Day Of Judgement
﴿ فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَلَآ أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَلَا يَتَسَآءَلُون ﴾
Then, when the Trumpet will be blown, there will be no kinship between them on that Day, nor will they (even care to) ask about one another. [23:101]
Allah f informs mankind of their state when the trumpet will be blown. This is prior to the advent of the Day of Judgement. The trumpet will be blown twice; with the first blow, everyone will fall dead, and the entire solar system will collapse, and with the second blow, mankind will be resurrected. Allah f says,
﴿ وَنُفِخَ فِى الصُّورِ فَصَعِقَ مَن فِى السَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ
إِلَّا مَن شَآءَ اللَّهُ ۖ ثُمَّ نُفِخَ فِيهِ أُخْرَىٰ فَإِذَا هُمْ قِيَامٌ يَنظُرُونَ ﴾
And the Trumpet will be blown, then whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead, except whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown a second time and behold! they will be standing, waiting. [39:68]
With regards to verse 101 in Chapter 23 above, some scholars, such as Ibn ‘Abbās h are of the opinion that it refers to the first blowing of the trumpet.
Other scholars, such as Ibn Mas‘ūd h are of the opinion that it refers to the second blowing of the trumpet.
Subsequently, Allah f then mentions in the next two verses (23:102-103) the deeds of mankind and how they will be weighed on the scale.
Allah f tells us that the successful ones on that day will be those whose scales of good deeds are heavier than their bad deeds.
The losers on that day will be those whose scales of good deeds are outweighed by their bad deeds. Allah f says:
﴿ فَمَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَ ٰزِینُهُۥ فَأُوْلَـٰٓىِٕكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ وَمَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَ ٰزِینُهُۥ فَأُوْلَـٰٓىِٕكَ
الَّذِینَ خَسِرُوٓاْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ فِی جَهَنَّمَ خَـٰلِدُونَ ﴾
Then whoever’s scales are heavy, then those are the successful. But whoever’s scales are light, then those have lost their souls; in Hell they will abide forever.
[23:102-103]
There is a difference of opinion amongst scholars regarding how the deeds will be weighed. The different views are derived from aḥādīth.
One opinion is that the believers and the infidels will be weighed bodily in the scale of justice and the infidel will not be able to tilt the scale, however obese and corpulent he may be, as explained in the following Ḥadīth:
عن أَبي هُريرةَ ، عن رَسُول الله ﷺ قَالَ:
« إِنَّهُ لَيأتِي الرَّجُلُ السَّمِينُ العظِيمُ يَوْمَ الْقِيامةِ ، لا يزنُ عِنْد الله جنَاحَ بعُوضَةٍ »
An obese man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection
who will not even weigh the equivalent of a mosquito. [1]
Another opinion is that the scrolls on which their deeds are recorded will be weighed, as mentioned in the ‘Tafsīr Maẓharī’. [2]
And according to a third opinion, a man’s deeds which were weightless and intangible in this world, will be made solid on the Day of Judgment and will be placed on the scales and weighed. This view is supported by those Aḥādīth in which certain deeds will have weight on the scales: For example:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ ، قَالَ :
« كَلِمَتَانِ خَفِيفَتَانِ عَلَى اللِّسَانِ ، ثَقِيلَتَانِ فِي الْمِيزَانِ ، حَبِيبَتَانِ إِلَى الرَّحْمَنِ :
سُبْحَانَ اللهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ ، سُبْحَانَ اللهِ الْعَظِيمِ »
There are two expressions which are very easy for the tongue to say, but they are very heavy in the balance and are very dear to The Beneficent (Allah), and they are, “Subḥān Allāhi wa biḥamdihī”, “Subḥān Allāhil ‘Aẓīm.” [3]
‘Abd al Razzāq r has quoted a Ḥadīth on the authority of Ibrāhīm al Nakha‘ī r in his book under the chapter on the merits of knowledge which supports the following version. This version has it that on the Day of Judgment a person’s deeds will be brought for weighing, and when placed in the pan, they will fail to tilt it. Then something resembling clouds will be brought and put in the pan of good deeds which will then weigh down. The man will then be asked what was it that lent weight to the pan of his good deeds, but he will express his ignorance. Then he will be informed that the object in question was his learning which he used to impart to other people. [4]
There is a Ḥadīth on the authority of ‘Imrān b. Ḥuṣain h that the Holy Prophet g said,
« يُوزَنُ يَوْمَ القِيامَةِ مِدادُ العُلَماءِ ، ودِماءُ الشُّهَداءِ ، فَيَرْجَحُ مِدادُ العُلَماءِ عَلى دِماءِ الشُّهَداءِ »
On the Day of Judgment, the blood of the martyrs will be weighed against the ink
of scholars (with which they wrote books on the science of religion)
and the latter will be heavier than the former. [5]
After giving the above-mentioned versions about the weighing of deeds, the author of ‘Tafsīr Maẓharī’ says that it is not wholly inconceivable that man himself and his deeds may be weighed physically or that he and his record of deeds may be weighed together. Thus, there is no inconsistency in these three versions.
Regardless of how our deeds will be weighed, we must not forget that on that day, we will only be concerned about ourselves; those we love dearly in this world will mean nothing to us. Every nursing mother will abandon her baby, every pregnant woman will drop her load, and people will be frantically running around; although sober, they will appear drunk. Allah f says:
﴿ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَىْءٌ عَظِيمٌ يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ
كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّآ أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَـٰرَىٰ
وَمَا هُم بِسُكَـٰرَىٰ وَلَـٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ ﴾
O mankind! Fear your Lord. Indeed, the convulsion of the Hour is an awesome matter. The day you see it, every nursing mother will forget that which she was nursing, and every pregnant woman will deliver her load; and you will see
mankind intoxicated, although they are not intoxicated; but the
punishment of Allah f will be severe. [22:1-2]
Relationships will hold no value on that day. Even the Prophets p will be concerned about themselves, such will be the horrors of that day.
According to a Ḥadīth of the Prophet g, known also as Ḥadīth al-Shafā‘ah (Ḥadīth of Intercession), Prophets p will say “Nafsī Nafsiī” (I fear for) myself, (I fear for) myself!
However, on that Day, our Prophet Muḥammad g will be saying, “Ummatī, Ummatī” (my nation, my nation). His only concern will be us!
When, the people will go to Ādam n for assistance, as Allah f will be angry like never before and never will He be angry like that again, he will tell them to go to Ibrāhīm n.
Ibrāhīm n will give the same reply and send them to the next Prophet. This cycle will continue, from Prophet to Prophet until all the people of the world, from the beginning of creation to the end, will ask our Prophet Muḥammad g for help.
He will fall into prostration for a long period of time. Only then will Allah f say,
سَلْ تُعْطَه، واشْفَعْ تُشَفَّع
Ask for whatever you want; you will be granted
what you have asked for. [6]
Reflect upon this for a moment. The Prophet g hasn’t met us and he doesn’t know us, yet he loves us dearly. He will remain in Sujūd (prostration), crying and begging Allah f to have mercy on us. Our loved ones will abandon us but the beloved of Allah fwill not. Is he g then not most deserving of our love?! We should strive to love the Prophet g like his Companions j did, by doing so, we will be being successful.
DEMISE OF SALMĀN FĀRSĪ h
When the time of departure came for Salmān Fārsī h, he started crying. Someone enquired,
“Why are you crying? You are going to meet the Prophet g. The Prophet g departed from this world and he was happy with you.” He replied:
“I am not crying for the fear of death and not for leaving this world, rather for the reason that the Prophet g took a promise from us that we should only benefit from this world to the extent which a traveller would, and I could not fulfil this promise.”
When the contents of his house were valued at the time of his departure, the sum was slightly more than ten Dirhams. This was the total amount over which he was crying. After that, he called for some Musk and said to his wife:
“Wet this and sprinkle it over my bedding, for such a group is coming to me who are neither human nor Jinn.”
He must have experienced the angels of Mercy coming to greet him at the time of his death. [7]
THE DEMISE OF KHUBAIB h
When Khubaib hwas about to be hanged, he was asked for his final request. They said,
“If you have any final wishes, then speak.” He asked that he be given the opportunity to perform two Rak‘ats as it was the time to depart this world and meet Allah f. Thus he was given time to complete this. He calmly performed two rak‘ats and then said:
“If I did not have this concern that you would feel I am taking up time due to fear of death, I would have performed a further two rak‘ats”. After that he was hanged.
A few moments prior to his being martyred he prayed, “O Allah f, is there not a person who can convey my final Salām(greeting of peace) to the Prophet g?” At this, the Prophet g received his Salām by Waḥī (revelation). The Prophet g replied: ‘Wa ‘Alaikum al-Salām, O Khubaib,” and he informed his Companions j that the Quraish had martyred Khubaib h.
When Khubaib h was placed to be hung, forty enemies attacked him with spears from all four directions and wounded his whole body. At this moment, someone asked him,
“Would you not wish that Muḥammad was being killed instead of you and you were being released?” He replied:
“By Allah f the Greatest, I would not even wish that my life be saved in return for a thorn prick to the Prophet g.” [8]
We need to have love for the Prophet g so that on the Day of Judgement we are not of those people who are alone. If we are righteous and live our lives pleasing Allah f and refrain from all that causes Him displeasure, and if we follow the Sunnah of the Prophet g, and if we have love for the Anbiyā’ p(Prophets), the ‘Ulamā’ s (scholars) and the pious, then Inshā’Allah (If Allah wills), we will be with them on the Day of Judgement.
May Allah f make us amongst those who are righteous and who have love for the Prophet g, and may He resurrect us with the Prophet g. Āmīn.
[1] Bukhārī, 4729; Muslim, 2785.
[2] Al Maẓharī, Muḥammad Thanā’ Allah, Al-Tafsīr Al-Maẓharī, 3:328.
[3] Bukhārī, 6406.
[4] Al-Maẓharī, Muḥammad Thanā’ Allah, Al Tafsīr Al Maẓharī, 3:329.
[5] Al-Maẓharī, Muḥammad Thanā’ Allah, Al-Tafsīr Al-Maẓharī, 3:330.
[6] Bukhārī, 7510.
[7] Kāndhalwī, Z, Faḍā’il Ṣadaqāt p 595; Motala Y, Buzrugho ke Wiṣāl ke Aḥwāl, p. 64.
[8] Kāndhalwī, Z, Faḍā’il A‘māl, pp. 94-95.
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“The best among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him)
