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By Fatima Sidiya Arab News Friday 29 January 2010
JEDDAH: The front shelves of bookstores in the Kingdom nowadays have an abundance of books relating to the end of the world and the Day of Judgment. It would seem there is a growing recent trend in people wanting to read such books on account of the increasing number of wars, natural disasters and diseases that the world has witnessed in recent years.
Interest in an apocalypse has also been encouraged by e-mails, including one allegedly from NASA giving details of an Nibiru collision, a supposed encounter between the earth and a large planetary object, which will result in the end of the world. While those who write these e-mails furnish supposed scientific proof to support their claims, many of those who read them look for answers in religious books that are widely available in the Kingdom’s bookstores. Religious books about the end of the world and the events that precede it according to Islamic tradition come in all sizes. Some of these books are lengthy while others are short, discussing individual events that have been prophesized. “Customers are very interested in this genre of books,” said a salesperson at a popular Jeddah bookstore who asked his name is not published. Another salesman at Tihama bookstore said people are particularly drawn to such books during Ramadan and the Haj season. Sheikh Salih Al-Shamrani said that the signs of the Day of Judgment are not myths but actually mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadiths. “However, there are no specific dates. Anyone who specifies a particular day that such and such a thing will happen is a liar. People should naturally prepare for the Day of Judgment but it is wrong to specify a date or time,” he added. With the widespread availability and use of the Internet, many people have access to end-of-the-world theories on the World Wide Web, including the 2012 theory — the belief that the world will come to an end in 2012 according to the Mayan Long Count calendar. Interest in this theory has also snowballed by the end-of-the-world movie, “2012.” “People are curious about the future and what will happen … people are driven to dig and explore the secrets of the world,” said Ayman Habib, a media professor at King Abdulaziz University. “Different communities have their own versions of what will happen when the world will come to an end. However, exaggeration varies from one person to another as some people are more pessimistic than others,” he added. Habib said the media document what is real and true. He, however, still believes there are “professionals in the media sector who come up with new trends for different purposes and are driven by specific aims.” “Some reports promote rumors and some are deliberately dictated by governments, international organizations, or scientists for specific purposes such as establishing hegemony, achieving certain economic goals, evaluating public opinion or encouraging scientists to explore the world,” he added. “There has always been hyperbole in specifying particular dates for the end of the world. As Muslims we … have a trusted source that gives us a clear vision about the end of the world and the signs that will appear prior to it happening,” he added. “There have been incidents throughout Islamic history in which people have claimed the arrival of the Mahdi, but these claims were politically motivated. We are still awaiting the major signs preceding his arrival. These false claims are a result of people merging religious dogma with fiction and their own personal views,” he added.
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