Last Day

Surah Infitaar

When the heaven is cleft asunder, when the stars are scattered
When the seas are burst forth, when the graves are turned upside down,
Each soul shall know its earlier actions and its later ones.
O man! What has lured you away from your Gracious Lord,
Who created and molded you and gave you an upright shape?
In whatever form He willed, He put you together.
Nay! But you deny the Day of Recompense.
Yet there are guardians watching over you,
Noble recorders, who know all your actions.
Surely the righteous shall be in Bliss, while the wicked shall be in Hell,
Wherein they will enter and taste its burning flame on the Day of Recompense;
And they will not be absent therefrom.
Would that you knew what the Day of Judgement is!
Oh, Would that you knew what the Day of Judgement is!
It is the day when no soul can be of any help to any other soul,
And the Decision, that Day, will be with Allah.

The Last Day, or the Day of Judgement, is a day in which there is no doubt. It is a day to be feared. The deeds of every single human and jinn will be brought forth in a record. Whether the deed is as small and weightless as an ant or as large and massive as the seven heavens, it will all be weighed and no one will be wronged or treated unfairly. According to ones deeds, he will either be thrown into the raging fires of Hell or peacefully welcomed into Paradise. Insha Allah, this paper will discuss the great upheaval of the Day of Resurrection and the two destinations prepared for those meant for it, Paradise and Hell.

There will be a time in which there will be no human or jinn who will remember or fear Allah. The Quran will be erased from the paper it was written on and removed from the hearts of the creation. When the people are occupying themselves in business, the angel called Israfil (alaiyhis-salam) will blow the Trumpet on a Friday of the tenth of Muharram. It will sound like a single blast as stated in Surah Al-Haqqah, verse 13. Some commentators say the sound will be a soft tone, at first, then it will keep increasing. All the people will be in utter confusion and panic. The sound will be so frightening and dreadful that all things having lifethe humans, the jinn, the birds and animals, will all tremble with fright and terror. They will all be crowding together trying to figure out what exactly is going on:

When the Trumpet is sounded, that will bethat Daya Day of Distress. (Al Muddathir 74:8-9)

The Day when the Trumpet will be blown, you shall come forth in crowds. (An-Naba 78:18)

There will be such a violent earthquake after the first blow of the Trumpet that all buildings, all mountains, and all the trees on the earth will move from their foundations. The earth will come to an even level:

On the Day the earth and the mountains will shake violently, and when the earth is stretched forth and has cast out all that was in it and became empty. (Al-Inshiqaq 84:3-4)

The heavens will, after splitting asunder, become a lifeless body. The mountains will become dust. The sun and the stars will lose their shine and be thrown over and will fall. The rivers and oceans will be set on fire. There will be no mountain or tree or human left. The heavens and the earth will experience a great revolution. The peaceful organized system of the universe will be destroyed and the Trumpet will be sounded for the second time.

The angel, Israfil (alaiyhis-salam), is the same, the Trumpet is the same, and the sound is the same, but, in the first instance, there was destruction and annihilation. The second time there is life and population. But this life is not like the life the creation lived prior to dying and being raised up again. This will be a Day of, either, fear and regret or rejoice and happiness.

Hearts, that Day, will shake with fear and anxiety. Their eyes will be down cast... (An-Naziaat 79:8-9)

But when there comes the greatest catastrophe; the Day when man shall remember what he strove for... (An-Naziaat 79:34-35)

The souls will be joined with the bodies and all creation will be standing with anticipation. It will be a Day in which no one will pay heed to anyone including his or her own loved ones. Everyone will be worried about his or her ownself, remembering the deeds he or she committed.

Those people who obeyed the commandments of their Lord and struggled against their own base, worldly desires will be among the joyful. They will feel no grief, nor will they be fearful. They will be in delight and their faces will be shining. They will rejoice, saying, Verily, the friends of Allah are those on whom fear comes not, nor do they grieve! (Yunus 10:62) Their faces will be calm, glad for their righteous deeds and for their obedience to the Lord, All-Mighty. But those who acted upon their own worldly ambitions and lustful desires, will be full of grief and remorse. Their faces will be black with dust, with no nur (light) shining upon them. They will cry about the evil deeds they committed during their life on earth. They will repent and bite their fingers and wish they were sent back to amend and do good deeds, but no repentance or faith will be accepted after the sounding of the first blow of the Trumpet.

O man! Verily, you are returning towards your Lord with your deeds and actions, a sure returning, and you will meet. (Al-Inshiqaq 84:6)

In other words, every moment of a persons life, he or she is getting closer and closer to meeting his Lord and he will meet Him with all of his deeds. Nothing will be left hidden as a secret, whether the deed and action was in obedience to Allah or in disobedience to Him, resulting in sin. This verse also gives a warning to take care of ones time. Do not waste it and beware of your actions because it will either speak for you or against you.

When everyone has risen from their graves, they will be organized into separate groups. While the Jews will be caused to stand in a separate line, the Christians will stand in another line. Those who ascribed partners to Allah will be arranged to stand in another line. There will also be a separate line for the Muslims. And then amongst them, the nation of every prophet of Allah. The pious will be gathered at one place and the sinners at another place. Those who guarded their salah (prayers) and observed fasts will stand separate from the drinkers of alcohol, who will stand separate from the gamblers, who will stand separate from the thieves. In short, every kind of people will be arranged to stand in different and separate lines and in such systematical arrangement.

Then the heaven will be opened and the angels will descend with the records of deeds of each human and jinn. Eight angels will carry Allahs Throne:

And the angels will be on its sides and eight will, that Day, carry the Throne of your Lord above them. That Day shall you be brought to Judgement; not an act of yours that you hide will be hidden. Then he that will be given his Record in his right hand will say, Ah here! Read my Record! I did think that my Account would (one Day) reach me! And he will be in a life of BlissAnd he that will be given his Record in his left hand will say, Ah! Would that my Record had not been given to me! And that I had never realized how my Account (stood)! Ah! Would that (death) made an end of me! My wealth has been of no benefit to me! My power has perished me! (Al-Haqqah 69:17-21, 25-29)

Everyone will be handed their Record of Deeds. The obedient, pious believers, those who observed salah, paid zakah, fasted, and were among the steadfast will receive their records in their right hands, a sign of their success in the Hereafter. And they will enter Paradise. Those who disbelieved in Allah, His prophets, and His revelations, those who were proud and arrogant and disobedient, will receive their record of deeds in their left hands and for them will be the abode of the Fire.

After the weighing of the deeds, everyone will be ordered to cross the Bridge to Paradise. The righteous friends of Allah, will pass it swiftly and the gates of Paradise will be wide open anticipating their entrance. The angels will greet them with the greeting of Peace and will congratulate them for their obedience to Allah and their good deeds. As for the enemies of Allah, the disbelievers and the sinners, they will not be able to cross the Bridge at all and will fall into the raging fires of Hell. Therein they will abide. Those who had even an iota of faith in them, will eventually be taken out of the torment and entered into Paradise. Then, only the polytheists and disbelievers, who had no faith in Allah or the Last Day, will abide in the Hellfire for all of eternity. They will have absolutely no hope of being rescued from the Fire. The joy of the dwellers of Paradise, as well as the grief of the dwellers of Hell is without limit.

Verily, those who believe and do righteous good deeds, they are the best of creatures. Their reward, with their Lord, is Paradise, underneath which rivers flow. They will abide therein forever; Allah will be pleased with them and they with Him. That is for him who fears his Lord. (Al-Baiyyinah 98:7-8)

The reality of Paradise is far beyond description in any human language. As the Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said, (it is) what no eyes has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and it has never occurred to a human heart. The best reward of Paradise is to see Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Allah gives a description of His Garden, which the righteous will inherit:

The description of the Garden, which the righteous are promised: in it are rivers of water, unchanging. Rivers of milk, the taste of which will never change, rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink from it and rivers of pure, clean honey. In it, there are for them all kinds of fruits and forgiveness from their Lord (Muhammad 47:15)

The dwellers of Paradise will be given silken garments to wear for their patience and perseverance. They will be reclining on soft cushions and raised thrones. The heat of the sun nor the coolness of the moon will afflict them. They will be adorned with pearls and silver and pure delicious fruits and drinks and pure companions.

The Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said that there is not a tree in Paradise, but its trunk is made of gold. In Paradise, there is a river called Kauthar, which was especially entitled to Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam). On the Last Day, the pious will drink from it and, thereafter, never feel thirsty. The Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) was asked about the material the mansions of Paradise are made of. The Noble Messenger (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) replied, They are built of alternate bricks of gold and silver. And in place of limestone, pearls and gems have been used and the soil is of saffron, yellow and sweet smelling. He who enters this Mansion will live in peace and comfort and will remain immortal. He will never know death, nor will his clothes wear off, nor will his youth ever diminish. Instead, his youth will forever remain in full bloom. The salvation of the righteous is as a result of their faith and their works. As a reward, they will lie in a vast, peaceful, and pleasant Paradise with their Glorious Lord, a destination, whose size will be equal to the largeness of the earth and the sky.

On the other hand, those who disbelieved and denied Allah as their Creator, will have another, more different type of home, waiting for their entrance:

And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship none, but Him Alone, and perform salah and give zakah, and that is the right religion. Those who disbelieved among the People of the Book and the polytheists will be in the Hellfire, to dwell therein forever. They are the worst of creatures.
(Al-Baiyyinah 98:5-6)

The Hellfire has been prepared for the disbelievers, the kuffar, as well as the hypocritical Muslims, who claim faith, yet do not act according to their faith. The command on that Day will be to drag the wrong-doers in to the everlasting torment of Hell. The depth of Hell is so deep that the Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said that if a stone were to be thrown into it, it would take seventy years for it to reach its bottom. Hell has seven doors and the walls cover a period of forty years.

The fire of Hell, as reported in hadith, is seventy times hotter than the fire of the dunya (the world). It is hard to imagine just how hot it is. We scream in pain when we only touch a hot pan for the time span of a couple of seconds. How will it be when the heat of the fire and the metals used to torture the dwellers of Hell will be seventy times hotter. They will be enduring the heat for all of eternity and not just a couple of seconds. And their shouts and screams of anguish will not cease. One can only imagine the agony and pain of such Fire.

Long-necked snakes and scorpions as huge as mules will torture the dwellers of Hell. The pain of their bites will be so painful that it will last for forty years.

(Can those in Bliss) be compared to such as shall dwell forever in the Fire and be given to drink boiling water that cuts up their bowels? (Muhammad 47:15)

Then will you trulyO you that go wrong, and deny (the Truth); You will surely taste of the Tree of Zaqqum, then will you fill your insides with it, and drink boiling water on top of it. Indeed! You will drink like diseased camels raging with thirst! Such will be their entertainment and hospitality on the Day of Doom! (Waqiah 56:51-56)

They will be given boiling water to drink. The Tree of Zaqqum, which this verse mentions, is the most bitter and foul smelling food and it will be the only food of the dwellers of Hell, in addition to the pus of their own wounds. The Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said that if even one drop of Zaqqum was caused to spill into the world, it would spoil the food of the entire world. This is the extreme bitterness and grossness of the food of Hell.

The skin of those in Hell will be roasted over and over again. Once the first layer of skin is burned and roasted a fresh layer of skin will produce so that the torment and suffering will last forever in this manner. The clothes of the denizens of the Hellfire will be of burning sulfur and fire will cling to their faces. Indeed, Hell is an awful abode, a place which no one would want to call their home.

(The command on that Day will be): Seize him and bind him and burn him in the Blazing Fire! Further, insert him in a chain the length of which is seventy cubits! This was he that would not believe in Allah, Most High, and would not encourage the feeding of the poor! So no friend has he here this Day. Nor has he any food except the foul pus from the washing of the wounds, which no one eats, but those in sin. (Al-Haqqah 69:30-37)

The Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said, Hell has been surrounded with desires and Paradise has been surrounded with hardships. He (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said, When Allah created Paradise and Hellfire, He sent Jibreel (alaiyhis-salam) saying, Look at it and at what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants. So he went and observed it and what Allah had prepared for its inhabitants. Then he returned to Allah and said, By Your Glory, no one hears of it without entering it. So, Allah ordered that it be encompassed by forms of hardship and He said to Jibreel, Return to it and look at what I have prepared for its inhabitants. So, he returned to it and found that it was encompassed by forms of hardship. Then Jibreel returned to Allah and said, By Your Glory, I fear that no one will enter it. He said, Go to the Hellfire and look at it and what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants, and he found that it was in layers, one above the other. Then he returned to his Lord and said, By Your Glory, no one who hears of it will enter it. So Allah ordered that is be encompassed with lusts. Then He said to Jibreel, Return to it. After seeing it, he went to Allah and said, By Your Glory, I am frightened that no one will escape from entering it.

The above narrations of the Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) implies that nothing will help one reach Paradise except by going through hardships and nothing will lead to Hell, but whims and desires. Both are veiled as described and whoever tears down the veil will reach what is hidden behind it. The veil of Paradise it torn by going through hardships. Hardships in the sense of avoiding ones own desires for the pleasure of Allahpraying ones five daily salah on time, giving in charity, restraining ones anger, forgiving, being patient, being kind to those who mistreat you, resisting physical desires, etc. These are noble, pure, righteous actions and characteristics of those who will find Paradise. The veil of Hell is torn by giving into the lusts of ones physical needs, by forgetting ones duty to Allah, and clinging to worldly ambitions such as wealth, power, materialistic properties, fame, etc.

Unfortunately, there are many who do not realize the reality of the Last Day, nor do they realize the reality of Allahs reward and punishment. His reward is the most supreme and those who will receive it will have no regrets. But the punishment of Allah is most severe and those who will be inflicted with it will be so remorseful that they will wish they had never been created.

May the Most Merciful of all those who show Mercy, guide us to His path, the Straight Path, the Path to Paradise. And may He protect us from the evils of our own souls and from the doom it may lead us to. May Allah bless us with His favor and pleasure in this world and in the everlasting life of the Hereafter. Ameen. Alhumdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.