Day of Resurrection
What is the Day of Resurrection?
It is the day when all creatures that ever lived will be resurrected, that is, they will be brought back to life. The Day of Resurrection is sometimes referred to as the Day of Judgement, since it is on this day that Allah will judge people based on their deeds when they were alive and decide who will enter Paradise and who will enter the Hellfire. Upon being resurrected the people will say:
"Woe to us! Who has raised us up from our place of sleep."
(Qur'an 36:52)
This refers to the fact that the people were dead (sleeping) and Allah brought them back to life.
When will the Day of Resurrection occur?
No one but Allah knows when the Day of Resurrection will be - not even the Prophets knew. This knowledge is part of the unseen which we as humans have no knowledge of. Anyone who claims to know when this day will be is a liar. However, Allah has told us through Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that the day will be a Friday and also what the signs are that The Hour is getting closer.
Some are minor signs that will begin to occur as the Day of Resurrection approaches. There are over sixty minor signs that the scholars of Islam have identified from the Qur'an and hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), but some examples of minor signs are: the decline of knowledge, the spread of ignorance, stringed instruments and female singers will be common, drinking of wine or alcohol will be permissible, competition in the construction of tall buildings, increased frequency of earthquakes, time will pass more quickly, there is much killing, there will be many women for every man, and many other signs. Some of the minor signs have already taken place, whilst others have yet to come.
There are also major signs that will occur very quickly in succession and
will occur not very long before the Day of Resurrection. The Day of
Resurrection will not come until all of the following major signs have
occurred (in no particular order):
1. The event of the Mahdi - the Mahdi will be a descendent of
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who will reign the land (or earth) and cause
Allah's religion to prevail. He will enjoin justice, wipe out oppression
and wrongdoing and the Muslims will be blessed as they never have been
before.
2. The coming of the Dajjaal (Anti-christ) - he will be a young man
with a ruddy complexion, curly hair, and his right eye will be defective
such that it will look like a floating grape. He will tell the biggest
lies known and the ignorant will believe him to be Allah, because Allah
will give him the power to cause rain to come, people to be killed and
brought back to life and many other magnificent feats. The Muslims
(literate or illiterate) will recognise the Dajjaal because between his eyes will
be written 'Kaafir' (disbeliever), but the disbelievers will not be able
to see this. He will have with him Paradise in one hand, and Hell in the
other and ask people to choose which hand to jump into. However, the
Paradise will appear like Hell and the Hell will appear like Paradise.
Those who follow him will believe him and jump into Hell (thinking that it
is Paradise) and those that are Muslim will know he is lying and jump into
the other hand that appears to be Hell, and find Paradise. He will roam
the earth for forty days at lightning speed and enter every town except
for Madinah (Medina) and Makkah (Mecca) in Saudi Arabia because angels
will be guarding the gates. He will be the biggest trial any Muslims will
ever face.
3. The descent of 'Eesa (Jesus, son of Mary) (PBUH) - he will appear after
the Dajjaal has spread corruption throughout the world and kill the
Dajjaal in a place near Palestine. He will descend to the earth, coming
down to the white minaret in the East of Damascus, Syria, resting his
hands on the wings of two angels. No disbeliever will smell his breath
except he will die, and his breath will reach as far as his eyes can see.
He will come down to the victorious group that is fighting for the truth
and has come together to fight the Dajjaal. He will descend at the time
when the call for prayer is being given, and he will pray behind the
leader of that group.
4. The appearance of Gog and Magog - these will be a large group of
humans with small eyes, flat noses and wide faces and are likely to be of
the Turkic Mongol race of people. They will come at the time of
'Eesa (Jesus, son
of Mary) (PBUH) and Allah will cause Gog and Magog to die after they
besiege Jesus, son of Mary and the Muslims.
5. The swallowing up of the earth - this will occur in three
places: one in the East, one in the West and one in the Arabian Peninsula.
6. The smoke - the sky will bring forth a visible smoke and it will
be a painful torment for the people
7. The rising of the sun from the west - this will be the first of
the major signs
8. The appearance of the beast - the beast will come out of the
earth and speak to the people. It will mark them with a permanent mark on
their noses
9. The fire which will gather the people together - a fire will
breakout from the direction of Yemen and the people will run ahead of it
and be gathered together in one group.
Note: there is far more detail given in the Qur'an and Sunnah of
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) about these events (and others) than is mentioned
here - this is only a very brief summary.
How long will the Day of Resurrection be?
Whilst we do not know for certain, Allah says in the Qur'an:
"Those who have earned the Garden [Paradise] on that day will be better in their home and happier in their place of noonday rest"
(Qur'an 25:24)
This implies that the length of time for the believers will be half a day, since the noonday rest is taken in the afternoon. This is supported by the following quote from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):
"For the believers, the (length of) the Day of Resurrection will be like the time between Dhuhr and 'Asr."
Dhuhr and 'Asr refer to noon and late afternoon respectively, and so the time between them is less than half a day.
For the disbelievers however, the day will be much longer - in fact it will be fifty thousand years. This is supported by the fact that the Day of Resurrection will be easy for the believers, and very hard for the disbelievers. It says in the Qur'an:
"Truly that Day will be a Hard Day, far from easy for the disbelievers."
(Qur'an 74:9-10)
How will be people be resurrected?
When a person dies, all of the body disintegrates except for the tailbone (the last bottom portion of the spine). The tailbone is the first part of a person that is created, and it is what will be left of a person so that s/he will be created anew from it. When the Resurrection begins, Allah will cause the bodies to grow by means of rain from the earth. This will make these bones grow until each person's body is restored to the way it was before he died. Then, Allah will transform the forms of people when they enter Paradise or Hell, so they will not be like they were on earth.
What will the resurrected people be wearing?
The Prophet (PBUH) mentioned what people will be wearing when they are resurrected in the following accounts:
"The deceased will be resurrected in the clothes in which he died."
(Hadith)
and
"It was narrated that 'Aisha, the wife of the Prophet (PBUH) said: 'The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: 'You will be gathered barefoot, naked and uncircumcised.' I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, men and women will be looking at one another?!' He said, 'The situation will be so terrible that that will not concern them.'"(Hadith)
These two reports appear to conflict with each other, but they probably refer to different times during the Day of Resurrection, such as:
-
The people will be raised in those garments in which they died but they will wear out after the resurrection, and when they reach the place of standing they will be naked.
-
The people will be raised naked, then when the Prophets and righteous people and so on have been clothed, everyone else will be clothed in the same kind of clothes as those in which they died.
-
Or, it is possible that the first hadith only refers to the martyrs, because they are the ones whom the Prophet (PBUH) commanded should be buried in the clothes in which they died, so they will be resurrected in their clothes in order to distinguish them from others.
-
Or, it could be that the first hadith is a metaphor and what is meant by clothes is righteous deeds, as in the verse:
"and the raiment of righteousness, that is better"
(Qur'an 7:26)
What will the resurrected people be doing?
A person will be resurrected doing whatever it was when they died, as indicated by the following hadith:
"Every person will be resurrected in the manner that he died."
(Hadith)
So if a person dies in prayer, then they will be praying when they are resurrected. If a person was saying the Kalima (declaration of the oneness of Allah - "Laa ilaha il-lallah" ("There is no god but Allah")) when they died, then they will be saying this when they are resurrected. (This is one the reasons why it is strongly encouraged for the words of the Kalima to be a person's dying words).
However, if a person died committing shameful sins, such as drinking alcohol, committing adultery or gambling for example, then this is how they will appear before their Lord on the Day of Resurrection also.
What will the resurrected people look like?
The bodies of the people on
the Day of Resurrection will not be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection
in the form in which they were in this world, with their shortcomings and
inability to bear that; rather they will be resurrected whole and
complete. This is evident because of the fact the people will stand on the
Day of Resurrection for such a long time and the sun is brought so close
to the people, that people would not be able to bear this if their bodies
were the same as in this life on earth.
Where will the people be resurrected?
The people will be gathered on that Day on another earth, one that is different from this earth, with specific features as explained by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who said:
"The people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection on reddish white land like a pure loaf of bread (made from pure fine flour)."
(Hadith)
What will happen on the Day of Resurrection?
First, Allah will send a wind to take the souls of any believers still alive on earth, as mentioned by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):
"Allah will send a wind from Yemen, softer than silk, and it will not leave anyone in whose heart is faith the weight of a grain but it will take him (his soul)."
(Hadith)
Allah will then order the first trumpet blast to be blown by the Angel Israafeel. This will cause any creation that is still alive to die. Then Allah will order the trumpet to blown a second time, upon which all creatures that have ever lived will be brought back to life. The time between the two blows of the trumpet will be forty years. The second blow of the trumpet will cause all the souls to be reunited with their bodies so that they can all be gathered together for their Final Judgement.
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