Who Was Bal'am ibn Ba'ura? The scholar who threw off the signs in Islamic History

Before the worldBefore Adam

The first nationsAdam to Shuayb

Egypt and Bani Israilc. 1300–1000 BCE

Bani Israil and Romec. 1000 BCE – 250 CE

Arabia before IslamUp to 570 CE

Enemies of the Prophet ﷺ610–632 CE

After the Prophet ﷺ632–1000 CE

Crusades and conquests1090–1502 CE

The end of timeStill to come

Ten signs before the Hour

Isa ibn Maryam descends
A landslide in the east
A landslide in the west
A landslide in Arabia
The smoke
The sun rises from the west
The Beast of the earth
A fire from Yemen drives people to their gathering

Sahih Muslim lists ten major signs before the Hour without fixing their order. This follows a common order given by the scholars. Sahih Muslim 2901a ↗

Villains of history22 / 76

بلعم بن باعوراء

Bal'am ibn Ba'ura

The scholar who threw off the signsTime of Musa (traditional)

Relied onKnowledge, and prayers that were answered

Undone byHis own desire

The Quran tells of a man given Allah's signs who slipped out of them and followed his desires. Many commentators say he was Bal'am, a man of knowledge who was paid to pray against Musa and his people.

How it ended

The Quran likens him to a dog that pants whether you chase it or leave it (7:176).

And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators.
Quran 7:175

The lessonKnowledge without obedience can bring a man lower than the ignorant.

In the Quran

7:175-177

Stood against
Source: In the Quran, named by the commentatorsThe Quran does not name him. Ibn Masud and Ibn Abbas are reported to say he was Bal'am; others said Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt. The name and story come from the commentators.

Every villain in Islamic history, from Iblis to the Dajjal

Each entry is drawn from the Quran, authentic hadith (with links to sunnah.com), the classical commentators and the historians. Companions who fought Islam and later became Muslim are not included, nor are figures Muslims disagree about.