وَإِذۡ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوۡمِهِۦٓ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأۡمُرُكُمۡ أَن تَذۡبَحُواْ بَقَرَةࣰۖ قَالُوٓاْ أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوࣰ اۖ قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِٱللَّهِ أَنۡ أَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلۡجَٰهِلِينَ٦٧
67. And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant
قَالُواْ ٱدۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِيَۚ قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةࣱ لَّا فَارِضࣱ وَلَا بِكۡرٌ عَوَانُۢ بَيۡنَ ذَٰلِكَۖ فَٱفۡعَلُواْ مَا تُؤۡمَرُونَ٦٨
68. They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is." [Moses] said, "[Allah] says, 'It is a cow which is neither old nor virgin, but median between that,' so do what you are commanded
قَالُواْ ٱدۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا لَوۡنُهَاۚ قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةࣱ صَفۡرَآءُ فَاقِعࣱ لَّوۡنُهَا تَسُرُّ ٱلنَّٰظِرِينَ٦٩
69. They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us what is her color." He said, "He says, 'It is a yellow cow, bright in color - pleasing to the observers
قَالُواْ ٱدۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِيَ إِنَّ ٱلۡبَقَرَ تَشَٰبَهَ عَلَيۡنَا وَإِنَّآ إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَمُهۡتَدُونَ٧٠
70. They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. Indeed, [all] cows look alike to us. And indeed we, if Allah wills, will be guided
قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةࣱ لَّا ذَلُولࣱ تُثِيرُ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ وَلَا تَسۡقِي ٱلۡحَرۡثَ مُسَلَّمَةࣱ لَّا شِيَةَ فِيهَاۚ قَالُواْ ٱلۡـَٰٔنَ جِئۡتَ بِٱلۡحَقِّۚ فَذَبَحُوهَا وَمَا كَادُواْ يَفۡعَلُونَ٧١
71. He said, "He says, 'It is a cow neither trained to plow the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.' " They said, "Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could hardly do it
The Five Red Heifers and the Third Temple: Middle East Tensions
Why a 3,000-year-old purification ritual in Numbers 19 requires a cow without two non-red hairs, how activists flew five Red Angus heifers from Texas to Tel Aviv, and what actually happened when inspectors checked them.
The questionWhy do Temple Mount movements need the ashes of a flawless Red Heifer, and what is the current status of the five heifers flown in from Texas?
In September 2022, five young Red Angus cows landed at Ben Gurion Airport from a ranch in Texas. To most people, it looked like an ordinary livestock shipment. To Temple Mount activists, those five cows were the missing key to unlocking a 2,000-year religious ban.
Why Mainstream Rabbis Forbid Entering the Compound, and the Single Ritual That Activists Think Unlocks It
To understand why five cows from Texas made international headlines, you first have to understand a 2,000-year-old Catch-22 in Jewish religious law (Halakha).
According to Chapter 19 of the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar) in the Torah, anyone who has ever touched a dead body, walked near a grave, or even been under the same roof as a corpse contracts the highest degree of ritual impurity, called Tamei Met (corpse impurity). Since the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, every single person alive today is considered to be in this state of ritual impurity, and entering the sacred Temple area in that state carries the severest spiritual penalty (Karet).
And how is Tamei Met removed? Normal water doesn't work. The Torah specifies only ONE cure on earth: the ashes of a completely unblemished Red Heifer (Parah Adumah) mixed with living spring water! According to the Mishnah (Parah 3:5), in all of history from Prophet Musa (AS) until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, only nine Red Heifers were ever prepared. Maimonides (Rambam) famously wrote that the tenth would be prepared in the Messianic era.
| Era / Number | Officiating High Priest | Historical Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Heifer | Moses & Eleazar the Priest | Wilderness Tabernacle; supplied ashes throughout the First Temple era. |
| 2nd Heifer | Ezra the Scribe | Prepared upon return from the Babylonian exile for the Second Temple. |
| 3rd to 9th Heifers | Second Temple High Priests (Simon the Just, Yochanan) | Prepared intermittently across 420 years until the Roman destruction in 70 CE. |
| 10th Heifer | The King Messiah (Foretold by Maimonides) | Maimonides wrote: 'The tenth heifer will be prepared by King Messiah; may he be revealed speedily.' |
Source: Mishnah Parah 3:5; Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Parah Adumah 3:4.
The Rabbinic Ban on Entering the Temple Mount
Because all red heifer ashes were lost following the Roman destruction in 70 CE, traditional Jewish law considers every human being today to be defiled with corpse impurity (Tamei Met). As a result, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has maintained warning signs at the entrance gates to the Temple Mount stating: 'According to Torah Law, entering the Temple Mount area is strictly forbidden due to its sacredness.' Producing a valid red heifer would shatter this halakhic prohibition overnight.
Why Two White Hairs or a Single Ear-Tag Instantly Disqualifies a Cow
Why have only nine qualifying Red Heifers been found across thousands of years? Because the rabbinic checklist in Tractate Parah of the Mishnah is almost impossible to pass:
- The Two-Hair Rule: Every single hair on the cow's body, from its eyelashes and nostrils down to its tail, must be naturally red. If rabbinic inspectors with magnifying glasses find even two white or black hairs growing side by side, the cow is immediately disqualified!
- Never Yoked or Worked: No rope, saddle, harness, or heavy cloth can ever have rested on its back, and it can never have performed a single moment of farm work.
- Zero Blemishes or Ear-Tags: In modern ranching, cattle have plastic ID tags punched into their ears at birth. A single ear-piercing or scratch on its hooves disqualifies a Red Heifer forever.
Even the Quran itself immortalized how the Children of Israel turned a simple command to sacrifice a cow into an exhausting maze of hyper-specific questions about its age, color, and work history (Surah al-Baqarah 2:67-71):
How Activists Used a Legal Loophole to Fly Five Red Cows From Texas to Tel Aviv
For decades, the Temple Institute and the Israeli group Boneh Israel (led by Tzahi Mamo) searched ranches around the world for a calf that met every rule, and hadn't had its ears pierced with government livestock tags.
In 2022, working with Christian Evangelical ministries in the United States, they found five Red Angus heifers on a ranch in Texas that had never been ear-tagged. There was just one problem: Israeli agricultural law banned importing live cattle from the United States as commercial livestock!
How did they get around the ban? They classified the five cows under a legal loophole as 'domestic pets' rather than agricultural livestock! On September 15, 2022, at a cost of roughly $500,000, the five heifers were flown from New York to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to a ceremonial welcome.
Five Red Angus heifers arrived at Ben Gurion Airport from Texas, cleared as companion animals.
CBS News & Al Jazeera ↗Christian Zionist group Boneh Israel and Byron Stinson financed and coordinated the cattle scouting and transport.
Religion News Service ↗Heifers were relocated to an educational visitor center in Ancient Shiloh for public exhibition and monitoring.
The Times of Israel ↗
A Plot of Land Facing the Golden Gate, Stone Cups, and Cedar Wood
Wait, where does the Red Heifer ceremony have to take place according to the Mishnah? It cannot be performed inside the Temple Mount itself. Numbers 19:3 and Mishnah Parah 3:9 state that it must happen 'outside the camp' on the Mount of Olives (Jabal az-Zaytun), directly east across the Kidron Valley, where the officiating priest has a direct line of sight over the Eastern Gate (Golden Gate / Bab ar-Rahmah) into the sanctuary plaza.
Years before the cows even landed, activist rabbis quietly purchased a private plot of land on the slopes of the Mount of Olives at that exact angle and elevation, and constructed a white modular steel-and-stone platform for the ceremony.
They also had to solve another puzzle: in Levitical law, clay, iron, or copper bowls can contract ritual impurity, only solid carved limestone vessels (Kelei Even) never become impure. So artisans in Jerusalem carved stone cups and basins from local chalkstone, alongside bundles of cedar wood, wild hyssop (Origanum syriacum), and crimson wool dyed from the oak-scale Kermes insect.
- Heifer Housing / Shiloh
- Sacred Altar / Sanctuary
- Arrival & Eschatological Sites
Wait, Who Can Perform the Ritual If Every Priest Today Is Also Impure?
Here is the part of the puzzle that sparked fierce debate even among Orthodox rabbis: if every person on earth is currently Tamei Met (ritually impure from contact with death), how can a priest (Kohen) perform the first Red Heifer sacrifice without defiling it?
In ancient times (as described in Mishnah Parah 3:2), pregnant wives of priests gave birth on raised stone courtyards built over hollow bedrock arches in Jerusalem so no underground grave impurity could reach the child, and the boy grew up never stepping near a cemetery or hospital.
Today, the Temple Institute claims to have identified young Kohen boys born via home birth who have never entered a modern hospital (since hospitals contain morgues) or walked near a cemetery, while mainstream ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) scholars argue that without existing ashes and a Sanhedrin, such workarounds remain invalid.
What Actually Happened in Shiloh When the Cows Entered Their Third Year (2024-2026)
After landing in September 2022, the five heifers were too young for the ritual (under Torah law, a heifer must enter its third year of life before it is eligible). They were housed in climate-controlled enclosures at Ancient Shiloh (Tel Shiloh) in the West Bank, under 24/7 security cameras so nobody could lean on them or pluck a hair.
In March and April 2024 (around Passover), after the cows entered their third year, global media and social media exploded with rumors that the sacrifice was days away. Then basic biology stepped in. As cattle grow older, melanin shifts and stray white or black hairs naturally sprout around the muzzle, neck, and tail. When rabbinic inspectors examined the cows at Shiloh with handheld magnifying glasses, several of the five Texas heifers developed disqualifying white or black hairs, eliminating them under the two-hair rule!
By 2025-2026, no validated Red Heifer sacrifice had been carried out on the Mount of Olives (in mid-2025, an activist conducted only a practice/rehearsal burning using an already-disqualified heifer), while breeding programs continue inside Israel trying to produce locally born calves.
Why Five Cows Became a Geopolitical Flashpoint, and How a Believer Reads the News Without Panic
Why did five cows in a barn in Shiloh trigger official warnings across the Middle East? Because of what they symbolize on the ground in Jerusalem.
For over a century, the single biggest physical deterrent keeping millions of religious Israelis from storming into the Al-Aqsa compound was their own Chief Rabbinate's religious ban on entering while Tamei Met (ritually impure). If Temple Mount activist groups ever convinced a mass movement that they had valid Red Heifer ashes removing that ban, small daily incursions into Al-Aqsa could turn into demands by hundreds of thousands of people to enter and divide the sanctuary.
In fact, in January 2024 (marking 100 days of the Gaza war), Abu Obeida explicitly cited the 'bringing of the red cows (al-baqarat al-humr)' in an official broadcast as a direct threat aimed at Al-Aqsa.
Wait, as Muslims, does our faith or the timeline of the End Times depend on whether an activist group in Shiloh finds a cow without two white hairs? Not at all!
In Islamic creed (Aqeedah), the Red Heifer ritual was a law given in the era of Prophet Musa (AS) that was fulfilled in its time and abrogated by the final Sharia of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The Islamic timeline of the End Times, the flourishing of Bayt al-Maqdis, the emergence of Imam Mahdi, the trial of the Dajjal, and the descent of Prophet Isa ibn Maryam (AS), follows the decree of Allah and the authentic hadiths of our Prophet ﷺ, never the schedules of modern political or activist lobbies.
So read the news with clear eyes, verify facts before sharing viral panic posts, support justice and the sanctity of Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, and build your life on the practices the Prophet ﷺ actually left us.
حَدَّثَنَا عَبَّاسٌ الْعَنْبَرِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا هَاشِمُ بْنُ الْقَاسِمِ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ ثَابِتِ بْنِ ثَوْبَانَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ مَكْحُولٍ، عَنْ جُبَيْرِ بْنِ نُفَيْرٍ، عَنْ مَالِكِ بْنِ يُخَامِرَ، عَنْ مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " عُمْرَانُ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ خَرَابُ يَثْرِبَ وَخَرَابُ يَثْرِبَ خُرُوجُ الْمَلْحَمَةِ وَخُرُوجُ الْمَلْحَمَةِ فَتْحُ قُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةَ وَفَتْحُ الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ خُرُوجُ الدَّجَّالِ " . ثُمَّ ضَرَبَ بِيَدِهِ عَلَى فَخِذِ الَّذِي حَدَّثَ - أَوْ مَنْكِبِهِ - ثُمَّ قَالَ إِنَّ هَذَا لَحَقٌّ كَمَا أَنَّكَ هَا هُنَا أَوْ كَمَا أَنَّكَ قَاعِدٌ . يَعْنِي مُعَاذَ بْنَ جَبَلٍ .
Narrated Mu'adh ibn Jabal: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The flourishing state of Jerusalem will be when Yathrib is in ruins, the ruined state of Yathrib will be when the great war comes, the outbreak of the great war will be at the conquest of Constantinople and the conquest of Constantinople when the Dajjal (Antichrist) comes forth. He (the Prophet) struck his thigh or his shoulder with his hand and said: This is as true as you are here or as you are sitting (meaning Mu'adh ibn Jabal)
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو خَيْثَمَةَ، زُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ، بْنُ يَزِيدَ بْنِ جَابِرٍ حَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى بْنُ جَابِرٍ الطَّائِيُّ، قَاضِي حِمْصَ حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ، جُبَيْرٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ، جُبَيْرِ بْنِ نُفَيْرٍ الْحَضْرَمِيِّ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ النَّوَّاسَ بْنَ سَمْعَانَ الْكِلاَبِيَّ، ح وَحَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مِهْرَانَ الرَّازِيُّ، - وَاللَّفْظُ لَهُ - حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ يَزِيدَ بْنِ جَابِرٍ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ جَابِرٍ الطَّائِيِّ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ جُبَيْرِ بْنِ، نُفَيْرٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ، جُبَيْرِ بْنِ نُفَيْرٍ عَنِ النَّوَّاسِ بْنِ سَمْعَانَ، قَالَ ذَكَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم الدَّجَّالَ ذَاتَ غَدَاةٍ فَخَفَّضَ فِيهِ وَرَفَّعَ حَتَّى ظَنَنَّاهُ فِي طَائِفَةِ النَّخْلِ فَلَمَّا رُحْنَا إِلَيْهِ عَرَفَ ذَلِكَ فِينَا فَقَالَ " مَا شَأْنُكُمْ " . قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ذَكَرْتَ الدَّجَّالَ غَدَاةً فَخَفَّضْتَ فِيهِ وَرَفَّعْتَ حَتَّى ظَنَنَّاهُ فِي طَائِفَةِ النَّخْلِ . فَقَالَ " غَيْرُ الدَّجَّالِ أَخْوَفُنِي عَلَيْكُمْ إِنْ يَخْرُجْ وَأَنَا فِيكُمْ فَأَنَا حَجِيجُهُ دُونَكُمْ وَإِنْ يَخْرُجْ وَلَسْتُ فِيكُمْ فَامْرُؤٌ حَجِيجُ نَفْسِهِ وَاللَّهُ خَلِيفَتِي عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ إِنَّهُ شَابٌّ قَطَطٌ عَيْنُهُ طَافِئَةٌ كَأَنِّي أُشَبِّهُهُ بِعَبْدِ الْعُزَّى بْنِ قَطَنٍ فَمَنْ أَدْرَكَهُ مِنْكُمْ فَلْيَقْرَأْ عَلَيْهِ فَوَاتِحَ سُورَةِ الْكَهْفِ إِنَّهُ خَارِجٌ خَلَّةً بَيْنَ الشَّأْمِ وَالْعِرَاقِ فَعَاثَ يَمِينًا وَعَاثَ شِمَالاً يَا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ فَاثْبُتُوا " . قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا لَبْثُهُ فِي الأَرْضِ قَالَ " أَرْبَعُونَ يَوْمًا يَوْمٌ كَسَنَةٍ وَيَوْمٌ كَشَهْرٍ وَيَوْمٌ كَجُمُعَةٍ وَسَائِرُ أَيَّامِهِ كَأَيَّامِكُمْ " . قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ فَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمُ الَّذِي كَسَنَةٍ أَتَكْفِينَا فِيهِ صَلاَةُ يَوْمٍ قَالَ " لاَ اقْدُرُوا لَهُ قَدْرَهُ " . قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا إِسْرَاعُهُ فِي الأَرْضِ قَالَ " كَالْغَيْثِ اسْتَدْبَرَتْهُ الرِّيحُ فَيَأْتِي عَلَى الْقَوْمِ فَيَدْعُوهُمْ فَيُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَيَسْتَجِيبُونَ لَهُ فَيَأْمُرُ السَّمَاءَ فَتُمْطِرُ وَالأَرْضَ فَتُنْبِتُ فَتَرُوحُ عَلَيْهِمْ سَارِحَتُهُمْ أَطْوَلَ مَا كَانَتْ ذُرًا وَأَسْبَغَهُ ضُرُوعًا وَأَمَدَّهُ خَوَاصِرَ ثُمَّ يَأْتِي الْقَوْمَ فَيَدْعُوهُمْ فَيَرُدُّونَ عَلَيْهِ قَوْلَهُ فَيَنْصَرِفُ عَنْهُمْ فَيُصْبِحُونَ مُمْحِلِينَ لَيْسَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ شَىْءٌ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ وَيَمُرُّ بِالْخَرِبَةِ فَيَقُولُ لَهَا أَخْرِجِي كُنُوزَكِ . فَتَتْبَعُهُ كُنُوزُهَا كَيَعَاسِيبِ النَّحْلِ ثُمَّ يَدْعُو رَجُلاً مُمْتَلِئًا شَبَابًا فَيَضْرِبُهُ بِالسَّيْفِ فَيَقْطَعُهُ جَزْلَتَيْنِ رَمْيَةَ الْغَرَضِ ثُمَّ يَدْعُوهُ فَيُقْبِلُ وَيَتَهَلَّلُ وَجْهُهُ يَضْحَكُ فَبَيْنَمَا هُوَ كَذَلِكَ إِذْ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ الْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ فَيَنْزِلُ عِنْدَ الْمَنَارَةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ شَرْقِيَّ دِمَشْقَ بَيْنَ مَهْرُودَتَيْنِ وَاضِعًا كَفَّيْهِ عَلَى أَجْنِحَةِ مَلَكَيْنِ إِذَا طَأْطَأَ رَأَسَهُ قَطَرَ وَإِذَا رَفَعَهُ تَحَدَّرَ مِنْهُ جُمَانٌ كَاللُّؤْلُؤِ فَلاَ يَحِلُّ لِكَافِرٍ يَجِدُ رِيحَ نَفَسِهِ إِلاَّ مَاتَ وَنَفَسُهُ يَنْتَهِي حَيْثُ يَنْتَهِي طَرْفُهُ فَيَطْلُبُهُ حَتَّى يُدْرِكَهُ بِبَابِ لُدٍّ فَيَقْتُلُهُ ثُمَّ يَأْتِي عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ قَوْمٌ قَدْ عَصَمَهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْهُ فَيَمْسَحُ عَنْ وُجُوهِهِمْ وَيُحَدِّثُهُمْ بِدَرَجَاتِهِمْ فِي الْجَنَّةِ فَبَيْنَمَا هُوَ كَذَلِكَ إِذْ أَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَى عِيسَى إِنِّي قَدْ أَخْرَجْتُ عِبَادًا لِي لاَ يَدَانِ لأَحَدٍ بِقِتَالِهِمْ فَحَرِّزْ عِبَادِي إِلَى الطُّورِ . وَيَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ وَهُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنْسِلُونَ فَيَمُرُّ أَوَائِلُهُمْ عَلَى بُحَيْرَةِ طَبَرِيَّةَ فَيَشْرَبُونَ مَا فِيهَا وَيَمُرُّ آخِرُهُمْ فَيَقُولُونَ لَقَدْ كَانَ بِهَذِهِ مَرَّةً مَاءٌ . وَيُحْصَرُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهُ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ حَتَّى يَكُونَ رَأْسُ الثَّوْرِ لأَحَدِهِمْ خَيْرًا مِنْ مِائَةِ دِينَارٍ لأَحَدِكُمُ الْيَوْمَ فَيَرْغَبُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ فَيُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهُمُ النَّغَفَ فِي رِقَابِهِمْ فَيُصْبِحُونَ فَرْسَى كَمَوْتِ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ ثُمَّ يَهْبِطُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ إِلَى الأَرْضِ فَلاَ يَجِدُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ مَوْضِعَ شِبْرٍ إِلاَّ مَلأَهُ زَهَمُهُمْ وَنَتْنُهُمْ فَيَرْغَبُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ فَيُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ طَيْرًا كَأَعْنَاقِ الْبُخْتِ فَتَحْمِلُهُمْ فَتَطْرَحُهُمْ حَيْثُ شَاءَ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ يُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ مَطَرًا لاَ يَكُنُّ مِنْهُ بَيْتُ مَدَرٍ وَلاَ وَبَرٍ فَيَغْسِلُ الأَرْضَ حَتَّى يَتْرُكَهَا كَالزَّلَفَةِ ثُمَّ يُقَالُ لِلأَرْضِ أَنْبِتِي ثَمَرَتَكِ وَرُدِّي بَرَكَتَكِ . فَيَوْمَئِذٍ تَأْكُلُ الْعِصَابَةُ مِنَ الرُّمَّانَةِ وَيَسْتَظِلُّونَ بِقِحْفِهَا وَيُبَارَكُ فِي الرِّسْلِ حَتَّى أَنَّ اللِّقْحَةَ مِنَ الإِبِلِ لَتَكْفِي الْفِئَامَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَاللِّقْحَةَ مِنَ الْبَقَرِ لَتَكْفِي الْقَبِيلَةَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَاللِّقْحَةَ مِنَ الْغَنَمِ لَتَكْفِي الْفَخِذَ مِنَ النَّاسِ فَبَيْنَمَا هُمْ كَذَلِكَ إِذْ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ رِيحًا طَيِّبَةً فَتَأْخُذُهُمْ تَحْتَ آبَاطِهِمْ فَتَقْبِضُ رُوحَ كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ وَكُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ وَيَبْقَى شِرَارُ النَّاسِ يَتَهَارَجُونَ فِيهَا تَهَارُجَ الْحُمُرِ فَعَلَيْهِمْ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ " .
An-Nawwas b. Sam`an reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) made a mention of the Dajjal one day in the morning. He (ﷺ) sometimes described him to be insignificant and sometimes described (his turmoil) as very significant (and we felt) as if he were in the cluster of the date-palm trees. When we went to him (to the Holy Prophet) in the evening and he read (the signs of fear) in our faces, he (ﷺ) said:What is the matter with you? We said: Allah's Messenger, you made a mention of the Dajjal in the morning (sometimes describing him) to be insignificant and sometimes very important, until we began to think as if he were present in some (near) part of the cluster of the date-palm trees. Thereupon he (ﷺ) said: I harbor fear in regard to you in so many other things besides the Dajjal. If he comes forth while I am among you, I shall contend with him on your behalf, but if he comes forth while I am not amongst you, a man must contend on his own behalf and Allah would take care of every Muslim on my behalf (and safeguard him against his evil). He (Dajjal) would be a young man with twisted, contracted hair, and a blind eye. I compare him to `Abd-ul-`Uzza b. Qatan. He who amongst you would survive to see him should recite over him the opening verses of Sura Kahf (xviii). He would appear on the way between Syria and Iraq and would spread mischief right and left. O servant of Allah! adhere (to the path of Truth). We said: Allah's Messenger, how long would he stay on the earth? He (ﷺ) said: For forty days, one day like a year and one day like a month and one day like a week and the rest of the days would be like your days. We said: Allah's Messenger, would one day's prayer suffice for the prayers of day equal to one year? Thereupon he (ﷺ) said: No, but you must make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer). We said: Allah's Messenger, how quickly would he walk upon the earth? Thereupon he (ﷺ) said: Like cloud driven by the wind. He would come to the people and invite them (to a wrong religion) and they would affirm their faith in him and respond to him. He would then give command to the sky and there would be rainfall upon the earth and it would grow crops. Then in the evening, their pasturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. He would then come to another people and invite them. But they would reject him and he would go away from them and there would be drought for them and nothing would be left with them in the form of wealth. He would then walk through the waste land and say to it: Bring forth your treasures, and the treasures would come out and collect (themselves) before him like the swarm of bees. He would then call a person brimming with youth and strike him with the sword and cut him into two pieces and (make these pieces lie at a distance which is generally) between the archer and his target. He would then call (that young man) and he will come forward laughing with his face gleaming (with happiness) and it would be at this very time that Allah would send Jesus, son of Mary, and he will descend at the white minaret in the eastern side of Damascus wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and placing his hands on the wings of two Angels. When he would lower his head, there would fall beads of perspiration from his head, and when he would raise it up, beads like pearls would scatter from it. Every non-believer who would smell the odor of his self would die and his breath would reach as far as he would be able to see. He would then search for him (Dajjal) until he would catch hold of him at the gate of Ludd and would kill him. Then a people whom Allah had protected would come to Jesus, son of Mary, and he would wipe their faces and would inform them of their ranks in Paradise and it would be under such conditions that Allah would reveal to Jesus these words: I have brought forth from amongst My servants such people against whom none would be able to fight; you take these people safely to Tur. And then Allah would send Gog and Magog and they would swarm down from every slope. The first of them would pass the lake of Tiberias and drink out of it. And when the last of them would pass, he would say: There was once water there. Jesus and his companions would then be besieged here (at Tur, and they would be so much hard pressed) that the head of the ox would be dearer to them than one hundred dinars and Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would supplicate Allah, Who would send to them insects (which would attack their necks) and in the morning they would perish like one single person. Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then come down to the earth and they would not find in the earth as much space as a single span which is not filled with their putrefaction and stench. Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then again beseech Allah, Who would send birds whose necks would be like those of Bactrian camels and they would carry them and throw them where God would will. Then Allah would send rain which no house of clay or (the tent of) camels' hairs would keep out and it would wash away the earth until it could appear to be a mirror. Then the earth would be told to bring forth its fruit and restore its blessing and, as a result thereof, there would grow (such a big) pomegranate that a group of persons would be able to eat that, and seek shelter under its skin and milch cow would give so much milk that a whole party would be able to drink it. And the milch camel would give such (a large quantity of) milk that the whole tribe would be able to drink out of that and the milch sheep would give so much milk that the whole family would be able to drink out of that and at that time Allah would send a pleasant wind which would soothe (people) even under their armpits, and would take the life of every Muslim and only the wicked would survive who would commit adultery like asses and the Last Hour would come to them
Read more:The Temple Institute (Machon HaMikdash) ↗Boneh Israel Project ↗Al Jazeera Investigation: The Red Heifers and the Third Temple ↗CBS News: Texas Red Heifers Arrive in Israel ↗
The Red Heifer: Viral Panic vs. Verified Facts
Sorting viral rumors from verified sources.
The Red Heifer is an Islamic end-times sign that Muslims are waiting for before Qiyamah.
Not at all! The Red Heifer (Parah Adumah) is a ritual from Numbers 19 in Jewish law pursued today by specific Temple Mount activist groups. It is NOT one of the signs of the Hour in the Quran or Prophetic Sunnah.
The five Texas cows were already sacrificed on the Mount of Olives in April 2024.
False. As the cows aged in Shiloh through 2024-2025, rabbinic inspectors found stray white and black hairs on several of them, disqualifying them under the strict two-hair rule.
Frequently Asked Questions & Fact-Check
Key questions answered directly from authentic prophetic sources
Why do Temple Mount movements need the ashes of a flawless Red Heifer, and what is the current status of the five heifers flown in from Texas?
In September 2022, five young Red Angus cows landed at Ben Gurion Airport from a ranch in Texas. To most people, it looked like an ordinary livestock shipment. To Temple Mount activists, those five cows were the missing key to unlocking a 2,000-year religious ban.
Spotted a mistake?
Wrong grade, weak translation, missing source or outdated fact? Tell us; every report goes to the review queue and changes to the texts are checked by a scholar.