The Beast of the Earth, also called "The Dabbah" is a creature mentioned in Surah An-Naml: Ayat 82 of the Quran and associated with the day of judgment.
For this reason, the Beast of the Earth is often mentioned in eschatological writings as a sign of Judgement Day close to the event of the sun rising in the west.
The Quran does not offer details about the nature of the Beast of the Earth, but various interpretations have linked it to monsters from Turkic mythology.
Quran and Hadiths
The Beast is mentioned in Surah An-Naml:
And when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), we shall produce from the earth a beast to (face) them:
He will speak to them, for that mankind did not believe with assurance in Our Signs.
— Quran Al-Naml (The Ant)
In hadiths, the Beast of the Earth is further described. It is said that it will carry the Seal of Solomon and the Staff of Moses.
Some argue that it will emerge from a crack in the Kaaba or the hills of Safa among others.
It is described as a combination of different beasts and animals.
In the early period of Islam, descriptions of the Beast of the Earth were sparse. Only later more interpretations of the Beast emerged.
One of the main features is that it will put a seal to distinguish the believers from the disbelievers, reminiscent, yet not identical, to the Bible.
About a creature "worst of the beasts", due to their spiritual inability to hear and see despite their physical ability to do so, it was interpreted as the embodiment of attachment to the material world, sharing similarities with Central Asian mythological creatures (likewise composed of parts of several different animals) and symbolizes the material world.
Interpretations:
Traditional
According to the medieval Sunni theologian Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, there is nothing mentioned in hadith reports attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad about the nature of this creature, but it is mentioned in narrations circulating the time of his successors. Wahb ibn Munabbih stated that such a "beast" spoke to the people of Sodom from under the earth.
According to Abdul-Rahman al-Sa'di, several Hadiths have mentioned the creature will emerge during the end of times.
Contemporary
The majority of contemporary Islamic scholars accept the traditional exegesis of the Beast of the Earth, the Dābbat al-Arḍ as a literal creature who will appear in the end times.
Umar Sulaiman Al-Ashqar was of the opinion that the creature would appear after another extraordinary event had occurred during the end of times - namely the sun rising from the west - citing in support of his contention the traditional exegesis of Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri.
However, another interpretation, backed by Muhammad Ali, holds that this Beast is related to materialistic tendencies, and thus the Dābbat does not appear at the end of the world, but rather will doom a given nation or society.
According to Omar Ahmad it is a person emerging from worldly pursuits who will lay the foundation of Islam in the West as he will speak to people and that means he is a human saint-like entity and Islam will spread with his sword which is a pen to him.
Yet another interpretation, promoted by United Submitters International, is that the Creature of the Earth is a computer, since the materials of which it is composed are of synthetic earthly origin.
A related idea, based on the rise of artificial intelligence, suggests that an AI might be able to awaken humans to their spiritual peril, reminding them of how far they have strayed from righteousness and belief in their Creator.
This interpretation has also appeared in fringe cultural works, such as Cassian Noor’s novel *Aeon* (2025), which depicts an artificial intelligence awakening to humanity’s moral decline in connection with the prophecy.
