Judgment Day in the Qur’an
by Harun Yahya
Allah Almighty says,
{The Trumpet is blown and those in the heavens and those in the earth swoon away, except those Allah wills. Then it is blown a second time and at once they stand upright, looking on. And the earth shines with the Pure Light of its Lord; the Book is put in place; the Prophets and witnesses are brought; it is decided between them with the truth; and they are not wronged. Every self is repaid in full for what it did. He knows best what they are doing.}(Az-Zumar 39:68-70)
All who have ever lived on earth are resurrected on the Day of Judgment. The moment of resurrection is a perplexing one for unbelievers. Allah relates the fearful and bewildered conversations among unbelievers at the moment of resurrection in the Qur’an as follows:
{They will say, “Alas for us! Who has raised us from our resting-place? This is what the All-Merciful promised us. The Messengers were telling the truth.} ( Ya-Sin 36: 52)
{And the True Promise is very close, the eyes of those who were unbelievers will be transfixed: “Alas for us! We were unmindful of this! No, rather we were definitely wrongdoers.} (Al-Anbiyaa’ 21: 97)
The phrase “Alas for us” is an expression of the great panic, fear and regret of unbelievers. At the moment they are resurrected, they realize that those who warned them against the hereafter were right and truthful. Much to their detriment, they are now aware that other warnings will surface one after another. Right now, with no possibility to escape, they will be dragged to this torment, which they never considered as real before.
After rising from the dead, unbelievers will be brought to stand before Allah. Then they will be called to account for what they did in the world and judgment will be made accordingly. For this purpose, they are brought into the Presence of Allah with all those other arrogant people who transgressed against the limits set by Allah.
{The Day the Trumpet is blown and you come in droves.} (An-Naba’ 78: 18)
On the Judgment Day, unbelievers will come to understand that no other action is more important than earning the consent of Allah and avoiding His wrath. This is also stated in a hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in which he gave the example of an unbeliever questioned on the Judgment Day:
“An unbeliever will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and will be asked. ‘Suppose you had as much as gold as to fill the earth, would you offer it to ransom yourself?’ He will reply: ‘Yes’. Then it will be said to him, ‘You were asked for something easier than that [to join none in worship with Allah (i.e., to accept Islam, but you refused)].” (Al-Bukhari)
Their failure to have grasped this fact in the world, where the signs of Allah the Allmighty’s power and existence were obvious, intensifies their regret.
{The Day when a wrongdoer will bite his hands and say, “Alas for me! If only I had gone the way of the Messenger! Alas for me! If only I had not taken so-and-so for a friend! He led me astray from the Reminder after it came to me.” Evil always leaves man in the lurch.} (Al-Furqan 25: 27-29)
On the Day of Judgment, unbelievers will be so occupied with their own troubles that they turn a blind eye to the calls of their own children, spouses, mothers, and fathers. In the Qur’an, this is described as follows:
{When the Deafening Blast comes, the Day a man will flee from his brother and his mother and his father, and his wife and his children: on that Day every man among them will have concerns enough of his own.} (`Abasa 50: 33-37)
The concept of lineage loses its importance. From then on, the only thing that matters is to be saved from the penalty of Allah the Almighty. This is so important that, in order to be saved from this state, unbelievers even offer to sacrifice their own sons, spouses, brothers, etc.
{On the Day the sky is like molten brass and the mountains like tufts of colored wool. No good friend will ask about his friend even though they can see each other. An evildoer will wish he could ransom himself from the punishment of that Day, by means of his sons, or his wife or his brother or his family who sheltered him or everyone else on earth, if that only meant that he could save himself.} (Al-Ma`arij 70: 8-14)
Surely, these efforts of unbelievers bring no results. The main target of unbelievers in the worldly life was amassing a fortune, making a career, or having sons. They spent all their lives to attain these goals. However, on the Day of Judgment, they grasp that all these concepts are not precious at all. Judgment Day is the time when unbelievers will desire to vanish. For believers, however, it is the time zealously and joyfully awaited for. Allah describes these moments in His verses as follows:
{That Day some faces will be radiant, laughing, rejoicing. That Day some faces will be dust-covered, overcast with gloom. Those are the dissolute unbelievers.} (`Abasa 80: 38-42)
On the Day of Reckoning, the most precious valuables one possesses are the righteous deeds purely done to earn the good pleasure of Allah. However, unbelievers have never striven for this treasure, which would bring them eternal salvation. Not a single good deed or blessing they have to present to Allah on that day. Having no faith in Allah, all their righteous efforts will have been wasted. Allah states this fact as follows:
{Say: “Shall I inform you of the greatest losers in their actions? People whose efforts in the life of the world are misguided while they suppose that they are doing good.” Those are the people who reject their Lord’s Signs and the meeting with Him. Their actions will come to nothing and, on the Day of Resurrection, We will not assign them any weight.} (Al-Kahf 18: 103-105)
Those who denied the religion (deen) and harbored doubts about the existence of the Day of Judgment, did not feel the necessity to get prepared for this approaching day. For a lifetime, they occupied themselves with amassing wealth and following their vain desires. Now they confront a regret they will never be free of. Allah states this in the Qur’an in this way:
{They will say, “Alas for us! This is the Day of Reckoning!” This is the Day of Decision you used to deny.} (As-Saffat 37: 20-21)
Furthermore, unbelievers will find all the unscrupulous, ungrateful and evil deeds that they committed in the world discovered in the Presence of Allah. They will personally bear witness to the sins they committed. Allah describes this in the Qur’an as follows:
{…They will be paraded before your Lord in ranks: “You have come to Us just as We created you at first. Yes indeed! Even though you claimed that We would not fix a time with you.” The Book will be set in place and you will see the evildoers fearful of what is in it. They will say, “Alas for us! What is this Book which does not pass over any action, small or great, without recording it?” They will find there everything they did and your Lord will not wrong anyone at all.} (Al-Kahf 18: 48-49)
{That Day people will emerge segregated to see the results of their actions. Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it. Whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.} (Az-Zalzalah 99: 6-8)
The writer is Muslim thinker