Will
      the Qur’aan disappear at the end of time?
Question

                ,
      Question#The Islamic Future Magazine from Saudia Arabia in editorial
      feature stated that one of the signs of the last days were; that the Quran
      would disappear. I have not heard this. And how could it be true why we
      have many many hafis of Qurans.
Praise be to Allah.There are a
      number of ahaadeeth which indicate that the Qur’aan will be taken away
      at the end of time. Among these ahaadeeth are the following:
From
      ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood, who said: “Something will come and take the
      Qur’aan one night and not one aayah will be left, either in the Mus-haf
      or in the heart of any person, but it will be taken away.” (Narrated by
      al-Daarimi with a saheeh isnaad, no. 3209)
 Al-Daarimi
      narrated with a different saheeh isnaad (no. 3207) that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn
      Mas’ood said: “Recite the Qur’aan much before it is taken away.”
      They said, “These Mus-hafs will be taken away! What about that which is
      (memorized) in men’s hearts?” He said: “Something will come and take
      it one night, and in the morning they will wake up without it. They will
      forget the phrase ‘laa ilaaha
      ill-Allaah’ and they will start to recite the sayings and
      poetry of the Jaahiliyyah. That is when the Word will be fulfilled against
      them.”
 The
      phrase ‘That is when the Word will be fulfilled against them’ is a
      reference to the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
 “And when the Word (of torment) is fulfilled against them, We
      shall bring out from the earth a beast for them, to speak to them because
      mankind believed not with certainty in Our Ayaat (Verses of the Qur’aan
      and Prophet Muhammad)” [al-Naml 27:82].
 Ibn
      Katheer said in his tafseer of this aayah:
 This
      beast will emerge at the end of time when mankind becomes so corrupt that
      they neglect the commandments of Allaah and change the true religion.
      Allaah will bring forth for them a beast from the earth – it was said
      from Makkah, or from elsewhere – and it will speak to the people
      concerning that. Ibn ‘Abbaas, al-Hasan and al-Qutaadah said – and it
      was also narrated from ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib – (may Allaah be pleased
      with them all): it will speak to them, i.e., it will address them.
      ‘Ataa’ al-Khurasaani said – and it was narrated from ‘Ali and this
      was the view favourd by Ibn Jareer: it will speak to them and it will say
      to them, ‘mankind believed not with
      certainty in Our Ayaat’. There are some reservations about this interpretation, and Allaah
      knows best.
 According
      to one report, Ibn ‘Abbaas said: the words tukallimuhum
      (to speak to them) means, it will wound them;
      according to another report he said: it will do both (i.e., speak to them
      and wound them). [The
      word Tukallim
      may mean either speak or wound. – Translator].
      This is a good point with no contradictions, and Allaah knows best.
 (Tafseer
      al-Qur’aan al-‘Azeem,
      3/375-378)
 Many
      ahaadeeth and reports have been narrated about the beast, such as the
      following:
It
      was reported that Hudhayfah ibn Usayd al-Ghiffaari said: The Messenger of
      Allaah 
 (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw us from a room
      whilst we were talking about the Hour. He said: “The Hour will not come
      until you see ten signs: the rising of the sun from the west; the smoke;
      the beast; the emergence of Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj; the appearance of
      ‘Eesaa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him); the Dajjaal (“antichrist”);
      three landslides – one in the west, one in the east and one in the
      Arabian Peninsula; and fire which will emerge from the direction of
      ‘Aden and will drive – or gather – the people, stopping with them
      whenever they rest overnight or during the siesta hour.” 
(Narrated by
      Imaam Ahmed, no. 46 – his version is his; also by Muslim, no 2901; Abu
      Dawood, no. 4311; al-Tirmidhi, no. 2183 - he said it is hasan saheeh;
      al-Nasaa’i, no. 1138; Ibn Maajah, no. 4055).
 It
      was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet 
 (peace and blessings
      of Allaah be upon him) said:
“There
      are three things which, when they appear, it will not benefit anyone to
      believe if he did not believe before: the Dajjaal, the beast and the
      rising of the sun from the west – or from the place where it sets.”
(Narrated by
      al-Tirmidhi, no. 3072; he said it is a saheeh hasan hadeeth).
 It
      was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah 
 (peace
      and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
 “Hasten
      to do good deeds before six things come to pass: the rising of the sun
      from the place where it sets; the smoke; the Dajjaal; the beast; or
      personal calamities or general tribulations.”
(narrated
      by Muslim, no. 2947; Ibn Maajah, no. 4056, and others).
      There are many ahaadeeth which speak of the beast which will emerge at the
      end of time, but it would take too long to quote them all here. And Allaah
      is the Source of strength.
 Further
      evidence that the Qur’aan will be taken away at the end of time is to be
      found in the report narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam
      al-Kabeer, no. 8698, according to which Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with
      him) said: 
“This
      Qur’aan will most certainly be taken away from amongst you.” He was
      asked: “O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, how will it be taken away when it is so
      deeply rooted in our hearts and is written in our mus-hafs?” He said:
      “Something will come to it at night, then there will be nothing left of
      it in people’s hearts or in the mus-haf, and the next morning the people
      will be like animals.” Then he recited the aayah (interpretation of the
      meaning): “And if We
      willed, We could surely, take away that which We have revealed to you
      (i.e. this Qur’aan). Then you would find no protector for you against Us
      in that respect” [al-Israa’ 17:86].
      Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Baari
      (13/16): its isnaad is saheeh but it is mawqoof. Al-Haythami said in Majma’
      al-Zawaa’id, 7/329): its men are the men of saheeh, apart
      from Shaddaad ibn Ma’qil, who is thiqah. And it was classed as saheeh by
      al-Albaani.
 This
      hadeeth is to be regarded as marfoo’, because it deals with something
      which is not subject to opinion orijtihaad.
 Imaam Ibn
      Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo’
      al-Fataawaa (3/198): “At the end of time, something will come
      to it at night in the mus-hafs and in people’s hearts,then there will not be left one word of it in people’s hearts or
      one letter of it in the Mus-haf.”
 Allaah
      revealed the Qur’aan as a guidance to mankind and He guaranteed to
      protect it. It is the eternal miracle of the Prophet 
 (peace and
      blessings of Allaah be upon him) and it will remain, and people of earlier
      and later generations will learn from it and be guided by it, but at the
      end of time, just before the Hour comes, Allaah will take the souls of the
      believers, and there will be no one left on earth except the most evil of
      people. There will be no prayer, no fasting, no Hajj and no charity
      (zakaah). Then there will be no point in the Ka’bah being there or in
      the Qur’aan remaining among mankind, so Allaah will decree that the
      Ka’bah be destroyed at the hands of a kaafir from Ethiopia.Al-Bukhaari narrated in his Saheeh,
      no. 1519 that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:the Messenger of Allaah 
 (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
      him) said: “The Ka’bah will be destroyed by Dhu’l-Suwayqatayn from
      Ethiopia.” And Allaah will take the Qur’aan away from the earth, and
      not one aayah of it will be left in the mus-hafs or in people’s hearts.
      Allaah will not permit His Book to remain on earth if it is not
      benefitting anyone and no one is acting in accordance with it. So this
      thing will come to pass.
This
      frightening event makes the sincere Muslim hasten to pay attention to the
      Book of Allaah, to learn it, memorize it, recite it and ponder its
      meanings, before the Book is taken away.
This
      is one of the tribulations that will happen at the end of time, concerning
      which our Prophet 
      (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 
“Hasten to do
      good deeds before tribulations come like patches of dark night, when a man
      will wake up as a believer and by evening he will be a kaafir, or in the
      evening he will be a believer and by morning he will be a kaafir, selling
      his religion for some worldly gains.” (narrated by Muslim, no. 169).
 We ask
      Allaah to make us adhere firmly to His religion and to protect us from
      tribulations, both seen and unseen.