Beast of the Earth


The Beast of the Earth, in Islamic eschatology, will be one of the signs of the coming of the Last Day. It will appear after the sun rises in the west, where the Beast will be sighted the first time. The Beast is mentioned in the Quran and is also mentioned in the ahadith, which expand upon the characteristics of the beast. Islamic tradition holds that the Beast will precipitate the death of all true believers and the removal of the Quran from the world.
The Quran mentions that the Beast will address the unbelievers and admonish them for their lack of attention towards God:

In the hadith

A tradition attributed to Ibn al-Zubayr also describes the Beast carrying the Seal of Solomon and Moses' staff.
Some ahadith say that the Beast will be one of the first signs of the Last Day, along with the sun rising in the west. The appearance of the Dajjal, rising smoke, massacres, and widespread death are said to be other signs of the end times in a similar hadith.

Interpretations

Traditional

According to the medieval Sunni theologian Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, there is nothing mentioned in the reports attributed to Muhammad about the nature of this creature, but it is mentioned in narrations circulating around the time of his successors. Wahb ibn Munabbih stated that such a "beast" spoke to the people of Sodom from under the earth.

Alternative

While the majority of scholars accept the traditional explanation of the Beast as a literal creature who will appear in the end times, some modern interpreters such as Fethullah Gülen interpret the Beast as possibly being made of various parts, including diseases like HIV. Another interpretation holds that the Dabba is related to materialistic tendencies, thus Dabba does not appear at the end of the world, but will doom a nation or society.