The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “The Beast of the Earth will emerge, and will have with it the rod of Musa and the ring of Sulaiman.” It was also reported that he (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “(The Beast) will destroy the noses of the unbelievers with the ring, - so that people seated around one table will begin to address one another with the words ‘O Believer!’ or ‘O Unbeliever!’ (i.e. everyone’s status will become clear).” [Ibn Majah]

The beast that will emerge from the earth will have the rod (asa) of Musa (alaihis salam) and the ring (seal) of Sulaiman bin Dawud (alaihis salam) with it. People will be terrified of it and will try to run away, but they will not be able to escape, because such will be the decree of Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). It will destroy the nose of every unbeliever with the ring, and write the word ‘Kafir’ on his forehead; it will adorn the face of every believer causing it to shine with the rod and write the word ‘Momin’ on his forehead; and it will speak to people. [“The Signs before the Day of Judgement,” by Ibn Kathir]

Once the beast emerges it will be too late to become a loyal and obedient servant of Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). That will only be the time for marking what each person has already established himself/herself as being.

Belief is credited when you are taking a leap of faith. For example, the smell of chicken frying wafts towards a naughty boy from the kitchen, while his mother tells him to behave and trust her she’s making him a delicious meal. He can refuse to have faith in her and ignore the smell, saying he won’t believe her till he sees the food; but once the delicious meal is before him there is nothing left to believe in – its there! It’s no use saying ‘I believe you’ now. Thus, when the truth becomes obvious to people against all their expectations, ‘believing’ will not benefit anyone.

When Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) created Adam (alaihis salam) He also created all the souls that were going to come into existence till the Day of Judgement. Then all of our souls bore witness that Allah alone was our Rabb (Creator, Sustainer and Cherisher), and worthy of our unconditional and unlimited obedience. Surah Araf of the Quran describes this oath that we took to worship none but Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) alone. This, Allah says, He made to happen so that later people could not say, “We didn’t know, that’s why we didn’t worship Allah as He should have been worshipped.”

This oath is in each human’s sub-conscience and allows them to know who is worthy of being worshipped. Thus, we do not need to see Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) with our own eyes on earth, the signs He gives us in the form of the rest of His creation, His messengers, His Books and His predictions are enough.