QIYAMAT - THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT

Feb 7, '13 12:48 PM for everyone

"(That) day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years..." (The Holy Qur'an 70:4)

The Day of Judgement (Qiyamat). It is the day when all human beings who ever walked this earth – believers and non-believers alike – will assemble together in a great gathering, all standing before their Lord, answerable for their deeds and beliefs in this temporary, material world. Awareness of some of the occurrences on this day will, God willing, result in our active preparation in our present lives to protect ourselves from the terrors and pains of the next.

The Trumpet of Israfeel

The first occurrence when Allah intends the Day of Resurrection to arrive will be the blowing of the trumpet by the assigned angel, Israfeel. There are numerous verses of the Qur'an and hadith that tell us that there will be two blows of this trumpet: "And the trumpet shall be blown, so that all those in the heavens and earth will be destroyed except those whom God may want that they should not die. Then the trumpet will be blown again, and lo! They shall stand up awaiting." (39:68)

Between the two trumpet blows, the entire universe will remain destroyed for as long as Allah wishes – 40 years according to some narrations, 400 years according to others. Israfeel will then come back to life, blow the trumpet again by Allah's command, and all the dead will arise in varying states. The virtuous will be uttering Allah's praises of "Praise be to Allah who has fulfilled what He promised", while the sinners will be lamenting upon coming out of their graves, "O woe to us! Who has raised us up from our sleeping place?" (36:52)

Coming out of the Grave

One of the most horrifying events of the resurrection is the time of coming out of the graves. Abdullah ibn Mas'ood says that once he was in the presence of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him), when he said: "For every man there are fifty halting stations in Qiyamat, and each station will be equal to the span of a thousand years. The first halting place is when coming out of the grave, where every man will have to wait bare feet and naked, and bear the agony of hunger and thirst. But the person who believes in the Unity (Tawheed) of Allah, Proclamation (Be'that) of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny), Accounting (Hisaab) and Resurrection, and bears testimony to the prophethood (Nabuwwat) of Prophet Muhammad while following the instructions ordained unto him, will be safe from this agony."

People will rise from their graves in different states, some rising such that their faces will be even worse than monkeys and pigs. Shaikh Tabarsi in Majma al-Bayan quotes from Bara ibn Azib who said that one day Ma'az ibn Jabal was seated in the presence of the Holy prophet in the house of Abu Ayyub Ansari. Ma'az asked the Holy Prophet regarding the eighteenth verse of Sura Naba: "The day on which the trumpet shall be blown so you shall come forth in hosts." The Holy Prophet replied, "O Ma'az! You have asked me a very horrifying question." He then began to weep and said:

"People from my Ummah will arise from their graves in different states: Some will have the face of monkeys, while others of pigs. Some will be walking upside down on their heads. Some of them will be blind and will not be able to walk. Some will be deaf and dumb and will not understand anything. Some will be in a state that their tongues will be hanging out of their mouths; filthy water will be coming out of their mouths which they will be licking with their tongues. Some people will arise with amputated hands and feet. Some will be hanging from the branches of trees made of fire. Some will be more rotten than a corpse and emitting a repugnant odor. And some will be wearing long garments of tar which will have been stuck to their skins and flesh. Those having the face of pigs will be the ones who ate unlawful (Haraam) property such as from bribery. Those walking upside down on their heads and the blind ones will be the unjust and oppressive rulers. The deaf and dumb will be the ones who prided upon their knowledge (Ilm) and worship (Ibadah). The ones licking their tongues will be those scholars (Ulema) and judges (Qadis) who did not practice what they preached. The ones with amputated hands and feet will be the ones who troubled their neighbors in the world and oppressed them. The ones hanging from the tree branches will be the ones who would backbite along with the kings and rulers (to please them), and instigated them by creating mischief. The ones emitting a repugnant odor will be the ones who acted according to their lusts and passions, and did not give Allah's rights. The ones wearing garments of tar will be the haughty and arrogant people."

Shaikh Saduq narrates a lengthy tradition from the Holy Prophet in which he said that: "A person who backbites and thus creates mischief and dissension among two people, Allah will fill his grave with fire, which will keep burning him until the day of Qiyamat. And as soon as he comes out of his grave, Allah will send a huge python that will keep biting at his flesh, and he will ultimately be thrown in hellfire."

FARAH MASOOD