Short answer
No one knows when. Every preacher who has named a date has been wrong. Jesus said that no one knows the day or the hour, not the angels, and not even the Son, but only the Father. The Qur'an told the Prophet (ﷺ) to give the same answer: the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (﷾) alone. Yet for eighteen centuries preachers have named the date. Hippolytus, a Christian writer in Rome, pointed to about the year 500. Columbus, the explorer, worked out about 1656. Hal Lindsey, an American author, pointed to the late 1980s. Harold Camping, an American radio preacher, named 1994, and then 2011. Every date passed. Each of these men claimed to know what Jesus said he did not know. The Hour will come suddenly, and only God (﷾) knows when. Islam teaches that Jesus will return before it.
Full explanation
What Jesus said about the day
In Mark, Jesus says that no one knows the day or the hour: not the angels, and not even the Son, but the Father alone. In Matthew he says the Father only. In Acts he tells the disciples that the times are not theirs to know.
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
“And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
Eighteen centuries of failed dates
The historian Richard Kyle traces the long line of Christian date-setting. Hippolytus of Rome, writing about 204, put the end about 500 years after Christ's birth. Joachim of Fiore was an Italian monk of the twelfth century. His reckoning pointed to 1260. Melchior Hoffman, a German preacher, announced Christ's return at Strasbourg for 1533. Jan Matthys, a Dutch preacher, moved it to Münster in 1534. Columbus calculated about 1656. England's Fifth Monarchists, a Christian group, expected Christ's reign in the 1650s.
A history of Christian end-time expectation from the early church to the late twentieth century, recording the many dates that were set for the end or for Christ's return and then passed.
Hippolytus reckons that Christ was born 5,500 years after creation and that the world will last 6,000 years, so that about 500 years remained from the birth of Christ to the end.
Columbus reckons the years of the world from creation and concludes that about 155 years remained until the end of the world, which puts the end in about 1656.
Modern dates that also passed
The dates did not stop. Hal Lindsey's best-seller of 1970 tied the end to a generation after the rebirth of Israel in 1948. Harold Camping of Family Radio, a Christian radio network, named September 1994. When that passed, he named 21 May 2011. Nothing happened on any of these dates.
Reads the rebirth of Israel in 1948 as the budding fig tree of Matthew 24, takes a biblical generation as about forty years, and suggests that the end-time events could come within about forty years of 1948.
Camping, president of Family Radio, argues from Bible chronology that the end of the world and the return of Christ would most likely come in September 1994.
After 1994 passed, Camping set a new date: the Rapture on 21 May 2011, followed by the end of the world later that year.
- About 500
Hippolytus of Rome
Writing about the year 204, he put the end about 500 years after Christ's birth.
- 1260
Joachim of Fiore
His reckoning of the last days pointed to the year 1260.
- 1533 and 1534
Melchior Hoffman and Jan Matthys
Hoffman announced Christ's return at Strasbourg for 1533. Matthys moved it to Münster in 1534.
- About 1656
Christopher Columbus
The explorer calculated that the world would end in about 1656.
- Late 1980s
Hal Lindsey
His best-seller of 1970 tied the end to a generation after the rebirth of Israel in 1948.
- 1994, then 2011
Harold Camping
Camping, of Family Radio, named September 1994. When that passed, he named 21 May 2011.
Jesus said that no one knows the day or the hour, only the Father. The Qur'an says the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (﷾) alone.
The Bible's own test
The Torah, the first five books of the Bible, gives a plain test. When a prophet's words do not come to pass, the Lord did not speak them. By that test, none of these dates came from God (﷾). The verse that condemns them also answers another question. A Son who does not know the hour is not all-knowing, and so is not God. Christians answer that he did not know in his human nature. But it is a person who knows or does not know. The creeds, the Church's statements of belief, say Christ is one person, God the Son, and never two. Then one and the same person both knew the Hour and did not know it.
“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
The council confessed one and the same Christ in two natures, divine and human, and declared him "not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son".
The Council of Ephesus, meeting in 431, condemned Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, and removed him from office. The teaching condemned under his name was that Christ is divided into two, a divine Son and a human son.
A coming promised within a generation
Matthew reports Jesus promising that some standing there would not die before they saw the Son of man coming in his kingdom. The verse before describes that coming: the Son of man in his Father's glory with his angels, rewarding every man for his works. Christians reply that the promise was met six days later, when three disciples saw Jesus in glory on a mountain. But that vision was not the coming in which every man is rewarded. Every one of those standing there died long ago, and that coming did not take place in their lifetime. This is not a saying that the end is near, which sets no date. It sets a limit: the lifetime of some who stood there. The Torah's test says a word that does not come to pass was not spoken by the Lord. Muslims hold that Jesus was a true prophet, so the fault lies with the report in Matthew, not with him. This does not deny his return, which Islam affirms. It is about the time Matthew gives for it.
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”
“Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”
“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,”
“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
What the Qur'an says about the Hour
People asked the Prophet (ﷺ) when the Hour would come. The Qur'an told him to answer that its knowledge is with his Lord alone, and that it will come suddenly. When the angel Gabriel asked him the same question, he said the one asked knew no more than the one asking. Muslims too believe that Jesus will return before the Hour, as a sign of its coming. The Prophet (ﷺ) said the son of Mary will descend as a just ruler. The time of that, too, is known only to Allah (﷾).
“They ask thee about the (final) Hour - when will be its appointed time? Say: "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord (alone): None but He can reveal as to when it will occur. Heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth. Only, all of a sudden will it come to you." They ask thee as if thou Wert eager in search thereof: Say: "The knowledge thereof is with Allah (alone), but most men know not."”
“Men ask thee concerning the Hour: Say, "The knowledge thereof is with Allah (alone)": and what will make thee understand?- perchance the Hour is nigh!”
“Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone). It is He Who sends down rain, and He Who knows what is in the wombs. Nor does any one know what it is that he will earn on the morrow: Nor does any one know in what land he is to die. Verily with Allah is full knowledge and He is acquainted (with all things).”
Abu Hurayra reports that the angel Gabriel came to the Prophet (ﷺ) in the form of a man and asked him about faith, Islam and excellence in worship, and then when the Hour would come. The Prophet answered that the one being asked knew no more about it than the one asking. He described some of its signs, said the Hour is one of five things that no one knows except Allah, and recited Qur'an 31:34.
“And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment): therefore have no doubt about the (Hour), but follow ye Me: this is a Straight Way.”
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) swore that the son of Mary will soon descend among the Muslims as a just ruler. He will break the cross, kill the swine and end the jizya, and wealth will be so plentiful that no one will accept it. Abu Huraira then recited Qur'an 4:159: none of the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christ will return visibly. No one knows the day, so believers must always be ready. Date-setters are wrong.
Jesus said that no one knows the day or the hour except the Father, so no date can be set.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that no one can set a date (7:187). Islam goes further: Mark says even the Son does not know, so he is not all-knowing and not God. Christians reply that he did not know as a man. But the creeds speak of one person only, who cannot both know and not know the Hour.
Because the day is unknown, the return could come at any time, and believers must always be ready for it.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that the Hour will come suddenly (7:187), so readiness is right. Islam goes further: Jesus' return is itself a sign of the Hour (43:61), and its time is known to Allah (﷾) alone (31:34).
What history shows
Every date set for the end, from the early church to the present day, has passed.
Hal Lindsey read the rebirth of Israel in 1948 as a sign. The end, he held, would come within about a generation.
Harold Camping argued from Bible chronology that the end would come in 1994, and later on 21 May 2011.
Hippolytus of Rome placed the end about 500 years after the birth of Christ.
Columbus calculated that the world would end in about 1656.
Christian expectation of the end has been set, and reset, again and again for two thousand years.
The Islamic perspective
The Hour is certain and it will come suddenly, but its time is known to Allah (﷾) alone. The Prophet (ﷺ) never named a date, and anyone who does claims knowledge that God (﷾) has kept to Himself.
The Qur'an tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to say that the knowledge of the Hour is with his Lord alone.
The Qur'an lists the time of the Hour among the things known only to Allah (﷾).
The angel Gabriel asked the Prophet (ﷺ) when the Hour would come. He said the one asked knew no more than the one asking.
Jesus says the Son does not know the day or the hour.
One who does not know the Hour is not all-knowing, and so is not God.
By the Torah's own test, a prediction that fails was not spoken by the Lord.