2012 - Is this The End?

In November 2009, Hollywood came out with a blockbuster movie with the title: “2012”. The catchy tagline read: “We were warned…”, designed to stir all sorts of curious emotions in the heart of the avid movie-goer.

What was this movie all about? Unless you have been completely disconnected from the media recently, it was a depiction of what it would be like when the world comes to a devastating end in the year 2012.

You might wonder where they got this idea from. The idea was not something new, in fact it stemmed from ancient Mayan calculations and those predictions made by 16th Century French fortune-teller, Nostradamus.

The real question however is that; is any of this true? Is the world really going to end in 2012? What is Islam’s view on the subject?

Going straight to the Qur’an, we find that Allah, the Almighty, tells us:

“They ask you about the Hour (Day of Resurrection): ‘When will be its appointed time?’ Say: ‘The knowledge thereof is with my Lord (Alone). None can reveal its time but He. Heavy is its burden through the heavens and the earth. It shall not come upon you except all of a sudden.’ They ask you as if you have a good knowledge of it. Say: ‘The knowledge thereof is with Allah (Alone), but most of mankind know not’”.
[al-‘Araaf 7:187]

We find three main points from the above ayah:

I.    The knowledge of the final Hour i.e. the Day of Judgment is only with Allah. No one else has been given this knowledge; not a civilization, not a tribe and not an individual.

II.    Secondly, we know that the hour will come upon mankind “all of a sudden”. Meaning that it will come when people least expect it or when they are least prepared for it. In various ahadith of the Prophet (ﷺ) we learn that people on that day will be engaged in their usual routines. A man will be plastering his basin, another two will be trading in cloth but will not even get the chance to wrap it up, while a third man will take the milk from his camel, without getting the opportunity to drink it.

III.    In the final part of the above ayah, Allah for a second time reaffirms that the knowledge of this is with Allah alone, yet most of mankind do not know that it is only Allah who has this knowledge. Instead, they put their trust in the false tales and guess work of soothsayers and fortune-tellers.

So a good Muslim understands that no one knows when the Day of Judgment will be and that whenever that Day comes, it will come as a complete surprise.

After having knowledge of the above, what if a person still insists on listening to the stories of the fortune-tellers? This, you see, would be extremely problematic as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) warned us by saying, “Whoever visits a fortune-teller and asks him about something (even out of curiosity), his prayer (salah) will not be accepted for forty nights”. [Muslim, 2230]

In another narration he (ﷺ) said “Whoever visits a fortune-teller and believes in what he says, he has disbelieved in what Allah revealed to Muhammad ﷺ (i.e. he has disbelieved in the Qur’an)”. [Abu Dawood, 3904]

Surely, no Muslim would like to be put in this grave situation. So imagine if this is the case for someone who visits a fortune-teller or believes in one, what about one who himself is a fortune-teller?

The Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned about the one who learns the art of numbers in astrology, horoscopes etc. saying, "Whoever learns anything of astrology/numerology has learned a branch of witchcraft!". [Abu Dawood]

And it goes without saying that in Islam, witchcraft (practice of black magic) is considered to be a form of disbelief (kuffar). May Allah protect us.

Once a man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) asking, “When will the Hour be?” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied by saying, “The Hour will come. What have you prepared for it?”

This is indeed a very important question; a question that we need to ask ourselves. Without doubt, one day we will have to face Allah but what have we prepared for that day? Do we have lots of prayers, fasts and good deeds in our bag? Do we have kindness, love and mercy in our bags? Do we have obedience to Allah and the sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) in our bag?

If the answer is yes, Alhamdulillah, our preparation is going great and definitely in the right direction! But if the answer is no, then instead of focusing on when the hour will be, we need to worry more about collecting as many good deeds as we possibly can while we are still here on this planet and while we still have time.

After all, what lies ahead is truly the home that will last forever, better than anything that this world has to offer.

We ask Allah to protect us from the evils of fortune-telling and pray that may He allow us to put our trust in Him, and Him alone.