'Qiyamah' is coming
Islam
teaches us that every soul shall taste death. After a person’s
death, his soul will reside in a world different from ours, called
“Barzakh”
until the Day of Judgement (Qiyamah).
On that day, everyone will be gathered by Allah for the final
account. The good believer will go to heaven while the bad servant
will go to hell. To believe in this is a pillar of our faith (Iman).
Therefore, a believer must learn about this subject and have
conviction in it.
But
to be precise, you must understand that each person shall witness his
own Day of Judgement, and he will be among the group of his time, at
the moment of his death. For example, in everyday life, we often
learn of a calamity or other that has arisen and has made hundreds or
millions of deaths. So, for these people, it’s their last hour on
earth and they will face their Last Judgement after going through the
“Barzakh” and from there on they will know their final
destination.
“But
those who disbelieve say, ‘The Hour will not come to us.’ Say,
‘Yes, by my Lord, it will surely come to you’.”
(Saba, 34 : 4).
Non-believers
in general, apart from religions which were originally monotheistic,
such as Judaism and Christianity, do not believe in life after death,
in the Last Judgement because most of them believe that their life on
earth is their only life and death will mean a definite end to their
life, while others believe in reincarnation, i.e., they will be
resurrected in different bodies, be it in human or animal form, and
that they will return to earth again and again, instantly, or
centuries after their present death. These conceptions about life and
death that they hold are really wrong.
The Six Pillars of Islam
As
Muslims we need to know and understand that our faith (Iman)
rests on six pillars; Our faith in: Allah, His angels, His Books, His
Messengers / Prophets, the Last Day of Judgement and Fate/
Predestination/ Destiny – and the fact that good and evil come
through the knowledge, law and the creation of Allah, and the firm
belief in life after death (the Resurrection) which are each an
indisputable truth.
“Amantu
billahi wa malaikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wal-yawmil-akhiri wa
bil-qadari khayrihi wa sharrihi minallahi taala wal-ba’thu
ba’dal-mawti haqqun.”
However,
in the Qur’an, only two pillars of our faith are most often
mentioned, especially our faith in Allah and our faith in the Day of
Judgement. The same is mentioned in the Hadiths where our beloved
prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) most often mentions these two pillars.
Allah says in the Holy Quran: “This
instruction is for all amongst you, who believe in Allah and the Last
Day.” (Al-Baqara
2 : 233).
As
for the Holy Prophet (pbuh), he said: “He who believes in
Allah and the Last Day should either utter good words or better keep
silence.” (Bukhari).
According
to this Hadith, a believer who has faith in Allah and the Last Day
must stand out (i.e. shine), in his behaviour, against a
non-believer. For whoever has faith - knowing full well that one day
he will die and that he will have to appear before the Court of Allah
and go either to heaven or hell – will thus never lead a life that
is forbidden to him. He will live his life in fear of Allah (Taqwa)
and will not behave like a non-believer. For the unbeliever, it is
quite normal for him to lead his life as he sees fit, even if it goes
against the teachings of Islam. Then, the Muslim must behave like a
good believer, a true believer who acts according to the divine
directives. He must in no way be a Muslim by name, because at that
moment there will be no difference between him and the unbeliever.
Then, the believer must imperatively abandon all that can incur the
wrath of Allah and stay within the framework of Islam in order to
attract the pleasure of Allah. The good believer knows that one day
or another, he will have to return to his Creator to account for his
deeds, and his fear of God gives him the strength to stay away from
the forbidden.
In
truth, life on earth is a test for the believer. He (as well as all
of us) will be judged before Allah for each of his acts with the
ultimate destination paradise or hell. The Last Day, the Qiyamah
is that day when Allah will decide on his final fate. The Day of
Judgement is the day when the judged soul will receive its reward in
full. If he were good and had acted according to God’s
commandments, he would receive his good reward, the pleasure of Allah
and a place in His paradise, but if he was bad and disobedient to his
Creator, he would receive the worst of rewards, a limited or eternal
stay in hell, depending on his intentions and actions.
The
Last Day also refers to the day when Allah will annihilate all
creatures on earth - the Final Hour for the earth and all its
inhabitants - and then resurrect them so that they may testify to the
justice of Allah.
Allah
says: “Indeed,
the Hour is coming - no doubt about it - but most of the people do
not believe.” (Al-Momin, 40 :
60).
“And
they ask you to inform them (saying): ‘Is it true (i.e. the torment
and the establishment of the Hour; - the Day of Resurrection)?’
Say: "Yes! By my Lord! It is the very truth! and you cannot
escape from it!” (Yunus 10 :
54).
Ibn
Umar (ra) said: I have heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say: “On
the Day of Rising, the believer will be brought closer to his Lord
until He is under His protection, and He will make him confess his
sins by saying to him, ‘Do you acknowledge such and such a sin?’
He will answer, ‘Yes Lord, I confess.’ Allah will then say to
him, ‘I have hid them from you in the world, and I forgive them for
you today.’ He will then be given his register of good deeds. On
the other hand, the disbelievers and the hypocrites will be called
before the whole of humanity and it will be said to them: ‘Here are
those who lied about their Lord. May the curse of Allah be upon the
oppressors!’” (Bukhari and Muslim).
Belief
in the Day of Judgement, life and death and the final abode,
Paradise and Hell are linked, because after our demise we have to go
through the Final Judgement of Allah before experiencing either the
eternal enjoyment or the eternal punishment, depending on the degree
of our good and bad deeds.
Allah
says:
“Indeed,
they who have believed and done righteous deeds - those are the best
of creatures. Their reward with Allah will be gardens of perpetual
residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever,
Allah being pleased with them and they with Him. That is for whoever
has feared his Lord.”
(Al-Bayyina, 98 : 8-9).
“Indeed,
We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround
them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water
like murky oil, which scalds (their) faces. Wretched is the drink,
and evil is the resting place.”
(Al-Kahf
18 : 30).
May
Allah have mercy on us, forgive us our weaknesses and sins, and may
He open wide for us the door of His pleasure and satisfaction in this
world and in the future life, a future sprinkled with good deeds and
of God’s eternal bliss towards us. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
----Friday Sermon of 26 October 2018 (---16 Safar 1440 AH) delivered by Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.