Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, to Him belong the endowments and proper commendations. May Allah increase the honor of Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, raise his rank, and protect his nation from what he fears for it.
Thereafter, it was said:
The beginning of the Day of Judgment is the rising of the humans out of their graves. This is why the Day of Judgment is called the Day of Qiyamah, meaning “The Day People Rise Out of Their Graves.” The first person to be resurrected is Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam; then the people of Makkah; then the people of Al-Madinah; then the people of Ta’if. They will be the first people to be resurrected with our Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam.
Even the animals will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment. However, after they get their rights they will be turned to dust. The animals are neither rewarded with Paradise, nor are they tortured in Hellfire.
The people will be gathered on this same Earth; but it will be changed. This Earth will be changed, but not destroyed. It will be flat with no mountains or valleys. The mountains will become like dust. It will be white like silver with no landmarks.
When the people have been resurrected and gathered on the changed Earth, the sun will be much closer to their heads, as narrated by the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, in a sahih hadith narrated by Imam Muslim in his “Sahih”, at-Tirmidhiyy in his “Sunan”, and others.
The Prophet, Sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said that on the Day of Judgment, the sun would be closer to the slaves, about one or two miles away. This word “mile” may be something other than the distance we use to measure. Nevertheless, it means that the sun will be very close to people.
Our Prophet said that some of the people on that Day would be very affected by the sun. They would sweat profusely. The sweat of some will cover their feet. The sweat of others will reach their knees. For some it will cover their whole lower body. Some would have their sweat reach their mouth. The level of sweat increases with the level of sinning. Each will have his sweat unmixed with the sweat of others.
With the sun so close, some of the people will be shaded and will not be hurt by the sun. These are the Prophets and their pious followers. They will be shaded under Al-^Arsh, the largest creation. In a hadith, Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, tells us about seven kinds of people that will be shaded from the sun by the ^Arsh on the Day of Judgment. They will be on shining high places on the Day of Judgment. The seven kinds are:
- The just ruler. Despite being in a position of power over people, he controls himself and is just with the people.
- The one who grows up adhering to the obedience of God and stayed away from sinning even when young.
- The one who is attached to the mosque. It is hard for the person to overcome his bad inclinations and come back to the mosque for every prayer. The one who overcomes his weaknesses and loves to come to the mosque for every prayer reaches a high status.
- The people who love each other for the sake of God. They advise each other to do good deeds and to leave the bad deeds. They come together for the sake of God and leave each other for the sake of God.
- The one who is called to fornication by a woman of high social status and beauty and says, “I fear God. I will not do that.”
- The one who pays charity in secret, to the extent that his left hand does not know what his right hand does.
- The one who mentions God when he is alone and cries out of fearing Him.
The Prophets and martyrs will feel delighted for these people due to their special status and the endowment they get.
In Al-Bukhariyy’s “Sahih” and At-Tirmidhiyy’s “Sunan”, the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said that the people on the Day of Judgment would be gathered like they were first created; without shoes on their feet, without clothes covering their bodies, and uncircumcised. However, some people, like the Prophets, will not be naked. The people would have the same parts of their body that they had when they were born. The Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, recited a verse of the Qur’an that means, “Just as God created the people at the beginning, God will recreate them.” God said that and this is what shall happen.
The first one to be clothed among the people will be Prophet Abraham. When we say, “clothed”, it does not mean that before that Prophet Abraham would be resurrected with his area between the navel and knees bare. Instead it means that he will be the first to receive special clothes. The Prophets will not go through a stage of being naked on the Day of Judgment.
According to a saying there are two basins. One basin is before crossing the bridge, and the other is on the land after crossing the bridge. Our Prophet said that some people that he knew to be his Companions would be drawn away from the first basin. The angels would draw them away from it. The Prophet would say, “O God, these are my Companions.” The Prophet would be told, “O Muhammad, you do not know what they did after you. After you died they apostatized, leaving Islam.” The Prophet would then say, “What a low grade is the grade of the person who apostatizes after my death.”
After the Resurrection, the Questioning and the Presentation of the Deeds will begin.
May Allah make us among the pious people who will be shaded by Al-^Arsh on the Day of Judgment. Ameen.
