The Terrors of the Day of Resurrection - I

27/01/2013| IslamWeb

Evidence of the enormity of the terrors of that day

The Day of Resurrection will be a Day of tremendous significance and immense horror, the like of which mankind will never have seen. Allah Almighty clarified the enormity of its terrors in many verses.

1) Allah, the Most Exalted, described that Day as being great. His description of it as such is sufficient for us to know that it is more serious than we can ever imagine. Allah Almighty Says (what means):

{Do they not think that they will be resurrected? For a tremendous Day —The Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?} [Quran 83: 4-6]

In another verse, Allah, The Almighty, describes it as being heavy and hard; Allah Says (what means):

{Indeed, these [disbelievers] love the immediate and leave behind them a grave Day.} [Quran76: 27]

Allah also Says (what means):

{That Day will be a difficult day, for the disbelievers — not easy.} [Quran74: 9-10]

2) The fear and terror which will befall mankind on that Day will be so great that the mother, who would readily sacrifice herself for her infant will, on that Day, be heedless of him. Pregnant women will miscarry, and people will be like drunkards who have lost their senses; Allah Says (what means):

{O mankind, fear your Lord. Indeed, the convulsion of the [final] Hour is a terrible thing. On the Day you see it every nursing mother will be distracted from that [child] she was nursing, and every pregnant woman will abort her pregnancy, and you will see the people [appearing] intoxicated while they are not intoxicated; but the punishment of Allah is severe.} [Quran 22: 1-2]

Because of the intensity of the terror on that Day, eyes will not be blinking and not looking right or left. Because of their great fear, people’s hearts will be empty, not comprehending anything at all. The Almighty Allah Says (what means):

{And never think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them [i.e. their account] for a Day when eyes will stare [in horror]. Racing ahead, their heads raised up, their glance does not come back to them, and their hearts are void.} [Quran 14: 42-43]

Because of their extreme terror, the hearts of the evildoers will rise to their throats, but they will not come out, neither will they settle back into their places, this is made clear in the following verse in which Allah Says (what means):

{And warn them, [O Muhammad ], of the Approaching Day, when hearts are at the throats, filled [with distress]. For the wrongdoers there will be no devoted friend and no intercessor [who is] obeyed.} [Quran 40: 18]

In some other verses, Allah The Almighty describes what will happen to people’s hearts and eyes on that Day, Saying (what means):

{... They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about.} [Quran 24: 37]

Allah also Says (what means):

{Hearts, that Day, will tremble. Their eyes humbled.} [Quran79: 8-9]

It suffices to know that the hair of the child who has never committed sins will turn grey because of the intense horror of what he will be seeing. This is mentioned in the Quran, in the verses (which mean):

{Then how can you fear, if you disbelieve, a Day that will make the children white-haired? The heaven will break apart therefrom; ever is His promise fulfilled.} [Quran73: 17-18]
3) Blood-ties (bonds of kinship) will be severed on the Day of Resurrection, as Allah, the Exalted, Says (what means):

{… So when the Horn is blown, no relationships will there be among them that Day, nor will they ask about one another.} [Quran 23: 101]

On that Day, each person will care only about himself, and will not think of anyone else.

Indeed, a man will run away from those who are dearest to him, from his brother, his mother, his father, his wife and his sons. Ponder Allah's Words (which mean):

{But when there comes the Deafening Blast. On the Day a man will flee from his brother. And his mother and his father. And his wife and his children. For every man, that Day, will be a matter adequate for him.} [Quran 80: 33-37]

In another verse, Allah Almighty Says (what means):

{O mankind, fear your Lord and fear a Day when no father will avail his son, or will a son avail his father at all. Indeed, the promise of Allah is truth…} [Quran 31: 33]

Allah also Says (what means):

{And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be taken from it, nor will they be aided.} [Quran 2: 48]

4) On the Day of Resurrection, the disbelievers will be prepared to give up everything to save themselves from the punishment. If they possessed everything on earth, they would try to ransom themselves with it.

About this, Almighty Allah Says (what means):

{And if each soul that wronged had everything on earth, it would offer it in ransom. And they will confide regret when they see the punishment; and they will be judged in justice, and they will not be wronged.} [Quran 10: 54]

Even if they had as many times as what is on the entire earth, they would not be able to ransom themselves with it, as Allah Says (what means):

{For those who have responded to their Lord is the best [reward] but those who did not respond to Him — if they had all that is in the earth entirely and the like of it with it, they would [attempt to] ransom themselves thereby. Those will have the Worst account, and their refuge is Hell, and Wretched is the resting place.} [Quran 13:18]

He will be prepared to sacrifice what he has, even if it were an earth full of gold, if that were possible, but Allah will not accept it from him, as Allah, the Almighty, Says (what means):

{Indeed, those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers-never would the [whole] capacity of the earth in gold be accepted from one of them if he would [seek to] ransom himself with it. For those there will be a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers.} [Quran 3: 91]

Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah exalt his mention) said:

“The disbeliever will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said to him, ‘Do you think that if you had an earth full of gold that you would be able to ransom yourself with it?’ He will say, ‘Yes.’ It will be said to him, ‘I (i.e. Allah Almighty) used to ask you for less than that.” [Al-Bukhari]