In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
The entire period of this world, compared to the Hereafter, is very short. That is, this entire world, in relation to the Hereafter, is like one day. In fact, in terms of pure calculation, this comparison too is difficult to imagine, because the Hereafter is eternal which will exist without an end. Whether we calculate from human creation or from the creation of the heaven and the earth, it does not matter, because neither of these factors is important for an individual. In fact, each of us life here is made up of the days and years of our age. You should be able to realize how short a period that is in relation to the eternity of the Hereafter.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ ۖ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٨[Qur'an, Al-Hashr 59:18]
O you who have believed, fear Allah. And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow - and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do. (18)
The Day of Resurrection is as certain as the arrival of tomorrow after today, which is a stark reality, and no one doubts it. Just as tomorrow is not very far away from today, it is thought to be very near. Likewise, the Day of Resurrection will happen very soon after this world.
The first phase of the Hour is when an individual dies, his Hour is already established as stated in a Tradition: "He who dies, his Day of Judgement has been established" because the signs of the next world start from the grave and examples of reward and punishment come forward. The world of grave or the world of barzakh is like a waiting room in this world which accommodates all types of people, ranging from the first class to the third class. The waiting room of the criminals is the prison house. A person should be able to determine his position and status in the waiting room. Therefore, every person's Judgement Day starts with his death.
Death has been made such a puzzling phenomenon that not even the greatest philosopher or scientist can with any degree of certainty determine the exact time of its occurrence. In fact, every coming moment is fraught with the danger that one may not live to see it, especially in this time and age when it is moving at the pace of lightning, cancer and heart-failure is the order of the day.
The second phase of the Hour is when the entire world, the heaven and earth and everything else, will perish, though this might take place after hundreds of thousands of years, it is very close in relation to the eternity of the Hereafter
But when Allah describes qiyamah [Doomsday] as qad [tomorrow]in the verse, we should be conscious of the fact that the Doomsday is not very far away; it is very close like tomorrow. It is also possible that it might come even before tomorrow.
The arrival of Doomsday being certain and also near, but have you prepared for it?.
Our stay here is like a wayfarer. It is necessary to send something from here for the eternal abode. The main purpose of our stay is to acquire and accumulate things and send them forward to the eternal abode of the Hereafter. It is quite obvious that no material wealth or property can be taken with from this world when you go to the grave.
There is only one way of transferring wealth [gold, silver, money and so on] from one country to another, that is to deposit it into the bank from where the currency of another country is obtained. In exactly the same manner, wealth is spent in the way of Allah and the sacred laws of Allah are implemented and deposited in the Divinely celestial bank, where the currency of reward is recorded in the celestial Account-Book.
When a believer reaches the eternal abode, it is handed over to him without claim or demand. He who sends forth good deeds will obtain the currency of reward in the Hereafter; and he sends forth evil deeds will be indicted in the Hereafter.
Allah repeats, "...fear Allah...fear Allah". It could be for emphasis, or the first of such command is for people to fulfill the obligatory and imperative duties, and the repetition of the command is to abstain from sins. It is also possible that the first command to fear Allah is to send forth good deeds for the Hereafter by acting upon imperatives set by Allah, and the second command to fear is to ensure that what is being sent is not fake or counterfeit. Fake or counterfeit deeds, in relation to the Hereafter, would imply the deeds done seem to be genuinely righteous deeds, but they lack sincerity of purpose and the good pleasure of Allah. What was done ostentatiously or for ulterior motive or an ostensible action that seems like an act of worship, but having no base in religion, it is tantamount to innovation (Bid'ah).
Thus the second command to fear Allah implies that it is not sufficient to merely accumulate ostensible actions for the Hereafter, but to send forth genuine deeds performed with sincerity according to the rules set in religion. Spurious actions will not be acceptable there.
May Allah purify our attentions and accept out good deeds. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.
And Allah knows best and He alone grants success.
Wassalaam
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