Understanding the Significance of the Water Spring Erupting in Qassim: A Prophetic Perspective
Is the Water Spring Erupting in the Qassim Region of Saudi Arabia a Sign of the Day of Judgment?
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has mentioned many signs of the Day of Judgment, both minor and major. Many of the minor signs have already appeared, while others are yet to come. One of the minor signs is that pastures and rivers will appear in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. This is narrated in Sahih Muslim.
Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “The Hour will not be established until wealth is abundant and overflows, so that a man will go out with his zakat (charity) and will not find anyone to accept it from him; and until the land of the Arabs returns to being meadows and rivers.” (Sahih Muslim: 2339)
In this hadith, the key phrase is “and until the land of the Arabs returns to being meadows and rivers.” Here, “meadows” refers to a wide valley of greenery or lush gardens, and “rivers” refers to the natural flow of water.
The mentioned part of the hadith indicates that the land of Arabia was once lush, green, and filled with rivers. Some geologists have confirmed that excavations in the region reveal evidence that it was once a land of pastures and rivers. Sheikh Muhammad bin Salih Al-Munajjid has written, citing Professor Farid Karounir (a well-known geologist), that Sheikh Abdul Majid Zindani asked him if there are facts that gardens and rivers once existed in the Arabian Peninsula. He replied that yes, this is a well-known issue and a scientific fact known to every geologist. If you excavate in any area, you will find evidence that this land was once filled with gardens and rivers.
Thus, just as the land of Arabia was once filled with vegetation and rivers in ancient times, it will return to that state near the Day of Judgment. In other words, we can say that the land of Arabia was once a land of pastures and rivers, then it transformed into deserts, and it will return to its original state.
During the time of the Prophet, a miracle of a water spring was manifested. He (peace be upon him) told Muadh (may Allah be pleased with him) that if his life were to last, he would see towns and gardens in that area. This was said regarding the land of Tabuk. Due to the length of the hadith, I will only mention the Urdu translation.
It is narrated from Muadh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) that during the year of the Battle of Tabuk, we went on a military expedition with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to Tabuk. He (peace be upon him) combined the prayers, performing Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha together, until one day he delayed the prayers. Then he came out and combined Dhuhr and Asr, and then he went back inside. After that, he came out again and combined Maghrib and Isha. Then he said: “Tomorrow, you will reach the spring of Tabuk, and you will not arrive before the sun rises. Whoever among you goes to the spring, do not touch its water until I arrive.” Two men reached the spring before us, and the water was only as much as the strap of a sandal, and it was flowing slowly. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked them: “Did you touch its water?” They said: “Yes!” The Prophet (peace be upon him) expressed great displeasure at them. The people took the water little by little in their containers and collected it. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) washed his blessed hands and face in that container, and he poured that water back into the spring, which then gushed forth with great force, allowing the people to water their animals and companions. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “O Muadh! If your life lasts, you will soon see this entire area filled with gardens and towns.” (Sahih Muslim: 706)
Currently, we know the Arabian Peninsula as a desert, with approximately seventy percent of its area consisting of deserts and only a small portion being green and populated. Today, modern technology has begun to gradually cultivate barren land, and greenery is now being grown in the deserts of Arabia. There are dense orchards of fruits, and crops like wheat are being cultivated in abundance. Wells are also becoming common in many places, and water is being supplied in ample quantities to the deserts using machinery.
Despite all these developments, we cannot say that the aforementioned sign of the Day of Judgment has manifested, as much of Arabia still consists of uninhabited deserts. The water found in the deserts is not river water; it is extracted by hand, from wells, or through machinery. This clearly indicates that rivers have not yet appeared in Arabia.
A video has circulated showing that on the 15th of Rabi’ al-Akhir 1440 (corresponding to December 22, 2018), a water spring erupted from the ground in the desert, approximately thirty kilometers from the city of Buraidah in the Qassim region, along the road to Riyadh. This video went viral on social media, and the media quickly picked it up, headlining it as “Another sign of the Day of Judgment has occurred; a water spring has erupted in Saudi Arabia.”
It is astonishing that news outlets and channels would declare the fulfillment of a sign of the Day of Judgment without consulting scholars on religious matters. Their false claims have created misunderstandings among the public, prompting me to write this article to clarify. If this event were reported as a news item, there would be no harm, but declaring it as a sign of the Day of Judgment is crossing a line in religious matters. There are hundreds of scholars, jurists, and muftis in Saudi Arabia, yet no one has commented on this matter, while print and electronic media are making a fuss about it as a sign of the Day of Judgment.
Upon investigation of this incident, it was found that a water pipe had been laid from Riyadh to the Qassim region, and its rupture caused the water to flow. Thus, this is not a spring at all; the channels are spreading false information without verification.
I have presented two hadiths related to this matter: one mentions the miracle of Tabuk along with a prophecy, and the other predicts the reappearance of pastures and rivers in the Arabian Peninsula. The incident in Qassim is not a spring at all, and even if a spring were to erupt in the Arabian Peninsula, it would not be considered a sign of the Day of Judgment, as the hadith speaks of the appearance of rivers, meaning multiple rivers, not just one. The miracle of the spring in Tabuk was manifested during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), but he did not describe it as a sign of the Day of Judgment. There is a spring known as Ain Al-Qwaitir near the mountain of Wata in the north of Buraidah that has been continuously flowing for hundreds of years, yet no scholar has declared it a sign of the Day of Judgment, nor has anyone claimed that a spring flowing in the Arabian Peninsula is a sign of the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) prophecy. Meteorologists believe that a strong pressure system is moving towards the Arabian Peninsula, bringing with it snow and rain, indicating the possibility of abundant rainfall and greenery in the deserts of Arabia. Fourteen centuries have passed, yet the prophecy mentioned in the previous hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) has not yet been fulfilled.
Written by: Maqbool Ahmad Salafi
Jeddah Dawah Center, Hayy Al-Salamah – Saudi Arabia