The Rising of the Sun from the West

Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta'aala) says:

"Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the Signs of your Lord should come (i.e. portents of the Hour e.g., arising of the sun from the west)! The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith. Say: 'Wait you! we (too) are waiting.'" [al-An'aam (6):158]

It was reported from Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree that the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) explained,

"The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then...", referring to the rising of the sun from the West. [Ahmad] [1]

Abu Hurairah said,

"The Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said, 'The Hour will not come until the sun rises from the West. When the people see it, whoever is living on earth will believe, but that will be the time when - No good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before then' " [Bukhaaree] [2]

It was also reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said,

"The Hour will not come until the sun rises from the West. When it rises and the people see it, they will all believe. But that will be the time when 'No good will it do to a person to believe then.' " [Bukhaaree] [3]

It was reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said,

"There are three things which, if they appear, 'No good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith' They are: the rising of the sun from the West, the Dajjaal, and the Beast of the Earth." [Ahmad, Muslim, Tirmidhee] [4]

Abu Dharr said,

"The Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) asked me, 'Do you know where the sun goes when it sets?' I said, 'I do not know' He said, 'It travels until it prostrates itself beneath the Throne, and asks for permission to rise again. But a time will come when it will be told, 'Go back whence you came.' That will be the time when 'No good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith' " [Bukhaaree] [5]

'Amr ibn Jareer said,

"Three Muslims were sitting with Marwaan in Madeenah, and heard him say, whilst talking about the Signs of the Hour, that the first of them would be the appearance of the Dajjaal.

The three went to 'Abd Allaah ibn 'Amr, and told him what they had heard Marwaan say concerning the Signs. 'Abd Allaah said, 'Marwan has not said much. I memorised a Hadeeth like that from the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) which I have not forgotten since. I heard the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) say:

"The first of the signs will be the rising of the sun from the West, and the emergence of the Beast in the forenoon. Whichever of the two comes first, the other will follow immediately"

Then 'Abd Allaah, who was widely-read, said,

"I think that the first to happen will be the rising of the sun from the West. Every time it sets, it goes beneath the Throne, prostrates itself, and seeks permission to rise again.

A time will come when three times it will seek permission and will receive no reply, until, when part of the night has passed and it realises that even if it were given permission, it would not be able to rise on time, it will say: 'O my Lord, how far the rising-point is from me! What can I do for the people now?' Then it will seek permission to go back, and it will be told: 'Rise from where you are now' - and it will rise from the West." Then 'Abd Allaah recited the Aayah: "No good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith." [Ahmad] [6]

Footnotes

[1] Ahmad, Musnad, 3/31. Checker's Note: Saheeh, Saheeh at-Tirmidhee: 2455.

[2] Bukhaaree, Kitaab al-Tafsir, 6/73.

[3] Bukhaaree, ibid.

[4] Muslim, Kitaab al-Imaan, 1/96. Tirmidhee, Abwaab al-Tafsir (Hadeeth 5067), 8/449, 450. Ahmad, Musnad, 2/455, 446.

[5] Similar Hadeeth in Bukhaaree, Kitaab Bid' al-Khalq, 4/131.

[6] Ahmad, Musnad, 2/201. Checker's Note: Saheeh, Musnad Imaam Ahmad, checking by Ahmad Shakir: 6881.