All through history, Prophets and Sages appeared among nations calling people to the one and only God promising felicity in this life and the Gardens of Paradise in the world to come when they die and face God with the record of their deeds. “Every person’s deeds have We fastened firmly to his neck, and on the Day of Judgement We shall bring out for him a book which he will find wide open” (17:14).
Invariably, the Divine messengers also
cautioned humanity against the trappings of the Satan- following in
his footsteps without any moral restraints for mundane gains and glory will
only invite the Fires of Hell in this world and on the Day of Reckoning:
“Mutual rivalry in seeking worldly increase diverts you from
God. Till you reach the graves. Nay! You will soon come to know. Nay again!
You will soon come to know. Nay! If you only knew with certain knowledge, You
will surely see Hell in this very life. Aye, you will surely see it
with the eye of certainty. Then, on that day you shall be called to account
about the worldly favours” (102: 2 - 9)
Indeed, on the Day of Judgement, every human will face his deeds on the ground of gathering, Arz Al Mahshar. When records speak and accounts settled on the basis of evidence by none other than Allah (swt), man will pass on the Bridge of Sirat to meet his awaited destiny. True believers, walking in the light of their pious good deeds, will become the dwellers of Paradise: “And think of the day when you will see the believing men and the believing women, their light running before them and on their right hands” (57:13)
On the other hand, the wrongdoers will have no Protective Friend, nor any help of light in that dungeon of darkness, in the way to the Valley of Hell: Like the Qur’an says: ‘On that Day, We shall seal their mouths. Their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness to that which they used to earn. And had We willed, We would have blotted out their eyes. Then they would race to Al -Sirat, yet how would they see?’ (36: 66- 67)
Scared Islamic literature based on Prophetic
traditions give us a picture of the ‘Bridge of Sirat’, although it is also made
clear that the true dimensions and vastness of the Bridge is only known to God.
Consider one Hadith on the Bridge of Sirat:
Narrated
by Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri: We, the companions of the Prophet, said: ‘O Allah's
Apostle! What is the Bridge?' He said: ‘It is a slippery (bridge) on which
there are clamps and (Hooks like) a thorny seed that is wide at one side and
narrow at the other and has thorns with bent ends designed to snatch people
from the bridge... Some people will cross the bridge like lightning, the wind, birds
flying, or camels trotting. Some people will be safe without any harm; some
will be wounded by them, but pass safely nonetheless. Others are thrown by them
violently into Hellfire....’ (Sahih Bukhari -
Volume 9, Book 93, Number 532)
A 'Kashaf' on Bridge of Sirat
From all accounts,
there is little doubt that on the Day of
Resurrection, a wrongdoer will be powerless to alter the destiny his deeds
will bring him. Along with classical
literature, we have now it on good and solid authority- a Divinely-inspired Vision of a living servant of Allah- testifying
on the essential truthfulness of this belief and also on the horrors of that
day of unending misfortune for the wrongdoers on the Bridge of Sirat.
On 31 October 2021, around 3.45-4.00 pm, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al
Islam, Hazrat Khalifatullah Al Muhyiuddin Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius
experienced a profound mystical vision (Kashaf)
on the horrific scenes from the Bridge of ‘Sirat’. A Jamaat communication on
the Kashaf reads:
In the Kashaf, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) ‘saw
the Bridge of Sirat (Pul Sirat)
extremely long, so long that it can be of the distance covering the whole
Indian Ocean and even deeper than that. He was astonished to see this, and
wondered where it begins and where it ends. Then Hazrat Saheb (aba) understood
within himself that the Bridge he has seen was that same bridge which would
take 50,000 years to pass over it.
He (aba), then, saw many people in extreme difficulty (trying) to pass (over) that Bridge. He (aba) also saw that from under them sprout a great gush of dirty muddy water which then transformed into fiery lava which overcame them and they cried and their feet slipped. That gush was like a Tsunami, with much force and they were crying so much that Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) was frightened to witness all this.’