DE DON COME!: A REVISIT
“Before the Last Hour there will be great liars, so beware of them”…“When the most wicked member of a tribe becomes its ruler, and the most worthless member of a community becomes its leader. . “
By Babatunde Jose
The concept of the ‘End Time’ is one that features prominently in the pantheon of the Abrahamic religions. Therefore, matters relating to the last days are discussed in their holy books, and the signs we should look for or recognize as the end draws near. There is every truth in the saying that whatever has a beginning must surely have an end. The world as we know it has a beginning and there is no doubt, the end must come. When and how it will end is a matter of conjecture. But the good books are very emphatic about the coming end. Hence, the signs of the end time.
In Islam, matters relating to the end time abound in prophetic Hadiths and some verses in the Holy Quran. However, the most astonishing signs are those that are not only in the Quran but also feature in the Bible.
The most important ones are the coming of the Antichrist, which in Islam is referred to as Dajjal or the False Prophet and the return of Prophet Isa or Jesus. The two books are very emphatic about these events. There is another sign which both the Bible and the Quran are also emphatic about and this relates to the blowing of the trumpet, an event that will signal the end of all life as we know it and a second trumpet that will herald the resurrection.
The Trumpet will (just) be sounded, when all that are in the heavens and on earth will swoon, except such as it will please Allah (to exempt). Then will a second one be sounded, when, behold, they will be standing and looking on! And the Earth will shine with the glory of its Lord: The Record (of Deeds) will be placed (open); the prophets and the witnesses will be brought forward; and a just decision pronounced between them; and they will not be wronged (in the least). (Quran 39:68-69) See also:1 Corinthians 15:51-52
The Bible says: In the Last Days iniquity shall abound and evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse: Matthew 24:21-24 and Mark 13:19
We also read in the Quran in Surah In-Fithar: When the Sky is cleft asunder; When the Stars are scattered; When the Oceans are suffered to burst forth; And when the Graves are turned upside down; (Then) shall each soul know what it has sent forward and (what it hath) kept back. (Quran 82:1-5)
The above verses from Surah In-Fithar are very instructive; they portend an end to the world in plain language. When the sky is cleft asunder, which Arabic word ‘infatarat’ could mean split, torn apart or to vanish or become abolished. Also, stars fallen could also signify a collapse of the heavenly bodies and the obliteration of their lights, while the seas bursting forth could mean a great turbulence such as Tsunamis, confusion and chaos with the seas overflowing in uncontrollable deluge. And most self-evident is the part where the graves are turned upside down, disgorging their content, in readiness for the resurrection.
The verses in the above Surah are corroborated by the following passage in the Bible: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:29
There is no doubt that it promises to be a very tragic event when confusion will reign and men will run from pillar to post not knowing what was happening. It is this that reminds me of the events of 27th January 2002 when the Ordinances at the Ikeja Military Cantonment went up in flames and explosions rent the skies.
Those who heard the explosions started ‘running to nowhere’ as they felt the end has come. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was taking my uncle to the airport to catch a flight to Abuja. As we approached Guardian Newspaper house on the express, we saw an exodus of people and vehicles coming in our direction. I said to myself, what madness is this, on the expressway!
We stopped and tried to get on to the service lane. Then I asked one of the runners what was going on. He looked at me as if I was from Mars and said ‘de don come’. I asked another person and he said to me’ de don come. Then I asked which people and he said, ‘you no hear, I say de don come! War!! Then I said which war, but he was off. No one in that multitude could tell us what was going on. We made a U-turn and headed back to Apapa.
It is significant to know that many of those running did not know what they were running from. Many perished in the Ejigbo canal, while some were separated from their brethren. That was a microcosm of the event that would be witnessed on the last day.
There are many other signs given by the Prophet (SAW) but, suffice to say that the he said: It will not come until you see ten signs. And (in this connection) he made mention of the ‘smoke’, ‘Dajjal’, the ‘beast’, the ‘rising of the sun from the west’, the ‘descent of Jesus son of Mary’, ‘Gog and Magog’, ‘sinking of the earth in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia’ at the end of which ‘fire would burn forth from Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly’ (i.e., the place where mankind will be assembled for judgment). (Sahih Muslim)
Other signs of the end time are:
• Homosexuality (and lesbianism) would become commonplace, and that is now happening before our very eyes. Social acceptance and legal protection for this abominable sexual perversion is gaining ground. Indeed those who hold fast to the divine prohibition of such sexual perversion are now demonized as a people who suffer from a disease called ‘homophobia’;
• Children born outside of marriage would become commonplace, in fact marriage itself now seems destined to become obsolete;
• Fornication and adultery would become commonplace, that, also, appears to have already been fulfilled in a modern world in which virginity and marital fidelity are becoming old-fashioned;
• “Time would move swiftly—a year passing like a month—a month like a week—a week like a day” etc., and already the perception of swiftly moving time is a universal experience;
• Prevalence of random killing, murder and violence that “a killer would not know why he is killing and the one who is killed would not know why he is being killed”, and “every age is followed by one which would be worse”—already around the world senseless random killing has arrived and is constantly escalating;
• “Nothing would remain of Islam but the name, and nothing would remain of the Qur’an but the traces (of its writing) (i.e., the Qur’an would not be studied, no one would follow its guidance, it would be recited mechanically etc.);
· The Masajid (mosques) would be grand structures but would be devoid of guidance; and the Ulama (religious scholars of Islam who represent such people) would be the worst people beneath the sky. From them would emerge Fitnah (trials) and they would be the centres of Fitnah (since they betray Islam)” — there are many distinguished scholars of Islam who declare that this prophesy, also, has today found fulfilment. The evidence of such is overwhelming.
However, the End time prophecy that takes the cake is this: Prophet Muhammad (SAW) prophesied that:
“People would follow a way of life other than mine, and give guidance other than mine”…“I fear for my people only the leaders who lead men astray”…“Before the Last Hour there will be great liars, so beware of them”…“When the most wicked member of a tribe becomes its ruler, and the most worthless member of a community becomes its leader, and a man is respected through fear of the evil he may do, and leadership is given to people who are unworthy of it, expect the Last Hour”. Allah knows best.
Be prepared for the day when people will be saying’ De don come!’
Wa minhum mai yaqoolu rabbanaaa aatina fid dunyaa hasanatanw wa fil aakhirati hasanatanw wa qinaa azaaban Naar: “And there are men who say: “Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the Fire!” (Quran 2:201)
Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend.
Babatunde Jose
