Monday, September 19, 2016

When the Earth Shivers and Quakes...Do You Think You Will Have No Fear?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

As believers we believe in the Day of Resurrection. That Day 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.
فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ نَفْخَةٌ وَ‌ٰحِدَةٌ ﴿١٣﴾ وَحُمِلَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ وَٱلْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةً وَ‌ٰحِدَةً ﴿١٤﴾ فَيَوْمَئِذٍ وَقَعَتِ ٱلْوَاقِعَةُ ﴿١٥

Then when the Horn is blown with one blast (13) And the earth and the mountains are lifted and leveled with one blow - (14) Then on that Day, the Resurrection will occur, (15)
[Qur'an, Al-Haqqa 69:13-15]

Allah says that it will be a single shout, a long continuous sound that will not cease until everything has perished.
وَمَا يَنظُرُ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ إِلَّا صَيْحَةً وَ‌ٰحِدَةً مَّا لَهَا مِن فَوَاقٍ ﴿١٥

And these [disbelievers] await not but one blast [of the Horn]; for it there will be no delay. (15)
[Qur'an, Sad 38:15]

It will then be followed by a second blowing of the Trumpet.
وَنُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَصَعِقَ مَن فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَ‌ٰتِ وَمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ إِلَّا مَن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۖ ثُمَّ نُفِخَ فِيهِ أُخْرَىٰ فَإِذَا هُمْ قِيَامٌ يَنظُرُونَ ﴿٦٨

And the Horn 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. (68)
[Qur'an, Az-Zumar 39:68]
إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا ﴿١﴾ وَأَخْرَجَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ أَثْقَالَهَا ﴿٢﴾ وَقَالَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مَا لَهَا ﴿٣﴾ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ﴿٤﴾ بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَىٰ لَهَا ﴿٥﴾ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصْدُرُ ٱلنَّاسُ أَشْتَاتًا لِّيُرَوْا۟ أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ ﴿٦﴾ فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُۥ ﴿٧﴾ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُۥ ﴿٨

When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake (1) And the earth discharges its burdens (2) And man says, "What is [wrong] with it?" - (3) That Day, it will report its news (4) Because your Lord has commanded it. (5) That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds. (6) So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, (7) And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. (8)
[Qur'an, Al-Zalzala 99:1-8]

The situation on that Day will be so severe that people will flee from each other--even from his brother, his mother, his father, his wife and his children, [Qur'an, Abasa 80:34-36]. People will be gathered barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised. When the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said this, our mother Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) asked him, 'Won't everybody look at one another then?' Thereupon, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) recited this Qur'anic verse,
لِكُلِّ ٱمْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ شَأْنٌ يُغْنِيهِ
(On that Day, everybody will have concerns adequate for him. Qur'an, 'Abasa 80:37) "That is, the situation on the Day of Judgment will be so severe that people will have no strength left to turn to look at one another."

When 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 leveled the earth to a plane. The Day of Judgment has begun. People stand in groups, staring ahead.
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٥٧

Every soul will taste death. Then to Us will you be returned. (57) [
Qur'an, Al-Ankabut 29:57]
أَيَحْسَبُ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ أَلَّن نَّجْمَعَ عِظَامَهُۥ ﴿٣﴾ بَلَىٰ قَـٰدِرِينَ عَلَىٰٓ أَن نُّسَوِّىَ بَنَانَهُۥ ﴿٤
Does man think that We will not assemble his bones? (3) Yes. [We are] Able [even] to proportion his fingertips. (4)
[Qur'an, Al-Qiyaamah 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. [Qur'an, Al-Zalzala 99:7-8]

Another promise of Allah’s fulfilled. Some people are happy with their situation others begin to tremble in fear.
وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُّسْفِرَةٌ ﴿٣٨﴾ ضَاحِكَةٌ مُّسْتَبْشِرَةٌ ﴿٣٩﴾ وَوُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَلَيْهَا غَبَرَةٌ ﴿٤٠﴾ تَرْهَقُهَا قَتَرَةٌ ﴿٤١﴾ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْكَفَرَةُ ٱلْفَجَرَةُ ﴿٤٢

[Some] faces, that Day, will be bright - (38) Laughing, rejoicing at good news. (39) And [other] faces, that Day, will have upon them dust. (40) Blackness will cover them. (41) Those are the disbelievers, the wicked ones. (42)
[Qur'an, Abasa 80:38-42]

Do you think you will have no fear?

A person’s deeds will determine their length of the standing. Ahadith tell us that this standing in fear and trepidation could be as long as 50,000 years [Abu Dawood1] 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.
قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِىٓ أَعْمَىٰ وَقَدْ كُنتُ بَصِيرًا ﴿١٢٥
قَالَ كَذَ‌ٰلِكَ أَتَتْكَ ءَايَـٰتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا ۖ وَكَذَ‌ٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمَ تُنسَىٰ ﴿١٢٦

He will say, "My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?" (125) [Allah] will say, "Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten." (126)
[Qur'an, Ta-Ha 20:125-126]

The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) 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.[Muslim] 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 masjid, 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.[Bukhari and Muslim]

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

Before we get to that point, what can we do now?

The Prophet (Allah bless, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that the one who helps his brother until his problem is solved will not shiver or quake on that Day. Service to others is the gateway to rewards and the pleasure of Allah. So, help others and when you undertake to help someone, don't just do it half way, but help him until his problem is solved.

May Allah grant us sincerity and excellence in our works and worship, and grant us deeds that please Him. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam

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