Will the Qur’aan disappear at the end of time?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

There are a
number of ahaadeeth which indicate that the Qur’aan will be taken away
at the end of time. Among these ahaadeeth are the following:

From
‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood, who said: “Something will come and take the
Qur’aan one night and not one aayah will be left, either in the Mus-haf
or in the heart of any person, but it will be taken away.” (Narrated by
al-Daarimi with a saheeh isnaad, no. 3209)

Al-Daarimi
narrated with a different saheeh isnaad (no. 3207) that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn
Mas’ood said: “Recite the Qur’aan much before it is taken away.”
They said, “These Mus-hafs will be taken away! What about that which is
(memorized) in men’s hearts?” He said: “Something will come and take
it one night, and in the morning they will wake up without it. They will
forget the phrase ‘laa ilaaha
ill-Allaah’ and they will start to recite the sayings and
poetry of the Jaahiliyyah. That is when the Word will be fulfilled against
them.”

The
phrase ‘That is when the Word will be fulfilled against them’ is a
reference to the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):

“And when the Word (of torment) is fulfilled against them, We
shall bring out from the earth a beast for them, to speak to them because
mankind believed not with certainty in Our Ayaat (Verses of the Qur’aan
and Prophet Muhammad)” [al-Naml 27:82].

Ibn
Katheer said in his tafseer of this aayah:

This
beast will emerge at the end of time when mankind becomes so corrupt that
they neglect the commandments of Allaah and change the true religion.
Allaah will bring forth for them a beast from the earth – it was said
from Makkah, or from elsewhere – and it will speak to the people
concerning that. Ibn ‘Abbaas, al-Hasan and al-Qutaadah said – and it
was also narrated from ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib – (may Allaah be pleased
with them all): it will speak to them, i.e., it will address them.
‘Ataa’ al-Khurasaani said – and it was narrated from ‘Ali and this
was the view favourd by Ibn Jareer: it will speak to them and it will say
to them, ‘mankind believed not with
certainty in Our Ayaat’. There are some reservations about this interpretation, and Allaah
knows best.

According
to one report, Ibn ‘Abbaas said: the words tukallimuhum
(to speak to them) means, it will wound them;
according to another report he said: it will do both (i.e., speak to them
and wound them). [The
word Tukallim
may mean either speak or wound. – Translator].
This is a good point with no contradictions, and Allaah knows best.

(Tafseer
al-Qur’aan al-‘Azeem,
3/375-378)

Many
ahaadeeth and reports have been narrated about the beast, such as the
following:

It
was reported that Hudhayfah ibn Usayd al-Ghiffaari said: The Messenger of
Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw us from a room
whilst we were talking about the Hour. He said: “The Hour will not come
until you see ten signs: the rising of the sun from the west; the smoke;
the beast; the emergence of Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj; the appearance of
‘Eesaa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him); the Dajjaal (“antichrist”);
three landslides – one in the west, one in the east and one in the
Arabian Peninsula; and fire which will emerge from the direction of
‘Aden and will drive – or gather – the people, stopping with them
whenever they rest overnight or during the siesta hour.”

(Narrated by
Imaam Ahmed, no. 46 – his version is his; also by Muslim, no 2901; Abu
Dawood, no. 4311; al-Tirmidhi, no. 2183 – he said it is hasan saheeh;
al-Nasaa’i, no. 1138; Ibn Maajah, no. 4055).

It
was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet
(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said:

“There
are three things which, when they appear, it will not benefit anyone to
believe if he did not believe before: the Dajjaal, the beast and the
rising of the sun from the west – or from the place where it sets.”

(Narrated by
al-Tirmidhi, no. 3072; he said it is a saheeh hasan hadeeth).

It
was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Hasten
to do good deeds before six things come to pass: the rising of the sun
from the place where it sets; the smoke; the Dajjaal; the beast; or
personal calamities or general tribulations.”

(narrated
by Muslim, no. 2947; Ibn Maajah, no. 4056, and others).
There are many ahaadeeth which speak of the beast which will emerge at the
end of time, but it would take too long to quote them all here. And Allaah
is the Source of strength.

Further
evidence that the Qur’aan will be taken away at the end of time is to be
found in the report narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam
al-Kabeer, no. 8698, according to which Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said:

“This
Qur’aan will most certainly be taken away from amongst you.” He was
asked: “O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, how will it be taken away when it is so
deeply rooted in our hearts and is written in our mus-hafs?” He said:
“Something will come to it at night, then there will be nothing left of
it in people’s hearts or in the mus-haf, and the next morning the people
will be like animals.” Then he recited the aayah (interpretation of the
meaning): “And if We
willed, We could surely, take away that which We have revealed to you
(i.e. this Qur’aan). Then you would find no protector for you against Us
in that respect” [al-Israa’ 17:86].
Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Baari
(13/16): its isnaad is saheeh but it is mawqoof. Al-Haythami said in Majma’
al-Zawaa’id, 7/329): its men are the men of saheeh, apart
from Shaddaad ibn Ma’qil, who is thiqah. And it was classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani.

This
hadeeth is to be regarded as marfoo’, because it deals with something
which is not subject to opinion orijtihaad.

Imaam Ibn
Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo’
al-Fataawaa (3/198): “At the end of time, something will come
to it at night in the mus-hafs and in people’s hearts,then there will not be left one word of it in people’s hearts or
one letter of it in the Mus-haf.”

Allaah
revealed the Qur’aan as a guidance to mankind and He guaranteed to
protect it. It is the eternal miracle of the Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and it will remain, and people of earlier
and later generations will learn from it and be guided by it, but at the
end of time, just before the Hour comes, Allaah will take the souls of the
believers, and there will be no one left on earth except the most evil of
people. There will be no prayer, no fasting, no Hajj and no charity
(zakaah). Then there will be no point in the Ka’bah being there or in
the Qur’aan remaining among mankind, so Allaah will decree that the
Ka’bah be destroyed at the hands of a kaafir from Ethiopia.Al-Bukhaari narrated in his Saheeh,
no. 1519 that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “The Ka’bah will be destroyed by Dhu’l-Suwayqatayn from
Ethiopia.” And Allaah will take the Qur’aan away from the earth, and
not one aayah of it will be left in the mus-hafs or in people’s hearts.
Allaah will not permit His Book to remain on earth if it is not
benefitting anyone and no one is acting in accordance with it. So this
thing will come to pass.

This
frightening event makes the sincere Muslim hasten to pay attention to the
Book of Allaah, to learn it, memorize it, recite it and ponder its
meanings, before the Book is taken away.

This
is one of the tribulations that will happen at the end of time, concerning
which our Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Hasten to do
good deeds before tribulations come like patches of dark night, when a man
will wake up as a believer and by evening he will be a kaafir, or in the
evening he will be a believer and by morning he will be a kaafir, selling
his religion for some worldly gains.” (narrated by Muslim, no. 169).

We ask
Allaah to make us adhere firmly to His religion and to protect us from
tribulations, both seen and unseen.