Thesis Statement
The Quran, being the most pious and sacred holy book of Islamic culture contains the details about the religion. A complete canvas draws out the evolution, the continuation and the absolute end of the culture and manhood is that can be defined as Quran. The term Eschatology can be defined as the study of the final ending. Eschatology is an elaborate part of the Quran and is segmented into two parts, the life after death and the end of the world (Vos). The Quran tries to emphasize on is the theory of sin and virtue, the concept of resurrection and judgment.
Thesis Statement
The concept of eschatology is more or less similar in the Quran, Hebrew Bible and NewTestament however, the only difference lies in the way life ends and the corresponding factors of afterlife. The report will focus on the compare and contrast of the process on ending of life.
The ultimate end is described as inevitable and cannot be escaped in any way, how so ever powerful a person or a beast may. The holy Quran in a very picturesque manner describes that a final horn will be blown out to announce the death of each man in the world. The death would be witnessed on by the almighty and not a single life can escape from the final dooms day. All the existence including the earth would be sinking down and no evidence of life would be left. The earth and the mountains would be lifted by some eternal power and then both the two would be crushed and clashed with each other to ensure that no signs of life remain. There once more would be another blow of the trumpet and all the human beings would be presented before the Allah to account for their sins and virtue that has been done by them in their entire life (Longenecker).
The blow of the trumpet however also carries another connotation. It refers to reformation, according to the will of God.
The Quran also asserts that the concept of resurrection, that is life after death is not new and has been talked about by early prophets through ages. In Islamic culture, the mortal death of an individual is not considered as the final end. There is a firm belief that each creature has to go through the process of resurrection. However, the concept of after life is different in New Testament and in Hebrew Bible.
The description of final ending in Quran:
Before the comparison, it is imperative to understand the origin of Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Hebrew Bible is the Jewish bible that contains the sacred contents of Judaism (Khan and Ali 11-24). The New Testament is the Christian Bible that mainly contains the life of Jesus Christ and his early followers. The sections of the books differ, though the contents regarding the apocalypse remain similar.
The concept of eschatology is more or less similar in the Quran, Hebrew Bible and New Testament. All the religious documents claim the inevitable end. The only difference lies in the process of ending.
In the Quran, the humans are paid for their deeds during their lifetime after death. The judgments are made by the Allah ad each man is accountable to him for their sins and virtue (Allen). A man can attain salvation only if the amount of good deeds exceeds the sins. The decision of Allah is final and unquestionable.
Whereas, on the other hand, New Testament claims that Christian believers can attain salvation only on the will of Jesus. The idea of sin and virtue does not enact here as in Islamic culture. Attaining salvation is independent of the sinful act or the virtuous act performed by man during his lifetime. Man is not accountable to the all mighty for the deeds. However a sinful a man may be, can attain salvation in the will of Jesus.
In the Hebrew Bible, the al-mighty is not named as it is in the Quran or New Testament. Yet, until the late modern age, the Jewish sustained a belief of standing before god after death. It believes in the immortality of the soul whereas the body would be decomposed. The body will be later recomposed on the will of god only to present the human before god for the judgment. However, it does have the idea of afterlife. The final end is described in a picturesque manner which would bring all the Diaspora of Jews into a sea line before the end. Reformation or Jewish Messiah would take place and the dead would be revived. Thus, the ending is yet another time different from Quran and New Testament.
The Muslim commentators observed that the last day would be enough significant and would be noticeable. That is some clear signs will mark the advent of the end. The signs that the commentators talked about regarding the final days are as follows:
Eschatological comparison of Quran with Hebrew Bible and New Testament:
Geographical signs: It was prophesized by prophet Muhammad that Islam would win over Christians at Dabiq, that would initiate eschatology.
Prominent signs and cipher: Muslim commentators elaborated the Quarinic visions of eschatology in symbolic manner. That is the final arrival of the dooms day would be marked by symbols like the folding of the sun and the twisting of the oceans. Dramatic events like turning down of the graves will also occur to mark the final ending, as has been described by commentators.
Moral decay, Hellfire and Brimstone: The commentators explained that towards the nearing end there would be prominent moral decay among the inhabitants of earth (Romaniuk 186). Men would not be retained with anymore of religious knowledge and there would be rampant increase in number of women against men. Consumption of alcoholic drinks would be very common.
The idea of eschatology in Quran talk not only about the eschatology related to Islamic culture but has a great volume of Christian eschatology as well. To be simplified, the idea of Christianity is indispensible from the Islamic eschatology part in the Quran. There is prominent appearance of Christianity in the eschatological description in the Quran. The revival of Jesus is marked towards the end of eschatological description in the Quran. It is portrayed that Jesus will be descending from the heavens to save Islamic culture from the hands of cruelty. The great deal of the presence of other religion is also well mentioned in the list of apostles of Quran (Sievers). There are twenty-eight apostles as the Quran listed and the most of the apostles are of Biblical origin, that is, are Christians. Noah, Adam, Abraham and Moses or Jesus are some of the few note worthy apostles that has been listed in the Quran.
Jesus appears at the end in Islamic version, as held by Muslim scholars. Political contamination of religion is very much transparent with the advent of Jesus in Islamic appearance. Politics is deeply imbibed making Islam as the only and supreme power on the earth. Jesus as shown as a fitting description of the ‘false prophet’ regarded as Isa Al Maseeh. Later Isa Al Maseesh is described as a destroyer of all Christian crosses and forceful converter of all Christians into Islamic religion. The Christians refusing to adapt Islamic religion is brutally murdered to death.
Conclusion
The report talks about the concept of eschatology as presented in the Quran. The process of ultimate end is described and compared to the process of eschatology in other cultures. The report shows a comparison of Quran, Hebrew Bible and New Testament in terms of eschatology. Eschatology is not only about the end but also marks a new beginning, a reformation. The report sheds light on the political aspects and the religious aspects of the eschatological concept. There is an elaborate discussion about the views of Muslim scholars interpreting eschatology in Quran.
Reference List
Khan, Sardaraz, and Roslan Ali. “conceptualisation of death and resurrection in the holy quran: a cognitive-semantic approach.” Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS) 1.2 (2016): 11-24.
Longenecker, Bruce. Eschatology and the covenant: a comparison of 4 Ezra and Romans 1-11. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015.
Sievers, Joseph. ““Where Two or Three…”: Shekhinah and Matthew 18: 20: Foundations for Jewish-Christian Dialogue and Beyond?.” Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture 6.1 (2017): 4.
The Koran. WH Allen, 1930
Vos, Geerhardus. Pauline Eschatology. Ravenio Books, 2015.
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