Ahadith on the Condition of People on the Day of Judgement
I. Abu Huraira (ra) says the Prophet (saws) said: “People will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement in one of the three states: those who will be walking, those riding, and those who will walk on their faces.” It was asked: “How will they walk on their faces, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “He who has made them walk on their feet has the power to make them walk on their faces. By God!It will be with their faces that they will maneuver every hedge and thorns.”i
~ Tirmidhi
Notes:
i. Those walking will be the common believers, while those riding will be those who had devoted their lives to purity and godliness, striving to establish the religion of God on earth through personal example.
Those walking on their faces will be the unbelievers. And by saying that it will be with their faces that they will maneuver the hedges and thorns, the Prophet meant, perhaps, to emphasize that such walking on the faces will be real and that it was not a simile he had drawn.
II. Abu Hurayra (ra) says the Prophet (saws) said: “No one dies but he regrets.” They asked him: “And what is it that they regret about, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “If he was a pious man, he regrets he did not do some more good things. And if he had been an evil man, he wishes he had restrained himself.”
~ Tirmidhi
III. `Adiyy b. Hatim (ra) says the Prophet (saws) said: “There isn’t one of you but he will soon speak to his Lord, face to face, with no interpreter nor a veil in between –for him to veil himself. The man will look left and will not see but the deeds he had forwarded. When he sees in front of him, he will not find anything but Fire.
iiSave yourselves, therefore, from the Fire – even if it has to be with a piece of date.”iii
~ Bukhari, Muslim
Notes:
ii. As against the wishful thinking of many a people, both Muslims as well as followers of other religions, that someone will intercede on their behalf and save them from perdition, the hadith emphasizes that every individual shall be answerable for his own deeds. Individual responsibility is a corner stone of Islamic beliefs and system of life it offers.
iii. By saying, “save yourself from the Fire, even if it were be with a piece of date,” what the Prophet meant is that no effort should be spared to save oneself from the Fire.
Even an insignificant deed such as giving a piece of date in charity is going to make a difference. It will, at least, lessen the intensity of the heat. Therefore, a Muslim ought to remain all the time conscious of the Day when he will stand before his Lord, alone, with no one to help him but his deeds, and live a life of obedience of God’s commands revealed through the Qur’an and Sunnah.
IV. Anas (ra) reports the Prophet (saws)as having said: “Allah is not unfair to man. When he performs good deeds, he is rewarded for it both in this world as well as in the Hereafter. Whereas, when an unbeliever does a good deed for the sake of God, he is rewarded for it in this world itself and has nothing for himself in the Hereafter.”
iv
~ Muslim
Notes:
iv. The true and complete reward for the deeds of the people is actually to be awarded in the Hereafter: if good deeds, then good rewards, and if evil deeds, then evil rewards.
However, the rewards of the good deeds of a believer begin to be given here itself in the form of good health, protection from calamities, obedient children, etc. The final reward will be in the Hereafter.
As against him, the man who does not believe in One God, naturally addresses his good deeds to the gods he believes in. This is what is meant by the words in the hadith,“good deeds (of the unbeliever) done for the sake of God.”
Such a person does not believe in the truths of the Hereafter where he will meet with no one but the Lord of the Worlds, the only God, who can reward for any deed carried out for His sake alone. However, since there is no injustice with God, the efforts of such a man bear fruit in this world itself.
