Sunrise from the West - Earth Core Reversal, Retrograde Motion, Switching of Earth's Magnetic Poles, Slowing Earth and a Nuclear Man-Made Sunrise

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The Sunrise from the West

The Sunrise from the West is one of the 10 Major Signs of the End Times prophesied by the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) which will occur before the Last Hour and the Day of Judgement. However, this sign has caused great debate amongst Muslims regarding the mechanism by which the Sunrise from the West will take place and the ultimate interpretation of this sign. There are many competing theories about the Sunrise from the West that have gained great popularity and viral fame. To begin, let's review some of the most popular theories about the Sunrise from the West.

Retrograde Motion

A second very popular theory about the Sunrise from the West is Retrograde Motion. A number of news articles and viral social media posts began to emerge claiming that 'NASA proves Sun will Rise from the West'.

These news articles claim that NASA scientists were researching the planetary motion of Mars and observed that it began 'spinning backwards' and that the sun stopped rising from the East and began to rise from the West on Mars. The news articles go on to say that this is a result of Retrograde motion and that all planets experience Retrograde motion, and so this will result in the Earth spinning backwards and the Sun rising from the West on Earth.

However, this is completely incorrect. Retrograde motion is the apparent motion of planets in the Night Sky when observed from the perspective of someone stood on Earth. As Mars and Earth travel at different speeds within their orbits around the Sun, there are periods where Earth 'overtakes' Mars relatively speaking and this causes the position of Mars in the night sky to move in the opposite direction to the other constellations of stars - and it is this apparent, observed motion of planets with respect to Earth, which is called Retrograde motion. It is important to understand that at no point, do either Mars or Earth reverse their spin or start moving backwards in their orbit, rather, Mars and other planets simply appear to move in a 'loop' in the night sky due to the difference in their orbital speeds with respect to Earth.

Retrograde motion was observed by Greek astronomers, which is why they called celestial bodies that exhibited this motion - 'planetes' - which means 'wanderers' in Greek, as the planets appeared to wander in the night sky against the general motion of the other constellations comprised of Stars. Therefore, this also cannot be the cause of the Sunrise from the West.

Earth Core Reversal

There was a recent academic paper published by scientists (Yi Yang and Xiaodong Song) from Peking University in the 'Nature' Journal which aimed to study the rotation of the Earth's core based on seismic wave data (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-01112-z). The findings of this academic paper claimed that the rotation of the Earth's inner core appears to be slowing and may have paused. The most startling finding from the study was that inner core rotation of the Earth may in-fact have reversed. This 'earth-shattering' finding gained viral media popularity and was covered in many main-stream media websites such as Euronews (https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/02/10/making-heads-spin-scientists-say-earths-inner-core-has-changed-its-rotation), Sky News (https://news.sky.com/story/earths-inner-core-may-have-stopped-spinning-as-part-of-seven-decade-cycle-say-scientists-12795002), NY Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/science/earth-core-reversing-spin.html), and many other media outlets. CNN and FOX News in fact ran complete TV news stories on this topic and invited world famous theoretical physicist Michio Kaku to share his perspective on this matter.

When Muslims around the world saw this news, they immediately concluded that a reversal of the spinning in the Earth's inner core was incontrovertible scientific proof regarding the Sunrise from the West, as a reversing inner core would eventually cause the entire Earth to spin backwards - resulting in the sun rising from the West, instead of the East.

However, soon after publishing their paper in the Nature Journal, the authors Yang and Song had to publish an author correction which stated that 'differential' inner core rotation had slowed of the Earth's core 'relative to the Mantle'. What this implies is that Earth's inner core is not in-fact spinning in reverse, but has simply slowed down slightly with respect to the next layer of the Earth's core (the Mantle). A simple way to understand this is if you imagine two cars traveling on a highway at 65mph, and one of the cars slows down to 60mph - it's not that the second car has slammed on the breaks and started traveling in reverse, rather, the second car has slowed relative to the first car. Furthermore, the academic paper states that this change in speed of the inner core is a natural 'oscillatory' behavior that happens every 70 years. Therefore, this mechanism cannot be the cause of the Sunrise from the West, since it will not result in the Earth spinning backwards and it repeats naturally over a 70 year cycle.

Reversal of Earth's Magnetic Poles

A third very popular theory about the cause of the Sunrise from the West is a reversal of Earth's Magnetic Poles. The idea behind this theory is that the Earth's magnetic poles will reverse, resulting in the North Pole becoming the South Pole and vice-versa. This will cause the sun to rise from 'Magnetic West' but 'Geographic East', as compasses will reverse and point in the opposite direction.

This theory has gained popularity because its scientific basis is indeed sound, however, according to NASA (https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3105/earths-magnetosphere-protecting-our-planet-from-harmful-space-energy/), Magnetic Pole Reversal has occurred over 180 times in Earth's history already, and since we know that the sunrise from the West will be closely followed by other major End Times signs, this interpretation simply doesn't agree with clear Ahadith about the emergence of the Beast of the Earth and Dajjal very soon after the Sunrise from the West. Furthermore, the process of pole reversal takes 20,000 years to materialize and complete (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/earths-magnetic-field-could-take-longer-flip-previously-thought-180972843/), and during this time, there are multiple North Poles and multiple South Poles on Earth, so a simple North-South shift doesn't happen and the process is turbulent. Based on these facts, Magnetic Pole reversal cannot be the cause of the Sunrise from the West.

Slowing Earth and Spring-Motion-Reversal

The fourth popular contemporary theory regarding the Sunrise from the West is based on the concept that Earth is naturally slowing down and it will eventually stop spinning about its axis and act like a wound spring that is released - causing the Earth to spin backwards. However, this is simply not true and without scientific basis.

The Earth is naturally slowing down because of the ocean tides caused by Moon's gravitational effect on Earth. Ocean tides slosh and slap the Earth's surface resulting in a very slight braking effect. Eventually, after billions of years, Earth will become tidally locked with the Moon such that it spins in sync with the Moon, and 1 day on Earth will be equivalent to 1 day on the Moon (i.e. 28 of our current days).

It is important to remember that the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) has told us that the Sunrise from the West is not a sign which occurs in the minutes and seconds before the Day of Judgement, rather, it is one of the very first signs of the End Times - Sunan Ibn Majah (4069 - Book 36, Hadith 144 - "The first signs to appear will be at the rising of the sun from the West and the emergence of the Beast to the people, at forenoon. Whichever of them appears first, the other will come soon after" - the narrator says 'I do not think it will be anything other than the sun rising from the West'). Therefore, the natural slowing of the Earth also cannot be the cause of the Sunrise from the West as it will take billions of years to occur and by the time the Earth becomes tidally locked with the Moon, the Sun would have become so large as a 'Red Giant Star' that it would have already destroyed all life on Earth due to excess heat.

Cosmos in the Quran - Is a Literal Sunrise in the West possible?

The vast majority of contemporary theories about the sunrise from the West are based on some form of scientific, or often times, pseudo-scientific explanation which aims to prove that the Earth will somehow stop and reverse its axial spin, resulting in a Literal Sunrise from the West. However, by examining the nature of the Cosmos in the Quran, we can see that Allah (s.w.t) has clearly stated that a literal sunrise from the West is not possible.

In Surah Yaseen of the Holy Quran (36:38), Allah (s.w.t) states

وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ

Muhammad Sarwar: how the sun moves in its orbit and this is the decree of the Majestic and All-knowing God;

Mohsin Khan: And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed). That is the Decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing.

Arberry: And the sun - it runs to a fixed resting-place; that is the ordaining of the All-mighty, the All-knowing.

We can therefore see that Allah (s.w.t) has clearly stated that the motion of the sun is fixed in its orbit by the decree of Allah (s.w.t) - both in the cosmic sense as well as the sun's motion through the sky as observed by people on Earth.

In Surah al-Baqarah of the Holy Quran (2:258), Allah (s.w.t) tells us about a conversation between Hzt Ibrahim (a.s) and the King Nimrod, where King Nimrod is claiming to be God and Hzt Ibrahim (a.s) is disputing with him.

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ أَنْ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ إِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ قَالَ أَنَا أُحْيِي وَأُمِيتُ ۖ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

Sahih International: Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord [merely] because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, "My Lord is the one who gives life and causes death," he said, "I give life and cause death." Abraham said, "Indeed, Allah brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west." So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.

Here, we are told that when King Nimrod claimed to be God, Hzt Ibrahim (a.s) challenged him by stating that Allah (s.w.t) makes the sun rise from the East, so make it rise from the West if you claim to be God - showing us that by the ordainment of Allah (s.w.t) the sun rises from the East and this is unchangeable.

Further evidence of this fact is also found in Surah ar-Rahman of the Holy Quran (55:5-8), where Allah (s.w.t) says "الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ" - Sahih International: The sun and the moon [move] by precise calculation and "وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَان أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا فِي الْمِيزَانِ" - - Sahih International: And the heaven He raised and imposed the balance - That you not transgress within the balance.

Even in Surah al-Qiyamah of the Holy Quran (75: 8-9), we are told that on the Day of Judgement, there will be a solar eclipse - "وَخَسَفَ الْقَمَرُ وَجُمِعَ الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ" - Sahih International: And the moon darkens - And the sun and the moon are joined. This is only possible if a perfect alignment is maintained between the Moon, the Sun, and the Earth and their relative positions and orbits, and we are told by Allah (s.w.t) that this celestial alignment is indeed maintained up to the day of Judgement.

Based on the above analysis, we can conclude with great confidence that a literal sunrise from the West would be in violation of the balance and ordainment of the heavens as set by Allah (s.w.t) and clearly told to us in the Holy Quran.

Symbolic Interpretation of the Sunrise from the West

Many Islamic scholars have understood that a literal cosmic sunrise from the West based on a reversal of the Earth's spin, or a shifting of the Earth's magnetic poles, or as caused by other phenomena would be in violation of the ordainment and design of the Universe by Allah (s.w.t), which is maintained and preserved even up to the Day of Judgement. Therefore, Islamic scholars have sought to find symbolic interpretations of the Sunrise from the West.

There are two popular symbolic interpretations about the Sunrise from the West, the first states that it represents the rise of modern Western Civilization, and the second interpretation casts the Sunrise from the West as being the rise of Islam in the West.

The challenge faced in accepting these symbolic interpretations is that these events have already occurred: there have been many Western Civilizations which have risen to great power and then collapsed, such as the Greek Civilization, the Roman Civilization and many Empires in Europe; and similarly, Islam has risen and declined in the West a multitude of times - for example, the Ottoman Caliphate spread Islam to many Western countries and the Umayad Caliphate spread Islam all the way to Spain.

Furthermore, the Prophet (s.a.w) was very clear in his description of this sign as a 'sunrise in the west' - the Prophet (s.a.w) could have easily warned us about the 'rise of western civilization before the last hour' or the 'rise of Islam in the West before the last hour' - however, the Prophet (s.a.w) warned us clearly about a 'sunrise in the west'. We therefore must consider an interpretation of this prophecy which is not purely symbolic, but rather, could be explained as an event which would be described as a 'sunrise' and would appear as if it were a 'sunrise from the west' to observers of the event.

Nuclear Fusion and a Man-Made Sunrise from the West

Perhaps, the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was describing a man-made sunrise in the West caused by an 'artificial sun'.

Let us begin by first analyzing the sun - the Sun is simply a large Nuclear Fusion reaction which is held together by Gravity. Nuclear Fusion power was first harnessed by man over 60 years ago and led to the advent of Hydrogen Bombs (thermonuclear weapons) - which create a small-scale sun when detonated. A Hydrogen Bomb is effectively a sun at an atomic scale, only smaller in scale compared to the Sun and temporary in their energy output.

Furthermore, Nuclear Hydrogen bombs can be exploded in space as Nuclear E.M.P (Electromagnetic Pulse) weapons whereby a nuclear hydrogen bomb is detonated hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface. Space based Nuclear E.M.P weapons create an explosion which is spherical in nature rather than the typical Mushroom cloud shape of ground-based explosions. Space-based detonations also create a bright aurora of light which illuminates the sky for up to 30 minutes - turning night into day. Additionally, space based explosions are visible across the horizon of the Earth for several thousands of miles.

Therefore, a space-based detonation of a Hydrogen bomb as a Nuclear E.M.P weapon over a Western country would be a sunrise from the West from a visual perspective, as well as from a literal physics perspective.

Sunrise from the West - A punishment from Allah (s.w.t)

In Surah an-Naml of the Quran (27: 82, 85) Allah (s.w.t) says:

وَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِنَ الْأَرْضِ تُكَلِّمُهُمْ

Arberry: When the Word falls on them, We shall bring forth for them out of the Earth a beast that shall speak unto them

وَوَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِمَا ظَلَمُوا فَهُمْ لَا يَنْطِقُونَ

Arberry: And the Word shall fall upon them because of the evil they committed, while they speak naught.

In the above two Ayaat of Surah an-Naml, the translation mentions 'Word - الْقَوْلُ ' which comes from the 3-letter root kaf-wao-laam, and can also mean 'sign' - therefore, the above two Ayaat can be read as saying: When the Sign falls on them, We shall bring forth for them out of the Earth a beast that shall speak unto them - And the Sign shall fall upon them because of the evil they committed, while they speak naught.

We can determine that this 'Sign' is in fact the 'Sunrise from the West' from Sunan Ibn Majah (4069 - Book 36, Hadith 144 - "The first signs to appear will be at the rising of the sun from the West and the emergence of the Beast to the people, at forenoon. Whichever of them appears first, the other will come soon after" - the narrator says 'I do not think it will be anything other than the sun rising from the West') - here, the Prophet (s.a.w) tells us that once the Sunrise from the West occurs as a sign, the Beast will come straight afterwards, and therefore the Sign mentioned in Surah an-Naml which immediately precedes the advent of the Beast is the Sunrise from the West which will 'fall' upon a people as a punishment for the 'evil they committed'.

While the Sunrise from the West will be witnessed and known to the whole world, it will directly affect a group of people, and it must take the form of a punishment for that group of people. In this regard, a man-made sunrise as a Nuclear E.M.P aligns perfectly with this facet of the prophecy regarding the Sunrise from the West. Nuclear E.M.P weapons create an electromagnetic pulse which acts like a cardiac arrest for any electronic device within its blast range, frying microchips and melting electronic circuits - even if devices are unplugged.

The detonation of a single Nuclear E.M.P weapon high above the atmosphere could cripple the entire electric infrastructure of a country - leaving it without power. This would result in a complete breakdown of society as electronic infrastructure would not work, water and gas would not be pumped into homes, sanitation systems would fail, the medical system would collapse, logistics and transportation would come to a halt, ATM machines and banking services would stop working, and communications, social media and internet services would no longer be operable. Society would be plunged into a desperate fight for survival, leading to riots, mass hysteria, crime at unimaginable scales and an ultimate crackdown by Governments who would be forced to impose Martial law.

Around the world, there would be panic - leading to global financial collapse, closed borders, resource hoarding and resource wars between countries, military coups, and heightened defense levels for all countries and especially nuclear armed powers.

The Sunrise from the West in the form of a Nuclear E.M.P would indeed be a global watershed event which would change the face of the world forever and be a severe punishment for the West.

Therefore, a space-based detonation of a Hydrogen bomb as a Nuclear E.M.P weapon over a Western country would be a sunrise from the West from a visual perspective, as well as from a literal physics perspective and aligns fully with all aspects of Ahadith and the Holy Quran, and we believe that this is one of the most complete interpretations of this sign - Allah (s.w.t) knows best.

A Word of Warning

Current geopolitical events, especially the on-going conflict between Russia and Ukraine may act as a catalyst for the use of nuclear weapons and lead to the Sunrise from the West happening in the imminent future. Russia has threatened to use Nuclear E.M.P weapons on Britain and Western Europe and many Russian public broadcasts and talk-shows openly speak about the use of Nuclear Weapons on the West. Most recently, great panic has begun to spread amongst Western leaders as a result of the revelation that Russia may have already developed and deployed such a weapon - CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/16/politics/russia-nuclear-space-weapon-intelligence/index.html , NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/russia-nuclear-weapon-space.html

The Prophet (s.a.w) has told us: Sunan Ibn Majah (4070 - Book 36, Hadith 145) - "Towards the West there is an open door, seventy years wide. That door will remain open for repentance until the sun rises from this direction. When it rises from this direction, faith will not benefit any soul that did not believe or earn anything good through its faith".

Once the Sun rise from the West occurs, the Door of Repentance will be shut - so this sign is of great importance and has critical implications for Muslims around the world. Muslims living in the West must also ensure that they make Hijrat away from Western lands and do not find themselves amongst those people upon whom Allah (s.w.t) sends a severe punishment.

As with all things - Allah (s.w.t) knows best