Doomsday scenarios in the religions

I have had a curisousity about the doomsday scenarios and especially the signs of the end time. It is illustrated quite in detail in the Islamic texts. Some signs like widespread draught and famine. People killing each other while not knowing why, a big treasure being found in the Tigris (or Eupherates I think), The big wars, the Dajjal, the black-flagged warriors, the return of the Christ, the Al-Mahdi,... I wonder what are the signs in the other religions and whether the are similar.

 

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Some posts deleted. Please stick to mythology and leave personal beliefs and predictions behind.

 

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Mod, I didn't quite understand your explanation as I'm talking about the predictions and not my personal ideas; but, anyway.

According to Islamic texts the end time will have some minor and some major signs. The minor ones start from the birth of the prophet Muhammed and go on..

Abu Musa Ash'ari (R.A.) narrates that the prophet Muhammed (PBUH) said, "Qiyamah (the end day) will come...

* When it will be regarded as a shame to act on Quranic injunctions.
* When untrustworthy people will be regarded as trustworthy and the trustworthy will be regarded as untrustworthy.
* When it will be hot in winter (and vice versa).
* When the length of days is stretched, i.e. a journey of a few days is covered in a matter of hours.
* When orators and lecturers lie openly.
* When people dispute over petty issues.
* When women with children come displeased on account of them bearing offspring, and barren women remain happy on account of having no responsibility of offspring.
* When oppression, jealousy, and greed become the order of the day.
* When people blatantly follow their passions and whims.
* When lies prevail over the truth.
* When violence, bloodshed and anarchy become common.
* When immorality overtakes shamelessness and is perpetrated publicly.
* When legislation matters pertaining to Deen is handed over to the worst elements of the Ummat, and if people accept them and are satisfied with their findings, then such persons will not smell the fragrance of Jannat.
* When the offspring become a cause of grief and anger (for their parents).

The following is part of a lengthy Hadith narrated by Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood (R.A.) when he inquired from Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) about the Signs of Qiyamah.

* Music and musical instruments will be found in every home.
* People will indulge in homosexuality.
* There will be an abundance of illegitimate children.
* There will be an abundance of critics, tale-carriers, back- biters and taunters in society.
* People will establish ties with strangers and sever relations with their near and dear ones.
* Hypocrites will be in control of the affairs of the community and evil, immoral people will be at the helm of business establishments.
* The Masjid will be decorated, but the hearts of the people will be devoid of guidance.
* The courtyards of Masjids will be built beautifully and high mimbars (pulpits) will be erected.
* Gangsters and evil people will prevail.
* Various wines will be consumed excessively.

Auf bin Malik (R.A.) says: I came to Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) while he was in his skin tent during the Tabuk expedition. He said to me, "Count six things before the advent of Qiyamah:

1 My death
2 The conquest of Jerusalem
3 Mass deaths amongst you people, just as when sheep die in large numbers during an epidemic
4 Abundance of wealth to such an extent that if a person were to be given a hundred Dinars he will still not be satisfied
5 General anarchy and bloodshed, that no Arab household will be spared from it
6 Then a life of peace as a result of a peace agreement between you and the Banil Asfaar
(Romans) which they will break and attack you with a force consisting of eighty flags and under each flag will be an army of twelve thousand men." (Hadith: Sahih Bukhari).

IRAQ and SYRIA

Abu Nadhrah says: "We were sitting in the company of Jabir bin Abdullah (R.A.) when he said: 'Soon the people of IRAQ will neither receive any food (grain) nor any money.'" We asked, "Why would such a thing happen?" He replied, "Because of the non-Arabs." (i.e they will prevent food from going into Iraq, in the form of "sanctions" to this day.) He then said: "Soon the people of Shaam (SYRIA) will neither receive any money nor grain." We asked as to why this would happen. He replied: "Because of the Romans (christians)."

CONCEITED PEOPLE:

Hadhrat Abbas (R.A) narrates that Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) has said, "Islam will spread far and wide, across the seas. Horses will cross the land and seas in the cause of Jihaad. Then a time will come wherein a group of people will emerge which recites the Quraan. They will claim,

'We have recited the Quraan and is there anyone who understands the Quraan better than us? There is NO ONE more proficient than us in the study of the Quraan.'

Then Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) asked the Sahaba, "Do you see any good in their claims?" The Sahaba replied, "No". Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wassallam) said, "But these conceited claimants will be from my Ummah and will be the fuel of the Fire."

 

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My favourite mythological doomsday is Ragnarok. It's grand!


Oh, and about the portents:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnarok

 

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I believe..

 

Wow, I popped into this thread expecting find all sorts of mentions concerning the Christian text of Revelation and intended to mention Ragnarok (a personal favorite of mine) only to find no one has mentioned the whole Armageddon thing yet and Ragnorok is already taken.

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I find the end times scenarios in Zoroastrianism are worth a look as well. And if you can't see the influence it's had on Abrahamic religions...look closer.

See Wiki: Saoshyant

In Hinduism, there is a big transition between the ages of Kali (Kaliyuga) and Kalki (Kalkiyuga), which shows some evidence of quite a bit of sturm und drang as well:

See Wiki: Kalki avatar

The figure of Kalki avatar (sometimes called the Tenth Avatar) is not unlike the figure in many other religious transitions, from Christianity to, yes, Norse pagan beliefs.

In Buddhism there is the figure of the Fifth Buddha or Maitreya:

See Wiki "Maitreya"

There does seem to be some commonality in these religious traditions, no matter if the figure under discussion is:

Maitreya (Buddhism)
Jesus returned (Christianity)
Baldur returned (Norse religion)
Messiah ben David (Judaism)
Kalki Avatar (Hinduism)
Mahdi (Islam)
Saoshyant (Zoroastrianism)

well, and some others, but these are the ones with info easiest to find.

The common theme is that there will be a time of falling off of religion and humanity falling into great decadence, followed by the appearance of this figure at some point, and after that, a Golden Age. Usually some sort of battle is involved somewhere, whether it is considered a spiritual one or an actual physical one (well, sometimes it's both).

Eschatology is a fascinating study.

 

IIRC what happens after the Nordic one is not a Golden Age - that the final battle is lost, and evil triumphs in the end ? Or did I get that wrong ?

Seems like one or two others share that as well. They haven't become world-embraced religions, for some reason.

 

The protagonists in Ragnarok are seen as agents of chaos not evil. It's generally order versus chaos, not good vs evil in Norse myths.

 

* Music and musical instruments will be found in every home.

<gasp> the horror!

 

Yeah, you did. After the smoke settles Lif and Liframansir survive among all the humans and repopulate humanity. Of the gods, Baldur remains to take Odin's place as the rightful leader of the gods, along with his brother Hod.

And their supposed to rule over some Golden Age of peace and tranquility.

That's the Reader's Digest version, anyway.

 

None of these predictions are very risky to make or specific. It's more like: the sun will come up tomorrow. Well, yeah.

 

If all you look at is the general idea, that's true.

Of course, if all you look at in Physics is the way light bends to produce a blue sky, you'll probably miss a few other details about Physics as well.

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Name some specific prediction from religion that ever came true.

 

The topic of this thread is doomsday scenarios.

And quite frankly, if you want to bang a drum to disprove religion, go right ahead, but you'll be doing it by yourself, because I'm in this thread for a more scholarly approach to eschatology with no reference to whether any of the predictions are "true" or not.

 

My point is the end of the world predictions have already been made many times in history. Their believers are constantly dissapointed. How often does this have to happen before we realize there is no credibility to any religious-based prediction?

 

Apparently, never. There's your obvious answer.

 

This part of the islamic revelations on the signs of the end times bears close reference to Taliban and Al-Qaeda I believe.

Another sign of the end times according to islam is a great treasure being found in Tigris.

 

I take your point, Spidergoat.

I don't look at eschatology in the sense of the end of the world anyway. And if you examine some of the versions, it's more like turning over into a new era anyway.

Hinduism is probably the clearest in their presentation, where their eschatology moves from Kaliyuga (Age of Kali) to Kalkiyuga (Age of Kalki). There's no sturm und drang Earth blasting destruction going on in their version, though it does look at the transition as being quite turbulent.

To find the root of the Armageddon story (that is, the version where there's a big battle and everything is destroyed), look to Zoroastrianism. Even the whole view of Creation as a big battle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan grows out of Zoroastrian dualism. Zoroastrianism is one of those religions less known for it's prominence today than for its influence on religions to both the east and west.

You do realize this is a fallacy of presumption, yes?

 

Interesting, chuuush. I had not run across this before. Is this from a hadith or some other tradition? And is it more prevalent among Sunni or Shi'a?

(I'm much more acquainted with Shi'a tradition, fwiw, not that I would say I'm all that knowledgeable about prophecies in Islam overall.)

Is there any description of the nature of the treasure, and do you believe the understanding to be literal or metaphorical?

Thanks!

 

I'm sorry the river is Euphrates not the Tigris. I had a wrong memory. I have heard it from Sunniy sources. It is a hadith as I heard in the recording. Regarding the nature of treasure my personal view is that it should be kind of literal reference to a treasure rather than a metamorphical one, that is a type of treasure will be found/was found there. "The Qiyamah will not take place unless the Euphrates gives out a mount of gold."

Some other minor signs of an approaching end times according to Islamic traditions are:
- (one that already happened in 654 H. = 1256 A.C.) a big fire breaking out in Hijaz (today's Saudi Arabia) so big that even those in Basra could feel it Hadith in Sahih Bukhari & Sahih Muslim:“There will not be Dooms day until such a fire is not seen in Hijaz that would reflect on the camels of Busra.” http://www.islam-is-the-only-solution.com/hp.htm
- People of Iraq leaving/or being forced to leave their land and a city called Basra being hit from the air. (Basra did not exist in the time of the prophet Muhammed (PBUH)).
- A lot of tunnels in Mecca and buildings higher than Mecca mounts.
- Adultery gets legal and becomes widespread and women are unwilling to have children.
- Time gets short so people feel a month as if it is a week, and a year as if it is a month.
- Stupid people become rulers of people.
- People ride things which are not horses, donkeys, etc. but look like rooms.
- Number of men will be extremely low due to the intensive wars.
- There will be big wars and calamities and muslims will indulge themselves with property and wordly things instead of helping each other. Then after the death of a certain muslim ruler mayhem will spread among the people and in this while a noble man (whose name is like the name of the prophet and his father's name is like the name of the prophet's father) will flee from Madina to Mecca and some Meccan people knowing him as a pious man come to him to lead them in Jihad in the way of God, he is unwilling at first but eventually accepts and wins a war between Mecca and Madina. After that pious and sincere muslims from allover the world- including people of black flags from the east - will go out all saying "we heard your call o Allah and accepted it" and they will start a big movement...

and thus the major signs of the end time will start.