The Signs of the End of Times- 4
اِنَّ السَّاعَۃَ لَاٰتِیَۃٌ لَّا رَیۡبَ فِیۡہَا وَ لٰکِنَّ
اَکۡثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا یُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ
The Hour is certainly coming, there is no doubt about it. But most people do not believe. (Al-Mumin, 40: 60).
Allah (twt) makes us understand that the Qiyamah [the Last Day / The Day of Judgement/ The End of the World] will certainly come, without a doubt, but many people do not believe it. Allah (twt) has fixed a special day to reward His believers for their good deeds and also to punish them for their evil deeds, and for His good servants, He will grant them the blessings of Paradise, while for those who have sinned, their retribution will be hell. This special day is called Qiyamah.
If good servants do not receive [good] rewards and bad servants are not punished, then both will fall into the same category; there will be no difference between good and bad, between good deed and sin. You will notice that many sinners and many tyrants enjoy the welfare or comfort [of this world] without worries and their lives seem happy. On the other hand, many pious and religious people are having great difficulties; they seem to be in trouble and their lives miserable.
This is why this temporal world cannot be the real place for the [flawless application of] justice where you can receive your rewards or punishments for your actions. It is therefore very important that we have the belief that there is another life, where all people receive the true result of their actions. The judges of this world [in this world] pass their judgements on the limited knowledge they have.
So think how important
it is for Allah (twt), the Supreme Judge, Who holds the knowledge of the
invisible and the visible, to give the true judgement according to the actions
of each person.
This temporal world -
life on earth [Dar-ul-Amal] - is a place where people do deeds [works]
and the hereafter is a place [Dar-ul-Jaza] where one receives either
good reward or punishments, except for those who have faith and do good works,
they will receive endless reward. I put before you verses from the Holy Quran
[the words of Allah (twt)] on this subject. Allah (twt) says:
“Now, what makes you deny the Judgement?” (At-Tin 95: 8-9).
“Or do those who commit evil deeds (simply) think that We will make them equal – in their life and after their death – to those who believe and do good? How wrong is their judgement!” (Al-Jathiya 45: 22).
“Or should We treat those who believe and do good like those who make mischief throughout the land? Or should We treat the righteous like the wicked?” (Sad 38: 29).
“On that
Day people will proceed in separate groups to be shown their deeds. So whoever
does an atom’s weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of
evil will see it.” (Az-Zalzala, 99: 7-9).
So, it was important
that Allah (twt) decides on a special day to reward or punish for the actions
of people. On that day there will be no injustice and all people will have a
fair judgement. This day is Qiyamah; as mentioned in the Holy Quran, it
is Yaum-ud-Deen (Day of Judgement).
The word Qiyamah
occurs 70 times in The Holy Quran. Allah (twt) has also called the Qiyamah
by several other names in the Holy Quran and each name demonstrates an aspect
of the Qiyamah. For example As-Saa’a (the Fixed Hour), Al-Yaum-ul-Haqq
(Day of Truth, that is, A Day that will undoubtedly come), Yaum-um-Maloom
(The Known Day), Yaum-ul-Aazifa (The Terrifying Day which is Approaching),
Yaum-un-Assir (The Hard Day), Yaum-ul-Azim (The Great Day), Yaum-ul-Ba’th
(The Day of Resurrection), Yaum-ut-Talaaq (The Day of Meeting, that is,
meeting with Allah [twt]), Yaum-ul-Jama (The Day of Assembly) , Yaum-ul-Khuruj
(Day of the Coming out, i.e. from the grave), An-Naba-ul-Azim (the great
news), Al-Haqqa (the inevitable), among many others.
In the Holy Quran Allah (twt) announced the ordeals of the Qiyamah. Read these verses and you will see:
“Be mindful of the Day when you will be returned to Allah, then every soul will be paid in full for what it has done, and none will be wronged.” (Al-Baqara 2: 282)
“…And you will only receive your full reward on the Day of Judgment. Whoever is spared from the Fire and is admitted into Paradise will triumph.” (Al-Imran 3: 186)
“Allah - there is no deity except Him. He will surely assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. And who is more truthful than Allah in statement?” (An-Nisa 4: 88).
“On the Day the earth will be changed into a different earth and the heavens as well, and all will appear before Allah—the One, the Supreme.” (Ibrahim 14 : 49)
“And they say, ‘When is
this promise, if you should be truthful?’ They do not await except one blast
which will seize them while they are disputing. Then they will not be able to
make a (last) will, nor can they return to their own people.” (Yasin 36 : 49-51).
Like these, there are other verses that I can quote from the Quran such as:
“And they will be presented before your Lord in rows, [and He will say], “You have certainly come to Us just as We created you the first time. But you claimed that We would never make for you an appointment.” And the record [of deeds] will be placed [open], and you will see the criminals fearful of that within it, and they will say, “Oh, woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it?” And they will find what they did present [before them]. And your Lord does injustice to no one.” (Al-Kahf 18: 49-50)
“The disbelievers say, ‘The Hour will never come to us.’ Say, ‘Yes – by my Lord, the Knower of the unseen – it will certainly come to you!” Not (even) an atom’s weight is hidden from Him in the heavens or the earth; nor anything smaller or larger than that, but is (written) in a perfect Record.” (Saba, 34: 4)
“On the
Day of Judgment you will see those who lied about Allah with their faces
gloomy. Is Hell not a (fitting) home for the arrogant?” (Az-Zumar 39: 61)
“The Day they come forth nothing concerning them will be concealed from Allah. To whom belongs [all] sovereignty this Day? To Allah, the One, the Prevailing. This Day every soul will be recompensed for what it earned. No injustice today! Indeed, Allah is swift in account. And warn them of the Approaching Day, when the hearts will jump into the throats, suppressing distress. The wrongdoers will have neither a close friend nor intercessor to be heard.” (Al-Mumin 40: 17-19)
“Say, ‘Allah
causes you to live, then causes you to die; then He will assemble you for the
Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt’. But most of the people do
not know’.” (Al-Jathiya 45: 27-28)
“Whoever turns away
from it [i.e. the Quran] - then indeed, he will bear on the Day of Resurrection
a (heavy) burden, suffering its consequences forever. What an evil burden they
will carry on Judgment Day! The Day the Horn will be blown. And We will gather
the criminals, that Day, blue-eyed [with fear]. They will whisper among
themselves, “You stayed no more than ten days (on the earth).” We know best
what they will say – the most reasonable of them will say, “You stayed no more
than a day.” And they ask you about the mountains, so say, “My Lord will wipe
them out completely, leaving the earth level and bare, with neither depressions
nor elevations to be seen.” On that Day all will follow the caller (for
assembly, and) none will dare to deviate. All voices will be hushed before the
Most Compassionate. Only whispers will be heard. On that Day no intercession
will be of any benefit, except by those granted permission by the Most
Compassionate and whose words are agreeable to Him.” (TaHa 20: 101-110).
Apart from that, there are many other verses which announce Qiyamah and give evidence on the subject. All that is in the Holy Quran are the words of Allah (twt), and there is no doubt and no change in the words of Allah (twt). Every Muslim should have faith on what is mentioned in the Holy Quran.
So it is necessary for
every Muslim to have faith in Qiyamah, just as he must have faith in
Allah (twt), His Messengers and Prophets, His Holy Books, His angels, Destiny
etc., which form part of Islam. As long as there are people who do not have
faith in the advent of Qiyamah, then as a Muslim his belief is reduced
to zero because having belief in Qiyamah is part of Islam. Many people
ask this question: When will the Qiyamah come? Allah (twt) has
not even informed His Messenger (pbuh) and His servants in what year and after
how many years the Qiyamah will manifest itself.
On the other hand,
Allah taught Hazrat Muhammad (saws) about all things and gave him knowledge
about Qiyamah. If you analyze this well, it is exactly like Laila-tul-Qadr
in the month of Ramadan. Allah (twt) taught all the merits for the one who
seeks this night - the night of the Qadr, but He did not specify the
exact date of the night of destiny during Ramadan. He only instructed that it
should be looked for in the odd-numbered nights [of the last ten nights of
Ramadan]. Otherwise it would be too good, too easy for each person to know the
date, the day, the month, the exact year when the Qiyamah will occur. So
after all the evil they would have done, then they would do anything to become
good [and do good deeds] so that Allah would forgive them after committing all
kinds of sins or wrongs.
So the Qiyamah will come and it will most certainly come and what we see everyday are the signs of the Qiyamah and the Qiyamah will come and it will most certainly come, but man does not think about it. Instead of reforming [changing for the better], and doing all that is good and rejecting all that is not good, what does he do? He does the opposite. An example: All that is good for giving us life, health, courage remains, and all that is bad, such as smelly dirt/ excretion, comes out of our own body.
So cultivate the love
of Allah and reject attachment to Satan. It is he who gives that bad smell that
will carry you to hell, down the wrong path and when Allah’s punishment comes
upon you, he will forsake you. Who is at fault then, can you tell? Who was at
fault? You, or Satan? When judgement comes, Satan will dissociate himself from
you. He will refuse any share of responsibility for your error.
So, regarding the Signs
of Qiyamah - there are several signs of Qiyamah and they are in
two categories:
1.
Alaamaat-e-Sughraa:
The little signs; these
are the signs that appear long before the Qiyamah.
2.
Alaamaat-e-Kubra: The great signs are the signs that will appear when
the Qiyamah is very close.
There is a Hadith which
is narrated by Tirmidhi and Mishkat, and where Hazrat Ibn Umar (ra) related
that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) said: He who wants to see the Qiyamah, as if
he finds it with his own eyes, let him read Chapters 81, 82 and 84 which give
detailed explanations of the Qiyamah.
O brothers, sisters and children! Allah (twt) makes you understand by this revelation: “Yaaa ayyuhallaziina amanuu atiiul-laaha wal Khalifatullah wa laa ta wallaw anhu wa antum tasma’uun”. [O you believers! Obey Allah and His Khalifatullah and do not turn your back on him when you hear him give a message.]
And Allah (twt) continues to reveal: 'O believers! Answer the call of Allah and His Khalifatullah where he calls you to this religion which will give you life, and where Allah will forgive you and rescue you from all kinds of difficulties in this world where you live. Do not let the wrath of Allah fall on you and turn to Allah a lot, seek His forgiveness and obey His Khalifatullah on whom Allah pours out the Ruh’il Quddus [Holy Spirit]. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
Insha-Allah, may Allah give me the Tawfeeq to continue on
the same subject next Friday. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 15 October 2021 ~08 Rabi’ul Awwal 1443 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat-Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius.