Surah Al-Kahf, Ayah 48

The Major Terrors of the Hour

Allah tells us of the terrors of the Day of Resurrection, and the awesome things that will come to pass, as He says elsewhere:

يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَآءُ مَوْراً - وَتَسِيرُ الْجِبَالُ سَيْراً

(On the Day when the heaven will shake with a dreadful shaking, And the mountains pass moving away.) 52:9-10 meaning, they will move from their places and will vanish. As Allah says:

وَتَرَى الْجِبَالَ تَحْسَبُهَا جَامِدَةً وَهِىَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ السَّحَابِ

(And you will see the mountains and think them solid, but they shall pass away as the passing away of the clouds.) 27:88

وَتَكُونُ الْجِبَالُ كَالْعِهْنِ الْمَنفُوشِ

Visualize the Day of Resurrection

The address to everyone on that fateful Day of Qiyamah shall be: جِئْتُمُونَا كَمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّ‌ةٍ (Lo! You have come to Us [ empty-handed, without any of those things you proudly possessed ] just as We had created you at first - 48). A1-Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi report on the authority of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ once gave a Khutbah in which he said, "0 people! On the Day of Qiyamah, you will come walking bare-footed, bare-bodied, before your Lord and the one to be donned with a dress first shall be Ibrahim, peace be on him." Hearing this, Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ asked, 'Ya Rasulallah, is it that all men and women shall be naked, and seeing each other?' He said, "That day, everyone will be gripped by such preoccupation and anxiety that no one will have any occasion to cast a look towards any one - all eyes shall be raised upwards."

According to al-Qurtubi, the statement appearing in a Hadith that the dead will meet each other in Barzakh dressed in their shrouds is not contradictory of this Hadith, because that is the case of Grave and Barzakh (post-death - pre-resurrection state) while the present one concerns the plains of Resurrection. And there are some Hadith reports to the effect that the deceased person will rise on the Day of Resurrection in the dress he or she was buried. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ said, 'Give good kafn (shroud) to the deceased among you because they will rise on the Last Day dressed in these.' Some commentators have interpreted the report as relating to Shahids (martyrs who are buried in their dress). Then, there are others who have said that it is possible that some people rise dressed on the Day of Resurrection and some others, without it. In this way, both kinds of reports conjoin. (Mazhari)

The conditions made available by God in the present world exist merely for the purpose of trying and testing mankind. The moment the period fixed for this trial is over, these conditions will not remain as they are. After this, all the life-giving properties of the earth will be taken away. It will become so barren and lifeless that it will have nothing for anyone to boast about or be proud of. The freedom man enjoys in this world is given to him due to the conditions of trial. But, Doomsday will suddenly bring all this favourable environment to an end. On that Day, in a state of helplessness, people will be gathered before their Lord. All of them will stand before Him to hear His Judgement. God will have with Him a complete record of the life of every person, according to which He will reward some, and punish others. In the present world, there are two aspects of man’s life. In one he is free, while in another he is helpless. If a man were to look at the helpless and humble side of his life, he would turn towards God and develop in himself feelings of devotion towards Him. But, in reality, he looks only at his freedom, and the result is that he becomes negligent towards God and develops an arrogant attitude.