(10/3/16) - Journey to Allah Day 5 - رحلة إلى الله - The Events on the Day of Judgement

The Journey to Allah isn't an easy journey. It's full of fear and stress. But it becomes easy when you attach yourself to Allah - because لا حول و لا قوة إلا بالله. The key is to not rely on yourself; rely completely on Allah.

- الميزان - 

- The Balance - 

Every deed has a weight, and Allah knows the weight of every single deed. One good deed may be multiplied to 10, 700, or may even have an unlimited reward. Such as patience. In (39:10):

Another good deed which doesn't have a set reward is fasting. In a Hadith Qudsi, Allah said:

"كل حسنة بعشر أمثالها إلى سبع مائة ضعف إلا الصيام فهو لي وأنا أجزي به"

“Every good action is rewarded by ten times its kind, up to seven hundred times, except fasting, which is for Me, and I reward it.” [Agreed upon]

عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: إِنِّي لأَعْلَمُ أَوَّلَ 
رَجُلٍ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ، وَآخَرَ رَجُلٍ يَخْرُجُ مِنَ النَّارِ،

Abu Dharr narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, "I know the person who will enter Paradise first and be the last one to be taken out of Hellfire.

يُؤْتَى بِالرَّجُلِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، فَيُقَالُ: اعْرِضُوا عَلَيْهِ صِغَارَ ذُنُوبِهِ وَيُخَبَّأُ عَنْهُ كِبَارُهَا،

On the Day of Judgement a person will be brought forward and it shall be commanded that his minor sins be put forward to him and his major sins concealed.

 فَيُقَالُ لَهُ: عَمِلْتَ يَوْمَ كَذَا وَكَذَا، كَذَا، وَهُوَ مُقِرٌّ، لا يُنْكِرُ، وَهُوَ مُشْفِقٌ مِنْ كِبَارِهَا،

When the minor sins are disclosed to that person, he will accept that he had committed them, as there will be no room for refuting them. He will begin to tremble and say in his heart that these are only the minor sins, what will happen when the major sins are 

exposed 

 فَيُقَالُ: أَعْطُوهُ مَكَانَ كُلِّ سَيِّئَةٍ عَمِلَهَا حَسَنَةً، فَيَقُولُ: إِنَّ لِي ذُنُوبًا مَا أَرَاهَا هَاهُنَا

During this happening it shall be commanded that for every sin of that person he be given the reward of a good deed. Upon hearing this person himself will say, "I still have many sins left to account for, that are not seen here!" 

Allah is الكريم، الواسع. He is generous and His reward is vast. There is no one like Allah. If you think about the kindest person in the world, they are harsh in comparison to Allah. 

In a Hadith Qudsi:

قَالَ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إِنَّكَ مَا دَعَوْتَنِي وَرَجَوْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ عَلَى مَا كَانَ فِيكَ وَلَا أُبَالِي

يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ لَوْ بَلَغَتْ ذُنُوبُكَ عَنَانَ السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ وَلَا أُبَالِي

يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إِنَّكَ لَوْ أَتَيْتَنِي بِقُرَابِ الْأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتَنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُكَ بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً

Allah the Exalted said: O son of Adam, if you call upon me and place your hope in me, I will forgive you without any reservation. 

O son of Adam, if you have sins piling up to the clouds and then ask for my forgiveness, I will forgive you without any reservation. 

O son of Adam, if you come to me with enough sins to fill the earth and you meet me without associating a partner with me, I will come to you with enough forgiveness to fill the earth.

- حوض النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم - 

- The Cistern of the Prophet ﷺ - 

After the accounting, everyone will be thirsty. Allah gave the حوض, which is a cistern in the Land of the Gathering, as an honour to the Prophet ﷺ. It's a tank of water which comes from الكوثر, the river in Paradise.

What's the description of the حوض? 

It is whiter than milk, sweeter than honey, and smells nicer than musk. 

It's cups are abundant - like the number of stars in the sky.

And whoever drinks from it will never be thirsty again. 

The Prophet ﷺ said, "My pool is (so large that it takes) a months journey to cross it. It's water is whiter than milk, it's smell is nicer than musk, and it's drinking cups are (as numerous) as the (number of) stars of the sky; and whoever drinks from it, will never be thirsty" [Bukhari] 

How can I attain the privilege of drinking from it? By following the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. The more you follow it, the more you'll get to drink from it. 

Anas bin Malik reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying Some persons from amongst my associates would turn to my Cistern; when I would see them and they would be presented to me, they would be detained in the way while coming to me. I would say: "My Lord, they are my companions, they are my companions!" and it would be said to me: "You don't know what innovations they made after you."

How will the Prophet ﷺ recognize us? 

It was narrated from Hudhaifah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "My Cistern is wider than the distance between Ailah and ‘Aden. 

By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, its vessels are more numerous than the number of stars, and it is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. 

By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, I will drive men away from it as a man drives strange camels away from his cistern.

It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, will you recognize us?” He said: “Yes, you will come to me with radiant faces, hands and feet, because of the traces of ablution, and this is not for anyone but you.”

- الجزاء - 

- The Recompense - 

Before going to Paradise there is elimination process. Groups of people will go to hell one by one until only the people of Paradise are left to enter it. This is the day where Allah will divide between the people - يوم الفصل.

The First Three Groups to Enter Hellfire 

سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: " إن أول الناس يقضى يوم القيامة عليه رجل اسُتشهد، فأتي به، فعرفه نعمته، فعرفها، قال: فما عملت فيها؟ قال: قاتلت فيك حتى اسُتشهدت، قال: كذبت، ولكنك قاتلت لأن يقال: جريء، فقد قيل، ثم أمر به، فسحب على وجهه حتى ألقي في النار.

 Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "The first to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who had died as a martyr. He will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. 

Then He will ask him: 'What did you do to express gratitude for it?' 

The man will reply: 'I fought for Your Cause till I was martyred.' 

Allah will say: 'You have lied. You fought so that people might call you courageous; and they have done so.'

Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. 

ورجل تعلم العلم وعلمه، وقرأ القرآن، فأتي به، فعرفه نعمه فعرفها. قال فما عملت فيها؟ قال تعلمت العلم وعلمته وقرأت فيك القرآن. قال كذبت، ولكنك تعلمت ليقال: عالم. وقرأت القرآن ليقال: هو قارئ، فقد قيل: ثم أُمر به، فسُحب على وجهه حتى ألقي في النار

Next a man who had acquired and imparted knowledge and read the Qur'an will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. 

Then He will ask him: 'What did you do to express gratitude for it?'

The man will reply: 'I acquired knowledge and taught it, and read the Qur'an for Your sake.' 

Allah will say to him: 'You have lied. You acquired knowledge so that people might call you a learned (man), and you read the Qur'an so that they might call you a reciter, and they have done so.' 

Command will then be issued about him, and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. 

ورجل وسع الله عليه، وأعطاه من أصناف المال، فأتي به فعرفه نعمه، فعرفها. قال: فما عملت فيها ؟ قال: ما تركت من سبيل تحب أن ينفق فيها إلا أنفقت فيها لك، قال: كذبت، ولكنك فعلت ليقال: جواد، فقد قيل، ثم أُمر به فسُحب على وجهه ثم ألقي في النار

Next a man whom Allah had made affluent and to whom Allah had given plenty of wealth, will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. 

He will ask him: 'What did you do to express gratitude for it?' 

The man will reply: 'I did not neglect any of the ways You liked wealth to be spent liberally for Your sake'. 

Allah will say to him: 'You have lied. You did it so that people might call you generous, and they have done so.'

Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell."

– Riyadh As Saliheen, Muslim, Book 18, Hadith 1617

He lived a big, glamorous life. He cheated and deceived himself. This is why it's يوم التغابون. His life was a big lie. How you lived your life will be how you will be on the Day of Judgement. If you're a liar, you'll lie on the Day of Judgement. 

If you analyze what people say on the Day of Judgement - the believers aren't very confident with their good deeds and are humble, and the people of the fire are those who are proud and defend themselves and their intentions. 

You also notice that the talk of the people of paradise is limited, but the people of the hellfire talk a lot. Nowadays this is the same. In the Hadith:

"من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فليقل خيرا أو ليصمت"

The Prophet ﷺ, "Let he who believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good, or remain silent"

So the first to be eliminated are those who showed off with their good deeds.

"...The Prophet then said, "Somebody will then announce, "Let every nation follow what they used to worship"

So the companions of the cross will go with their cross, and the idolators (will go) with their idols, and the companions of every god (false deities) will go with their god..."

The Mushrikeen are the next group to be eliminated. To every group of nation will appear their diety which they worshipped in life. The sun worshippers will follow the sun until they fall into the hellfire. Pharoah will come and his followers will follow him until they are thrown into the hellfire. 

Then they'll realize that these deities couldn't save them from the hellfire - on the contrary, they led them to it. They wasted their lives following these gods.

In (2:165-167):

When they fall into the hellfire, they'll free themselves from each other. But there's no use, because the time is over - it'll just be a regret. They spent all their lives worshipping this idol and obeying it, and look where it has led them.

In (7:37-39):

Blaming others is the talk of the People of Hell Fire - and this alone makes us not want to be like them and accuse others in life. But you can't blame anyone for your evil -> "فذوقوا العذاب بما كُنتُم تكسبون"

In (33:64-68):

The People of Hellfire make دعاء, although they never did while they lived in life, and it's all dedicated to cursing and blaming others. 

Reflect on this when you turn meat over to be cooked. In hell, faces will be turned in the fire. No one will have mercy on them. And their punishment will never end. And this is the justice of Allah. 

Allah telling us what will happen in the future is a mercy from Him. 

The third group to be eliminated are the People of the Book: 

"...till there remain those who used to worship Allah, both the obedient ones and the mischievous ones, and some of the people of the Scripture. Then Hell will be presented to them as if it were a mirage.

Then it will be said to the Jews, "What did you use to worship?' They will reply, 'We used to worship Ezra, the son of Allah.' 

It will be said to them, 'You are liars, for Allah has neither a wife nor a son. What do you want (now)?' 

They will reply, 'We want You to provide us with water.'

Then it will be said to them 'Drink,' and they will fall down in Hell (instead). 

Then it will be said to the Christians, 'What did you use to worship?'

They will reply, 'We used to worship Messiah, the son of Allah.'

It will be said, 'You are liars, for Allah has neither a wife nor a son. What: do you want (now)?' 

They will say, 'We want You to provide us with water.' 

It will be said to them, 'Drink,' and they will fall down in Hell (instead)..."

In (24:39):

Although they saw their places in hellfire while they were in their graves, the Day of Judgement made them forget everything. We don't remember what we did in the womb of our mother, similarly, on the Day of Judgement we won't remember. That's why it's called الغاشية. 

الاختبار الأول - The Shin of Allah 

"...When there remain only those who used to worship Allah (Alone), both the obedient ones and the mischievous ones, it will be said to them, 'What keeps you here when all the people have gone?'

They will say, 'We parted with them (in the world) when we were in greater need of them than we are today, we heard the call of one proclaiming, 'Let every nation follow what they used to worship,' and now we are waiting for our Lord.'

Then the Almighty will come to them in a shape other than the one which they saw the first time, and He will say, 'I am your Lord,' and they will say, 'You are not our Lord.'

And none will speak: to Him then but the Prophets, and then it will be said to them, 'Do you know any sign by which you can recognize Him?' They will say. 'The Shin'..."

This shows us we don't just believe blindly; we need proofs. The believer doesn't accept anything without evidence.

We need to believe that Allah has a shin, and it will be uncovered on the Day of Judgement. But nothing is like the shin of Allah. 

What will happen when Allah uncovers His shin? 

"...and so Allah will then uncover His Shin whereupon every believer will prostrate before Him and there will remain those who used to prostrate before Him just for showing off and for gaining good reputation. These people will try to prostrate but their backs will be rigid like one piece of a wood (and they will not be able to prostrate)..."

In (68:42):

The real Muslim prays to Allah for the sake of Allah, out of faith. And whoever does that - Allah will give them the honour of recognizing Allah's shin and being able to prostrate.

There will be those who want to prostrate, to be in the closest position to Allah, but they won't be able to. These are the hypocrites.

In life we can't see Allah, but we believe in the signs. 

الاختبار الثاني - توزيع الأنوار 

The Second Test - Distributing of the Lights 

"...Then the bridge will be laid across Hell..."

There's no light. It's all dark. And this darkness resembles heedlessness, sins, etc. These are what are a darkness for the Muslim.

You can't cross the bridge without light. You'll be given light according to your faith. You can't share your light, it's for yourself.

The hypocrites will think that they deceived everyone. They think they're smart - but they only deceive themselves. They'll be given a light, but it will be extinguished. In (57:12-15):

They're the next group to be eliminated. 

Everyone will realize their reality on the Day of Judgement. They were outwardly Muslim, but hypocrites on the inside. What made them hypocrites?

1) They put themselves in Fitna

2) They wait for the destruction of the believers 

They are the ones spreading rumours and negativity in the society.

3) They had doubts 

4) They were deceived and believed that they were good people, that they would enter Paradise along with the believers.

We need to seek refuge with Allah from hypocrisy. Learn more about them - read Surah alMunafiqoon and Surah At-Tawbah. The Prophet ﷺ called Surah At-Tawbah "الفاضحة" (The Exposer). In it, Allah tells us that the hypocrites fear a verse will come which will expose what's in their heart, and this shows us that they don't try to do anything to purify their hearts. And they'll be in the lowest level of hellfire, even lower than the disbelievers and people of the book. Don't underestimate the hellfire.

In (66:8):

- The Siraat - 

In Paradise there is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what had never crossed any heart. To be in Paradise is to be in the vicinity of Allah. But there's a bridge to get there, a bridge which extends over the Hellfire. 

In (19:71-72):

What's the description of this Sirat?

 أَبُو سَعِيدٍ بَلَغَنِي أَنَّ الْجِسْرَ أَدَقُّ مِنَ الشَّعْرَةِ وَأَحَدُّ مِنَ السَّيْفِ

"...The bridge would be thinner even than the hair and sharper than the sword" [Muslim] 

"...and over that bridge there will be hooks Similar to the thorns of As Sa'dan (a thorny tree). Didn't you see the thorns of As-Sa'dan?" 

The companions said, "Yes, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)." 

He added, "So the hooks over that bridge will be like the thorns of As-Sa-dan except that their greatness in size is only known to Allah. These hooks will snatch the people according to their deeds...."

How fast you cross this Sirat all depends on your deeds. It's your sins that will weigh you down. Sins make a person heavy. A believer may fall off and into hellfire due to his large amount of sins, and this will be a means of purification for him. 

"...Some people will be ruined because of their evil deeds, and some will be cut into pieces and fall down in Hell, but will be saved afterwards, when Allah has finished the judgments among His slaves, and intends to take out of the Fire whoever He wishes to take out from among those who used to testify that none had the right to be worshipped but Allah..."

In another Hadith: 

"...Some of the believers will cross the bridge as quickly as the wink of an eye, some others as quick as lightning, a strong wind, fast horses or she-camels. 

So some will be safe without any harm; some will be safe after receiving some scratches, and some will fall down into Hell (Fire). The last person will cross by being dragged (over the bridge).."