When people talk about the end of the world, many imagine an almost complete scenario, similar to a movie. First, the Mahdi appears, then the Dajjal arrives, after that Jesus (Isa) returns from the heavens, defeats the Dajjal, a new era of justice begins, and then the remaining events of the Day of Judgment take place.
For many people, this picture has become so familiar that it is viewed as an inseparable part of the Islamic understanding of the future. However, an important question arises: does the Qur’an itself truly promise such a detailed scenario? Or did people over time combine various reports, interpretations, and cultural ideas into a single narrative that eventually came to be treated as absolute truth?
This distinction is extremely important. The Qur’an repeatedly reminds people that knowledge of the future belongs only to Allah. If this is the case, how cautious should people be when they begin describing in detail events about which the Qur’an itself speaks only in general terms?
The main question is not only what will happen at the end of time, but also where revelation ends and human reconstruction begins.
The Qur’an Speaks About the Hour, Not a Detailed Script
The Qur’an repeatedly emphasizes one central idea: the Hour will certainly come. However, precise knowledge of it belongs only to Allah.
People are not called to calculate the sequence of future events or search for a hidden calendar of the end times. Instead, they are called to prepare for it through their actions in the present.
This is where the first difference between the Qur’anic approach and human tradition becomes clear. The Qur’an primarily asks a person: “What have you prepared to meet Allah?” People, however, often focus on a different question: “What exactly will happen first?”
The desire to understand the future is natural for human beings. However, the problem begins when details that are not found in revelation start being treated as part of revelation itself.
The Mahdi and the Dajjal: What Does the Qur’an Say?
In a separate article, we already examined the questions surrounding the Mahdi and the Dajjal in detail. Here, in the context of the end times, it is important to highlight the main point: these figures occupy a huge place in Islamic ideas about the future, yet they are not mentioned in the Qur’an itself.
Their descriptions appear in later sources and interpretations. Therefore, when discussing the end times, it is necessary to distinguish between what is actually stated in the Qur’an and what represents human understanding and later development of this topic.
The Qur’an speaks about the coming of the Hour, trials, misguidance, injustice, and human responsibility, but it does not provide a detailed scenario with specific names and a fixed sequence of events.
The Return of Prophet Isa: What Does the Qur’an Say and What Did Tradition Add?
The Qur’an does give significant attention to Prophet Isa and speaks about him far more than it speaks about the Mahdi or the Dajjal.
This is why the question of his return occupies a special place in discussions about the end times. [By the way, there are opinions that the verse does not mean the return of Prophet Isa (Jesus), but that deserves a separate article. For now, let's examine the classical opinion of the tradition].
One verse that is often connected with the final events says:
“And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour. So do not doubt it...”
(Qur’an 43:61)
However, an important question arises here.
What exactly does this verse mean?
The Qur’an describes Prophet Isa as a “sign of the Hour,” but it does not describe the detailed scenario that is often found in later interpretations: the return of Isa, his battle with the Dajjal, his alliance with the Mahdi, and the subsequent long period of global rule based on justice.
The Qur’an itself does not contain a direct promise of a second golden age after the appearance of Prophet Isa.
It does not describe humanity entering a long period of perfect order before the Day of Judgment finally arrives.
If this verse is understood as referring to the final events, the expression “sign of the Hour” more naturally points toward the nearness of the Hour rather than necessarily the beginning of a long-lasting era.
Furthermore, the very idea that humanity must witness a great miracle in order to believe raises additional questions.
The Qur’an describes previous nations who witnessed signs but still rejected the truth.
The problem of human beings is often not the absence of evidence, but the unwillingness to accept it.
Therefore, another question emerges: if future people were to see Isa as an obvious sign, would their faith become more valuable? Or would it become faith in the face of undeniable reality, where the space for doubt has almost disappeared?
There is also a question related to the completion of the prophetic mission.
The Qur’an describes Muhammad as the final prophet. Of course, supporters of the traditional understanding may respond that Isa will not bring a new revelation or establish a new religion.
However, in practice, humanity would once again have a prophet among them whom people could directly approach, ask questions, and receive answers from.
This requires serious reflection because such a situation would be very different from the era after the completion of prophethood.
Of course, there are different ways of understanding these verses. It cannot simply be claimed that all traditional interpretations are necessarily incorrect.
But it is important to distinguish between two things: what is directly stated in the Qur’an and what was built around the text through later interpretations.
The Qur’an presents Isa as a great sign and an important figure. But the detailed picture of a second golden age, worldwide rule of justice, and a complete sequence of future events is not a direct description found in the Qur’an.
This leads to the central question: are we following the text, or are we trying to fill the unknown with human scenarios?
Yajuj and Majuj: Are They Necessarily Unknown Creatures?
In many popular ideas, Yajuj and Majuj are transformed almost into fantasy creatures.
However, the Qur’an focuses not on their appearance but on their actions: spreading corruption and destruction.
This raises an important question: why do people often focus on searching for an unusual physical image when the Qur’an draws attention primarily to moral characteristics?
There is also another interesting point: the desire to imagine them specifically as “monsters” is itself unusual. It is as if ordinary living beings on Earth are no longer considered capable of creating extraordinary events, as if everything familiar and natural is automatically viewed as too simple and insignificant for such a role. Yet throughout history, ordinary people and ordinary phenomena have often become the sources of the greatest trials.
Perhaps it is more important to learn how to recognize destructive forces among humanity than to wait for the appearance of some extraordinary creatures.
The Beast of the Earth: Why Do We Expect an Unknown Creature?
Another example is the “beast of the earth” (dābbat al-arḍ — دَابَّةُ الْأَرْضِ) mentioned in the Qur’an.
In popular imagination, this is often transformed into the image of a special supernatural creature that will suddenly appear before the end of the world.
However, the question arises: what is this interpretation actually based on?
The Arabic word dābbah (دَابَّة) comes from a root connected with movement and walking upon the earth. In a broad sense, it refers to any living creature that moves across the earth.
Moreover, the word is not exclusively a designation for some unknown species. In Arabic, it can refer to various earthly creatures, including animals, and within its broader semantic range it can describe any being that walks or moves on the earth.
Therefore, an interesting question appears.
Why do we automatically imagine a new unknown creature never seen by humanity if the word itself does not require such a meaning?
If, for example, an ordinary earthly creature were given the ability to speak, why would we consider this less possible simply because it does not resemble a mythical character?
The issue here is not that one interpretation must necessarily be wrong. The issue is that human imagination often adds details to the text that the text itself does not contain.
The Qur’an draws attention not so much to the outward appearance of this sign, but to its role and meaning.
Therefore, the main question is not what this creature will look like, but what Allah intends to show through this sign.
Perhaps we too often try to imagine the future as a movie with predetermined characters, while the Qur’an more often directs human attention not toward the external appearance of events, but toward their meaning.
The Main Problem Is Not Different Interpretations, but Certainty About Them
The existence of different possibilities and interpretations is not itself a problem. Human beings naturally try to understand what is unknown.
The problem begins when human reconstruction becomes equal to revelation.
The more detailed the scenario becomes — who appears first, how long they live, whom they defeat, and what happens afterward — the more important it becomes to ask:
“On what basis are we certain about this exact sequence?”
If the basis is not found in the Qur’an, but in later sources and interpretations, this should be acknowledged honestly.
The history of interpretation is important, but it should not replace the text itself.
Perhaps the End Is Closer Than We Think
There is another important point that is often forgotten.
Many people become so focused on waiting for future events that they stop paying attention to their own condition today.
Yet for every individual, their personal end may come much earlier than any global event.
This is why the Qur’an constantly returns people to their own responsibility. The main question is not whether we will witness certain signs or figures.
The main question is in what state we will meet our own judgment before Allah.
Conclusion
The end of the world is one of the most widely discussed topics among people.
However, when popular scenarios are compared with the Qur’an itself, a difference becomes clear between what Allah actually reveals and what people have added through later ideas.
This does not mean that all later explanations are necessarily false. It means only that a person should not speak on behalf of Allah where Allah Himself has left room for the unknown.
Perhaps this is why the Qur’an speaks much less about the detailed sequence of future events and much more about the kind of person one should become today.
Because the Day of Judgment will certainly come.
But readiness for it is not determined by how well a person knows the supposed scenario of the end times, but by how they lived their life.
