The Hereafter Series CD 11 - The Coming of the Hour

Taken from http://ummibraheem.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/v2-cd1-the-coming-of-the-hour/

The Coming of the Hour Is Sudden

A moment will come when every living thing will cease to exist. All forms of life will end. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says, “everything on it will perish.” Everything on the face of the earth will die.

And Allah says: “They await only but a single shout which will seize them while they are disputing.” It will come so suddenly that while people are discussing and disputing, everything will stop. Now there’s no time to advise your family or take care of unfinished business.

Allah says, “Then they will not be able to make bequest, nor will they return to their family.”

It comes so suddenly that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in the hadith, “The Hour will arrive when two men are discussing a deal. One man will be selling a piece of cloth to the other, but the Hour will arrive and they will not even have time to wrap up that piece of cloth or sell it. The Hour will come when a man is going back home with fresh milk from his camel, but he will not be able to taste it. And the Hour will arrive when one will raise the food to his mouth, but he will not be able to put it in his mouth.”

As Soor

How will it happen? It will be blown with as-soor. What is as-soor? It is mentioned in the Qur’aan in many places. It is a trumpet or a horn. The Angel Israfeel is holding it.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saw Israfeel. And this is what RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam had to say, “The eyes of the angel are fixed on the throne of Allah, because he is afraid the command will come and he will not have time to turn his sight. So he has fixed his eyes on the arsh, waiting for the command to come. His eyes are like two bright stars.” When RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saw this with his own eyes, he lost any appetite for this world. So he said, “How can I enjoy myself? How can I have any entertainment in this world when the angel has put the horn in his mouth and he has leaned his head forwards, and he has opened up his ears, waiting for the moment when the command will come, so he will blow in the horn?”

When will the Horn be Blown?

On what day will the horn be blown? On Al-Jum’ah. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “The greatest and the best day the sun has risen over is the day of jum’ah (Friday). In that day, Adam was created. In that day, he entered into Jannah. And in that day, he was driven out of Jannah. And on that day the Hour will occur.” The Hour is the day of judgement.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith, “All of the days were presented to me. So I saw the day of Friday, it looked like a white mirror – very bright and clean – but in the middle there was a dark spot. So I asked what the dark spot was and I was told that it was the Hour.”

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith, “The best day the sun has risen over is Friday. On that day, Adam was created. On that day, he came down to earth. On that day, Allah accepted his repentance. On that day, he died. On that day the Hour will occur.” What’s new in this hadith? The rest of the hadith tells the response of the animals. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “Every animal is worried on the day of jum’ah – from the time of fajr because they know that is when the Hour will occur, except Jinn and humans.” We are the only creation that is asleep and unaware. We are heedless and continue to do everything on Jum’ah as if this Hour is something that will never occur.

The Exceptions

Allah says, “And the trumpet will be blown, and all who are on the earth will swoon away, except him whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown a second time and behold, they will be standing, looking on.” The ayah gives an exception – everyone would die – so who are the exceptions? Some scholars say hoor al-ayn; some say the servants in jannah; some say jibra’eel, mika’eel and israfeel; some say the angels who are carrying the throne; some say the shuhadaa`; and on and on.

AlQurtubi says, “The right opinion is that there is no evidence to support any of this. All of them are possible.” We don’t need to dwell too much on this. What we need to know, we already know – we are not one of those who are excluded. We don’t need to theorize and hypothesize, because we don’t need to know.

This is a very, very important principle in Islam – we should always be practical and know the information that will help us. When a Bedouin came into the masjid and asked the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “When is the Hour?” He came in and interrupted the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam when he was giving a speech. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam kept on going and didn’t give him any attention. The man insisted and asked a second and a third time. By now, the sahabah are upset and want him to calm down. They thought that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is not responding because he doesn’t like the question. When RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was done with his speech, he said, “Where is the one who was asking about the Hour?” He then asked the Bedouin, “What have you prepared for it?” Why do you want to know? You should know the information that will help you. A lot of times, we waste our times on issues that will not benefit us or add to our good deeds. That is knowledge that does not benefit.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “O Allah, we want from You knowledge that will benefit us and we seek refuge in You from the knowledge that does not benefit us.”

The man then said, “I did not prepare for it a lot of fasting and prayer, but I have prepared for it with love for Allah and His Messenger.” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “You will be with the ones that you love.”

How many Times will the Horn be blown?

Some scholars, such as Ibn Hajar and Qurtubi, say that there will be two shouts. One shout that will destroy everything that is living (as sa’aq), and then another shout that will revive everything again (al ba’ath).

Some scholars say that there are three blowings. One is al faza – it will strike fear in all of the hearts. The second is sa’aq and the third is al ba’ath. This is the opinion of Ibn Katheer, Ibn Taymiyyah and some other scholars.

Al Ba’ath wa An-Nushur (Resurrection)

Allah described it and said, “And the trumpet will be blown and behold, from the graves they will come out quickly to their Lord. They will say, ‘Woe to us! Who has raised us up from our place of sleep? This is what the Most Gracious has promised us and the Messengers spoke the truth.’ It will be but a single shout, and behold, they will all be bought before us.”

Notice here – they said, “Who has woke us up from our sleep?” When you are sleeping, the worst thing that can happen is that you wake up in a state of surprise. When you’re sleeping, you want to wake up slowly and calmly. You’ll find that when you suddenly wake someone up, that person wakes up disoriented. Imagine waking up from the graves after a long state of sleep…

They will come out from the graves. What will they see? Mountains exploding; the oceans in flames; the planets knocked out of their orbits; the sun will be just above their heads; the people will be running around them as if they are drunk. They are not drunk, but the punishment of Allah is severe. That is why they will say, “Woe be to us!” Allah is telling us their response.

First, imagine that a child is coming out of the grave. This child died when he was one year old. On the day of resurrection, he comes out and sees the nations of the worlds on their knees; some covered up in sweat. He sees everything else mentioned above. What do you think the response of this child will be?

Allah says in the Qur’an, “How will you save yourselves from a day [if you disbelieve] that will make a child gray-headed?”

The horrors of that day will turn that child’s head gray. That child hasn’t even sinned! What will happen to us – who are insisting on sins and not repenting?

That is the day – yawm al adheem.

How will the Resurrection Occur?

Allah will send down a rain after everything is destroyed and dead. We will grow from our seeds. What are our seeds? RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam told us in a hadith that every part of our body will decompose except for a small part of our body – at the bottom of our spines. That small part will remain intact and that will be the seed we are going to grow from. Allah will send down a liquid from the sky (different from water) and we will grow up from that small seed.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in a hadith in Bukhaari, “Between the two shouts is forty.” RasulAllah was asked, “Forty days?” He did not respond. “Forty months?” He did not respond. He was asked, “Forty years?” Still, RasulAllah did not respond. So we do not know. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that a fluid will fall from the sky and then we would grow up like plants would grow. Everything in the human being will decompose except for ajab udh-dhanab, and that is what the human body would grow out of it.

That is why you will find when Allah talks about the Resurrection, He ties it up with the growing of plants. SubhaanAllah!

Allah says, “And it is Allah who sends the winds so that they raise up the clouds and we drive them to a dead land and revive the earth therewith after its death. As such will be the resurrection.” Allah is telling us to look at the dead earth, and how He revives the plants. This is the exact thing that will happen with us on the day of resurrection.

Who is the first one whose grave will open?

Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, whose grave is in AlMadinah, will be the first one whose grave will open up.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “I am the leader of mankind on the day of judgement and I am the first one whose grave will open on the day of judgement.”

In another authentic hadith, a Muslim had a dispute with a Jew. The Jew said, “In the name of the One who revealed the tawrah on Musa” so this Muslim hit him and started praising Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. So the Jew came and complained to RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Do not prefer me over Musa, because I will be the first one to come out of his grave, but I will find that Musa is already holding onto the throne of Allah subhaana wa ta’aala. So I do not know whether he was included in the ones who were dead in the first blow or not.”

What does this hadith mean – ‘do not say that I am better than Musa’? Obviously, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did say in many ahaadith that he is the leader of mankind. We believe that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is the greatest of all of the ambiya, but RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam does not want us to say that when we are in a conversation with a non believer because we are just putting down the ambiya just to make the non believer upset. The ambiya of Allah belong to this Ummah, not to anybody else. Musa belongs to the Ummah of Islam. That’s why when RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam went to Madinah and saw the Jews fasting, he asked why they were fasting, and they said, “This is the day in which Allah has saved Musa from Fir’awn.” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Musa belongs to us more than he does to them, so we should fast this day.”

We should not go to the Jew and say, “Muhammad is better than your Prophet!” We should not go the Christian and say, “Muhammad is better than your Prophet!” We are putting the Messengers of Allah down; we need to show the respect we have for all Messengers, even though we believe Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is the one Allah chose out of all of his creation.

Allah will Assemble All

Allah will assemble everyone, whether this human was lost in the depths of the ocean or this human being was in the dungeons of the earth. Allah will bring them all together. Allah says: “[...] Wheresoever you may be, Allah will bring you together (on the Day of Resurrection). Truly, Allah is Able to do all things.” (2:148) Wherever you may be – even in outer space – Allah will bring you together, because all of this universe belongs to Allah subhaana wa ta’aala.

Allah says, “We bought them together, we did not leave any one of them.” Even the animals will be included. Allah says, “When the wild beasts are herded together.” (81:5)

Abu Hurayrah radiyallahu ‘anhu says, “On the Day of Judgment, Allah subhaana wa ta’aala will assemble all of the creation: the beasts, the birds, even the insects; everything. And Allah subhaana wa ta’aala will be Just on that day, because His Name is the Just (al ‘Adl). And of the justice of Allah subhaana wa ta’aala, Allah will take revenge for the goat that did not have horns from the goat that did have horns.” In the dunya, it could’ve been that the goat with horns took advantage of the goat without horns and hurt it. Abu Hurayrah said that Allah will take revenge for that goat without horns. After every dispute is settled, then Allah will tell the beasts and animals to be turaab – dirt; and they would turn into dirt. And that is when the non believer would say, “I wish that I was dirt.”

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says in the Qur’an, “And the non believer will say, ‘I wish that I am dirt.’” The non believer will wish they never lived or existed. This non believer who was so careful to save money and live in this money and enjoy himself; he will wish he were dirt. [Just a personal note....we as Muslims care too much for the dunya as well.]

What is the Condition the People will be Resurrected in?

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “You will be resurrected barefoot, naked and uncircumcised.” Then RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam recited the ayah, where Allah says, “[...]as We began the first creation, We shall repeat it, (it is) a promise binding upon Us. Truly, We shall do it.” (21:104)

So Allah is going to return you in the exact form when you were born – naked, barefoot and uncircumcised. Allah will bring you once again in your natural state.

When ‘Aa`isha heard this, she was concerned that men and women are going to be in the same place, naked. [Here is the hadith from Bukhaari of her conversation with the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam:]

Allah’s Apostle said, “The people will be gathered barefooted, naked, and uncircumcised.” I said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Will the men and the women look at each other?” He said, “The situation will be too hard for them to pay attention to that.” [Bukhaari 8/76/534]

Who Will be Dressed First?

We know that people are going to start out naked, but then Allah subhaana wa ta’aala will dress them. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that the first one to be dressed on the day of judgement is Ibraheem [Abraham], the friend of Allah subhaana wa ta’aala.

[You can refer to the hadith of Muslim here.]

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that he will be dressed in a dress from Jannah. Then RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “And then I will be dressed next with a dress from Jannah that no one would have similar to.” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam will be given the best dress, but the first to be dressed will be Ibraheem ‘alayhis salaam. And this is a blessing and uniqueness that Allah has given to Ibraheem.

‘Ard al-Mahshar, the Land of Assembly

“On the Day when the earth will be changed to another earth and so will be the heavens and they (all creatures) will appear before Allah, the One, the Irresistible.” (14:48)

The earth will change. It will not be in the same state. Some of the changes that will happen to the earth:

   1. It’s going to be spread. It won’t be a sphere any more. Muddat means that it is flattened and then spread. On a sidetrack – what is gravity? Gravity is the attachment of objects to the centre of mass. When you have a sphere, it attracts things to it due to its mass. Gravity has a positive relationship to mass. When you flatten this sphere – this earth – will it still have its gravitational force? No; it will lose it. So Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says: “And when the earth is stretched forth, And has cast out all that was in it and became empty.” (84:3-4) When the earth is spread, everything will be released on it; it doesn’t have its mass any more.

   2. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “The people will be assembled on the day of judgment on a wide land that is afraa`.” Afraa` means it is pale; it’s not bright white, but pale white. Naqi’ [a word that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used to describe the land in the hadith] is very fine, pure sand. The soil on the earth will be very pure and fine.

   3. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith that the earth will be pressed and flattened out (imagine how huge it will be), nevertheless, the son of Adam will not have a position except the spot he is standing on. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala will assemble the entire creation – the humans, the jinns, the animals and insects – it will be so crowded that you will only have the spot to stand which is covered by your feet. People will be crowded and pressing against each other on that difficult day.

Descriptions of the Day of Judgment

The Day of Judgment is very terrifying and filled with terror. We’ll mention some signs of the terror of that day; signs for us to comprehend the difficulty of that day.

1: A Day ‘Adheem, Thaqeel wa ‘Aseera

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala has described the day of judgment as a great day and a heavy day and a difficult day. These are descriptions that Allah has given to the Day of Judgment. Allah says: “Think they not that they will be resurrected (for reckoning), On a Great Day (li yowmin ‘adheem), The Day when (all) mankind will stand before the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists)?” (83:4-6) It is a great day.

Allah has described it as thaqeel – heavy. Allah says, “Verily! These (disbelievers) love the present life of this world, and put behind them a heavy Day (thaqeela) (that will be hard).” (76:27)

Allah described it as difficult – ‘aseera. Allah says: “Truly, that Day will be a Hard Day.” (74:9) It will be far from easy for the disbelievers.

2: The Fear that Day

Allah says: “O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) is a terrible thing. The Day you shall see it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling, and every pregnant one will drop her load, and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet they will not be drunken, but severe will be the Torment of Allah.” (22:1-2)

Imagine a mother breastfeeding her child – she would throw him. [SubhaanAllah, you never really appreciate what state of mind she would be in unless you are a mother. A mother doesn’t worry or stress or obsess about anything more than her child.]

There’s so much fear on the Day of Judgment that the oppressors would be staring up, not moving their eyes down, and not even blinking. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says: “Consider not that Allah is unaware of that which the Zalimun (polytheists, wrong-doers, etc.) do, but He gives them respite up to a Day when the eyes will stare in horror. (They will be) hastening forward with necks outstretched, their heads raised up (towards the sky), their gaze returning not towards them and their hearts empty (from thinking because of extreme fear).” (14:42-43)

We ask Allah to give us peace and security on that day. Ameen.

3: Every Man for Himself

All the strong bonds that we have with our family and friends will disappear on the Day of Judgment because of the situation. Allah says: “Then, when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no kinship among them that Day, nor will they ask of one another.” (23:101)

Allah says: “Then, when there comes As-Saakhah (the Day of Resurrection’s second blowing of Trumpet), That Day shall a man flee from his brother, And from his mother and his father, And from his wife and his children. Every man, that Day, will have enough to make him careless of others.” (80:33-37)

4: The Willingness to Sacrifice Anything

A kaafir will sacrifice anything for the sake of freeing himself. That kaafir who wasn’t willing to give Allah in this world will be willing to give the world and everything in it. Allah says: “And if every person who had wronged (by disbelieving in Allah and by worshipping others besides Allah), possessed all that is on earth, and sought to ransom himself therewith (it will not be accepted), and they would feel in their hearts regret when they see the torment, and they will be judged with justice, and no wrong will be done unto them.” (10:54)

Not only are they willing to give the entire earth, but they will be willing to give twice that much. Allah says: “[...] But those who answered not His Call (disbelieved in the Oneness of Allah and followed not His Messenger Muhammad SAW), if they had all that is in the earth together with its like, they would offer it in order to save themselves (from the torment, it will be in vain)…” (13:18)

“Verily, those who disbelieved, and died while they were disbelievers, the (whole) earth full of gold will not be accepted from anyone of them even if they offered it as a ransom….” (3:91) If you had that much gold, you could be willing to give it for ransom. Imagine that we had that much gold in this world – would we give it for sadaqa?

What will happen when we see the reality on the Day of Judgment? That is the problem: we do not see the reality. We are living in a dream. As one of the salaf said, “People are sleeping, and they wake up when they die.” We are in a state of sleep, even though our eyes are wide awake, because we are unaware.

Allah is not asking us for all of the gold in the world. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “A disbeliever will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and will be asked, ‘Suppose you had as much 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).’” [Bukhaari, 8/76/546]

That is the problem – we procrastinate. If you read the Qur’an, you will see that most of the crying and screaming of the people of hellfire is due to procrastination.

The non believer will not only be willing to sacrifice material things. Allah says, “[...] the Mujrim, (criminal, sinner, disbeliever, etc.) would desire to ransom himself from the punishment of that Day by his children. And his wife and his brother, And his kindred who sheltered him, And all that are in the earth, so that it might save him.” (70:11-14) We read these ayaat and are not affected by them. Imagine your children. Imagine there is a burning building with blazing flames, and you throw your children and watch them burn in front of your eyes. I don’t think anyone can even imagine doing that, nevermind anything else. The horror of the Day of Judgment will be such that we will be willing to do even that – and more. We would be willing to give up our parents and everything that we have. By just seeing hellfire for one moment – it will change our state of mind.

That is why the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “O followers of Muhammad! By Allah, if you knew what I know, you would weep much and laugh little.” [Bukhaari, 8/78/627]

AlHasan AlBasri once passed by a man who was opening his mouth and laughing; enjoying himself. AlHasan AlBasri said, “O my brother/nephew [the man was younger than him], Did Allah subhaana wa ta’aala promise you that He will free you from Hellfire?” He said, “No.”  AlHasan said, “Did Allah promise you that He will give you Jannah?” He said, “No.” Then AlHasan said, “Then why are you laughing and enjoying yourself?”

We need to take this issue seriously. If we will be willing to sacrifice our families that day, we need to give that day some effort while we are in this dunya. No matter what we give, it won’t be a lot. It’s going to be a little. That’s why RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in an authentic hadith, “If one of you is being dragged on his face from the day that he is born until the day that he dies, and he is doing that for the sake of Allah, he would view that as insignificant and nothing on the day of judgment.” Not just sujood or dhikr – but being dragged on your face.

The world al-haqq – what was it used with? Death is true; hellfire is true; paradise is true; Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is true.

5: The Length of that Day

Allah says, “…a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years.” (70:4) It is a single day, but its equivalent is 50,000 years. That’s why we ask Allah in the du’aa`: “Make the best day of our days, the day that we meet you.”

That day is the most important of all days. Allah says, “When they see it.” We don’t see it now, so we underestimate it and don’t appreciate it.

Allah tells us in the Qur’an of what happened in the past, and He also tells us of things that are set in the future. When we see the Day of Judgment, what will happen? Allah conveys to us some of the conversation in jannah and in hell.

Allah says, “The Day they see it, (it will be) as if they had not tarried (in this world) except an afternoon or a morning.” (79:46) When we see the day of judgment, we will realize how short the dunya is. Just the morning that day will be like a millennium. We are talking about 50,000 years – 50 millennia! When we see the Day of Judgment, we will think of this dunya as an afternoon or a coffee break. We are giving this dunya more than it deserves. Whether we like it or not – that’s the reality. We claim that we are giving akhirah what it deserves and giving dunya what it deserves. It is true that we ask Allah to give us good in this life and in the hereafter, but make a ratio and give each what it deserves!

Look at the advice that Luqman al-Hakim gives his son: “Serve the world according to the time you are going to spend in it and work for akhirah according to the time you’re going to spend in it.” We are not saying not to work in this world, just give it what it deserves and give the akhirah what it deserves.

“And on the Day that the Hour will be established, the Mujrimun (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) will swear that they stayed not but an hour…” (30:55)

Events of that Day

The Wrapping of the Heavens

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala will grab the earth with His Hand and then He will wrap the sky like a scroll – that is how easy it will be for Allah to sweep up this earth. Remember that we are not talking about the atmosphere around the earth – we are talking about something greater than that. We know there are seven heavens and we live on the lowest one. The scholars and people of astronomy tell us that the stars are billions of light years away – they are all in the lowest heaven. Remember that the measurement is by the speed of light. Imagine that there are stars light years away – so imagine how far they are because the light takes years to travel to us. The closest star to us (after the sun, of course) is 4 ¼ light years away. That is the closest. There are some that are thousands and billions of years away.

Allah says, “Verily! We have adorned the near heaven with the stars (for beauty).” (37:6) To Allah, it is just zeena. This vast creation, that we are struggling to understand, is just adornment to Allah, and on that Day, it will be wrapped in His Hand.

The scholars say that the lowest heaven, in comparison to the size of the heaven above it, is like a ring in a desert. Allah is going to wrap it all in His Hand. We are not able to give right estimate to Allah.

Allah says, “They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand….” (39:67)

What will happen to the earth? As we said, it will be spread – muddat al-ardh.

What will happen to the mountains?

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala also says, “And the earth and the mountains shall be removed from their places, and crushed with a single crushing.” (69:14) Allah subhaana wa ta’aala also says, “And the mountains will be like carded wool,” (101:5) and “And when the mountains are blown away” (77:10)

What will happen to the oceans?

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says two things: wa idhal bihaaru fujjirat (82:3) and idhal bihaaru sujjirat (81:6). The first one means exploding and bursting. Sujjirat means burning. So the oceans of the earth are exploding and also burning. How can that happen to water? Now we have a little bit of understanding of that. All knowledge belongs to Allah. The atoms, like hydrogen or helium or uranium, can be broken up and split, and the result would be a nuclear reaction that would cause exploding and fire. It’s very powerful – it makes a powerful bomb. Imagine this happening to every single atom in the oceans and the sea. [Man, that’s really crazy!] On the Day of Judgment, everything will be blowing up and catching fire around you.

What will happen to as-samaa` – the heavens?

The first thing that will happen is that it will start moving and shaking. In an earthquake, when a building starts shaking, the building will begin to crack and form holes. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says – itha as samaa`un fatarat – “When the heaven is cleft asunder.” (82:1) and “When the heaven is split asunder” (84:1).

The heavens would be moving above your head, and you would see it cracking here and there. Holes will be popping out in the sky; it will crack. Eventually, what will happen is “And the heaven will split asunder, for that Day it (the heaven will be frail (weak), and torn up” (69:16). It will keep on cracking and falling apart until it is frail and weak. Waahiya means frail and weak. And it will start falling apart.

What will happen to the sun, the moon and the stars?

The sun will kuwirat (81:1) – it will be wrapped together; it will lose its light. The moon will eclipse and fall out of its orbit. The stars would be knocked out of their orbits and falling down around us.