Events on the Day of Judgment (part 1 of 3): The Day Begins

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Description: When and how the Day of Judgment will begin.

Published on 17 Feb 2014 - Last modified on 24 Feb 2015

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Objective

·To understand the order of events on the Day of Judgment and to appreciate their importance.

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.

·Rakah - unit of prayer.

Before we can examine the events that Allah says will happen on the Day of Judgement we must ask ourselves just when that Day will be. And we are not the first generation to ask that question. Prophet Muhammad was asked many times by many people about when this Day would arrive. The answer now, even though we have made remarkable advances in all forms of knowledge, particularly technology and science, is still the same. Allah alone knows when the hour that starts the Day of Judgement will be. When the angel Gabriel came to the Prophet in the guise of a well-dressed man, one of the questions he asked was about the Hour. Prophet Muhammad answered that, “The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner.”

“Men ask you of the Hour, Say the knowledge of it is with Allah only, what can convey to you that may be the Hour is near.” (Quran 33:63)

“Verily, the Hour is coming and My Will is to keep it hidden...” (Quran 20:15)

Allah is concealing the date of the Day of Judgement from us. This verse alone should indicate to us that this is nothing less than a momentous occasion of gargantuan proportions. Although we do not know when the Day of Judgement will be, Allah and His Messenger Muhammad (may the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon him) have described in detail what will happen on that Day. In this and the following two lessons we will describe the events of the Day of Judgement as they are described to us in the Quran and the authentic ahadith.

Blowing the Trumpet.

The Day of Judgment will come upon humankind suddenly. No matter how well informed or interested someone is in the signs that will precede it, its commencement will come as a shock. The trumpet will be blown and the people will hear a sound so horrendous that the mountains and the earth itself will crumble to dust.

“And when the trumpet is blown with a single blast, and the earth and the mountains are removed from their places, and crushed with a single crushing, then on that Day shall the (Great) Event befall.” (Quran 69:13-15)

Allah says that it will be a single shout, a long continuous sound that will not cease until everything has perished (Quran 38:15). It will then be followed by a second blowing of the trumpet. Behold, Allah tells us that everyone who has ever lived will find themselves standing, staring, and shocked by the events.

“And the trumpet will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown again, and at once they will be standing, looking on!” (Quran 39:68)

The Standing

The trumpet is blown, the earth is rolled up like a scroll and the dead rise. Bones and body parts join together, brains begin to work. Truly humankind has been returned to Allah. All of humankind were dead, those who died before the blowing of the trumpet and those who died in the cataclysmic event that levelled the earth to a plane. The Day of Judgement has begun. People stand in groups, staring ahead.

“Every soul will taste death. Then to Us will you be returned” (Quran 29:57)

“ Does man think that We will not assemble his bones? Yes. [We are] Able [even] to proportion his fingertips!” (Quran 75:3-4)

Once the initial shock of being returned to life begins to wear off, the reality of the situation begins to set in. The veil of the physical world has been removed. The deeds we did are set out for us to see. “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.” (Quran 99:7, 8) Another promise of Allah’s fulfilled. Some people are happy with their situation others begin to tremble in fear.

A person’s deeds will determine their length of the standing but all people waiting will be barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised. Ahadith tell us that this standing in fear and trepidation could be as long as 50,000 years[1] but for a pious person it might be as little as the time it takes to pray two rakahs of prayer. The people waiting will be frightened, their hearts beating like drums in their chests and ears. They will run about as if in a drunken state and care nothing about anyone but themselves. Parents, spouses and children will be long forgotten. Gripped by fear they will begin to question their situation.

“He will say: ‘O my Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, while I had sight (before)?’ [Allah] will say, ‘This is how it is: Our signs came unto you, but you disregarded them, and thus will you this Day be forgotten.’” (Quran 20:125)

Prophet Muhammad informs us that on the Day of Judgement the sun will be bought near to humankind. The sun would only be a mile away and the people will perspire according to the level of their deeds.[2] For some there will be no need for fear, they will be shaded by Allah. Seven kinds of people will be shaded on the Day that there is no shade. They are, a just leader, a person whose heart is attached to the mosque, a person raised to obey Allah, two people who love each other solely for the sake of Allah, a person who mentioned Allah and wept, a person who gave charity secretly and a person who was tempted to commit sin with a member of the opposite sex but resisted saying that they feared Allah.[3]

The people are left standing, there on a great open plane, and they begin to call out. “Where is Allah to judge us?”

Footnotes:

[1] Abu Dawood.

[2] Saheeh Muslim

[3] Saheeh Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim

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