Questions Belief

Do Muslims believe in the rapture?

Checked by our team

Short answer

No. Islam has no rapture in which believers are lifted to heaven before a time of tribulation. Muslims believe the end comes after the major signs, including the return of Isa (Jesus). Near the end a gentle wind takes the souls of the believers, the Hour comes on the worst of people, the trumpet is blown, and at a second blast everyone is raised for judgement.

Hanafi position

Sunni creed affirms the signs of the Hour, the blowing of the trumpet, the bodily resurrection of all people and the reckoning, as stated in the Quran and authentic hadith. There is no text for believers being snatched away alive before the end.

The four schools agree on this.

Explanation

The rapture is a belief held by some Christians that faithful believers will be taken up to meet Christ before a period of tribulation on earth. The Quran and Sunnah describe the end differently, and Muslims believe only what those sources teach about the unseen.

In the long hadith of al-Nawwas ibn Sam'an in Sahih Muslim, after the Dajjal, the return of Isa and the destruction of Yajuj and Majuj, Allah sends a pleasant wind that takes the soul of every believer. Only the worst of people remain, and the Hour comes upon them. So the believers are not alive when the Hour strikes; they pass away gently before it.

Then "the Horn will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown again, and at once they will be standing, looking on" (39:68). The Prophet ﷺ said there are forty between the two blasts. At the second blast people rise from their graves and hasten to their Lord (36:51), in their bodies, for the reckoning.

So the Muslim hope is not to escape the trials by being lifted away, but to die with faith and to be shaded on that Day. Read do Muslims believe Jesus will return?, the signs of the Day of Judgement and barzakh and the afterlife.

The evidence

Quran, Surah Az-Zumar 39:68

وَنُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَصَعِقَ مَن فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ إِلَّا مَن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۖ ثُمَّ نُفِخَ فِيهِ أُخْرَىٰ فَإِذَا هُمْ قِيَامٌۭ يَنظُرُونَ ﴿٦٨﴾

And the Horn will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown again, and at once they will be standing, looking on.

Describes the two blasts of the trumpet.

Quran 39:68, translation by Sahih International

Quran, Surah Yaseen 36:51

وَنُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَإِذَا هُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَجْدَاثِ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَنسِلُونَ ﴿٥١﴾

And the Horn will be blown; and at once from the graves to their Lord they will hasten.

Describes the resurrection from the graves.

Quran 36:51, translation by Sahih International

Sahih Muslim 2937

Sahih

... بَعَثَ اللَّهُ رِيحًا طَيِّبَةً فَتَأْخُذُهُمْ تَحْتَ آبَاطِهِمْ فَتَقْبِضُ رُوحَ كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ وَكُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ ...

"Allah will send a pleasant wind that will take them under their arms and take the soul of every believer."

Shows believers pass away before the Hour, rather than being lifted up alive.

Sahih Muslim 2937 · Sahih · Read on sunnah.com

Sahih al-Bukhari 4935

Sahih

... مَا بَيْنَ النَّفْخَتَيْنِ أَرْبَعُونَ ...

"Between the two blasts there are forty."

Confirms the two blasts of the trumpet.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4935 · Sahih · Read on sunnah.com

Where the ruling is recorded

  • al-Fiqh al-Akbar (Imam Abu Hanifa), Section on the signs of the Day of Resurrection. Affirms the major signs as true and coming.
  • al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya, Section on the resurrection and the reckoning. Affirms the raising of the dead, the reckoning and the recompense.

Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.