may seem against the Western cultural agenda, but actually it is a matter of difference rather than opposition. What looks natural and normal in the West may not be accepted in the East. The differences in culture, environment, geography, etc. play an important role in shaping people's way of thinking and attitudes toward certain acts and phrases.

That is why one finds some Muslim scholars writing books that address Muslim minorities in the West. The religious jurisprudence in these books is totally different from what is actually applicable in Muslim countries. In these books, Muslim scholars take into consideration these cultural, geographical, and environmental differences and build their religious views upon them.

Thus, again, fearing radical Islam and calling it Islamism-phobia adopts a monocultural approach to what is proposed by Islam, thus adopting what is accepted by the Western mentality and refusing what is thought inferior because of it being non-Western.

In sum, Islamophobia as fear from radical Islam or fear from fanatic Muslims and Arabs is still an unsteady term that is subject to different interpretations according to various cultural backgrounds. This invites some to get rid of the term and claim that it has nothing to do with reality. This takes one to the third meaning of Islamophobia: Islamophobia is a myth.

Islamophobia as a Myth or Invention

In an essay entitled "The Islamophobia Myth," Kanan Malik doubted the existence of Islamophobia and wondered if the term does really exist. He stated, "But does Islamophobia really exist? Or is the hatred and abuse of Muslims being exaggerated to.

The mix between race, religion, and politics in the use of the term Islamophobia plays an important role in seeing the term as no more than an invention that serves a certain political agenda
suit politicians' needs and silence the critics of Islam? The trouble with Islamophobia is that it is an irrational concept. It confuses hatred of, and discrimination against, Muslims on the one hand with criticism of Islam on the other. The charge of 'Islamophobia' is all too often used not to highlight racism but to stifle criticism."

Here, Malik puts a new dimension to the term: Islamophobia is a way to counteract those who criticize Islam and Muslims. In this way, the term itself instills fear rather than reflects fear from something.
The mix between race, religion, and politics in the use of the term Islamophobia plays an important role in seeing the term as no more than an invention that serves a certain political agenda and threatens the US. This is evident in the 2006 crisis of the proposed operational transfer of six major US ports to a firm owned by the United Arab Emirates.

In one of its editorials, Grand Rapid Press declared, "It's one thing for feckless grievance-mongers on the Left to accuse Americans genuinely concerned about national security of Islamophobia. It's quite another for the Right to sink to such a level in accusing all good-faith critics of demagoguery."

The editor defends the rights of Americans to keep their land secure, even if this is going to be called Islamophobia. Here, we notice that the term is interpreted as a weapon used by some to menace the US security. It is very important to take into consideration the connotation that will be attached to the term when it is interpreted that way. It will be used to transfer a negative meaning and will be used as a threat, rather than a savior, to those who seek refuge in it.

Grand Rapid Press related that Conservative commentator Larry Kudlow had stated, "This whole brouhaha surrounding the Bush administration's green-light to a United Arab Emirates company slated to manage six major U.S. ports has nothing to do with protecting homeland security. Allow me to give it its proper name: Islamophobia."

Then the writer defends his stance: "The UAE is our 'friend,' we're told. To question that assertion, we are scolded, is to engage in reckless prejudice and life-threatening insult. Well, some friends are more equal than others. To trust a longtime, Western democracy more than an Arab newcomer with a mixed record on combating terror, international crime and Islamic extremism is not 'Islamophobia.' It's self-preservationism in a time of war."

The editor again fails to state the difference between his stance and Islamophobia. If he is against the Dubai Ports World port deal because of fear of those Arabs and Muslims, and if this is not Islamophobia, so what is it? The inability to learn from history lies behind this inefficient way of dealing with the term. Slavery was regarded as inhumane by some Afro-Americans and some Whites, while the majority on both sides believed it was not inhumane. Anti-Semitism was heeded only after the so many atrocities committed against Jews over decades. Thus, the reality of any conception is proved by the way peoples look back at its occurrence in history.

Away from the port deal, there came in the Investor's Business Daily a story entitled "Hyping Hate Crimes vs. Muslims." The writer stated, "Discrimination: New FBI data on hate crimes reveal Muslim groups are crying wolf about exploding anti-Muslim abuses. They're actually shrinking, belying claims of mass Islamophobia."

The story went on to cite official reports that assert that Islamophobia is nothing but a myth and that such hate crimes are no more than a part of the overall religious hate crimes in the US, which are not directed toward Muslims alone. The newspaper confirmed, "The FBI report gives lie to CAIR's [Council on American-Islamic Relations] alarmist narrative of 'Islamophobic' lynch mobs marching on mosques across America. In reality, Americans have been remarkably, and admirably, tolerant and respectful of Muslims and their institutions since 9/11."

The article concluded, "By crying wolf, CAIR shows it cares more about furthering its own political agenda than protecting ordinary Muslims. When real abuses occur, few Americans may pay attention. So CAIR is actually doing the Muslim community it claims to represent a disservice by hyping hate crimes. CAIR should spend more time condemning the real threat from Islamic terrorists, not American vigilantes."

This usage of the term Islamophobia can harm Muslims, as the term might lose its credibility when it is used to "hype hate crimes." The article ends with an invitation to CAIR to express its strong disapproval of any kind of terrorism committed under the name of Islam rather than direct its Islamophobia accusations toward those who advocate law and democracy in the US.

Islamophobia as a myth is thus the result of loss of credibility caused by incidents regarded as relating to the national security or by false accounts of hate crimes. Moreover, Islamophobia may in fact mean irrational fear of Muslims and Arabs, but the loss of this term's credibility, along with the absence of any attempt to correct the image of Arabs and Muslims in the eyes of Western people, may aggravate the situation and turn this mere fear to hatred and violent actions against this minority.

This is extremely evident in a story written by Caryn L. Kirkpatrick: "We are already in World War III, and many people in the West are still in denial. Terrorism is not by accident; it is part and parcel of the religion and culture of jihad, of the march to world domination that has been brewing for decades in the Islamic World."

Kirkpatrick went on to say, "Furthermore, we must be aware of the insidious ways Islamic extremists use our own system of democracy against us, how they are demanding equal rights in America's open system and immigration for one purpose and one purpose only: to make Islam a reality in America. Islamic extremists have perfected the art of playing games with the West by understanding Western weaknesses and taboos, effectively using buzzwords such as 'racist,' 'Islamophobia' and 'profiling.' Can the West win this war given today's attention to political correctness, our open and free society and nearly unfettered immigration from radical Muslim countries?" (Kirkpatrick, Birmingham News).

The writer of this article regards Islamophobia as part of a conspiracy perpetrated by Western Muslims in their attempt to win a war on their homelands for the sake of their religion. According to the writer, the purpose of Western Muslims is to "make Islam a reality in America," and so Islamophobia is nothing but a buzzword or an important-sounding word that is used to impress laypersons.

Again, the term loses its credibility when it is used monoculturally in a multicultural sphere. Which one is better? To accuse a certain film of being "Islamophobic" or to introduce my own cultural remarks on it? (Cieply, "Fluent in Two Languages: Studio and Independent") Which is better? To know the culture of the other or to attack him or her under the claim of "freedom of speech"?

"Freedom of speech is our most important right, forcing us to bounce ideas around in the sunlight. Most important of all, free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution is what makes everything possible …. Phobias, as in homophobia, Islamophobia and even Christophobia, have entered the canon of diagnoses. By linking criticism with a phobia, we deprive the speaker of his right to speak; by classifying him as having an emotional disorder, we deprive him of independent thinking" (The Virginian-Pilot, B11)

This is the way any phobia will be no more than a myth or an invention that serves to prevent others from practicing their legal right to criticize, analyze, and evaluate.

"The very real and universal fears in the wake of September 11, when zealous Muslims crashed several airliners to punish 'infidels,' are brushed aside. Metaphorical phobias are an appeal to self-censorship and demand limits on free speech. An accusation of Islamophobia restricts legitimate debate over what can be criticized. It obscures distinctions between intelligent observation and irrational prejudice."

Again the cultural dimension is missing in what is proposed in this article. Others' rights are part and parcel of one's freedom. An individual is free as long as he or she does not harm others with his or her speech or actions. The way others feel this harm depends on their cultures. What is sacred for some may not be the same for others.

Western societies feel the Islamic threat is coming from inside. In a book published in 2006, while handling the Australian case, the writer stated, "Call it Islamophobia or what you may, the West in general, and the Australians in particular, have already experienced a taste of 'real' Islam and they do not want an iota of it in their lives. The government is now very concerned about the threat, not from outside Australia but from inside Australia, from the very Islamists and their children whom the Australians have fed and clothed, and given the chance for a better life. Security has been increased and all sectors of the security services are now extra vigilant" (Shienbaum and Hasan, 185).

In fact, what applies to the Australian society also applies to the US. Islamophobia is the product of the increase of Muslims in Western societies, which, under the impact of media, became confident that the existence of Muslims in their countries constitutes a threat to their safety.

In the Washington Times, Larry Witham stated, "Advocacy efforts have put Muslims on the political map, secured religious liberties, discouraged media and corporate slighting of Islam, and included its religious symbols in national holidays." (Witham, "American Muslims a New Force").

Witham added, "Two weeks before Election Day, the American Muslim Political Coordination Council endorsed Texas Gov. George W. Bush and a post-election poll found 70 percent of Muslim voters took its advice." Witham continued, "Still, the continued claim that Muslims face 'Islamophobia' and 'discrimination and harassment' has prompted some critics to call it special pleading. Some critics say that American Muslims, while decrying discrimination against them in America, rarely scold Islamic governments in the Middle East for harsh discrimination against Christians and Jews."

Here, again, there is this link between politics and what Muslim Americans face in their country (i.e. the US). Moreover, again and again, US Muslims are made part of the Middle East rather than part of their homeland: the US. The fact that most Muslims are not Arabs is still absent from the scene.

The two terms Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are always juxtaposed in an attempt to prove the similarity or dissimilarity between them.
This missed fact contributes to making the myth of Islamophobia, because whatever Muslims and Arabs propose is taken out of its context. When they speak up for their rights as a minority in the US, they are reminded of the status of minorities in Middle Eastern countries. If they complain of Islamophobia, they are faced with the problems being experienced in the Middle East — a region which supposedly has nothing to do with their current status as US citizens.

It is like blaming Egypt's Copts for US policy in the Middle East. Egypt's Copts belong to Egypt, not to the US; they are not to be blamed for US policy in the Middle East. Furthermore, most of them do oppose US foreign policy in the region.

Conclusion

In conclusion, after 9/11, the term Islamophobia has become very common in the US press; however, the ambiguity of the term is evident in the different meanings it implies. The more people analyze and comment on the term the more the term becomes equivocal. It is so strange that there is Islamophobia and not anti-Islamitisim or anti-Muslim.

The two terms Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are always juxtaposed in an attempt to prove the similarity or dissimilarity between them. Let's conclude this article by getting close to each term through the linguistic microscope: the English dictionary.

If we compare the meanings of the prefix anti- and the suffix -phobia in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, respectively, we will find a difference in the implication of each term. For example, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, defines anti-Semitism as "hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group." This definition refers to the discrimination and hostility committed by anti-Semites against Jews.

On the other hand, Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Fifth Edition, defines Islamophobia as "hatred or fear of Islam or Muslims, esp. as a political force."

The difference in the meanings conferred by the prefix anti- and the suffix -phobia is evident. The word phobia refers to the overall feeling of those who feel endangered. The coiner of the term Islamophobia cared more about those who hate than about those who are hated, while the coiner of the term anti-Semitism paid more attention to the feelings of the sufferers.

In this way, it becomes important to take into consideration this linguistic dimension while juxtaposing the different interpretations of the term Islamophobia. It is this linguistic element that draws one's attention to the difference between the literal interpretation of the word Islamophobia as "illogical and abnormal fear of Islam" and the way the term is used to mean "discrimination against Muslims."

In comparing the terms Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, it is also important to note the religious and ethnic dimensions included in or excluded from the two terms. Anti-Semitism is used to refer to the political, social, and economic agitation and negative activities directed toward Jews. At the same time, the word Semite refers to the descendants of Shem (or Sam in Arabic). Thus, the term Semitism should have included the Arabs side by side with the Jews. But this was not the case; the Arabs are sometimes even accused of being anti-Semitic, which means they are accused of being "anti-Arab"!

On the other hand, the term Islamophobia is used to refer to hatred and fear of Muslims and Arabs (whether Muslims or non-Muslims). Here, one finds the term is going against its literal meaning.

Moreover, in the US press, one of the meanings of Islamophobia is a form of racism. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is "a belief or ideology that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another race or races."

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, defines racism as "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, and that it is also the prejudice based on such a belief."

In Macquarie Dictionary, racism is defined as "the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others."

In all these definitions, racism has something to do with one's race but not religion. This adds to the results of this research, which can be summarized by saying that the term Islamophobia remains torn among different readings that are also far away from the dictionary meaning of the term. The term, which is always monoculturally defined, needs a multicultural interpretation that is capable of absorbing the various dimensions of its meaning.

Sources

Anan, Kofi. "Today's Quote." The Houston Chronicle. 11 Dec. 2004.

Belenkaya, Marianna. "Sarkozy's Conundrum." The Monitor. 16 May 2007.

Blankley, Tony. "Islamistphobia-phobia; There Is More to Phobia Than Phobia
Itself." The Washington Times. 1 Mar. 2006.

Cieply, Michael. "Fluent in Two Languages: Studio and Independent." The New York Times. 8 Sep. 2007. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.

Cohen, Jon. "Poll: Americans Skeptical of Islam and Arabs. 9/11 Hardened Americans' Views of Muslims." ABC News. 8 Mar. 2006. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.

Esposito, John L. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? 3rd. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Gelman, Gloria. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 9 Nov. 2007.

Grand Rapid Press. 2 Mar. 2006.

Gunderson, Matt. "Lectures Target 'Islamophobia.'" The Boston Globe. 11 Oct. 2007.

"Hyping Hate Crimes vs. Muslims." Investor's Business Daily. 7 Dec. 2007.
Kirkpatrick, Caryn L. The Birmingham News. 10 Nov. 2007.

"Letters to the Editor." Herald News. 15 Sep. 2007.

Markley, Melanie. "Condemning 'Islamophobia': Recent Attacks Raise Fears of New Rash of Crimes Against Muslims." The Houston Chronicle. 21 Sep. 2004.

Maxwell, Bill. "Religious Intolerance Is Un-American." St. Petersburg Times. 31 Dec. 2006. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.

Neuffer, Elizabeth. "UN Conference Agrees on a Plan to Fight Racism." The Boston Globe . 9 Sep. 2001

O'Brien, Kevin. "Islamophobia Is a Smoke Screen." The Plain Dealer. 3 Oct. 2007.

"Peanut Butter and Free Speech" The Virginian-Pilot. 6 June 2007.

Pintak, Lawrence. Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas. London: Pluto Press, 2006.

Pipes, Daniel. "Islamophobia?" The New York Sun, 25 Oct. 2005.

Shienbaum, Kim and Jamal Hasan, eds. Beyond Jihad: Critical Voices From Inside Islam. Bethesda: Academica Press, LLC, 2006.

Van Driel, Barry, ed. Confronting Islamophobia in Educational Practice. Staffordshire: Trentham Books, 2004.

Witham, Larry. "American Muslims a New Force." The Washington Times. 28 Nov. 2000.


Eid Mohamed, a PhD Candidate in American Studies and International Affairs at George Washington University and an assistant lecturer at Faculty of Languages and Translation, Al-Azhar University. Eid can be reached at: eaam@gwmail.gwu.edu .

Add your comment

Showing 1 - 21 of total 21 messages


reagrding palestine
By yasir on 2009-11-09 17:19 (GMT)

is it not better to kill each & every jew...the simplest way to end their brutal occupation , which they have started in Palestine......this point should b noted that in last 8 years , only 23 jews have been killed in attack of hamas i. e extremist group of palestine liberation organization, while on other hand in december 2008, in the name of security of israel..more than 4 thousand people has been killed ans other thousands were njured. even the UN general secratery has to go thee , requesting brutal forces of us and israel, to end this ame of evil.....y more than 10 lakhs of people has been martyred in the name of disastering weapons in IRAQ. the countries such as iraq, afghanistan , has been moved to stone age..lakhs of people who has been martyred.. obviously , they wil b having millions of relatives...and who ever raises weapon against this injustice, wil b declared as a terrorist....

@Eris
By Well-wisher on 2009-09-30 09:10 (GMT)

As a critic I respect you. Criticism is a bitter pill which cures many diseases. What you say of Carbet Bombing, Bumber Bluster Bombing, Drone Attacks etc done by your well-wishers. Who bombed Hiroshima and Nagasakki killing Millions ? Yes, my friend, Muslims are violent towards aggressors. We are extremely sorry for it. If your well-wishers are ready to stop attacking Muslims, we are ready to stop our Defence one minute earlier. Kindly Open Your Eyes and Ears towards both East and West to analyse the events in the Globe. Thank You.

to Munir
By Eris on 2009-09-30 08:34 (GMT)

do you have problems with the critique of islam? why do you feel that it is necessary to delete islam criticising comments? plus to the "islamophobia" this term is an insult to every rational being. phobia means an irrational fear coming from innocent and innocuous things. I think taking into account the number of terrorist and violent acts, carried out by moslems over the whole world, it is very rational to fear islam as the hotbed of terrorism and war. so the "islamophobia" is very easy way to avoid any rational critique of islam, branding every critique as mentally instable person. so if moslems are using this strategy, they should not to wonder if they are treated as the members of a totalitarian cult...because this is exactly the way the communist treated their opponents..

"Ex-Muslim" likes to drink Red Wine and Blood of Muslims
By Sympathizer on 2009-09-27 11:05 (GMT)

When Muslims are killed by Carpet Bombing in Afghanistan... When they are shot in "encounters" in India.... When they are hanged in China.... When they are massacred in Gaza.... When they are imprisoned here and there.... If they sleep well...Enemies never call them Terrorists... But If they fight back, they are called "Terrorists" ... Why do they feel shame over it..?

Kooolyar77@hotmail.com
By Mazhar Abbas on 2009-09-25 08:06 (GMT)

It is our duty as Muslim to tell them the true spirit of Islam that Muslim are human being of the believe Love all the men kind i.e. how actually Islam spread. We r not against the humanity. Some misled peoples are in ever faith. Also its is our duty teach them the true teaching Islam. If this happened then no is afraid of Islam as well as Muslims.

EXTERMINATE MILITANT MUSLIMS
By EX MUSLIM on 2009-05-11 13:48 (GMT)

These militant muslim cunts prove that racism is embedded in their primitive pea brains.
militant muslims are the scum of the earth, you know something is wrong when these maggots managed to get kicked out of every country they've ever infected. Their pussified uneducated morons that are addicted to war and primitive behavior. United Nations got it right :
There is a great danger for world. That great danger is the militant muslim. Gentlemen , in whichever land the muslims have settled, they have depressed the moral level and lowered the degree of commercial honesty. They have created a State within a State, and when they are opposed, they attempted to strangle the nation financially as in Palestine and hamastine"
Militant Muslims must be exterminated for the sake of world peace. Hang a Militant Muslim by its nose and put a slug in itsmonkeys ass.

No Muslims = No Terrorism!

TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL BELOW
By FOREVER A ZIONIST on 2009-05-09 19:51 (GMT)

BLESSED BE THE LORD FOR GIVING ISRAEL THE ABILITY AND CAPABILITY OF BUILDING, CREATING AND SELLING GOODS THAT THE WORLD WANTS AND NEEDS. IT IS A PITY THAT MILITANT MUSLIM SCUM CANT BE BOYCOTTED BECAUSE THEY LACK THE CAPACITY OF CREATING ANYTHING.

LORD WILLING ISRAEL WILL CREATE AND SELL MORE TO THE WORLD SO WE CAN ERADICATE THE WORLD OF MILITANT MUSLIM SCUM

About Eris
By Munir on 2009-03-29 14:57 (GMT)

At first glance, it appears that dissent is tolerated on these message boards. Eris argues logically and with quotes from scriptures to back him up. He points out that in it's own words, Islam is an intolerant, violent, and deceitful religion.

So his messages, and these others have been here for more than a month.

It is just a bit confusing that Islam claims to be intolerant in the scriptures, then claims to be tolerant in this article by Eid, then tolerates Eris and his very effective critique.

One possible explanation, no one knows how to delete comments from these forums.

One thing for sure, the Muslims answering Erid do not know the scriptures very well.

hi
By carina on 2009-03-25 16:18 (GMT)

omgggggg dis ting is bere long i wasnt bothered to read it man i have to do dis for hw man hehe byye

to Imram/3
By Eris on 2009-02-22 13:54 (GMT)

And the Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said, "I have been ordered to fight the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah alone…" (Muslim)

Shaikh Rabee' bin Haadee, the Ibn Ma'een of the Era, stated, "Verily, refraining from the jihaad against the Mushriks (pagans) when a caller calls to jihaad, and when the Imaam of the Muslims calls them to come out and fight - even if the Imaam was a sinner (faajir) is counted one of the shades of Nifaaq (hypocrisy), in fact it may be more intense than it." Then after this he begins quoting some of the verses of Jihaad and then says: "So refraining away from Jihaad [the Jihaad behind an Ameer] and to be very laxed/sluggish towards it is one of the characteristics of the Hypocrites and one of the causes of punishment in the world and destruction in the Hereafter." (Ahl ul-Hadeeth p. 158)

to Imram/2
By Eris on 2009-02-22 13:50 (GMT)

Now, any Sunni knows that the purpose of Jihaad is to make the word of Allaah supreme, and that is none other than worshipping Him alone, and establishing and spreading Tawheed. So if the Qaradawite Think Tank and its theoreticians claim that this is not the motive and reason, and it is but land, then the land in the view of Qaradawite Thought, is more lofty and more noble and more worthy than the Islamic Aqidah.

Stated the Lord of Majesty and Honour, "Fight against those who believe not in Allâh, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allâh and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islâm) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." (At-Tawbah 9:29)

nice, well and exactly said. so where is your so called spiritual jehad? nowhere. that is only for fooling stupid kuffaar. but it is not working on me. try something better

to Imram
By Eris on 2009-02-22 13:49 (GMT)

you probably never read Quran carefully with Sira (ibn Ishaq) together, otherwise you will know, that all you wrote is a big lie.
proof: [A Muslim raider] who had shaved his head, looked down on them [the Meccan caravan], and when they saw him they felt safe and said, "They are pilgrims, you have nothing to fear from them." (Ibn Ishaq 423)
The Muslim raiders] encouraged each other, and decided to kill as many as they could of them and take what they had. (Ibn Ishaq 424)
A fifth of the loot was also given to Muhammad as war booty, which would not have been the case if it rightfully belonged to another Muslim (Ibn Ishaq 425).
When the Apostle heard about Abu Sufyan coming from Syria, he summoned the Muslims and said, “This is the Quraish caravan containing their property. Go out to attack it, perhaps Allah will give it as a prey.” (Ibn Ishaq 428)
so my dear, read well Sira. and do not trust all that your imam says.
pagan arabs did not confiscated the property of moslems. moreover, there was no persecution of moslems in Makkah.
Muslim biographers provide the names of other Muslims who continued to live in Mecca following Muhammad’s departure and there is no record that they were persecuted. There is even some evidence that the Muslims in Medina were allowed to conduct pilgrimages to Mecca during the holy months (Ibn Ishaq 424 & Qur’an 2:196).
so about what starving to death you are blundering?
it was pure lack of moral - induced by islam and greed of so called prophet. nothing more.
*Eris your claim about the term Jihad meaning 'holy war' is false because NOWHERE in the QUr'an is the term holy war used or war referred to as holy. *
aha, so when Nazis did not described death camps as death camps, death camps did not existed... well, sorry, this is a low grade taqyiya. Can you try something better?
i like to refer to those good salafi:http://www.thenoblequran.com/sps/sp.cfm?subsecID=NDV16&articleID=NDV160004&articlePages=1
No

BOYCOTT FIRST ISREAL
By human being on 2009-02-20 04:05 (GMT)

whoever buys isreal products or do business with isreal , then they are eating dead bodies of 300+ kids in gaza brutally killed by isreal

be a humanbeing , keep up justice

another thing
By Imran on 2009-02-20 00:33 (GMT)

Eris your claim about the term Jihad meaning 'holy war' is false because NOWHERE in the QUr'an is the term holy war used or war referred to as holy. Your comment on the raids of caravans is taken out of context since the Pagan ARabs ceased all the Muslims' property and homes and sold them and stopped selling food and other necessities to the Muslims. SO basically the Muslims were left to starve they resorte dto targeting the caravans that had the persecutors held. Not any random people they could find. It was a matter of survival not of greed or lack of morality as so many critics claim.

read the article
By Imran on 2009-02-20 00:28 (GMT)

I think all those who think Islam is a violent religion should take up their views with the scholars who have studied Islam much longer than any one who posts here. Maybe your views themselves are due to ignorance and/or prejudice.

tnx
By Eris on 2009-02-19 09:11 (GMT)

really big thanks to Isaac Newton Rt.(retard)
he, as a good muslim likes islamophoby more than candies.
it allows him to play victim.

Vain dreamers
By Isaac Newton, Jr. on 2009-02-19 08:21 (GMT)

Eris ahould take a hike to la-la-land where many wishful thinkers and retards like him are locked-up for good.

Interesting.......
By Sam Elfeky on 2009-02-18 22:41 (GMT)

very good.

A very important subject
By Ahmed Magdy Mabrouk on 2009-02-18 19:36 (GMT)

Thank you, DR EID Mohammed, how wonderful writer subject. you always pleased us with your interesting subject that defending on Islam and show the correct image of the West

easy way to stop islamophobia
By Eris on 2009-02-18 18:55 (GMT)

you, moslems can stop islamophobia today, in this very second. it is enough to give up:
1. support of armed jihad everywhere by zakat.
2. idea of caliphate
3. giving up shariah
4. revise quran and cancel for example wife-beating verse, verse of Sword, verse allowing marriage with prepubertal girls
to adapt to idea that islam is solely and uniquely relation between muslim and Allah. with no political or other implications.
doing this, islamophobia will evaporate.
are you ready?
I do not think so.

Good article
By Angellyn on 2009-02-18 07:19 (GMT)

Thank you so much Eid Mohamed for this very good article. This has been my view for a very long time that religious intolerance and race intolerance are actually the same thing. Islamaphobia is just another tool of the racist mind. It is ignorant people who are in a coma condition causing all the hate and destruction in this world. I pray for our Ummah. We must remember everything is a test from Allah Most High. Thank you again.

SCIENTISTS SPEAK OF MAN

SCIENTISTS SPEAK OF MAN

LOOK! A HUMAN BEING

The fossil trail has revealed creatures that seem to resemble apes, but have some human-like features. These members of the ape family that scientists call hominids are clearly not human, but evolutionists believe they eventually became us. Evolutionists begin with the premise that life is merely one large family tree (or bush).

They are looking for a trail of fossils that confirm Darwin’s theory of macroevolution of our species. However, if evidence show that Homo sapiens appeared suddenly with qualities and traits distinct from all other forms of life, the possibility that we have been designed becomes apparent.
So have paleoanthropologists been able to bridge the chasm between what they call hominids and us, proving an evolutionary link?

We’ve all seen museum exhibits depicting slightly erect ape-like creatures that presumably became us. These exhibits and drawings in biology textbooks imply that there is solid fossil evidence to back up the claim that such fossils have been discovered. In fact, paleoanthropologists have uncovered pieces of bones and skull fragments from a variety of primates they consider human ancestors. Ardipithecus ramidus, the oldest of these, is dated at over 4 million years old. Homo habilis and Homo erectus are depicted as more recent members of our family tree.

It all looks and sounds so convincing. But what sounds like a solid argument for human ancestry unravels when the facts are made clear. Henry Gee, the chief science writer for Nature writes, “The intervals of time that separate fossils are so huge that we cannot say anything definite about their possible connection through ancestry and descent.”1

The problem is that paleoanthropologists are attempting to fill in an enormous puzzle with only a few fragments of bones and teeth that according to Gee, could be “fitted into a small box.”2 One of the most renowned evolutionists of the twentieth century, Stephen Jay Gould agrees with the difficulty, stating, “Most hominid fossils, even though they serve as a basis for endless speculation and elaborate storytelling, are fragments of jaws and scraps of skulls.”3

Gould is not alone. Harvard zoologist Richard Lewontin also acknowledges: “when we consider the remote past, before the origin of the actual species Homo sapiens, we are faced with a fragmentary and disconnected fossil record.” 4 Yet, these fragments of jaws and scraps of skulls, no matter how sparse and disconnected, have revealed some insightful clues about the uniqueness of our species. Let’s dig deeper.
The first thing that strikes one as odd about Homo sapiens is their appearance on the stage of history. Despite the transitional drawings found in textbooks, intelligent, laptop-carrying man seems to have shown up rather abruptly.

Although small fragments of hominid bones have been discovered, there is a huge jump from such creatures to our own species. Naturalist Ian Tattersall (curator at the American Museum of Natural History) remarks in his book The Fossil Trail: “Something extraordinary, if totally fortuitous, happened with the birth of our species.”5 Tattersall is referring to the suddenness with which humans appear in the fossil record.
Biologists are unable to explain why our species appeared so suddenly. Professor John Maynard Smith, Emeritus of Biology at the University of Sussex writes, “Something very puzzling happened….The fossil evidence is patchy, but it seems that hominids suddenly developed brains that, in terms of size, were much like ours.”6 In other words, the jump from hominids to humans is unexplainable. No links have been discovered.
Most hominids had small, ape-like brains and no capacity for language. Then, suddenly in the fossil record, man appears with several unique features, including an enlarged brain capacity. Why are there no clear-cut links between hominids without language capacity and Homo sapiens?

SPEAKING OF SPEAKING...

The ability to speak distinguishes man from all apes and hominids. Although human beings have both the hardware and the software for language, hominids didn’t. They didn’t even come close.
According to noted evolutionist Ernst Mayr, humans have the ability to conceptualize, resulting in the development of art, literature, mathematics, and science. Hominids and all other animals lack this unique human quality, and are only able to communicate by giving and receiving signals.7

But even if man suddenly developed the ability to speak, what evolutionary advantage brought about the change? This presents a huge problem for those who argue against a designer.

As he traces the history of our species, evolutionist Steve Olson spells out the problem. “Of course, language could not have come from nowhere. To speak, early humans needed particular vocal and neural mechanisms. But here a notorious problem arises. Any adaptations produced by evolution are useful only in the present, not in some vaguely defined future.”8
In other words, for human speech to work, the brain structure, the tongue, the larynx, the vocal cords, and many other parts all need to be fully developed.

Some biologists have speculated that a mutation occurred allowing an individual to talk. But, according to Olson, such explanations “have always been suspect.” In reality, science cannot explain why we are the only creatures with the ability to speak.

UNIQUELY HUMAN?

Man’s sudden appearance has scientists like Harvard scholar Lewontin pouring cold water on claims that a missing link between humans and apes has been discovered: Although he is an evolutionist, Lewontin acknowledges, “Despite the excited and optimistic claims that have been made by some paleontologists, no fossil hominid species can be established as our direct ancestor.”9

The sudden appearance of man in the history of our planet has some scientists using the world “miracle.” During an interview with the French science monthly La Recherché, Marcel Schutzenberger was asked, “The appearance of human beings—is that a miracle?”

The outspoken French mathematician replied,
Naturally. And here it does seem that there are voices among contemporary biologists—I mean voices other than mine—who might cast doubt on the Darwinian paradigm that has dominated discussion for the past twenty years.
Gradualists and saltationists [people who believe in rapid species change] alike are completely incapable of giving a convincing explanation of the quasi-simultaneous emergence of a number of biological systems that distinguish human beings from the higher primates.

Schutzenberger was referring to several physiological differences between humans and primates for which no transitional fossils have been discovered.
He then concludes the interview with his view that there is no materialistic explanation for the sudden development of man: “The reality is that we are confronted with total conceptual bankruptcy.”10

Even evolutionists like Mayr, who believe we descended from hominids writes: “Man is indeed as unique, as different from all other animals, as had been traditionally claimed by theologians and philosophers.”11
Along the same lines, Ian Tattersall remarks on the uniqueness of humanity: “Homo sapiens are as distinctive an entity as exists on the face of the Earth, and should be dignified as such instead of being adulterated with every reasonably large-brained hominid fossil that happened to come along.12

Of all hominids, only Neanderthal had a large brain. Yet, Neanderthal was a distinct species according to DNA studies.13 And, according to Olson they “seem not to have developed the fluent language that lets us wonder, adapt, and create.”14

What has caused mankind to transcend the animal world and probe space, develop computers, discover DNA, and create art and music? What makes us unique? The answer come down to three pounds of lumpy gray matter floating around in our heads.

THREE POUNDS OF LUMPY GRAY AMAZEMENT

So, what are we to make of the human brain? We generally associate complexity with intelligence. The more complex a building or machine, the more intelligence is required to engineer it. The human brain, for starters, contains 12 billion neuron cells intertwined with 100 trillion connections. To illustrate a number as large as 100 trillion, molecular biologist Michael Denton suggests visualizing a solid forest of trees covering half the United States. If each tree contains one hundred thousand leaves, the connections in a human brain would equal the total number of leaves in the entire forest.

Yet the brain’s connections are not mere intersections like those in a highway system, but rather are a highly organized network far exceeding the complexity of all the communication networks on planet Earth.19
Our memories (one billion trillion bits of them) are not isolated in one section of the brain but instead are intertwined throughout the network. “Each junction has the potential to be part of a memory. So the memory capacity of a human brain is effectively infinite.”20 Inside that three pounds of gray matter of yours is enough information to fill 20 million books (19 million if you aren’t that bright).

As we examine our universe, nothing else in it even remotely approaches the complexity of the human brain. Stephen Hawking compares the complexity of the human brain with most present-day computers and reveals the overwhelming superiority of our brains: “In comparison with most computers which have one central processing unit, the brain has millions of processing units … all working at the same time.”21

Even if communication engineers could apply the most sophisticated engineering techniques known to humanity, the assembly of an object remotely resembling the human brain would require an eternity of time. Even then, they still wouldn’t know where to begin.22 The overwhelming processing power takes place within an area of our brains called the cerebral cortex, and it is here where the human enigma is most apparent.

THE MYSTERY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The cerebral cortex is the area of our brains where, mysteriously, “matter is transformed into consciousness.”23 The cerebral cortex distinguishes human beings from all other animals. “Though the difference between the human genome and that of a chimp is estimated to be less than 1 percent, our cerebral cortex has ten times more neurons.”24 But that is not the total story. Mayr reveals, “The unique character of our brain seems to lie in the existence of many (perhaps as many as forty) different types of neurons….”25 And in spite of the DNA similarities, between humans and chimpanzees, there are still some 40 million differences.26

Additionally, recent studies have shown that chimpanzees lack awareness of their own thoughts, a trait that appears to be uniquely human. 27
Awareness of thoughts is something that is beyond our ability to create, even in the most sophisticated software programs. When chess Grandmaster Gary Kasparov was defeated by the IBM supercomputer, Deep Blue, the computer didn’t even realize it had won. Deep Blue lacked this self-awareness we take for granted. It is called consciousness, a mystery that has baffled philosophers and scientists for centuries.

Our awareness, with its manipulation of ideas, actually takes place in the prefrontal cortex.28 It is here that we reason, ponder, imagine, fantasize, and seek answers to why we exisit. This prefrontal cortex area in a human makes up a far larger proportion of the cerebral cortex than in any animal, and it is the most complex arrangement of matter in the universe.29

If we could shrink in size and become spectators to the incredible activity in the innermost portion of the cerebral cortex, we might see something resembling a kaleidoscope of fireworks networking in all directions. Yet these electrical impulses are billions of organized patterns that result in our thoughts and imaginations. All of these thoughts intersect with our self-awareness.

While consciousness is at rest during sleep, the brain is still in action. “Even in sleep, the brain is pulsing, throbbing and flashing with the complex business of human life—dreaming, remembering, figuring things out. Our thoughts, visions and fantasies have a physical reality.”30

Nobody really understands consciousness or how we got it. Sir John Maddox, former editor-in-chief of the journal Nature, addresses the puzzle of consciousness: “Nobody understands how decisions are made or how imagination is set free. What consciousness consists of, or how it should be defined, is equally puzzling. … We seem as far from understanding cognitive processes as we were a century ago.”31

For years materialists have tried to reduce humans to nothing more than a series of drives and instincts.

However, in reality human consciousness chooses between the instincts, and it is as different and separate from them as the pianist is from the keys he chooses to play on the piano. The consciousness sits over and above our instincts, drives, and desires, and it chooses which it will act upon.32
Thus, man can choose to disregard his own desire to survive for a higher purpose. Such an act of heroism works counter to Darwin’s survival of the fittest, and is unexplainable by materialists. There seems to be something about consciousness that transcends self-preservation.

Another example of consciousness is the objectivity of the self—you distinguish yourself from your experiences. When stimulated, you distinctly feel that pain or pleasure is happening to you and that you are distinct from the experience causing the pain or pleasure. It is this objective awareness of our own thoughts that appears to be unique to human beings.

So difficult is the problem posed by our consciousness that Laurence C. Wood said, “Many brain scientists have been compelled to postulate the existence of an immaterial mind, even though they might not embrace a belief in life after death.”33

What process in natural selection could have led to human consciousness? Although evolutionists have taken a stab at it, no one really knows. Neither do scientists have an explanation for human imagination or creativity.

In human beings, the ability to simulate alternative future events appears to take place within our subjective consciousness. Oxford zoologist Richard Dawkins admits that nothing in Darwinian evolution accounts for it. Although Dawkins remains an ardent materialist, he writes, “Why this should have happened is to me, the most profound mystery facing modern biology.”34

Even leading evolutionist Stephen J. Gould recognized the inability of natural selection to explain the human brain. Gould admitted, “I don’t know why the brain got large in the first place. It certainly wasn’t so that we could paint pictures or write symbols.”35

DIFFERENT BY DESIGN?

Why did we get these incredibly complex brains with both the hardware and software for language? And according to evolutionists, our brains have remained unchanged. Mayr writes, “What is perhaps most astonishing is the fact that the human brain seems not to have changed one single bit since the first appearance of Homo sapiens….”36 And where did consciousness and acts of heroism come from? There seems to be no evolutionary explanation for any of these unique human qualities.

In his book What Evolution Is, Ernst Mayr argues that our species is the only one of over a billion species that resulted in exceptional intelligence. 37

So what are we to make of us? We create music and art. We dream and imagine. We endeavor to reach the stars, launching space shuttles and peering at the universe through powerful telescopes. And we wonder why we are here on this tiny speck called Earth. The enigma of man seems to point to something or someone beyond ourselves.

ENDNOTES

1. Quoted in Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004), 62.

2. Ibid. 63.

3. Stephen Jay Gould, The Panda’s Thumb, (W. W. Norton & Company, 1980), 126.

4. R. C. Lewontin, Human Diversity, (Scientific American Library, 1995), 163.

5. Ian Tattersall, The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know about Human Evolution (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 246.

6. John Maynard Smith, “The Importance of Gossip,” article in Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind (London: Phoenix Books, 2002), 257.

7. Ernst Mayr, What Evolution Is (New York: Basic Books, 2001), 253.

8. Steve Olson, Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002), 87.

9. Lewontin, Ibid.

10. Marcel-Paul Schutzenberger, “The Miracles of Darwinism,” La Recherché, January 1996.

11. Mayr, 252.

12. Tattersall, 219.

13. Fazale R. Rana, “Neanderthal-Human Link Severed, “ Connections, Qtr 2, 2003, 8-9.

14. Olson, 29.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid., 25.

18. Olson, 86.

19. Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory In Crisis (Chevy Chase MD: Adler & Adler, 1986), 330-331.

20. Denton, 331.

21. Stephen Hawking, The Universe in a Nutshell (London: Bantam, 2001), 169.

22. Carl Sagan, Cosmos (New York: Ballantine, 1985), 229.

23. Gerald L. Schroeder, The Hidden Face of God (New York: Touchstone, 2001), 112.

24. Ibid.

25. Mayr, 252.

26. Nicholas Wade, “In Chimpanzee DNA, Signs of Y Chromosome’s Evolution,” New York Times, Sept. 1, 2005, A13.

27. C. D. L. Wynne, “The Soul of the Ape”, American Scientist, 89 (2001), 120-122.

28. Carter, 312.

29. Ibid., 298.

30. Sagan, Ibid.

31. Sir John Maddox, “The Genesis Code by Numbers,” Scientific American, December 1999, 62–67.

32. C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man (New York: Macmillan, 1947), 45–49.

33. Laurence W. Wood, Asbury Theological Journal 41, no.1 (1986).

34. Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), 59.

35. Stephen Jay Gould, quoted in Wim Kayzer, ‘A Glorious Accident’ (New York: W. H. Freeman & Co., 1997), 93.

36. Mayr, Ibid.

37. Mayr, Ibid.

38. Schroeder, 159.

Source: http://www.y.origins.com/

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The Major Signs of the Day of Judgment

The Major Signs of the Day of Judgment

By Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo (© 2007 IslamReligion.com)

Published on 13 Aug 2007 - Last modified on 04 Oct 2009

( I )

Introduction

No one can know when the Day of Judgment will occur. However, God has mercifully taught His messengers some of the signs that alert one to the fact that the Hour is approaching. These signs play a very important role, especially for those who live at a time distant from the Prophet and who did not experience first hand his teaching and example. These signs reinforce one’s belief in the Prophet. More importantly, these signs, if one takes the time to reflect upon them, are a reminder of the Day of Judgment. They should revive the heart of the person and make him recall what he is doing on this earth and to where all this is heading.

The signs of the Hour can be divided into two types. First are those that occur as part of the changes in everyday life. These are known as the “minor signs.” The second are the extraordinary or supernatural events that will occur just before the actual Hour. These are known as the “major signs.” Although the focus of this article will be the major signs, it is worthwhile to make a few points concerning the minor signs.

“The Minor Signs”

Although the intent of this article is to cover the major signs, the author would like to include a few points about the “minor signs,” since they are often neglected as people concentrate on the more “sensational” major signs. Minor signs are those signs that may occur long before the actual Last Day and, in general, they are related to day-to-day changes that occur in worldly events. The number of minor signs is numerous.[1] Many have already occurred and many others continue to occur.[2] Thus, minor signs can occur repeatedly around an individual yet many remain oblivious to them and to their importance. In fact, in the famous hadeeth of the Angel Gabriel, when the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, offered to tell Gabriel – in front of his Companions - some of the signs of the Hour (after the Prophet was informed about them previously), he mentioned only some “minor signs.” Perhaps, God knows best, this is because these are the signs that have much more of an effect on one’s everyday life and worship, although the recognition of these signs are sometimes more difficult or subtle.

When one witnesses these signs around him, they should be clear reminders of God and one’s future meeting with God. They should also fortify one’s belief in God and, in particular, in the truthfulness of the Prophet Muhammad. These signs that the Prophet spoke about years—even centuries—before they ever occurred should, in addition to all of the facts concerning the Prophet Muhammad, work to strengthen an individual’s belief about the truth of Islam. Thus, they have a great role to play if the individual makes himself alert and awake to what is going on around him.

In addition, these signs should be a reminder that God has foreknowledge of everything that is occurring in this world— this is how He could convey those signs to His messenger. Therefore, God also has knowledge of everything the person is doing. God is watching and aware of every act of His creatures. At the very least, this consciousness, which comes about through witnessing the Signs of the Hour, should make the person worship and fear God knowing full well that He is seeing him. This is the superior level of faith known as ihsaan.

Only a couple of minor signs will be mentioned here, while the reader is greatly encouraged to research this topic further.

The Prophet stated:

“From among the signs of the Hour is the common appearance of lewd acts, working to bring about lewd acts, the cutting off of the ties of relationship and the trusting of deceivers.” (At-Tabarani)

The manifestation of this hadeeth can be seen daily in a person’s life, especially the first two or three aspects mentioned. One needs only leave one’s house, turn on a television or surf the Internet to see how prominent lewd acts—those acts which are considered lewd by Islamic Law—are today. Indeed, great effort and expense is exhausted in producing and presenting them to as many people as possible.

The Prophet also said:

“From among the signs of the Hour is the abundance of wealth, increasing of ignorance, numerous tribulations and widespread trading and business.” (Al-Hakim)

Capitalist economists boast about the amount of wealth there is in the world today. Indeed, it seems as if business and trade are the most important agendas in the world today, outstripping any moral values or even the sanctity of human lives. When this is accompanied by ignorance—especially ignorance of the religion of God—and an increase in trials, tribulations, fighting and wars, the result for humankind is nothing short of disastrous. Yet this is what can be seen throughout the world today.

Footnotes:

[1] A number of works in Arabic cover the minor signs as well as the major signs. This author is not aware of any book in English as of yet that has a detailed discussion of the minor signs of the Day of Judgment.

[2] Another way of categorizing the signs of the Hour is the following: (1) Those signs that have already occurred and are completed; (2) those signs that have already appeared, continue to appear and are growing greater in intensity; and (3) those signs that are yet to appear. Each category deserves its own portion of reflection and relevant response.

( II )

Comprehensive Hadeeth about the Major Signs of the Day of Judgment

The major signs are those signs that will occur relatively close to the Day of Judgment and involve matters that can be considered, in general, “out of the ordinary” or which are sensational.

There are a number of hadeeth in which the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, mentioned the greater signs of the Day of Judgment together. These hadeeth include the following:

Imam Muslim records in his Saheeh:

Hudhaifa b. Usaid Ghifari narrated, “God’s Messenger came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said, ‘What are you discussing?’ They (the Companions) said, ‘We are discussing the Last Hour.’ Thereupon he said, ‘It will not come until you see ten signs before it.’ And (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjaal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (may God praise them), Gog and Magog, and landslides in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia, at the end of which a fire would burn forth from the Yemen and drive people to the place of their assembly.’”

Muslim also writes in his Saheeh:

The Messenger of God said, “The Last Hour would not come until the ten signs appear: a landslide in the east, and a landslide in the west, and a landslide in the peninsula of Arabia, the smoke, the Dajjaal, the beast of the earth, Gog and Magog, the rising of the sun from the west and the fire which would emit from the lower part of Aden.” Shu’ba said that ‘Abd al− ‘Aziz b. Rufai’ reported on the authority of Abu Tufail who reported on the authority of Abu Sariha a hadeeth like this that God’s Apostle did not make a mention of (the tenth sign) but he said that out of the ten one was the descent of Jesus Christ, son of Mary (peace be upon him), and in another version it is the blowing of the violent gale which would drive the people to the ocean.

There are a couple of other hadeeth in which the Prophet mentioned some of the same events as above. In these hadeeth, he did not mention them as explicitly being signs of the Hour. Instead, the Prophet gave a very strong admonition and warning that people must perform their good deeds before these events occur, as these events directly herald the ending of the time for deeds and the beginning of the time of reckoning. Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of God said:

“Hasten to do good deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun from the west, the smoke, the Dajjaal, the beast and (the death) of one of you or the general turmoil.” (Muslim)

Note that in this hadeeth the Prophet mentioned, “the death of one of you.” This is also a type of “hour.” Although it is interesting and important to learn and know the major signs of the Hour, for those who will not witness the events of the Last Days, it is their hour—their death—that they must prepare for and concerning which many are negligent. Thus, when a Bedouin came to the Prophet and asked him, “When is the Hour?” the Prophet pointed to a young boy and said, “If this boy lives, by the time he is old and decrepit, your hour would have already taken place.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

The Order of Appearance and the Nature of the Major Signs

Yoosuf al-Waabil notes that he has found no explicit texts that mention the order of appearance of the major signs of the Day of Judgment. The hadeeth which mention the signs in a group, like those just quoted above, either use the conjunction “and” or “or.” In neither case do these conjunctions give any positive indication as to the time ordering of the events. In fact, as al-Waabil notes, some of the same hadeeth mention the events in different orderings.[1]

Ibn Hajar, however, has divided the major signs into two main categories, one definitely occurring before the other.[2] The first set of signs is those that occur on this earth, without the nature of this earth changing completely. These are signs that should clearly awaken the people and drive them to repent to God. During those signs, there is no ultimate distinguishing between the believer and the disbeliever nor is there any unquestionable occurrence in this creation that makes it clear that the Resurrection is at hand. The signs of this category include the coming of the Dajjaal, the return of Jesus, Gog and Magog and the landslides.

The second category of these major signs leaves no doubt as to the actual occurring of the Resurrection and the end of this Creation as humans know it now. In addition, there will be a distinguishing of the believer from the disbeliever. Hence, during and after these signs, there will be no question of repentance or returning to God. At that time, it would be too late for any repentance to be accepted by God. The signs in this category would include the appearance of the beast, the smoke and the rising of the sun from the West.

It also seems to be true that when these signs begin to occur, one will be following up the other at a relatively fast pace.[3] The Prophet said:

“The signs shall appear one after the other like the beads on a string follow one another.”[4]

Ahmad recorded in his Musnad that the Prophet said:

“The signs are like beads strung on a string. If the string breaks, they [quickly] follow one after the other.”[5]

Footnotes:

[1] Yoosuf al-Waabil, Ashraat al-Saa’ah (Al-Damam, Saudi Arabia: Maktabah ibn al-Jauzi, 1989), pp. 183-186.

[2] Ahmad ibn Hajar, Fath al-Baari bi-Sharh Saheeh Al-Bukhaari (Riyadh: Idaarah al-Buhooth al-Ilmiyyah, n.d.), vol. 11, pp. 352-353.

[3] Cf., ibn Hajar, vol. 13, p. 77; al-Waabil, pp. 188-189.

[4] Recorded by al-Tabaraani in al-Ausat. .

[5] Recorded by Ahmad.

( III )

The False Messiah I

A brief discussion shall be given of each of the major signs mentioned by the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, in the above hadeeth.[1] Obviously, since this is a discussion related to matters of the “unseen,” that is, matters that humans have yet to witness and experience, much of the discussion will be restricted to exactly what has been mentioned in the texts of the Quran or the Sunnah.

Al-Dajjaal (The False Messiah)

Numerous are the hadeeth of the Prophet concerning the coming of the Dajjaal or the false Messiah.[2] These hadeeth demonstrate what a great trial and temptation this person is going to be for all humans, believers and disbelievers alike. For example, the Prophet mentioned that all of the previous prophets also warned their people about the coming of the Dajjaal. The Prophet said: “There has never been a prophet who has not warned the Nation of that one-eyed liar (the Dajjaal).” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari

Furthermore, the Prophet, as recorded in authentic hadeeth, used to seek refuge in God during his prayers from the trials of the false messiah.

The various hadeeth of the Prophet provide a great deal of information about the Dajjaal. The Prophet, for example, made it clear that he is a human being.[3] In general, the true believer should not be deceived by the Dajjaal because the Prophet has given such a clear description of him that there is very little room for him to deceive a believer. However, this emphasizes the importance of knowledge in Islam. If someone is completely unaware of how the Prophet described the Dajjaal, then it would not be surprising that he may fall for some of the tricks and deception of this evil being.

The numerous hadeeth about the Dajjaal include a description of the Dajjaal’s physical features. These hadeeth include the following:

Muslim recorded that Ibn Umar narrated that God’s Messenger made a mention of Dajjaal in the presence of the people and said: “God is not one-eyed and behold that Dajjaal is blind in the right eye and his eye would be like a floating grape.”

In another hadeeth recorded by Imam Muslim and others, the Prophet said: “There would be written three (Arabic) letters: Kaaf[4] Faa[5] and Raa[6] These three letters in this order form the basis for Arabic word “Kaafir” which means disbeliever, between the eyes of the Dajjaal.” In another hadeeth, the Prophet stated that every Muslim would be able to read those letters.

The Prophet also described some of what the Dajjaal would come with. For example, Imam Muslim recorded that the Prophet said:

“The Dajjaal would have with him water and fire and his fire would have the effect of cold water and his water would have the effect of fire, so don’t put yourself to ruin.”

The Companion of the Prophet Hudhaifah similarly stated, “I know more than you as to what there would be along with the Dajjaal. There would be along with him two canals (one flowing with water) and the other one (having) fire (within it), and what you would see as fire would be water and what you would see as water would be fire. So he who among you is able to see that and is desirous of water should drink out of that which he sees as fire.” (Muslim)

Like all religious deceivers, those who are cognizant of the truth will be able to see behind his amazing schemes and tricks. The following hadeeth makes this point very clear. Abu Saeed al-Khudri reported that God’s Messenger one day gave a detailed account of the Dajjaal, and in that he mentioned the following:

“He would come but would not be allowed to enter the mountain passes to Medina. So he will come to stop at some tracts of land (which contain high concentrations of salt and wherein seepage occurs causing them to be barren) adjacent to the city of Medina, and a person who would come out (to where the Dajjaal is) and say to him, ‘I bear testimony to the fact that you are the Dajjaal about whom God’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) had informed us.’ The Dajjaal would then say (to his followers), ‘What would be your opinion if I were to kill this (person) and then bring him back to life, even then would you harbor some doubt in this matter?’ They would respond, ‘No.’ He would then kill (the man) and then bring him back to life. When he would bring that person back to life, he would say, ‘By God, I had no better proof of the fact (that you are a Dajjaal) than at the present time.’ The Dajjaal would then make an attempt to kill him (again) but he would not be able to do so.”

Footnotes:

[1] In this short article, the Mahdi will not be discussed for the following reason: Although the coming of the Mahdi is affirmed via numerous hadeeth of the Prophet, the Prophet did not mention his coming in the hadeeth that list major signs of the Day of Judgment.

[2] Actually, the Prophet spoke about many great liars and deceivers, which is what the word dajjaal implies, who will appear before the Day of Judgment. For example, al-Bukhari and Muslim record that the Prophet said, “The Last Hour would not come until there would arise about thirty impostors, liars, and each one of them would claim that he is a messenger of God.” Those can be considered “minor dajjaals” and from the minor signs of the Day of Judgment. The “major dajjaal” is the greater sign of the Day of Judgment and concerning whom the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, reserved his greatest warnings.

[3] There are some who have interpreted the Dajjaal to be, for example, certain un-Islamic ideologies, nations, or worldviews, and so forth. Although one should learn from the trials that will appear at the hands of the Dajjaal and avoid such trials no matter where they may come from, it is incorrect, though, to distort the clear meaning of the hadeeth and claim that the Dajjaal is any other than a human being who will appear shortly becoming the descending of Jesus.

[4] Kaaf which is like the letter “k” in English in phonetically speaking [and not in terms of how it is written].

[5] Faa which is like the letter “f” in English phonetically speaking [and not in terms of how it is written].

[6] Raa which is closest to the Spanish “r” phonetically speaking [and not in terms of how is written].

( IV )

The False Messiah II

One of the many aspects that one learns about via the story of the Dajjaal is that worldly wealth and achievements are not what determine a person’s worth and true value. Indeed, a person could possess all that the world contains yet if he is devoid of faith in his heart, he is truly worth nothing. Thus, another hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim reads:

Mugheerah ibn Shu’ba stated: No one asked God’s Messenger, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, more about the Dajjaal than I. He said (to me), “He should not be a source of worry to you for he would not be able to do any harm to you.” I said, “God’s Messenger, it is alleged that he would have along with him (abundance of) food and water.” Thereupon he said, “He (the Dajjaal) and his ability to misguide the believers with what God has allowed to be created by his (the Dajjaal’s) hands (i.e., the large quantities of food and water with him) would be insignificant in comparison to God’s ability to make these events a source for increasing the faith of the believers.”

Also mentioned in Saheeh Muslim are some hadeeths in which the Prophet Muhammad stated:

“There will be no land which the Dajjaal would not pass through or traverse except for Mecca and Medina, and there would no passage out of the passages leading to them which would not be guarded by angels arranged in rows. Then he (the Dajjaal) would appear in some tracts of land (which contain high concentrations of salt and wherein seepage occurs causing them to be barren) adjacent to the city of Medina and it (Medina) would sake violently such that every unbeliever and hypocrite would exit from it and move towards him (the Dajjaal).”

The Prophet also described the followers of the Dajjaal when he said:

“The Dajjaal would be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan wearing Persian shawls.”

The following longer hadeeth from Saheeh Muslim gives a more detailed account of the exploits of the Dajjaal and it will lead directly into the next occurring major sign of the Day of Judgment, the return of Jesus:

An-Nawwas ibn Sam’aan reported that God’s Messenger made a mention of the Dajjaal one day in the morning. He sometimes described him to be insignificant and sometimes described (his turmoil) as very significant and we felt as if he were in the cluster of the date-palm trees. When we went to him (to the Prophet) in the evening and he read (the signs of fear) in our faces, he said, “‘What is the matter with you?’ We said, ‘God’s Messenger, you made a mention of the Dajjaal in the morning (sometimes describing him) to be insignificant and sometimes very important, until we began to think as if he were present in some (near) part of the cluster of the date-palm trees.’ Thereupon he said, ‘I harbor fear in regard to you in so many other things besides the Dajjaal. If he comes forth while I am among you, I shall contend with him on your behalf, but if he comes forth while I am not among you, a man must contend on his own behalf and God would take care of every Muslim on my behalf (and safeguard him against his evil). He (the Dajjaal) would be a young man with twisted, contracted hair, and a blind eye. I compare him to Abd−ul−’Uzza b. Qatan. He who among you would survive to see him should recite over him the opening verses of Surah al-Kahf. He would appear on the way between Syria and Iraq and would spread mischief right and left. O servant of God! Adhere (to the path of Truth).’ We said, ‘God’s Messenger, how long would he stay on the earth?’ He said, ‘For forty days, one day like a year and one day like a month and one day like a week and the rest of the days would be like your (normal) days.’ We said, ‘God’s Messenger, would one day’s prayer suffice for the prayers of day equal to one year?’ Thereupon he said, ‘No, but you must make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer).’ We said, ‘God’s Messenger, how quickly would he walk upon the earth?’ Thereupon he said, ‘Like a cloud driven by the wind. He would come to the people and invite them (to a wrong religion) and they would affirm their faith in him and respond to him. He would then give a command to the sky and there would be rainfall upon the earth and it would grow crops. Then in the evening, their posturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. He would then come to another people and invite them. But they would reject him and he would go away from them and there would be drought for them and nothing would be left with them in the form of wealth. He would then walk through the waste land and say to it, ‘Bring forth your treasures,’ and the treasures would come out and collect (themselves) before him like the swarm of bees. He would then call a person brimming with youth and strike him with the sword and cut him into two pieces and (make these pieces lie at a distance which is generally) between the archer and his target. He would then call (that young man) and he will come forward laughing with his face gleaming (with happiness) and it would at this very time that God would send Christ, son of Mary…’”

( V )

The Return of Jesus

Another one of the amazing signs shortly before the Day of Judgment is the return and descending of Jesus, peace and blessings of God be upon him, to this earth again. God says in the Quran:

“And because of their saying (in boast), ‘We killed Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of God,’ - but they did not kill him and nor did they crucify him, but the resemblance of Jesus was put over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. Surely, they did not kill him. But God raised him (Jesus) up (with his body and soul) unto Himself (and he is in the heavens). And God is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise. And there is none of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), but must believe in him (Jesus) before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection, he (Jesus) will be a witness against them.” (Quran 4:157-159)

The words, “And there is none of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), but must believe in him (Jesus) before his death,” refer to Jesus’ worldly death after he returns to earth. At that time, the Jews and Christians will finally believe in him as a Messenger of God and a human being only, as that will be the only option possible at that time. In fact, some scholars state that part of the wisdom in Jesus’ return is the final and undeniable refutation of the Jews’ claim that they had crucified him and to bring an end to the false claim that he was the Son of God.

There are numerous hadeeth which speak about the coming of Jesus during the last days of this world. They give a description of many of the acts of Jesus after his return.

As is clear from the last hadeeth presented under the section concerning the Dajjaal, Jesus’ return will occur while the false messiah is upon the earth. The following is the continuation of the above hadeeth:

“He [the Dajjaal] would then call a person brimming with youth and strike him with the sword and cut him into two pieces and (make these pieces lie at a distance which is generally) between the archer and his target. He would then call (that young man) and he will come forward laughing with his face gleaming (with happiness) and it would be at this very time that God would send Christ, son of Mary, and he will descend at the white minaret in the eastern side of Damascus wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and placing his hands on the wings of two Angels. When he would lower his head, there would fall beads of perspiration from his head, and when he would raise it up, beads like pearls would scatter from it. Every unbeliever who would smell the odor of his being would die and his breath would reach as far as he would be able to see. He would then search for him (the Dajjaal) until he would catch hold of him at the gate of Ludd and would kill him.”

Al-Bukhari and Muslim record that the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, stated:

“By Him in Whose hand is my life, the son of Mary (may peace be upon him) will soon descend among you as a just judge. He will break crosses, kill swine and abolish Jizyah[1] and the wealth will pour forth to such an extent that no one will accept it.”

At the time of his appearance, he will bring an end to all of the false beliefs which crept into Christianity. Thus, he will break all of the crosses, as they signify a worship of him. Similarly, at his time, he will not accept the jizyah because there will be no excuse for any Jew or Christian not to believe in him and follow him. In another narration of the same hadeeth, there is a mention of the state of the followers of Jesus at that time. The Prophet said:

“He would leave the young she-camel and no one would endeavor to (collect Zakat on it). Spite, mutual hatred and jealousy against one another will certainly disappear and when he summons people to accept wealth, not even one would accept it.” In other hadeeth, the following is described, “Peace will prevail and people will use their swords as sickles. Every harmful beast will be made harmless; the sky will send down rain in abundance, and the earth will bring forth its blessings. A child will play with a fox and not come to any harm; a wolf will graze with sheep and a lion with cattle, without harming them.”[2]

At the time of Jesus’ return, the Muslims will be lead by the Mahdi (A guided leader), as is mentioned in various hadeeth, such as the Prophet’s words:

“What will be your state when the son of Mary descends among you and there will be an Imam among you?” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim)

In another hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim, it reads:

“A section of my people will not cease fighting for the Truth and will prevail till the Day of Resurrection.” He then said, “Jesus son of Mary would then descend and their (Muslims’) commander would invite him to come and lead them in prayer, but he would say, ‘No, some among you are commanders over some (among you). This is the honor from God for this Nation.’”

This hadeeth is evidence that when Jesus returns, he will not return in the role of being a new messenger with a new law. Instead, he will return as a follower of the Prophet Muhammad and submitting to the laws of Islam. In fact, another hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim describes Jesus as performing the Islamic ritual of Hajj (pilgrimage).

A hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim further describes that Jesus will remain ruling among the people for seven years. The Prophet said:

“Then people would live for seven years that there would be no rancor between two persons. Then God would send cold wind from the side of Syria that none would survive upon the earth having a speck of good in him or faith in him but he would die, so much so that even if some amongst you were to enter the innermost part of the mountain, this wind would reach that place also and that would cause his death.” He further said, “Only the wicked people would survive and they would be as careless as birds with the characteristics of beasts. They would never appreciate the good nor condemn evil.”

As stated earlier, when one of these great signs appear, the others are soon to follow. It is in the context of Jesus’ return that the Prophet also spoke about Gog and Magog.

Footnotes:

[1] Jizyah is the “exemption tax” that non-Muslims pay to the Islamic state in lieu of military service.

[2] These items are mentioned in various hadeeth recorded by Ahmad, ibn Hibbaan, Abu Dawood and others.

( VI )

The Tribes of Gog and Magog

The Tribes of Gog and Magog are referred to in a couple of places in the Quran. In one place in the Quran, God makes it clear that these tribes existed during the time of Dhul-Qarnain. God says:

“Then he [Dhul-Qarnain] followed (another) way, until, when he reached between two mountains, he found, before them a people who scarcely understood a word. They said, ‘O Dhul-Qarnain! Verily! Gog and Magog are doing great mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?’ He said, ‘That which my Lord had established me is better (than your tribute). So help me with strength (of men), I will erect between you and them a barrier. Give me pieces (blocks) of iron,’ then, when he had filled up the gap between the two mountain-cliffs, he said, ‘Blow,’ till when he had made it (red as) fire, he said, ‘Bring me molten copper to pour over it.’ So they [Gog and Magog] were made powerless to scale it or dig through it. [Dhul-Qarnain] said, ‘This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the Promise of my Lord comes, He shall level it down to the ground. And the Promise of my Lord is ever true.’ And on that Day [i.e., the day Gog and Magog will come out], We shall leave them to surge like waves on one another, and the Trumpet will be blown, and We shall collect them all together.” (Quran 18:92-99)

Elsewhere in the Quran, God also speaks about them as a sign of the end of times. God says:

“Until, when Gog and Magog are let loose (from their barrier), and they swiftly swarm from every mound. And the true promise (Day of Resurrection) shall draw near (of fulfillment). Then (when mankind is resurrected from their graves), you shall see the eyes of the disbelievers fixedly stare in horror. (They will say), ‘Woe to us! We were indeed heedless of this; nay, but we were wrongdoers.’” (Quran 21:96-97)

The Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, gave the following description for the ruthlessness of these tribes when they are finally released upon the world:

“Gog and Magog would walk until they would reach the mountain of al-Khamar and it is a mountain of Bait-ul-Maqdis and they would say, ‘We have killed those who are upon the earth. Let us now kill those who are in the sky’ and they would throw their arrows towards the sky and the arrows would return to them besmeared with blood.”

Ahmad recorded the following hadeeth in his Musnad:

“Every day, Gog and Magog are trying to dig a way out through the barrier. When they begin to see sunlight through it, the one who is in charge of them says, ‘Go back; you can carry on digging tomorrow,’ and when they come back, the barrier is stronger than it was before. This will continue until their time comes and God wishes to send them forth. They will dig until they begin to see sunlight, then the one who is in charge of them will say, “Go back; you can carry on digging tomorrow, God willing.” In this case he will make an exception by saying, ‘God willing,’ thus relating the matter to the Will of God. They will return on the following day, and find the hole as they left it. They will carry on digging and come out against the people. They will drink all the water, and the people will entrench themselves in their fortresses. Gog and Magog will fire their arrows into the sky, and they will fall back to earth with something like blood on them. Gog and Magog will say, ‘We have defeated the people of earth, and overcome the people of heaven.’ Then God will send a kind of worm in the napes of their necks, and they will be killed by it. By Him (God) in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the beasts of the earth will become fat.” (As-Suyuti)

In the lengthy hadeeth from which two portions have been quoted above, the Prophet further described the relationship between Jesus and the tribes of Gog and Magog. After Jesus will kill the false messiah, the Prophet continued speaking about what would occur:

“Then a people whom God had protected would come to Jesus, son of Mary, and he would wipe their faces and would inform them of their ranks in Paradise and it would be under such conditions that God would reveal to Jesus these words, ‘I have brought forth from amongst My servants such people against whom none would be able to fight; you take these people safely to the Mount of Toor, and then God would send Gog and Magog and they would swarm down from every slope. The first of them would pass the lake of Tiberius and drink out of it. And when the last of them would pass, he would say, ‘There was once water there.’ Jesus and his companions would then be besieged here (at Toor, and they would be so hard pressed) that the head of the ox would be dearer to them than one hundred dinars (old currency) and God’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would supplicate to God, Who would send to them insects (which would attack the necks of the Gog and Magog) and in the morning they would perish like one single person. God’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then come down to the earth and they would not find in the earth as much space as a single span which is not filled with their putrefaction and stench. God’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then again beseech God, Who would send birds whose necks would be like those of Bactrian camels and they would carry them and throw them where God would will. Then God would send rain which no house of clay or (the tent of) camels’ hairs would keep out and it would wash away the earth until it could appear to be a mirror. Then the earth would be told to bring forth its fruit and restore its blessing and, as a result thereof, there would grow (such a big) pomegranate that a group of persons would be able to eat that, and seek shelter under its skin, and a milch cow would give so much milk that a whole party would be able to drink it. And the milch camel would give such (a large quantity of) milk that the whole tribe would be able to drink out of that and the milch sheep would give so much milk that the whole family would be able to drink out of that. At that time God would send a pleasant wind which would soothe (people) even under their armpits, and would take the life of every Muslim and only the wicked would survive who would commit adultery like asses and the Last Hour would come upon them.”

In another important hadeeth from Saheeh Muslim, the Prophet spoke about the future coming of Gog and Magog and, at the same time, stated a very important lesson that all should reflect upon. This lesson has to do with the importance of not allowing evil to be prevalent in society. In this narration, the Prophet said,

“There is no god but God! There is a destruction in store for Arabia because of turmoil which is at hand, the barrier of Gog and Magog has opened so much.”

And Sufyan [the subnarrator] made a sign of ten with the help of his hand (in order to indicate the width of the gap) and I [Zainab, the Prophet’s wife] said,

“God’s Messenger, would we be perished in spite of the fact that there would be good people amongst us?” He replied, “Of course, but only when the evil predominates.”

(Incidentally, there is a great deal of speculation concerning who exactly these tribes are. However, due to space limitations, the discussion here is limited to what is known directly from the texts of the Quran and Sunnah. As such, these are the tribes of Gog and Magog and, with respect to identifying them, very little more can be said, although a couple of hadeeth do give further information concerning their physical characteristics.)

( VII )

The Last of the Major Signs

The Three Landslides

As quoted earlier in a hadeeth (saying of Prophet Muhammad), among the major signs of the Day of Judgment are the three landslides that will occur. One will occur in the East, one in the West and one in the Arabian Peninsula. Not much further information has been given concerning these events—and therefore not much can be added. However, the well-known hadeeth exegete ibn Hajar does note that landslides are a well-known occurrence and have occurred often. Therefore, he says, it is likely that the nature of these three landslides which will occur shortly before the Day of Judgment will be of a much greater magnitude and severity, setting them apart from what occurs customarily in this world.[1] And God alone knows best.

The Smoke

Among the major signs mentioned by the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, is that of “the smoke.” God refers to this event in the Quran, saying:

“Then wait you for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke, covering the people, this will be a painful torment” (Quran 44:10-11)

Again, beyond what has been stated explicitly by the Prophet, very little comment can be made concerning this sign. However, there is a hadeeth in which the Prophet said:

“Verily, your Lord has warned you concerning three [matters]: the smoke that overtakes the believer like a cold and overtakes the disbeliever and makes him swollen until it comes out of his ears.”

The Rising of the Sun from the West

According to a large number of the Quranic commentators, based on the hadeeth of the Prophet, the italicized portion of the following verse is in reference to the phenomenon of the rising of the sun from the West just prior to the Day of Resurrection:

“Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some Signs of your Lord should come! The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith. Say [to the disbelievers], ‘Wait you! We (too) are waiting’” (Quran 6:158).

In an authentic narration, the Prophet recited this verse after mentioning the people see the rising of the sun from the West. Thus, al-Bukhari records, that the Prophet said:

“The hour will not be established till the sun rises from the West; and when it rises (from the West) and the people see it, they all will believe. And that is (the time) when no good will it do to a soul to believe then.” Then he recited the complete verse (6:158).

In numerous narrations, the Prophet has made it abundantly clear that the nature of this sign is such that no one would have any reason to doubt, question or refuse to believe after seeing it. When an individual experiences a sign of this nature, the reality virtually becomes exposed to him and, therefore, there is no longer any sense of a trial or test. In fact, at that time, the test is over and the individual is already seeing the results unfolding in front of his/her very eyes. That is why “conversion” to faith will have no meaning at that time and will not be acceptable by God.[2]

However, before this occurs, the door to repentance to God and His mercy is always open—such is how great the mercy of God is but it is also just and based on wisdom. Thus, Muslim recorded that the Prophet said:

“He who seeks repentance (from the Lord) before the rising of the sun from the west (before the Day of Resurrection), God turns to him with Mercy.”

The rising of the sun from the West is one of three greatly definitive signs of this nature. Thus, the Prophet said:

“When three things appear faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from his faith: the rising of the sun in its place of setting, the Dajjaal, and the beast of the earth.”[3]

Muslim also recorded that the Prophet said:

“The first sign[4] would be the appearance of the sun from the west, the appearance of the beast before the people in the forenoon and which of the two happens first, the second one would follow immediately after that.”

This leads directly into the next sign which is the appearance of the Beast of the Earth.

The Beast of the Earth

God says in the Quran,

“And when the Word (of torment) is fulfilled against them, We shall bring out from the earth a beast to them, which will speak to them because mankind believed not with certainty in Our Signs” (al-Naml 27:82).

This verse referrs to the beast of the earth who will appear shortly before the Day of Judgment.

When the Beast comes, it will distinguish the people and declare who is a believer and who is a disbeliever. Ahmad recorded that the Prophet said:

“The beast will appear and he will brand the people on their noses. The people will then go on living with this branding such that a person will buy a camel and when he is asked, ‘From whom did you buy it?’ he will reply, ‘From one of the branded people.’” (Al-Albani)

The Fire that Will Gather the People

This is the last of the great signs. After this starts the beginning of a new experience and creation. Muslim records a hadeeth in which the Prophet stated the ten major signs and it concludes with, “at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly.” One can only imagine the intensity of this fire and the shear horror and fear that the individuals alive at that time will experience. After this, all that will be left is for the masses of humanity to be resurrected and to face the reckoning of their Lord.

Final Words

No one, of course, can say why God has chosen to end this creation in the remarkable and amazing fashion that He has so chosen. This is truly an amazing and marvelous creation and perhaps it is fitting that it should be brought to an end via amazing and marvelous events. In any case, a Muslim knows with full certainty that this is what is going to occur, as the Quran and Prophet have described these events. These events will occur and the Hour will be established. With the Hour comes judgment and this is what every human should be thinking about and preparing for, especially as he/she is reading about these events that shall occur before that momentous occasion.

Footnotes:

[1] Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Baari, vol. 13, p. 84.

[2] The classic example of this nature found in the Quran is that of the Pharaoh. Once it became clear that he was facing his death, he proclaimed his belief.

[3] Recorded by Muslim.

[4] “The first sign” here is understood to mean the first of the extraordinary signs and not of the signs in general, as obviously these will occur after the coming of the Dajjaal and the return of Jesus.