Before Judgment

There are certain scenes which Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, wants all His creatures to witness on the Day of Resurrection. These scenes will be witnessed and heard by all creatures. Allah, be ever glorified His Majesty and Might, related to us some of these scenes in the Noble Qur’an so that when we see them in worldly life we know the evil end awaiting their committers on the Day of Resurrection. Images that show us might, power, recompense, and the evil end awaiting every disbeliever in the Law of Allah; every revolter against it.

If we want to relate these scenes we must start with the leaders of disbelief. Those who fight the Religion of Allah in worldly life. Those who pursue disbelief and fight belief, who use their worldly force as a shield with which they fight the Law of Allah. Those who write books and make false philosophies to fight the Religion of Allah on the earth. Those who spend their wealth to extinguish the Light of Allah. They forcefully and violently fight the Religion of Allah in their worldly life.

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, does not leave them in worldly life, but He gives them respite to test by them those who have weak souls. For Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, tests people with evil and with good as trial. Which means that He tests people with good to see whether they will tyrannize or increase in faith. And He tests them with evil to see whether they will give thanks or acts ungratefully?

Among testing people with evil is that those who disbelieve exalt in worldly life as trial; Almighty Allah will then make them collapse and then seize them with a seizure of one Exalted in Might and Perfect in Ability.

Perhaps what we now witness in communist states is the best proof on how Allah destroys the state of disbelief within days. And He converts it from a big state into a powerless one, by His Power, all praise and glory is to Him; without empowering against them any of his servants but by empowering against them their own selves.

The leaders of disbelief harbor extreme hatred against Allah, His Religion and His Books. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, portrays to us their picture on the Day of Resurrection and what shall happen to them.

Allah, The Most Exalted, says what means:

[So by your Lord, surely, We shall gather them together, and the devils (with them), then We shall bring them round Hell on their knees. Then indeed We shall drag out from every sect all those who were worst in obstinate rebellion against the Most Beneficent (Allah).] [Maryam, 19: 68-69]

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, on the Day of Resurrection will gather them with the devils. For the leaders of disbelief are the greatest allies of Satan. They are the ones who worshipped and obeyed him (Satan). They are the ones who strived to fight against the Religion of Allah; the devils from mankind and jinn helped them in this.

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, will bring them on the Day of Resurrection and gather them all around Hell to see the torment awaiting them. He will even make them sit around Hell to increase their torment by seeing it. Then He will drag out from them the evilest among them. Those who fought most ferociously against Allah and those who led the battle of disbelief.

We have to pay attention to the Saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, [Then indeed We shall drag out] [Maryam, 19: 69] which means that He shall take them by force against their will. Dragging is only forcibly, angrily and aversely.

Dragging out the disbelievers

Such dragging will happen by the Command of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, so that all the creatures see them. Those who used to boast of their worldly might and power, they shall become abject and shall be wrenched out from among their people and followers, absolutely powerless and helpless, to be cast after that in the severest torment.

This is one of the images that the Noble Qur’an demonstrates to us of what shall happen to the leaders of disbelief in the Hereafter. The Noble Qur’an also gives us another image of the bad companions. Those who gather in worldly life around evil and sin. Their gatherings are filled with intoxicants and prostitutes. They commit what Allah has forbidden. You find them meeting together and never part one another’s company in evening gatherings every night. And what joins them together is more than friendship.

Therefore, Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, called them “Close friends”. They cooperate in evil. They love one another. They stand together in worldly affairs. They support one another in sin and transgression.

These people come on the Day of Resurrection and they have turned enemies to one another. They curse one another. Each try to destroy the other. Intimate friendship turns into horrible enmity.

Concerning this Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says what means:

[Close friends, that Day, will be enemies to each other, except for the righteous] [Az-Zukhruf, 43: 67]

Also, The Most Exalted says what means:

[And [Abraham] said, “You have only taken, other than Allah, idols as [a bond of] affection among you in worldly life. Then on the Day of Resurrection you will deny one another and curse one another, and your refuge will be the Fire, and you will not have any helpers.”] [Al-‘Ankabût, 29: 25]

Thus, we see that those whom sin has tied together with the bonds of affection and friendship will become the bitterest enemies on the Day of Resurrection. If one of them is capable of destroying the other he certainly will. Because each will accuse the other of leading him into the Fire. That he is the one who made sin easy for him and helped him in committing what incurred upon him the Wrath of Allah. He becomes certain that had it not been for making sin easy for him he would not have ended up in Hell. Thus, friends turn into enemies on that Day which will be witnessed by all.

The image of those who lie to themselves

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, gives us another image. It is the image of liars, who used to lie in the life of this world. They will try to lie to Allah in the Hereafter. Certainly, none can lie to Allah because unquestionably He is, of all things, encompassing. He knows what we conceal and what we reveal. And what our souls whisper to us.

On this Day it is impossible that man lie to Allah. Man can lie to himself or to people if he is used to tell lies. Because people know certain things yet others are kept hidden from them, so they can be deceived by lies.

But as to Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, He is the All-Knower of everything. No one can lie to Him, Blessed and Exalted is He. Please read the Saying of Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic, which means:

[Then there will be no [excuse upon] examination except they will say, “By Allah, our Lord, we were not those who associated1.” See how they will lie about themselves. And lost from them will be what they used to invent.] [6. Al-An‘âm, 6: 23-24]

Those who joined others in worship with Allah, who were habitual liars, think that on the Day of Resurrection they can deceive Allah, all praise and glory is to Him. That they can lie to Allah. So, they will swear by Allah that they did not worship others along with Him, thinking that this falsehood will deliver them from torment.

But Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, will bring to them their book of deeds that will testify against them. He will also make their legs, hands and tongues testify against them.

All this shall take place in a language they understand. On the Day of Resurrection all barriers of the Unseen are lifted and people will understand all languages. The languages people talked by in worldly life and the language of the various creatures in the universe, which people did not understand anything from, all this will be intelligible to them by the Power of Almighty Allah. They will understand every word because on this Day everything will be unveiled.

What Satan shall say on the Day of Resurrection?

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, gives us another image. The image of Satan whom we shall see on the Day of Resurrection. We shall recognize his form and appearance. Satan shall come on the Day of Resurrection and confess before all people that he deceived them and led them astray. That Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, promised them the promise of truth but he lied to them as he lied to Adam (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) before.

Satan will declare himself innocent of forcing mankind to sin, saying that those who followed him did it because in their hearts there was disease and desire, and things which they wanted to commit and the moment that he adorned them in their eyes they committed it. He will also say that in this predicament neither he can save them from torment nor can they.

Satan words mean: “I had neither might nor power to force you to commit sins. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, did not give me a coercive power over you to force you to commit something you did not want or against your will. Nor did Allah give me a persuasive power to convince you with committing falsehood, by the authority of persuasion and logic. Thus you commit it for being convinced with what I say. But you wanted to commit sin and as soon as I made it desirable to you, you hurried to it self-motivated.”

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, gives us this image in the Noble Qur’an through His Saying:

[And Satan will say when the matter has been concluded, “Indeed, Allah had promised you the promise of truth. And I promised you, but I betrayed you. But I had no authority over you except that I invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; but blame yourselves. I cannot be called to your aid, nor can you be called to my aid. Indeed, I deny your association of me [with Allah] before. Indeed, for the wrongdoers is a painful punishment.”]  [Ibrahîm, 14: 22]

Thus, will Satan on the Day of Resurrection declare himself innocent of those who followed him and clear himself of them, though he tempted them. He will put the blame on man, because he is the one who sinned; he is the one who desired sinning. Satan’s temptation was only an invitation and once invited the sinners hurried to sin.

The saying of Satan: [I cannot be called to your aid, nor can you be called to my aid.] means that this Day none of us can save the other. Neither Satan has the power to prevent casting the sinner in the Fire. Nor the sinners can ward off torment from Satan. Each party will be completely powerless against the Might of Allah.

The time Satan shall say the truth!!

But why will Satan say the truth on this Day? Why be true when he has been lying since the creation of the Prophet Adam (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) till Resurrection?

Satan who always lies to man and deceives him will come this Day and say the truth….why?

This will happen for two main reasons:

The first reason: is that everything has ended. The respite that Allah has given to Satan has ended and he no longer has any power of temptation. Even if he tries and lies, none anymore will believe him after everything becomes clear and visible. After the veils of the unseen are lifted and people see recompense a reality, after being an unseen matter.

The second reason: is that lying is of no avail now. The time of man’s power of free choice has ended. Man no longer has the power to do or not to do, nor has the power to choose. No matter how much Satan lies, it is of no avail. Satan has asked Allah to respite him till the Day of Resurrection, and He granted him respite and the respite has ended. There is no longer respite or choice except with Allah, all praise and glory is to Him.

Allah increases them in wrath and regret

Another scene that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, relates to us belongs to those who followed their leaders and masters who tempted them into sin, made it desirable to them and even rewarded them for it. On this Day those masters shall come and declare themselves innocent of their followers. They will try to escape from torment. They will deny tempting those people to leave obedience and disobey Allah. They will deny that they encouraged them and rewarded them.

On that Day wrath will fill the hearts of the followers. They will be filled with spite against those masters who will come that Day in front of Allah to declare themselves innocent of them. They will ask Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, to give them the chance to declare themselves innocent of them, so that the fire in their heart cools. But Almighty Allah will not grant them their request.

Concerning this Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says what means:

[Those who followed will say, “If only we had another turn [at worldly life] so we could disassociate ourselves from them as they have disassociated themselves from us.” Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets upon them. And they are never to emerge from the Fire.] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 167]

Allah will not give them that chance to increase regret and wrath within their hearts. On that Day Allah only increases the disbelievers in wrath and regret and never answers any of their requests. Even while being tortured in the Fire, when they shall ask that punishment be lightened, even for a day, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, will not answer them or hear them. Please read the Saying of Allah, The Most Exalted, which means:

[And those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell: “Call upon your Lord to lighten for us the torment for a day!” They will say: “Did there not come to you, your Messengers with (clear) evidences and signs? They will say: “Yes.” They will reply: “Then call (as you like)! And the invocation of the disbelievers is nothing but in error!”] [Ghāfir, 40: 49-50]

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, will not speak to the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection after Hell is decreed for them, nor look at them nor answer their supplications.

The image of the blind on the Day of Resurrection

There is another image that the Noble Qur’an gives, which is for the one who shall be raised blind on the Day of Resurrection. The meaning of his blindness is that the darkness of his evil deeds shall besiege him, thus he will see nothing. When he walks he shall fall, groping in the dark. He will experience the distress and torment of the blind who is guided by none. Over and above that, is the fear that fills him because he is in the dark, seeing nothing. He turns to Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, and ask him about the reason of raising him blind in the Hereafter when he could see in worldly life.

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, clarifies to us that true, He gave him sight in worldly life, but he benefited nothing from it. The signs that filled the universe were all before him; the visible signs in the absolute perfection of everything that Allah has created as the sun, the earth, the planets, the stars, the seas, the rivers, the fruits and the like.

All indicate that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, is the Sole Creator. No one can dare claim that he created the universe, or a grain of wheat, or a rose, or a mosquito or even a mosquito wing.

In spite of the absolute clarity of these signs and although Allah has pointed them out to us in His Law and asked us to mediate on them, and although man certainly knows that he did not create himself and that Almighty Allah is the One Who created him, this disbeliever refused to turn to the Signs of Allah. Although Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, gave him sight to see. But he saw nothing, thus he and the blind are equal.

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, says what means:

[He will say, “My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?” [Allah] will say, “Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten.”] [Tâhâ, 20: 125-126]

And His Saying:

[And whoever is blind in this [life] will be blind in the Hereafter and more astray in way.] [Al-Isrâ’, 17: 72]

The meant blindness here is not the physical but rather the abstract blindness of sight and insight. Having the Signs of Allah visible, clear and evident before you but you do not see them, while Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, asked you to contemplate His Signs.

The wife that pushes her husband towards ill-gotten gains

Before we stop at these scenes to be continued, if Allah wills, in the next book about the Day of Judgment we wish to present the picture of the wife who pushes her husband towards corruption.

Many wives overburden their husbands with their demands. They refuse to live within the limits of their husbands’ salary or income. They persistently beset the husbands with requests beyond their capability. To please his wife, the husband resorts to ill-gotten gains. Consequently,  he takes bribes, steal, embezzles money, cheat and tries to obtain money, by all illicit ways, in order to please his wife and realize her wishes.

Such a wife will bear the greater burden of sin and will be brought together with her husband for Judgment. This wife who incited her husband to steal, and the husband who weakened and could have refused. He could have separated from his wife who urged him to disobey Allah.

We have reached the end of this book about the Day of Resurrection. We have discussed in it the meaning of day, life and death, what shall precede Resurrection, the life of Barzakh, the Land of Promise, then we tackled some of the scenes of the Day of Judgment.

If Allah wills, we shall continue the discussion in the next book about Judgment, how it shall proceed and about Paradise and Hellfire.

1 Joined others in worship with Allah.