The Major Signs Before the Last Day

Al-Aqeedah al-Tahawiyyah affirms belief in the major eschatological signs that will precede the Day of Judgment, establishing that these are matters of aqeedah that must be accepted on the basis of the Quran and mutawatir Sunnah, not subjected to rationalistic reinterpretation. Al-Tahawi's treatment of these signs reflects the consistent Sunni approach: affirm what has been authentically transmitted, understand the signs according to their apparent meaning unless there is a clear reason to do otherwise, and avoid speculative elaboration beyond what revelation provides.

The major signs (ashrat al-sa'ah al-kubra) affirmed in the prophetic texts and summarized by al-Tahawi include the emergence of the Dajjal (the False Messiah / Antichrist), the descent of Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus son of Mary), the emergence of the Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog), the rising of the sun from the West, the emergence of the Beast (Dabbat al-Ard), a great smoke (dukhan) that will envelop the earth, and three great landslides (khusuf). These are derived from authenticated hadiths in al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, and al-Tirmidhi, as well as from Quranic references.

Particularly important in this section is the affirmation of the descent of Isa ibn Maryam — a doctrine that has significant theological implications. Isa was not crucified — the Quran explicitly states: 'They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them' (Quran 4:157). Rather, Allah raised him to Himself (rafa'ahu Allah ilayh), and he remains alive in the heavens. Before the Day of Judgment, he will descend near Damascus, break the cross (a symbol of the distorted theology built around his name), kill the Dajjal, and rule by the Shariah of Muhammad ﷺ — not by any new revelation, for there is no new revelation after the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

The emergence of the Dajjal is affirmed as a physical event — a one-eyed man of extraordinary charisma who will claim first to be a prophet and then divinity, who will be given the power to perform apparent miracles, and who will deceive vast numbers of people. The Prophet ﷺ warned his community of the Dajjal in the strongest possible terms: 'There has been no calamity from the creation of Adam until the establishment of the Hour greater than the Dajjal.' (Muslim.) His emergence is preceded by a period of general moral decline, widespread tribulations (fitan), and the diminishing of religious knowledge.

Al-Tahawi affirms these signs without any of the apologetic reinterpretation that modern rationalist approaches sometimes attempt — reading the Dajjal as a metaphor for Western civilization, or the descent of Isa as a spiritual phenomenon. The Sunni position is clear: these are real, physical, historical events that will occur before the Hour, transmitted by authentic chains of narration from the Prophet ﷺ, and the believer is required to affirm them with certainty. Doubt about what has been definitively established by the Sunnah is itself a form of theological deviation.