#أشراط_الساعة

The Signs of the Hour (i.e., the Day of Judgement) are of two types:

?? Minor signs of the Hour :

     These are signs that will appear a long time before the Hour approaches, such as the decline of knowledge, the spread of ignorance, drinking of wine or alcohol, competition in the construction of tall buildings, and many others. 

The scholars have listed almost sixty signs, some of which will accompany the major signs, or will appear afterwards.

??Major Signs of the Hour :
    
      These are major signs that will appear shortly before the Day of Judgement comes. These extraordinary events will be:
1)    The appearance of the Mahdi. At the end of time, a man from the descendents of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) will appear, and Allaah will help him to make His religion prevail. He will take control of the land (or the earth) and fill it with justice just as it had previously been filled with wrongdoing and oppression.

2)    Antichrist ( Al_ Maseeh Al Dajjaal )
Al-Maseeh al-Dajjaal is a man from the sons of Aadam. He has a number of features which were mentioned by prophet Muhammad peace and blessing be upon him , including the following: he will be a young man with a ruddy complexion and curly hair, and will be one-eyed, with his right eye looking like a floating grape. Between his eyes will be written (disbeliever)"ka' fa' ra'" (in unjoined letters) or "kaafir", which every Muslim, literate or illiterate, will be able to read. Another of his attributes will be that he is sterile, and will have no children.
Allaah will permit him to have a power of doing great miracles that will amaze and confuse the people. 

3)    The descent of Jesus son of Mary (Eesaa ibn Maryam), peace be upon him, 
After the Dajjaal (the Antichrist )has appeared and spread corruption throughout the earth, Allaah will send Jesus ('Eesaa ibn Maryam), peace be upon him , who will descend to the earth, coming down to the white minaret in the East of Damascus, Syria, resting his hands on the wings of two angels. When he lowers his head, drops will fall, and when he raises it, drops like large pearls will fall (these are like grains of silver in the shape of big pearls, and it means that drops of water as pure as pearls will fall. The water is described as pearls because of its purity). No disbeliever will smell his breath except he will die, and his breath will reach as far as his eyes can see. He will come down to the victorious group that is fighting for the truth and has come together to fight the Dajjaal(Antichrist). He will descend and he will pray behind the leader of that group.

(4)    Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj (Gog and Magog)
Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj are human beings, descended from Aadam and Eve , peace be upon her . According to the descriptions of them given by prophet Muhammad peace and blessing be upon him , they belong to the Turkic Mongol race, having small eyes, small, flat noses and wide faces. Their faces look like hammered-out shields (their faces are likened to shields because they are wide and round).
   They will pass the lake of Tiberias [in Palestine] and will drink everything that is in it. Then the last of them will pass by and will say, 'There used to be water here once.' 

5) The swallowing up of the earth

    This means that a place is swallowed up in the earth and disappears into it.Among the major signs of the Hour will be three such events, 

the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Hour will not begin until you see ten signs (including) three events where the earth swallows up, one in the East, one in the West, and one in the Arabian Peninsula." 

(6)    The smoke
Another of the major signs of the Hour will be the appearance of the smoke. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "Then wait you for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke, covering the people, this is a painful torment." [Quran 44:10-11].

(7)    The rising of the sun from the West .
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Hour will not begin until the sun rises from the West, and when it rises and the people see it, they will all believe, but that will be when
no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good.

(8)    The appearance of Aldaabbah (a creature from the earth speaking to them)

Allah (Almighty God )says in Quran : And when the word befalls them, We will bring forth for them a creature from the earth speaking to them, [saying] that the people were, of our signs ,  not certain [in faith].

(9)    The fire which will gather the people together.
Another of the signs of the Hour is the great fire which will appear from the direction of Yemen, from the bottom of 'Aden, from the Sea of Hadramawt. 

    Finally, it should be noted that belief in the signs of the Hour is part of our belief in the Unseen (al-ghayb), without which the belief of the Muslim is incomplete. And Allaah is the Source of Strength..