THE END OF HISTORY IS NEAR
Final Warning
THE twenty-first century is an alarming era. Almost every day there is some news in the media that the planet earth is becoming more and more uninhabitable. A recent news in this regard appeared in The Times of India August 2, 2017, the gist of which is noted below:
According to a new study the world will almost certainly reach a tipping point and there will be an unstoppable, destructive climate change. By the end of the century the world’s temperature will rise from 2° Celsius to 4.9° Celsius. It is at the point that scientists think the world will suffer disastrous effects like widespread drought, extreme weather and dangerous increases in sea levels. Experts have suggested that 2°C of warming is the point at which change becomes irreversible. There is a 99% chance that climate change will break through that limit. Dargan Frierson from the University of Washington said, “Damage from heat extremes, drought, extreme weather and sea level rise will be much more severe if a 2°C or higher temperature rise is allowed.”
The celebrated British physicist Stephen Hawking has even gone to the extent of saying that we shall have to find another planet because we cannot survive for more than 100 years on this planet. Hawking’s is not a lone voice in this regard. The whole scientific community is in agreement with him. Scientists have repeatedly issued the warning that we have no option but to find another planet on which to survive.
In ancient Egypt, the Prophet Moses gave this message on behalf of God to the Egyptian Pharaoh:
The Hour is coming. But I choose to keep it hidden, so that every human being may be recompensed in accordance with his deeds. (QURAN 20: 15)
All human beings will face the consequences of the deeds performed in the world they left behind. Every person shall have to face divine judgement for their former life.
In ancient times many prophets came to deliver this message to mankind. We learn from the Hadith that they were more than 100,000 in number. All these prophets spoke in the same vein. All the prophets gave this same alarming news. The Quran calls them Nazeer—those who give warning. This was the principal message of all the prophets who came to the world.
In previous ages, this warning was given by the prophets. The message was that the day will come when the history of mankind will reach its end. And the next phase of human life will begin, that is, the world Hereafter (Akhirat). In this second phase of life, man will be presented before the Creator. All human beings will face the consequences of the deeds performed in the world they left behind. Every person shall have to face divine judgement for their former life.
Now, the scientific community has taken on this task of warning mankind. There is consensus among the Muslims and the scientific community that the end of the world is so near that it is knocking at our door. Previous warnings were given on the basis of divine revelation (Wahy). The scientific community is giving the same warning on the basis of scientific data. The time for introspection has come. Every man has to face this and prepare himself accordingly.
On that Day man will ask, ‘Where can I escape?’ But there is nowhere to take refuge: on that Day, to your Lord alone is the recourse. On the Day, man will be told of all that he has sent before and what he has left behind. (THE QURAN 75: 11-13)
A positive aspect of repentance is that it
engenders a strong determination in a person
to reform himself, and after having done
something wrong, to firmly walk on the path
of goodness thereafter. It is this positive
enthusiasm that follows from repentance that,
in line with the law of nature, changes an evil
deed into a good one.