The Islamic teachings reserve the term al-qiyamah for cosmic eschatological ..

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" As for the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyamah), one must

distinguish here between the individual experience of eschatological

realities and the eschatological events concerning the whole of

humanity. Usually the Day of Resurrection or Yawm al-qiyamah refers

in fact not to the death of the individual but to the final end of

present humanity not the eschatological experience which every

individual must understand at the moment of his or her death, but

that of the world of the present humanity itself. The Islamic

teachings reserve the term al-qiyamah for cosmic eschatological

event crowned by the resurrection of creation as well as the

resurrection of the individual. More specifically these sources

distinguish between the greater resurrection, al-Qiyamat al kubra

which is that of the cosmos followed by the resurrection of the

whole of humanity and the individual death and resurrection al-

Qiyamat al-sughra which the soul undergoes following upon the event

of death. What takes place between the death of the individual and

the resurrection of the whole of humanity has been debated by

various schools of Islamic thought and cannot be discussed in this

work because it involves very complicated theological and

philosophical issues.

 

The Qur'an also refers to eschatological events which concern the

whole of humanity. As already mentioned Islam believes that this

world in which we live is not eternal. It has a beginning and an end

after which Allah will create other worlds. For He is always the

Creator, al-khaliq. But this present world was created with a

definite beginning and will have a definite end marked by

eschatological events. According to traditional sources, these

events involve, first of all, the appearance of a figure whose name

is Muhammad al-Mahdi. This appearance is anticipated on the basis of

the hadith of the Prophet who said that where oppression and

iniquity cover the earth " a member of my tribe shall appear whose

name will be the same as mine. " Therefore, throughout the centuries,

Muslims, both Sunni and Shi'ite, have believed that a figure will

appear one day who will be the Mahdi, the Guided One, who will

destroy iniquity, reestablish the rule of Islam and bring back

justice and peace to the world. His rule, however, will be fairly

short and it will followed by the return of Christ.

 

Islam and Christianity share the same vision concerning the second

coming of Christ because Christians also believe in his return.

Moreover, the Muslims also accept, as do the Christians, that

Christ's return will occur in Jerusalem and that this city will be

the place where final eschatological events will take place. Islam

in contrast to Christianity, however, sees the function of the Mahdi

and Christ as being associated with each other and their coming as

part of the same major eschatological events. While the Mahdi will

rule for some years on earth, the coming of Christ will coincide

with the termination of the present history of mankind and of time

as we ordinarily experience it. Historical time comes to an end and

is followed by the Day Resurrection, the final judgment of all human

beings, the weighing of the good and evil acts, the determination of

the inhabitants of heaven, purgatory and hell and the coming to end

of the history of the cosmos. These very complicated events have

been described in Islam in such a way that no man, no matter what

claims he makes, can predict exactly when the Hour will arrive. In

fact, there is a hadith of the Prophet which says that all those who

predict the time of the coming of the Hour are liars. Nevertheless,

all Muslims believe that the Hour will come, that is, there is an

end to human history, that Allah intervenes finally like lightning

upon the stage of ordinary time/space consciousness, that there is

the final death and resurrection of humanity and that there is an

accounting for all that men have done in this world.

 

Most of the details of these teachings are usually put aside in

every day life by ordinary Muslims who are not given to meditating

and thinking about them. It is for theologians, philosophers and

other authorities in the religious sciences to deal with their

ultimate significance. But as their consequences are concerned, they

are meant for all Muslims to think about them. First of all, we all

die whether we are illiterate or great religious scholars, kings or

beggars; therefore, the reality of death and what happens to the

human soul after death are the concern of every human being. Not

only every Muslim, but every human being whether Muslim, Christian,

Jew or other thinks naturally of his or her end. The consequences of

the eschatological teachings of Islam are there for the benefit of

all Muslims and they have been thought about by all types of people

and in very different forms ranging all the way from popular stories

and old wives' tales to the most scholarly and intellectual

expositions in which these realities have been presented in

metaphysical and theological terms.

 

The important lesson, as far as the general teachings of Islam are

concerned, is to keep in mind at all times the reality of death and

the afterlife, the ultimate consequence of our human actions and our

responsibility to Allah for what we do. The precious gift of human

life, while has allowed us by the grace of Allah to possesses the

freedom to act and to accept Allah's teachings on the basis of our

freedom and not by coercion, must always be kept in mind. Without

the eschatological realities the other teachings of religion would

lose much of their compelling influence and the spiritual tension of

human life in this world which is part and parcel of the reality of

being human would disappear, leaving human life without any ultimate

meaning. This would happen since no matter what man achieves in this

world, there is always the certitude that these achievements will

ultimately flounder and disappear. The greatest material

achievements, not only of the individual but also of whole

civilizations, can and in fact do whither away. It is only the

eschatological realities which bring into focus the permanent,

abiding and eternal consequences of human actions precisely because

human beings are being created for immortality and the eternal

world. "

 

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