JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

lah himself will judge or every sinner will bear witness against
himself (17:14–15; 36:65; 69:19, 25–27; 89:13, 23); the ṣirāṭ (37:23),
the way to hell, will lead the sinners to their place of punishment.
The prevailing opinion in the Koran is that intercession
(shafāʿa) will not avail the sinner (2:45, 255; 74:49; cf. Ps.
49:8) because man must face his Judge alone. Nevertheless,
the Judge, Allah, the Merciful, can allow intercession (2:256;
19:90). According to the *ḥadīth Muhammad can intercede for
the believers and his intercession will be helpful.
Retribution
Descriptions of the last day are related to those dealing with
the lot of the sinners and the righteous: on that “overwhelming
day” the sinners shall be “humble, laboring, toiling – shall
broil upon a burning fire; shall be given to drink from a boiling
spring! no food shall they have save from the foul thorn,
which shall not fatten nor avail against hunger! [But the faithful]
shall be comfortable … in a lofty garden wherein they
shall hear no foolish word; wherein is a flowing fountain;
wherein are couches raised on high, and goblets set down,
and cushions arranged, and carpets spread” (88:1–16; cf. also
67:7–8). In some suras the bright and large-eyed virgin maids
(the houri) are mentioned. They take part in the banquets arranged
in paradise and some are wedded to the pious (e.g.,
44:54; 55:70–74; 56:15–22).
Muhammad was greatly concerned with the concept of
hell (jahannam; Heb. gei-hinnom, cf. Josh. 15:8; 18:16), but his
descriptions of it are not clearly defined. Jahannam is seen as
something mobile, possibly a monster which swallows the
sinners (cf. 67:8; 89:23–24). Muhammad’s conception of paradise
(usually called janna (“garden”), but twice named firdaws
or jannat al-firdaws, 18:107; 23:11) is much clearer, and is of a
very material nature. Later Muslim traditionalists and theologians
found in his descriptions many difficulties which had
to be elaborated, explained, and adapted to philosophical and
ethical trends.
Resurrection
Among the signs of the resurrection the ḥadīth mentions the
appearance of the Dajjāl – the arch foe of the true Believers –
and the descent of ʿĪsa (Jesus Christ) at the “hour” (cf. Sura
43:61). Later eschatological descriptions assign a special role
to the Temple Mount, the Valley of Hinnom, and the Mount
of Olives. According to ʿAbdallah ibn Salām, a Jew from Medina
who embraced Islam after Muhammad’s arrival in that
city, the ṣirāṭ – the narrow bridge over the Valley of Hinnom
which all creatures must cross on judgment day – extends between
the Mount of Olives and the Temple area (where the
Lord will take His stand on that day); according to the basic
writings of Islam it is a real bridge, which a Muslim is required
to believe in. A certain area of the Mount of Olives is called
sāhira, where men will assemble at the hour of resurrection –
its soil is white and no blood has ever been shed on it. Obviously,
these places are particularly suitable as burial places of
prophets, as they relieve them of the necessity of performing
the “subterranean journey” to Jerusalem and enable them to
eschatology
be the first to be resurrected. According to Islamic tradition,
many Muslim mystics, saints, and heroes were buried near
the Temple Mount or on the Mount of Olives, evidently so
that they, too, might be among the first to rise on the day of
resurrection. A special place in eschatological descriptions
is reserved for the Dajjāl, Allah’s enemy (the *Armilus of the
Jewish legend and the *Antichrist of Christianity), and for
the War of Yājūj and Mājūj (*Gog and Magog). These legends
embody many reminiscences of Jewish and Christian stories.
The Dajjāl will wage war and conquer the entire world, except
three cities – Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem; the battles
of the Dajjāl will be similar to the battles of Yājūj, which will
be fought in the neighborhood of Jerusalem. In eschatological
descriptions, Muslim writers created many new legends.
Though devoting a great deal of space to this subject, the
Koran never mentions any definite place. Tradition filled the
gap by assigning the locale to Jerusalem and its surroundings.
Books are extant – outstanding among them are the Kitāb al-
Zuhd (“Book of Asceticism”) and the Kitāb Aḥwāl al-Qiyāma
(“Book of the Phases of Resurrection”) – which mainly consist
of descriptions of the resurrection: the angel Isrāfīl will sound
three trumpet blasts, whereupon all mankind will assemble at
the gathering place on the Mount of Olives. Gabriel will move
paradise to the right side of Allah’s Throne and hell to the left
side. Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad will stand to
the right of the scales of justice; the angel Raḍwān will open
the gates of paradise and the angel Malik will open the gates
of hell. The bridge (ṣirāṭ) which all men must cross is long
and slippery and narrower than a hair, sharper than a sword,
and blacker than night; it has seven arches, and on each arch
men are questioned about their deeds. Particularly interesting
– in view of parallels in later midrashic literature – are the
four mountains associated with the day of resurrection: Khalīl
(i.e., Hebron), Lebanon, Ṭūr (the Mount of Olives), and Jūdī
(Ararat), each of which will shine like a white pearl, with incomparable
splendor, between heaven and earth. They will
stand at the four corners of the Temple. With the exception of
those concerning the ṣirāṭ, which seems to be of Persian origin,
these legends are based on Jewish or Christian conceptions
(e.g., I En. 26–27; Av. Zar. 2b).
[Haïm Z’ew Hirschberg]
Bibliography: General: J. Klausner, The Messianic Idea in
Israel (1956); A.H. Silver, A History of Messianic Speculation in Israel
(19592 ). In the Bible: L. Černý, The Day of Yahweh and Some Relevant
Problems (1948); C. Steuernagel, in: Festschrift fuer Alfred Bertholet
(1950), 479–87; G.A.F. Knight, in: Scottish Journal of Theology,
4 (1951), 355–62; T.C. Vriezen, in: VT Supplement 1 (1953), 199–229;
idem, An Outline of Old Testament Theology (1958), index; G.W. Buchanan,
in: jnes, 20 (1961), 188–93; G. von Rad, Old Testament Theology
(1962), index; R.H. Charles, Eschatology (1963); W. Eichrodt,
Theology of the Old Testament (1964), index; H.P. Mueller, in: VT, 14
(1964), 276–93; O. Ploeger, Theocracy and Eschatology (1968); Scholem,
Mysticism, index. In the Talmud: G.F. Moore, Judaism in the
First Centuries of the Christian Era, 2 (1927), 275–395; A. Kohut, in:
zdmg 21 (1867), 552ff.; R.H. Charles, A Critical History of the Doctrine
of a Future Life… (1899); W. Bousset, Der Antichrist in der Ueberlief-
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