Dabbat al-Ardh is one of the portents that will emerge in the End Times. Apart from many hadith, Dabbat al-Ardh is also referred to in the Qur’an. Surat an-Naml in its verse 82 refers to the emergence of dabba as a sign for the End Times: When the Word comes to pass against them, We will raise a creature unto them out of the earth that will tell them that mankind had no real faith in Our messages. (Surat an-Naml, 82)
The following features of dabba have been suggested on the basis of interpretation of this verse:
1. Dabba is the product of the earth.
2. Dabba is a thing or a creature that “speaks” and gives a particular message, which is addressed to all of mankind.
The hadith explains that Dabbat al-Ardh is able to cover long distances in a single step, speak to people and can enter everywhere. That dabba is the product of the earth indicates that it will have a structure made up of minerals extracted from the ground such as metal, iron, copper, zinc, cobalt or chrome. These elements make up the basic structure of computers in our day. That it can speak to people and cover long distances in a single step refers to the Internet web. Thanks to the Internet technology today, it is extremely fast and easy to reach and convey information, to talk and communicate to people. Similarly, it will also be extremely fast and easy to communicate the Qur’an to people. In the End Times, the Internet will be an important tool for the domination of the moral values of the Qur’an over the world. During the period of the Prophet Jesus’ (peace be upon him) descent and Hazrat Mahdi’s (pbuh) appearance, the Internet is a special opportunity granted to these two blessed people to make them easily communicate the morality of Islam and ensure the domination of the morality of the Qur’an over the world. In our day, the communication of the morality of the religion and expounding the invalidity of the irreligious materialist ideologies can become possible by the Internet technologies. By means of the Internet, every point of the world can be reached by Muslims and, by Allah’s leave, the morality of Islam spreads very quickly.
Besides, the fact that “dabba” is used in Arabic as “nakhira”, that is, as an indefinite word, indicates that it is a being, which was unknown by that period. The great Islamic Qur’an interpreter Elmalili Hamdi Yazir refers to this point as follows: “In this verse since ‘dabba’ is used as a nakhira (indefinite name), it makes us think that it should be a dabba which is different from the dabbas we already know…”
Apart from the Islamic interpreters such as Elmalili Hamdi Yazir, some dictionary authors also stated that “dabba”, as its meaning of the word, could also mean all sorts of technical equipment that can move. Indeed, computer is also a technical equipment that conveys movements and images of movements and ensures the transfer of information by frequencies. However, more importantly, this dabba, a portent of the End Times, which is the product of the earth, “speaks to people”. There is almost no country, no nation and no community which is not acquainted with the Internet today. Moreover, the Internet, which is the product of advanced technology, addresses to every community in its own language.