Ahadith on the Day of Judgment
1. Ibn `Umar says the Prophet said: “Allah (swt) will bring the believer close to Himself, throw a veil over him, and say, ‘Do you remember such and such sins?’ He will reply: ‘Yes, my Lord.’ Thus Allah (swt) will make him admit his sins until the believer will begin to imagine that he is doomed. Then Allah (swt) will say: ‘I screened them from the people in the world. And I shall forgive them today.’ Then the Book of his good deeds will be handed over to him.As for the unbelievers and the hypocrites, they will be ordered to appear right before the eyes of the peoples of the world and it will be said: ‘These are the people who fastened lies upon their Lord. So, let Allah’s curse be upon the transgressors.’”
(Bukhari, Muslim)
Commentary
The hadith depicts, in the strongest of manners, Allah’s love and regard of one who has faith in Him, acknowledges His powers and tries to live by His commands so far as possible for him. However, being human in whose nature it is to sin and make mistakes, he does commit sins. Yet, as soon as he realizes that a sin has been committed, he begins to seek Allah’s forgiveness. Thus, he remains true to His Lord, retaining his position with Him as the faithful servant of a Forgiving Master. Allah (swt) will forgive his sins.
In contrast,the hypocrites and unbelievers deny Allah (swt) His due, do not acknowledge Him as the only God, do not turn to Him seeking His Mercy and Forgiveness, and are rebellious in their nature. Therefore, they shall be treated as what they were all their lives: rebels.
2. Abu Hurayrah (ra) reported the Prophet (saws) as having said: “You will come to me (on the Day of Judgement) with faces, hands and feet shining as mark of ablution. This will be my Ummah‘s identification mark that no one will share with it.”
Commentary
How sad then for those who do not offer the Prayers. They will not even be recognizable to us on the Day the earth will be teeming with trillions of people.
3. Hudhaifa (ra) says the Prophet (saws) said: “My Pond will be wider than the distance between Aila and Aden; and the cups more numerous than the stars. Its drink will be whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. And by Him, in whose Hands is my life, I shall drive away men from it as does the man drive away strange camels from his waters.”1 It was asked: “Messenger of Allah, will you be able to recognize us?” He answered: “Yes. You will come to me with faces, hands and feet shining as marks of ablution.”
Commentary
There could be two kinds of people that will be driven away from the Pond. One who would not be recognizable because of their neglect of the Prayers causing the brightness of the face to fade or disappear, and second, those that would be turned away although they may bear bright faces because of their Prayers but would have committed terrible deeds. Such of them the Prophet (saws) would like to help out, but he will be told that they do not deserve, and he will refuse.
4. Sahal ibn Sa`ad reports the Prophet (saws) as having said: “I will lead you at the Pond (haud). He who passed by me will drink from it. And he who will drink from it will never be thirsty again. Some people will pass by me whom I will recognize and who will recognize me. Then we will be separated. I will say, ‘They are of me.’ It will be said, ‘You do not know what they did after you.1’ I will say, ‘Away with him, away with him, who altered after me.’”2
– (Bukhari, Muslim)
Commentary
- These will either be those who abandoned Islam after the death of the Prophet [against whom Abu Bakr (ra) had fought] or those that brought changes in their religion after him.
- These will be those who followed Musailimahal-Kadhdhab and other such false prophets after the death of the Prophet (saws) and against whom Abu Bakr (ra) waged war.
5. Zir b. Abdullah says the Prophet (saws) said: “The world will not come to pass before the Arabs1 are ruled by a man of my family whose name will coincide with my name.”2
Commentary
1. Arabs have only been mentioned, although non-Arab Muslims are also included, because they are the most important element of the body of Islam.
2. You should know that it is generally believed by the Muslims that near the end of the world a person of the family of the Prophet (saws) will appear, who will take the reins of leadership of the Muslims in his hand and who will establish justice. He will be called the Mahdi and he will appear just before the appearance of `Isa (asws) or, maybe, just after the appearance of `Isa and will help him in his affair with Dajjal and will lead in the Prayers. The ahadith to this effect are recorded by Abu Da’ud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Bazzar, Hakim, Tabarani and Abu Ya`la al-Musali. They are narrated by several Companions such as Ibn `Abbas, Ibn `Umar, Talha, Ibn Ma`ud, Abu Huraira, Anas, Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri, Umm Habibah, Umm Salamah, Thawban, Qurra ibn Iyas, `Ali Hilali and Harith ibn Hamza. The authenticity of the ahadith ranges from sahih, hasan toda`eef.
We state these details because Abdul Rahman ibn Khaldun has stated in his ‘History’ that the ahadith to this effect are untrustworthy. But he was mistaken. Maybe some people are misled by a hadith which says: “There is no Mahdi but `Isa himself.” This hadith, in fact, is da`eef.
The writer of `Aun al-Ma`bud has said that, although most of the ahadith on this subject are weak, some are certainly of no lower status than hasan.
Hafiz Shawkani has said that, in total, there are about 50 ahadith that speak of Mahdi’s advent and 28 reports of later generations. Put together they give the reports the tawatur status.
6. Abu Huraira says the Prophet (saws) said: “Iman is in Yamaan,1Kufr is in the east,2 peace (gentleness and humbleness) is in the shepherds tending goats3 and pride is in those who ride the horses and camels. Masih4ad-Dajjal will head for Madinah. When he will be behind the Uhud mountains, the angels will turn his direction towards Syria. It is there that he will meet with his destruction.
– (Sahih)5
Commentary
1. Although there are various interpretations to the word Yamaan, as to whom does it apply, the preferred meaning is that by it,it the Yemenites who are meant. However, it would apply to those of the Prophet’s time and not to Yemenites of all times.
2. It applied to the Persians of those times.
3. According to a report in Ibn Majah, the Prophet (saws) advised Umm Hani that she tend goats for, in them is barakah.
4. He has been called Masih because he will be blind of one eye (mamsuha).
5. The hadith is also in Bukhari and Muslim.
7. Abu Huraira (ra) says the Prophet (saws) said: “I have been sent with the Day of Resurrection as close at hand, as these.”
– (Bukhari, Muslim)
Commentary
While saying this, the Prophet raised his middle and forefingers to show how close his appearance and the Day of Resurrection are: but, of course, the time-scale applied is not that which we apply to in our lives but to the life of the universe. In those terms, it could be thousands of years. Yet, the comparison gives us the idea that we are at the fag end of the span of life granted to the human beings on earth.
8. `Uthman ibn `Affan (ra) says the Prophet (saws) said: “Three kinds of people will intercede on the day of Judgement: Prophets, scholars and martyrs.”
Commentary
We must remind ourselves however, that all intercessions will take place with the permission of Allah (swt) who will decide about the deserving cases. Also, there is no guarantee that those in whose favor intercession will be accepted will not have first passed through the purgation of Hell-fire. Hence, it is not a clever idea to depend on intercession, although one should not rule it out altogether for oneself.
