Two Contradictory Hopes About Qiyamat

Two Contradictory Hopes About Qiyamah
Knowledge of the hereafter

It is mentioned in narrations that the faithful (Momineen) will wish in their graves that God may establish Qiyamat soon as they had already tasted some specimen of the bounties of paradise and hence they desire it early. On the other hand, the deniers and offenders will say: O God! Let us remain here only, because they have seen a little specimen of the chastisement of hell here.

Khafizatun Raafiatun…YawMa Tub Las Saraair

On the Day of Resurrection, those who were low and weak materially but had the riches of God's fear will become masters and great. Contrary to this, those who were materially great and powerful in the world but had no Taqwaa (piety) will become dishonored and degraded. Khafizah means degrader and Raafiah means upgrader. (Two Quranic names of Resurrection Day)

All Secrets Will Become Known

Another thing which will happen on the Day of Qiyamah will be that all those things which were kept hidden will become open and manifest. In this world there are veils on every one's beliefs and deeds. But in Qiyamat both the inner and outer state will become the same, fully apparent.

So, O people who are very mindful of your positions! Have you also thought about protecting yourselves from shame on that Day? On that Day those whose hearts are clean and bright like angels will have similarly shining faces. Those whose hearts are full of passions and lust will, on that Day, have faces like those of monkeys and dogs.

Have you done anything for the stages to come after death so that you may not have to be ashamed in front of all the earliest and ladders? Do you know how difficult problems you will have to confront, like being bare bodied in the Great Gathering? Have you done anything to save your honor on that Day?

The Dress On The Day Of Judgment Will Be God Fearing Ness (Taqwaa)

Wa Libaas…Kahir (Surah A’raf: 7, V: 25).

Translation: The dress of God fearing ness is the best of all dresses.

On the Day of Judgement, when all will come out of their graves everyone will be bare bodied, except some people who have been promised that they will not be without clothes on that Day. They are those who feared God in the world.

The one who will leave this world as a God fearing person will appear in the Grand Gathering of Mahshar adorned in the Divine clothing of Taqwaa. Likewise, also those faithful people who died without repentance (Tawbah) but who became purified by suffering hardships in graves. Of course, God forbid, if anyone enters Mahshar without becoming purified, he will aspire to go to hell at the earliest so that his shamefulness in front of the greatest gathering may end.

Hazrat Adam (A.S.) Covered His Body With Leaves Of Trees

The father of mankind, Hazrat Adam (A.S.) erred by discarding a desired thing (Tark-e-Oolaa) and he was driven out of paradise bare bodied. Now, finding himself naked in front of angels, he hid his private parts (organs of shame) with the leaves of trees at once: Yakhsifaan…Jannah (Surah A’raf: 7, V: 21)

Translation: He began to hide himself with tree leaves.

Remember that the one who is sinful will not be eligible to Divine dress. It may be I or you. No day ever passes in which we do not add a sin in our account of deeds. Should we not worry about the hardships of Qiyamah, if we don't have the clothing of God fearingness (Taqwaa)!

It was the impeccable Imam Zainul Aabedeen (A.S.) who used to pray at dawn during nights of the Holy month of Ramadan, remembering the nakedness of the Day of Judgement: Abkee…Zaleela. Meaning: I am weeping remembering the bare bodied rising from the grave.

Come; let us all join the prayer of the sinless Imam (A.S.) Wa Albisnee…Lee. Meaning: O Lord! Dress me in Your Bountiful Mercy so that my mistakes may be covered and forgiven.

The Sinners Will Be Recognized

Yu Raful…Aqdaam (Surah Rahman: 55, V: 41)

Translation: The sinners will be known instantly by their faces. Holding by their forehead hair and their legs they will be thrown in hell. First stage in the Grand Gathering field will be astonishment (hairat) which has been mentioned a number of times in the Holy Quran: Muhti Eenz…Hawaa (Surah Ibrahim: 14, V: 43).

Eyes will make no movement due to extreme astonishment when one will be a sinner having a sign of that sinfulness along with him or her, which will make known to all in the grand gathering what sin he or she had committed.

A bottle of wine will be stuck to his hand when a drunkard arrives in the field of Mahshar. (If you can remember, we have quoted the narration of Muaaz while explaining the Quranic words Fa Taa Too Na Afwaaja). God has sworn by His Might and Honour saying He will make the drunkard drink as much wine in hell as he had drunk in the world.

Scene Of A Drunkard In The Gathering Of Mahshar

It is mentioned in the book Layali Al Akhbar that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: When a drunkard will arrive in the field of Qiyamah his face will be dark, he eyes blue, his lips hanging and his saliva flowing over his chest up to his feet. His tongue will project out of his mouth. Anyone who will pass by him will suffer a lot of uneasiness due to the foul smell emanating from the drundard's mouth. The Holy Prophet also said: “By the God Who made me His messenger, the drunkard will die thirsty; that he will remain thirsty in his grave; that he will continue crying due to thirst for a thousand years. Thereafter, he will be made to drink the water of Hameem.

Faces Of The Usurers And The Musicians

When a usurer will rise from his grave his belly will become so big that it will drag on earth. He will not be able to get up despite trying to do so. He will be sitting bowing his head. All in the field of Mahshar will recognize him as the usurer.

A Musician’s Musical Instruments Will Be With Him

It is mentioned in the book Anwar-e-Nomania that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) has said: Who plays violin will have a dark face and will be holding a violin of fire in his hands which will be knocking at his head. Seventy thousand angels of chastisement will hit on his head and face. A singer will rise deaf, dumb and blind.

The Condition Of Double Talkers

It is mentioned in narrations that those who have two tongues, meaning those who say one thing in front of people and another (opposite) thing behind their backs will be having two tongues of fire on the Day of Judgement. Those who were harming others with their tongues will have their tongues uprooted from their base in their mouths.

Proud And Adulterer People In The Field Of Qiyamah

There also will be a group in the field of Mahshar which will be weak and valueless like ants. They will be the people who were showing their pride before others in the world. Such an offensive smell will emanate from the private parts of adulterers in the field of Mahshar that all will shriek and complain against them. Narrations indicate that every bad and sinful habit will give a similar shape or form to the sinner in Qiyamat whereby all will know what kind of deeds he was doing in the world.

The Day Having A Duration Of Fifty Thousand Years

Kaa Na…Sanah (Surah Maarij: 70, V: 5.

There will be a halt of one thousand years at every station as per your counting of days Mim Maa Tauddu (solar or lunar).

Why Is Qiyamat Called A ‘Day’?

There arises a question that when, in the realm of Qiyamah, there will be no day or night, in the absence of the sun and the moon, then what is the meaning of 'The Day of Qiyamah'? Why is it called a Day? The answer is: Since we call that part of time a Day in which things become bright because of the light of the sun and thereby human eyes can see those things which are not visible to them during night. Likewise, in the world, those things which were hidden from people such as their inner condition, their right or wrong beliefs, their good or bad deeds and their consequences. But in Qayamat, people will come to know all these things and their consequences too.

Yaw Ma Tub Las Saraair.

Qiyamah is the Day on which all hidden secrets of people become open and known to all.

Wa Badaa…Yahtasibeen (Surah Zumar: 39, V: 47) meaning: For them, by the Command of God, all those things will become known of which they did not have even an imagination.

Sun Of Truth Will Shine In Qayamah

This world is a night, a darkness. No one knows about others. Rather man is unaware of even his own self (inner self). People's deeds are hidden from one another. But Qiyamat is a Day which is a day in its real meaning with which there is no night. The Day will be of a duration of fifty thousand years when the sun of truth will shine in Qiyamah we will realize what are we and what are others.

The Station Of Fear In Qiyamat

We have mentioned above that there will be several stations in Qiyamat. The station (Muaqif) of Hairat (astonishment) has been described earlier. Another station is that of Khauf (fear) which causes silence and stillness as is mentioned in the Holy Quran:

Wa Kha Sha At…Hamsaa (Surah Taha: 20, V: 108). Meaning: No voice except humming will be heard.

Izil Quloobu…Kaazimeen (Surah Mu’min: 40, V: 18) meaning: People will want to raise their voice but, due to fear and fright, voices will be stuck up in their throats.

Third station is that of talks and conversation, of questions and answers between people:

Wa Aq Ba La…Yatasaa Aloon (Surah Saffaat: 37, V: 27) meaning: All will ask one another about their good and bad deeds.

Flying Away One Another Like Locusts

One of the stations will be that of fleeing and running away wherein all will run to avoid one another. Father will run away from son, wife and husband from one another, brother from brother. All will try to avoid one another. All will try to hide their faces. The Holy Quran has likened it with scattered butterflies (Farraashum Mabsoos):

Yaw Ma…Mabsoos (Surah Quaariah: 101, V: 3).

In Surah Qamar God says: Fear will show out of the eyes of the Kuffar (deniers). When they will come out of their grave, they will scatter like locusts in the field of Mahshar V: 7.

Khush Sha An…Muntashir. You must have observed that when an army of locusts arrives how every one of them flies in different directions, some upward, some downward, some in the right, some in the left. They remain scattered in an unorganized manner. Husband and wife, father and son etc will also, in the field of Mahshar, on the Day of Resurrection, remain scattered likewise for avoiding one another. But this fleeing of theirs will be useless.

Their Fleeing Will Be Of No Use

As has been mentioned in the explanation of Surah Rahman that on that day, God will command that angels on the first sky should come down to earth and take the entire mankind in their control. The angels of the second sky will stand encircling the angles of the first sky. Similarly angels of all the seven skies will line up. These will be the Divine Armies which will encircle and the Grand Field of Gathering (Mahshar):

Yaa Maashar…Fanfuzoo (Surah Rahman: 55, V: 33) meaning: O Groups of Jinn and men! If you can run away, then run away, but fleeing is impossible. On that Day men will ask: Ain Al Mafarr (Where should I run away? There is no place or room for escaping except toward the Lord. This also is only for the one who had some connection with God. Otherwise, for others, there is no escape.

They Will Beg Even For A Single Good On The Day Of Judgment

One more station will be that of asking and begging. Every one will request his acquaintance to offer one of his goods (reward fetching deeds) but no one will oblige because he himself is also in dire need of it. A father will say to his one: How many hardships did I suffer for your sake in the world. How much trouble did I take to train you? Now, you please give me one of your good deeds. The son will reply: At this time, I myself am in a dire need of the good and I am more needy than you. Similarly a brother will tell his brother. But no one will be able to help others. All will be in terrible anxiety and will not care for others.

Flying Of Records Of Deeds

Fa Ammaa…Aaliyah (Surah Haaqqah: 69, V: 19-20).

Translation: So who will be given his sheet of deeds (record of deeds) in his right hand will tell (people): Lo, read my record. I believe that my record will be given to me. Then he will live in the luxuries of his choice, in a grand granden.

One of the things in which we believe is the recording of our deeds. This has been mentioned at a number of places in the Holy Quran. It is mentioned that Kiraaman Kaatibeen are writing our deeds:

Kiraaman…Taf Aloon (Surah Infitar: 82, V: 11-12).

Translation: The writers (Kiraaman Kaatibeen) know all about what you do.

At one place in the book, these two angels are mentioned as Raquebun Ateed who note down even the most trifling and little things: Maa Yalfizu…Ateed (Surah Kahf: 50, V: 18).

Translation: No word comes to his tongue, but there is (ever ready) an angel near him (to note it down).

Of course we do not know anything about the style of their recording, that is, whether they use paper and ink or have any other way. Only the eye of the Messenger can see it.

In short, Even the slightest step which you take is being noted down by the angels. They record even the intention of doing a good deed. Of course no evil (sin) is noted until it is committed.

* The Hereafter - Ma'ad. Chapter 3. By Ayatullah Dastghaib Shiraazi (q.s.).