as a sign, and that it will emerge at the end of time. Other reports describing it have also been transmitted, but they were not attributed to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who conveyed from his Lord and elucidated the verses of His Book. We therefore incur no blame if we disregard them. Yet some people of our age who claim affiliation with Islam—among whom reprehensible speech and false opinions have become widespread—do not wish to believe in the unseen. They wish only to remain within the bounds of matter laid down for them by their teachers and exemplars: the atheist, pagan libertines of Europe, divested of every moral and religion. Such people cannot believe as we believe, yet they cannot deny it outright. They therefore speak evasively (1), argue and equivocate, and then resort to figurative interpretation. In doing so, they wrench the words away from their correct, established meanings in the Arabic language and reduce them to something akin to symbols, because of the denial lodged within them which they conceal” (2).

The Place from Which the Beast Will Emerge

Opinions differ concerning the precise location from which the Beast will emerge. They include the following:

1 — It will emerge from Mecca, from the greatest of mosques.

This view is supported by the report related by al-Tabarānī in al-Awsat from Hudhayfa ibn Asīd—which, I believe, he traced back to the Prophet—who said: “The Beast will emerge from the greatest of mosques. While they are there, the ground will begin to stir; while they remain thus, it will split open” (3).