Events on the Day of Judgment (part 2 of 3):Before the Judgment

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Description: A brief description of events before the Judgment of Allah commences.

Published on 24 Feb 2014 - Last modified on 04 Jun 2015

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Objective

·To understand that Allah has given us detailed descriptions of the events on the Day of Judgement and detailed the way to avoid eternal punishment.

Arabic Terms

·Hadith - (plural – ahadith) is a piece of information or a story. In Islam it is a narrative record of the sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad and his companions.

·Ummah - Refers to the whole Muslim community, irrespective of color, race, language or nationality.

Waiting for what is to come.

Events_on_the_Day_of_Judgment_(part_2_of_3)._001.jpg On the Day of Judgement, after the trumpet has been blown and the bodies of all humanity have been resurrected the people stand on a wide open plane waiting for the judgment to begin. They will be distressed and their hearts remain filled with fear and remorse. They will be confused and in utter disbelief. Allah tells us that this will be a time, “When sight is confounded, and the moon is eclipsed (hidden from view), and the sun and the moon are brought together.” (Quran 75:7-9). The people are gathered under an eerie light and will be made to wait. This is a day when the heavens will be rent asunder and the “…and the angels will be sent down, a grand descent.” (Quran 25:25)

The angels are sent down in rows, a grand descent as Quran describes it. Both the people and the angels stand in rows waiting for the judgement and time is not behaving as the people expect. The standing seems interminable, will it ever end?

“And the angels will be on its sides, and eight angels will, that Day, bear the Throne of your Lord above them. On that Day you will be brought to judgement and none of your secrets will remain hidden.” (Quran 69: 17-18)

On this Day even those whose light shines through their faces will fear to stand before Allah and those who are shaded by the grace of Allah remain fearful of the momentous occasion. The people’s distress on this Day of Reckoning will become so intense that they will run to various prophets begging for their intercession and ask Allah to begin the judgment.

The Prophets[1]

The people will be gathered together in groups or individually, caring nothing for those around them. “Who will help us!” they cry and turn to the prophets. They will rush to Adam, the father of humanity and beg for his intercession on their behalf but Adam is also afraid. They will say, “Please Adam you are the one to whom the angels prostrated”, but Adam, peace be upon him, will reply “Myself myself” and he tells the people that his Lord is angry like never before, go to Prophet Ibrahim.

The people will go to Ibrahim and beg, “You are the one who is beloved by Allah, please ask Him to start judgment”. Ibrahim will reply just as Adam did, “Myself, myself. Today my Lord is angry like never before, go to Musa”. Then they will go to Prophet Musa, begging for the judgment to start. In mental and physical pain, sweat dripping down their bodies, hearts thumping, the people will continue in the same vein and Musa will send them to Prophet Isa. Each Prophet is fearful of Allah and concerned about his own punishment.

The people will then surge to Prophet Isa begging for his help. “You were created by Allah’s command; you talked to people from the cradle, intercede for us before your Lord!” Prophet Isa will respond in exactly the same way as the others. Even though he is the slave of Allah, and even though he ascended to Allah after his time on earth, Prophet Isa too will be concerned for his own judgment. “Myself, myself. Today my Lord is angry like never before so go to Muhammad, the final prophet”.

The people will rush to Prophet Muhammad, and say to him, “you are the last of the prophets and our final hope, please ask Allah to start judgment!” He replies, “I’ll go, I’ll go”.

What happens next can be found in an authentic hadith. Prophet Muhammad goes to his Lord, Allah. “Then I will ask my Lord for permission and He will give me permission, and He will inspire me with words of praise with which I will praise Him, words that I do not know now. So I will praise Him with those words of praise and I will fall down prostrate before Him. He will say, ‘O Muhammad! Raise your head; ask, for it will be given to you, and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.’ I will raise my head and say, ‘My Ummah, O Lord! My Ummah, O Lord!’ …”[2]

This is what is known as the greatest intercession, it is al-maqaam al-mahmood, Prophet Muhammad intercedes for the people that Allah might relieve them of the horrors and begin the judgement.

“... so that your Lord may raise you to Maqaam Mahmood (a station of praise and glory, i.e., the honour of intercession on the Day of Resurrection)” (Quran 17:79)

Hell and Paradise are bought close.

Before Judgement commences however, Hell must be bought forth. The angels and all of humanity are standing, waiting, becoming increasingly distressed, worried only about themselves, pleading for help and Hell is brought close. The people are already distressed to the point of hysteria but those who are beginning to realise just how many sins they have committed faint at the sights and sounds that emanate from the Hell fire.

“And Hell will be brought near that Day. On that Day will man remember, but how will that remembrance (then) avail him?” (Quran 89:23)

The Prophet said, “Hell will be dragged forth on that Day before people with seventy thousand reins, each of which will be held by seventy thousand angels.”[3]

“And the (Hell) Fire will be placed in full view of the erring. And it will be said to them, ‘Where are those (the false gods) that you used to worship instead of Allah? Can they help you or (even) help themselves?’” (Quran 26:91-93)

To temper the fear of those who have nothing to fear, the righteous believers, Allah also orders Paradise to be bought close. Close enough for the people to see and hear the sounds and sights waiting to delight those who deserve eternal bliss.

“And Paradise will be brought near to the pious, not far off. (It will be said): “This is what you were promised - (it is) for those who were oft-returning (to Allah) in sincere repentance, and those who preserved their covenant with Allah.” (Quran 50:31-32)

Footnotes:

[1] Based on the hadith from Saheeh Al-Bukhari

[2] Saheeh Al-Bukhari

[3] Saheeh Muslim

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