Академия Корана:Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān/Apocalypse

Frederik Leemhuis, "Apocalypse" in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: J. D. McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.

Revelation of things to come, especially at the end of times, and a religiously-motivated form of eschatology (q.v.) with an emphasis upon the cosmic events which will occur at the end of the world. Since most of the apocalyptic events mentioned in the Qurʾān are connected with the resurrection (q.v.) of the dead, they are called by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) «the portents of the day of resurrection» (muqaddimāt yawm al-qiyāma, Tafsīr, ad q 39:68).

In the Qurʾān

As a prophetic, revealed message, the Qurʾān is to a large extent apocalyptic yet there are parts of it that carry this theme in a more intense manner. For example, q 81 The Overthrowing (Sūrat al-Takwīr), q 82 The Cleaving (Sūrat al-Infiṭār) and q 99 The Earthquake (Sūrat al-Zilzāl) are accurately termed "apocalyptic sūras, " inasmuch as they are entirely devoted to the portrayal of the upset in the natural order of things that will occur at the end of times. A good example of this is q 81:1-14, which is considered one of the earliest passages with an apocalyptic theme to have been revealed: «When the sun will be darkened, when the stars will be thrown down, when the mountains will be set moving, when the ten-month pregnant camels will be neglected… then will a soul know what it has produced». Nevertheless, other parts of the Qurʾān are not necessarily less apocalyptic. In the earlier sūras in particular, the theme of the end of the world and its accompanying terrifying phenomena is often repeated. Although Muslim and non-Muslim qurʾānic scholarship — notwithstanding their interdependency — do not always agree on the order of the revelation of these segments of the qurʾānic text, there is a general consensus that the following apocalyptic passages: q 56:1-56; 75:7-15; 80:33-42; 81:1-14; 82; 83; 84; 89:21-30; 99; 101 are to be dated to the earlier period of revelation (see chronology and the qurʾān). Western scholarship, when using the classification of T. Nöldeke and R. Blachère, considers the most picturesque apocalyptic parts to be from the latter part of the first Meccan period and from the second Meccan period. In R. Bell’s schema, they are attributed to the «early Qurʾān period».

Images of the end of the world in these early sūras are often quite vivid and contain colorful descriptions of cosmic events. However, given the variety of images depicted in the various sūras, one cannot form an exact picture of the events which will occur at the end of times. As R. Paret states, on the last day «the earth begins to move violently. It staggers, quakes and is crushed and flattened. It brings forth what is inside of it and empties itself. Like a mirage the mountains assume variable forms. They collapse, are like teased wool and disintegrate into sand and dust. Heaven will be like molten metal and be rent asunder, split open and full of gaping holes. The sun will be coiled up. The moon will darken. The sun and moon will be brought together. The stars will go out and tumble down (or become dull), etc. It would be pointless to try to patch together a coherent and comprehensive account of the events on the last day from the different statements. The individual sūras must be taken separately, just as they originally were recited. Indeed, the images of the events on the last day are not intended to, as it were, depict objective reality or to foretell the future exactly in all its details. They have been designed and formulated with the intention to shock the audience, to foreshadow the terror that, at some time in the future, on the last day, will seize all of creation» (Mohammed, 64-5). In addition to these cosmic events, there are other signs which will signal the end, e.g. the breaking loose of Gog and Magog (q.v.; q 18:94, 21:96). God will bring forth from the earth a beast that will speak (q 27:82) and the trumpet or horn (ṣūr, e.g. q 27:87; 36:51; 39:68; 69:13; 78:18; nāqūr, q 74:8) will be blown to summon every creature.

Interestingly, the early apocalyptic passages do not explicitly mention the end of the world, refer directly to the resurrection of the dead or give much detail about the day of judgment (see last judgment). Much is implicit, although the final result is clear: the unbelievers (or ungrateful, kuffār) and the evildoers (alladhīna ajramū) will receive their punishment in hell(al-jahīm or al-jahannam) and the reward of the believers (alladhīna āmanū) who do righteous deeds(ʿamilū al-ṣāliḥāt) will be paradise (al-janna, see hell; paradise; garden; belief and unbelief; reward and punishment). The fact that much is implicit in these early apocalyptic passages suggests that in the Mecca of the early qurʾānic revelations at least part of Muḥammad’s audience must have been familiar with some of this apocalyptic imagery. Scholars have noted that it calls to mind many parallels with Jewish and Christian, canonical and apocryphal apocalyptic literature, although Arabian features, such as the neglect of ten-month pregnant camels (q 81:4) are unique to the Qurʾān.

Some of the expressions used to indicate apocalyptic phenomena occur only once in the Qurʾān, e.g. «when the earth shall be rocked and the mountains crumbled» (idhā rujjati l-arḍu rajjan wa-bussati l-jibālu bassan, q 56:4-5). One conspicuous characteristic of the descriptions of the apocalyptic events is that there is no mention of who or what brings them about (ʿĀ. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Tafsīr, i, 80). Often the meaning of the apocalyptic terms is not straightforward, as in the case of «the great catastrophe» (al-ṭāmma al-kubrā, q 79:34) and «the blast» (al-ṣākhkha, q 80:33) and traditional exegesis does not offer much more than to say that they are names for the day of resurrection (e.g. Ṭabarī, Tafsīr). The same is said about «the calamity» (al-qāriʿa, q 101:1-3) but this term is also used to denote the catastrophe that overtakes unbelieving communities in the punishment stories (q.v.; q 13:31; 69:4). Likewise, the root r-j-f — basically «to tremble» — is used both in apocalyptic passages and in punishment stories (q.v.; q 7:78, 91, 155; 29:37; 73:14; 79:6). The apocalyptic passages in combination with the announcement of the final judgment belong to the earliest themes of the qurʾānic message. As in Christianity and Judaism, the theme of punishment has raised the question of compatibility with the idea of a good creator God (see Watt-Bell, Introduction, 158-62; R. Paret, Mohammed und der Koran, 62-71).

Just as the identity of the author and the precise nature of the events of the last day are ambiguous, so too is the time when it will occur. Not even the Prophet himself was able to tell when the apocalyptic end of the world and the subsequent resurrection and judgment will come (q 79:43), but that they are sure to happen and nearly at hand is stated more than once (e.g. q 51:5-6; 52:7; 53:57; 78:40). According to q 47:18, its tokens or portents (ashrāṭ) have already come, but the hour itself will arrive suddenly.

In exegesis and ḥadīth

The fact that the Qurʾān mentions that even the Prophet cannot foretell the coming of the hour is probably one of the reasons why the exegetical works generally do not elaborate on the apocalyptic phenomena or try to determine when the end of the world will come. Referring to q 3:7 and q 7:187, al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923), for instance, mentions in his introduction that God has reserved the knowledge and the interpretation of the future apocalyptic events for himself (Tafsīr, i, 74).

Nevertheless, one can find some additional and traditionally accepted details in the exegetical works. For instance, it is commonly stated that an angel (q.v.), Israfel (Isrāfīl) or Gabriel (Jibrīl; see gabriel), will blow the trumpet and that he is also the «caller» (al-munādī) of q 50:41. The commentaries elaborate upon the two blasts of the trumpet of q 39:68. At the first blast everybody will die except for a few chosen by God (the archangels and/or the martyrs, cf. q 3:169) and the resurrection of the dead will occur forty years later at the second blast (Muqātil, Tafsīr; Ṭabarī, Tafsīr; Qurṭubī, Jāmiʿ; Bayḍāwī, Anwār ad loc.). In an apparent attempt to harmonize q 39:68 and q 27:87 (cf. Rāzī, Tafsīr, ad q 39:68), Abū l-Layth al-Samarqandī (d. ca. 375/985), in his commentary mentions a variant given on the authority of the Prophet: The first blast of the trumpet or horn — which has a circumference as great as the distance between heaven and earth — frightens all of creation. At the second blast, the inhabitants of heaven and earth die. At the time of the third blast, all the souls or spirits (arwāḥ) are gathered in the horn and then blown into their respective bodies for the resurrection (Tafsīr, ad q 39:68). The famous commentator al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) mentions the tradition of the Companion Abū Hurayra about the three blasts (Tafsīr, ad q 27:87 and 39:68), without any further comments and al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1272), after having mentioned the three, explicitly states that there will only be two blasts (Jāmiʿ, ad q 27:87). Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) in his commentary on q 27:87 and 39:68 also mentions three blasts (Tafsīr, ad loc.). Another accepted detail of the end of times is that Jesus (q.v.) will defeat the Antichrist (al-dajjāl, see antichrist). Ibn Kathīr, in keeping with his penchant for providing very detailed information on the events at the end of times, says (quoting, among other sources, the ḥadīth contained in the Saḥīḥ [Fitan, 117] of Muslim, d. 261/875) that the period of peace after this defeat will extend seven years. Usually in connection with the «near place» (makān qarīb) of q 50:41, «the rock of Jerusalem» (ṣakhr bayt al-maqdis) is identified as the place where the trumpet shall sound. Often this is rationalized on the grounds that it is the place on earth nearest to heaven (e.g. Muqātil, Tafsīr; Ṭabarī, Tafsīr; Abū l-Layth al-Samarqandī, Tafsīr; Māwardī, Nukat; Zamakhsharī, Kashshāf; Qurṭubī, Jāmiʿ; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr; al-Maḥallī and al-Suyūṭī, Jalālayn ad loc.). Muqātil (d. 150/767) suggests that the end of times will not witness the end of the earth, but rather the world «will become empty with nothing in it. It will be laid out new and white, as if it were silver or as if it were unwrought. It will have rays like the rays of the sun. There will be no sin committed on it and no blood shed» (Tafsīr, ad q 99:2).

The ḥadīth literature — such as the chapter of Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ entitled Kitāb al-Fitan wa-ashrāṭ al-sāʿa, which contains 143 ḥadīth on the subject — gives much more detailed and precise accounts of the apocalyptic events than is found in the Qurʾān and the commentaries (see ḥadīth and the qurʾān). In Western qurʾānic scholarship the study of the apocalypse in the Qurʾān and its commentaries is somewhat underdeveloped, especially when compared with the recent upsurge of attention given to Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature.

Bibliography

Primary

• ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Tafsīr, Cairo 19662
• Abū l-Layth al-Samarqandī, Tafsīr, Beirut 1413/1993
• Bayḍāwī, Anwār
• Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr
• Jalālayn
• Māwardī, Nukat
• Muqātil, Tafsīr
• Muslim, Saḥīḥ
• Qurṭubī, Jāmiʿ
• Ṭabarī, Tafsīr
• Zamakhsharī, Kashshāf

Secondary

• R. Blachère, Le Coran, Paris 1966, 19806, 32-7
• M. Cook, Muhammad, Oxford 1983
• R. Paret, Mohammed und der Koran. Geschichte und Verkündigung des arabischen Propheten, Stuttgart 1957, 62-71
• U. Rubin, Apocalypse and authority in Islamic tradition. The emergence of the twelve leaders, in al-Qanṭara 18 (1997), 1-42
• P. Ryan, The descending scroll. A study of the notion of revelation as apocalypse in the Bible and in the Qurʾān, in Ghana Bulletin of Theology 4 (1975), 24-39
• Watt-Bell, Introduction, 1970, 1977, 158-62
• V.P. Zimbaro, Encyclopedia of apocalyptic literature, Santa Barbara 1996, 12-4, 134