The Beast of the Earth (), sometimes called The Dabba/Dabbah in Islamic eschatology, will be one of the signs of the coming of the Last Day or

Judgement Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

. It will appear before or after the sun rises in the west, where the Beast will be sighted for the very first time. The Beast is mentioned in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

(in '' Sura'' An-Naml) and is also mentioned in the ''

ahadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

'', which expand upon the characteristics of the beast. Islamic tradition holds that the Beast will precipitate the death of all true believers and the removal of the Quran from the world. .... The Qur'an mentions that the Beast will address the unbelievers and admonish them for their lack of attention towards God:

In the hadith

A tradition attributed to

Ibn al-Zubayr Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ( ar, عبد الله ابن الزبير ابن العوام, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām; May 624 CE – October/November 692), was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the ...

also describes the Beast carrying the Seal of Solomon and Moses' staff. Some ''ahadith'' say that the Beast will be one of the first major signs of the Last Day, along with the sun rising in the west. The appearance of the

Dajjal Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (), otherwise referred to simply as the Dajjal, is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology similar to the Antichrist in Christianity, who will pretend to be the promised Messiah, appearing before the Day of Judgment accordin ...

, rising smoke, and great turmoil are said to be other signs of the end times in a similar ''hadith''.

Interpretations

Traditional

According to the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Sunni

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, there is nothing mentioned in ''hadith'' reports attributed to the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

about the nature of this creature, but it is mentioned in narrations circulating around the time of his successors.

Wahb ibn Munabbih Wahb ibn Munabbih ( ar, وهب بن منبه) was a Yemenite Muslim traditionist of Dhimar (two days' journey from Sana'a) in Yemen; died at the age of ninety, in a year variously given by Arabic authorities as 725, 728, 732, and 737 C.E. He was ...

stated that such a "beast" spoke to the people of Sodom from under the earth.

Contemporary

While the majority of contemporary Islamic scholars accept the traditional exegesis of the Beast of the Earth, the ''Dābbat al-Arḍ'' as a literal creature who will appear in the end times, some interpret the Beast as possibly being made of various parts, including diseases like

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

. Another interpretation holds that this Beast is related to materialistic tendencies, and thus the ''Dābbat'' does not appear at the end of the world, but rather will doom a given nation or society.Maulana Muhammad Ali ''English Translation of the Holy Quran: With Explanatory Notes : from the English Translation and Commentary of Maulana Muhammad Ali'' A.a.i.i.l. (u.k.) 2010 page 477

References

{{Doomsday Islamic eschatology Islamic legendary creatures Islamic terminology Quranic figures

In the hadith

Interpretations

Traditional

Contemporary

See also

References