BigJoeNobody, hi. The best interpretation of the Qur'anic verses and hadiths referring to the Dabbatul-Ardh (the earth beast) comes from sheik Imran Hossein. He says that whenever the context of words 'dabbatul-ardh' or 'ardh' are used in the Qur'an, it is used in the context of the Holy Land, or the land of the House of Israel. This is his explanation:
2nd Pillar, you are right. The biblical reference of the mark is more detailed than the one in the Qur'an in that it talks about who will impose the mark of himself. The biblical earth beast and the Qur'anic earth beast are one and the same, except that the Qur'an does not mention it too much. It only says that:
a. it will be very scary, everyone will fear it and will not be able to escape it
b. it will mark people according to their belief or unbelief in God
c. it will be a sign of the End of Times (Qiyamah)
Many Muslims have thought or were taught to believe that the earth beast is friendly, good to believers. However, Qur'an does not say that specifically. It just says that believers will be marked as believers. Hadiths give further clues about the earth beast coming from the Holy Land:
1. The staff of Moses and ring of Solomon
Well, who were Moses and Solomon? According to Muslim sources they were great Messengers of God SWT to the House of Israel. What did Moses' staff do? Helped him perform miracles as authorized by God SWT. What did the ring of Solomon do? Helped him control unseen forces. So this earth beast will be expected to perform great miracles in many ways. With the current technology advancements, it will not be impossible.
The earth beast is not an animal that is so giant that covers the Earth, talks and reaches every human in the world. No. Qur'an tends to point to a more logical explanation of things, including the earth beast.