According to Islamic texts, no one knows exactly when the End of the World will come. However, the Qur’an lists some harbingers of disaster. After certain events take place, all life on Earth will be destroyed, and by means of one sound.
According to Islam, the Almighty did not communicate information about some events that should happen on Earth, not only to ordinary people, but even to the Prophets. One such event is the so-called End of the World.
The exact date of its occurrence is not indicated in any source. About when the End of the World will happen is known only to God:
“Verily, only Allah has knowledge of the Hour” (Holy Quran, 31:34). However, the fact that the end will indeed come one day does not cause any doubts among Muslims, and this confidence is also reflected in the Koran: “The Hour will certainly come”. Holy Koran, 15:85
However, as Muhittin Akgül writes in the “Quran in Questions and Answers“, the Quran describes the events that will precede the End of the World: the hour will strike when the development of mankind reaches its climax, when a person will control many processes and begin to consider himself omnipotent, when it will bring rain and till the land in the desert, when it will learn to cure previously incurable diseases, when the hearts and eyes of the dead will be transplanted into the living, when interplanetary travel will be made, when mountains will be razed to the ground with the help of powerful bombs.
Among the signs are also called the coming of the Dajjal (Antichrist) and Jesus Christ.
Trumpet of Israfil
Also, people will become aware of the approach of the last hour thanks to the archangel Israfil. It is Israfil, who is the keeper of the Doomsday trumpet – Soor, as Ali Demirli writes in his book “Islam. Its terms, symbols and attributes“.
As the Prophet said, Soor is a horn of light, and the holes in it are equal to the number of people who have ever lived on earth. By the command of Allah, Israfil will immediately have to blow the trumpet in Soor, so the archangel always carries the trumpet with him.
Apparently, the sound of the trumpet will be the last sound that people will hear, at the first sound of Israfil’s trumpet, the world will be destroyed.
As Ali Demirli writes in his book “The Sacred Symbols of Islam”, all living things will die from the terrible sound of the trumpet, the heavens will split, and the moon will be eclipsed and merge with the sun, the latter will curl up and go out, the stars will also go out and fall down like hailstones.
The planet will shudder from a powerful earthquake, the seas will rage with fiery flames and boil, the mountains will come off the ground and fly up like fluffs. In general, at that moment the structure of the entire Universe will be broken, and the heavens and earth will acquire completely new forms.
Subsequent events
The subsequent trumpet sounds will be the beginning of a new life. According to the second voice of Israfil’s trumpet, everyone who has ever lived on earth will come to life and gather in one place (al-mahshar). After the soor sounds for the third time, everyone will appear before the Almighty for judgment. And on the Day of Resurrection, “neither wealth nor sons will benefit anyone except those who stand before Allah with a blameless heart.” This was reported by Allah Ta’ala in verse 88 of Surah al-Shuara.
Judgment Day, as Gholamali Haddad-Adel points out in his book “The Lessons of the Quran“, will not be a judgment that can be avoided or falsified. God will interrogate each person individually, and if someone begins to deny his deeds, parts of the body will testify against him: hands, feet, tongue, eyes and ears themselves admit what they did.
It is noteworthy that, according to Islamic teachings, people themselves will see their bad and good deeds committed by them before death, as well as their consequences. After that, both the elect and the condemned will pass over the thinnest bridge Syrat, located above Hell. The sinners will fall down, and the righteous will safely cross the bridge to Paradise.
In the “Apocalypse” (Revelation) of John, it is said that after a thousand years, Satan, bound in prison, will again come out to deceive the nations, Gog and Magog, tempting them to attack Jerusalem. But, the Lord will bring fire down on them from heaven, which will devour them. After that, God will create a New Heaven and a New Earth, on which the city of New Jerusalem will descend from Heaven. God will bring judgment, and whoever is not written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone and will be tormented forever. And the righteous will dwell in the New Jerusalem forever and ever.