The Day of Regret - Dr Ahsan Hanif

The Day of Regret — Yawm al-Hasrah

The Slaughter of Death on the Day of Judgement

It is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari that our Prophet ﷺ said that on Yawm al-Qiyamah, when Allah has decreed that all of the people of Jannah will have entered into Jannah, and all of the people of the Hellfire will have entered into the Hellfire, Allah will order that death should be brought forth in between the two — between Paradise and Hellfire. And it will be brought forth in the shape of a ram, in the form of a ram.

And then a caller will call out and he will say to the people of Jannah, "O people of Jannah, do you know what this is?" They will look at this ram and they will see it and they will recognize it for what it is. And they will say, "Yes, we know what it is — it is death." And then that same caller will call out and he will say, "O people of the Fire, do you know what this is?" They too will stop and they will look at this ram and they will recognize it for what it is. And they will say, "Yes, it is death."

Then Allah will order that it be slaughtered. And so that ram that signifies death will be slaughtered. And then it will be said, "O people of Jannah, there is for you eternity and no death."

This hadith of our Prophet ﷺ tells us the significance of that day. And it brings to our attention that Yawm al-Qiyamah is not just any day — it's not just a phase that you'll pass through or a stage that you'll go through — and there will be no ramifications to it.

One of the Names of the Day of Judgement: Yawm al-Hasrah

Allah in the Qur'an gives Yawm al-Qiyamah many, many names. And it is one of those names that I want to focus upon today. That name which Allah gives in the Qur'an to Yawm al-Qiyamah is Yawm al-Hasrah — the Day of Regret.

Often in our lives, we have regrets and remorses. There's not a single person sitting here — doesn't matter how old, how young, how rich, how poor, how educated or uneducated, male or female — everyone has remorses and regrets. Remorses and regrets for things that you've done in the past or opportunities that you've missed: perhaps the course that you took at university, the car or the house that you bought, or perhaps even the way that you've treated those people around you. We have regrets and remorses. Not a single person except that he has some of those regrets sitting here right now.

But in the dunya, we're able to overcome those regrets to one extent or another. If you did something to someone, you can go back and apologize to them. You can make it right. Even if that person has passed away, you can give charity on their behalf. If it's a close loved one that's passed away, you can go and make Hajj on their behalf. There are things that you can do, and at the very least, you can return to Allah and make tawbah. There are ways to overcome these types of regrets and remorses.

But Allah in the Qur'an, when He calls Yawm al-Qiyamah Yawm al-Hasrah — the Day of Regret, the Day of Remorse — it is because that remorse and that regret on Yawm al-Qiyamah is far different to anything that you feel in this life. There is no way for you to overcome that regret on Yawm al-Qiyamah: those missed opportunities, those things that you shouldn't have done that you did, or that you should have done that you didn't do. There is no way to overcome that on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

And warn them of the Day of Regret, when the matter will have been decided, while they are in a state of heedlessness, forgetfulness, and negligence — and they will not believe.

That is the true Day of Regret. If on that day — Yawm al-Qiyamah — you realize that you did not achieve the pleasure of Allah, you did not achieve the forgiveness and the mercy of Allah, you did not achieve Jannah through your actions and your deeds, and you realize on that day that instead you incurred the wrath of Allah, the anger of Allah, and the curse of Allah, and that your abode will be the Hellfire — that is the true regret.

And when we look in the Qur'an and in the sunnah of our Prophet ﷺ, the regrets that people will face on Yawm al-Qiyamah are mentioned and highlighted in different ways and different forms. And it is those regrets that I want to focus on today — because it is from the traps of Shaytan and what Shaytan does to deceive us and lull us into this false sense of security that we are often preoccupied with the dunya and we are worried about the regrets that we have — and perhaps some of them are serious in the dunya as well — but we often forget the bigger picture. We often lose perspective and focus of what really matters. And that is the regrets that you will face on Yawm al-Qiyamah. All of us, alhamdulillah, still have the opportunity to put right those regrets before we face them on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

The Sources of Regret on Yawm al-Qiyamah

1. Regret for Not Having Worshipped and Obeyed Allah

One of them is the regrets that a person will face for not having obeyed Allah, for not having worshipped Allah, for not having come closer to Allah through the good deeds that they should have performed. On that day, people will regret the opportunities that they wasted — where instead of coming to the masjid, for example, and praying and worshipping Allah, or attending a conference or a program, they wasted their time sitting at home in front of a TV, or they went and did something else that didn't bring them any benefit.

That is a regret that people will have on Yawm al-Qiyamah. Allah says in Surah az-Zumar that people will face this regret on Yawm al-Qiyamah and they will say — some people will say on that day — "Woe to us, how we were neglectful of worshipping Allah! Woe to us, how we were neglectful of worshipping Allah, and instead we would mock others." And some people will show remorse and they will say, "If only Allah had guided us, we would have been from the pious." Or they will say — showing regret and remorse when they see the punishment of Allah — "If only we had the ability to go back to the dunya, we would be from the good-doers." On that day, that regret will have no benefit; that remorse that a person shows will have no benefit. Now is the time for that action, not on Yawm al-Qiyamah. It will be too late by then.

The Prophet ﷺ passed by a grave with a number of his companions and he said to those companions, "Who is the companion of this grave? Who is the person in this grave?" So they mentioned it to him — they mentioned to him the person that was buried there. So the Prophet ﷺ said, "By Allah, for him to come back to the dunya and just pray two rak'ahs is more beloved than everything else that is contained herein." Everything in the dunya — all of its beauty, all of its wealth, all of its beautification, all of its adornments — to pray two rak'ahs is more beloved to him than to receive all of that. But then it will be too late. That person won't be able to come back. They won't be able to come and even say a single statement, let alone pray two rak'ahs. But that is the regret and remorse that a person will feel on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

2. Regret for Deeds That Were Nullified

From the regrets and remorses that are mentioned in the Qur'an and sunnah that a person will feel on Yawm al-Qiyamah is that a person does good deeds and perhaps worships Allah or does righteous deeds, but then — because of their own actions — those deeds are nullified and they become void. A person does a good deed, but because within that deed they are showing off and not really sincere in their worship to Allah, that deed is nullified and void. Perhaps a person does a good deed, but because of the arrogance and the pride that they display within that deed, it is rendered null and void. Perhaps another person does a favor to someone, gives them some money, gives them some charity, but then because of the way they treat that individual, Allah takes away all of the reward of that good deed.

That will be a means of remorse — because it's not just about performing good deeds, but it is about preserving those good deeds as well on Yawm al-Qiyamah. And that's why Allah mentions in the Qur'an that on the Day of Judgement it will become clear for them the evil of that which they used to do.

And so from the traps of Shaytan is that even when a person performs a good deed and worships Allah and tries to come closer to Allah, he tries to nullify that deed. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said about the prayer that perhaps a person will pray and they will only receive half of their prayer in reward — meaning because there was only half in which they were attentive. In the other half, perhaps they were showing off, perhaps they were absent-minded, perhaps they were heedless in their prayer, and so that prayer does not benefit them. They do not receive the rewards and the fruits of that prayer, and they will not receive the reward of it on Yawm al-Qiyamah either. That is the regret and remorse that people will have on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

3. Regret for Neglecting One's Family

From the regrets and remorses that people will have is how they will have neglected their family in terms of the rights and responsibilities that were due upon them. The regrets that they will have for their children — that on Yawm al-Qiyamah, if they did not give them the righteous tarbiyah, did not teach them in the proper way about their religion, and they became misguided — some of that onus and responsibility will fall upon the parents, the mother and father, for being neglectful in their duties. Allah says in the Qur'an:

Say to them that on that day there will be losers on the Day of Judgement — those who will lose themselves and they will lose their families. Indeed, that is the greatest type of loss.

That will be a source of regret and remorse, because on Yawm al-Qiyamah even the people who are closest to you — your own parents, your own spouses, your own children, the people who in this dunya would sacrifice life and limb and wealth for your sake — on Yawm al-Qiyamah they will become your enemies as well. They too will want to exact revenge from you. They too will want to only save their own skins and will not care about the relationship that they had with you. It doesn't bother them how close you were to them, how much good you may have done — unless they had iman and taqwa. Rather, they will want to come and free themselves from you.

And so on that day a person will regret being placed in that situation — that their own family members, the people closest to them, will turn to be their enemies. They will be the ones who will demand revenge from Allah. They will want your good deeds and they will want you to take their evil deeds. That will be a source of great regret on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

4. Regret for Keeping Bad Companionship

From the sources of regret and remorse on Yawm al-Qiyamah is that a person in this life surrounds themselves with bad companionship — friends who shouldn't really be kept close to you, people who do not have a positive influence over you, who don't bring you back to Allah, don't remind you about Allah, don't bring you closer to Allah. A person on Yawm al-Qiyamah will have regret because of the companionship that they kept. Allah says in the Qur'an in Surah al-Furqan:

On that day — on Yawm al-Qiyamah — when a person will chew and bite down on their own hands and they will say, "Woe to me, if only I had taken the path of the Messenger. Woe to me, if only I had not taken so-and-so as my close friend. Indeed he misguided me after the remembrance of Allah came to me."

That will be a source of regret — and that is something to ponder over now. The companionship that you keep, the acquaintances that you have, those people that are close to you, that you surround yourselves with: do they bring you closer to Allah or do they drive you further away from Allah? And if there is the latter and not the former, then that will become a source of regret for you on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

The closest of friends on Yawm al-Qiyamah will turn into enemies one to another — except for the people of taqwa, except for the pious. Those people who in this dunya would remind one another for the sake of Allah.

You need companions and friends in the dunya who, when there is a conference going on or there is a lecture or something that will boost your iman, will encourage you to attend. You need friends in this dunya who will come and bring you to the masjid, who will remind you of Allah, who — when you are going through difficult times — will bring you closer to Allah. Those are the types of friendships that you need, and those are the types of friendships that will last even on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

5. Regret for Blind-Following Without Knowledge

From the sources of regret on Yawm al-Qiyamah is that a person does not study their religion, does not know anything about what they are doing, but instead they are blind followers. They follow anyone and everyone that screams and shouts the loudest. They don't know themselves, they have no foundation, they don't know the basics of their religion, don't know the halal from the haram, don't know what is sunnah from what is bid'ah — rather they just follow whoever comes along. That will be a source of regret on Yawm al-Qiyamah if those people that you follow lead you away from the path of Allah. They misguide you, but only on Yawm al-Qiyamah do you notice their misguidance. That will be a source of regret. As Allah mentions in the Qur'an:

Those people who oppress themselves will see on Yawm al-Qiyamah that Allah is the One who has all power — when they see His punishment — and they will realize that Allah is severe in His torment. When those people who used to be followed will free themselves from those who followed them, and then they will be taken to the punishment of Allah and all means will be cut off from them. They won't have any chance, any recompense, any source or recourse to go back to Allah. They won't have any excuse in front of Allah. But because of that, they will be punished by Allah.

And so therefore, every single person on Yawm al-Qiyamah will be their own lawyer. They will have to speak in front of Allah and justify their own actions. It won't be sufficient for a person to say, "I just followed so-and-so without really knowing myself. I didn't bother to research, didn't know what You wanted from me, O Allah. Rather, I just followed so-and-so and that was sufficient for me."

Allah revealed the Qur'an and He gave us the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ to each and every single one of us — not just to the elite, not just to the scholars, not just to the people of knowledge, but to every single person. And so therefore, it is also the responsibility of every single person to learn as much as they can about that Qur'an and sunnah.

6. Regret for Not Following the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ

From the sources of regret and remorse on Yawm al-Qiyamah is that a person on that day will have regret and remorse for not following the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — for worshipping Allah in a way other than that which was dictated and ordained by the Prophet ﷺ, for committing innovations, and so on and so forth. Allah says in Surah al-Kahf:

Say: Shall We not inform you of the people who will suffer the greatest of loss on Yawm al-Qiyamah? Those who were misguided from the path in the dunya, but they thought to themselves that all they were doing was good. That is the greatest form of loss — that a person spends 20, 30, 40, 50 years in the dunya worshipping Allah, thinking that they're coming close to Allah, thinking that they're following the Qur'an and the sunnah, but because of their ignorance, because of their lack of knowledge, because they followed those people that they shouldn't have been following, they will realize on Yawm al-Qiyamah that Allah will render it all null and void — no benefit, no reward. And all of it, even though they thought that they were doing good, all of it will be taken away from them. Those people will experience a great loss.

And that's why the Prophet ﷺ informed us that on Yawm al-Qiyamah, when those people come towards his pond — his Hawd on Yawm al-Qiyamah — those people from this ummah who changed this religion and changed the rulings of this religion, they will be dragged away and taken away by the angels. And the Prophet ﷺ, after trying to defend them, once he learns the sins that they committed and the errors that they made, he himself ﷺ will free himself from them. And he will say, "Take them away from me — those people who changed my religion after I came." And so that will also be a source of great remorse and regret on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

Conclusion of the First Khutbah

So my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the regrets and remorses that we have in this dunya are only a small part of what we will feel on Yawm al-Qiyamah. And from the mercy of Allah is that He has already outlined all of this for us in the Qur'an and in the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — so that we can rectify ourselves, so we can know where we're falling short, and we know what we need to do in order to fulfill those shortcomings. Allah has blessed me and you in the Qur'an and in the sunnah and has benefited me and you from the verses and wisdom in them. I say what you hear, and I ask Allah to forgive me and you and all Muslims for every sin. So ask Him for forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

The Greatest Remorse: The People of the Hellfire

The greatest remorse that a person will feel on Yawm al-Qiyamah is for those people who will enter into the Hellfire for eternity and they will see that death has been slaughtered in front of them, so that there is no hope for them that they can escape from the punishment and the torment of Allah.

Allah mentions a discourse that will take place between the people of Jannah — once they have entered into Jannah — and the people of the Fire — once they have entered into the Fire. And that is that the people of Jannah will call out to the people of the Fire and they will say, as Allah mentions in Surah al-A'raf:

"We have found the promise of our Lord to be true — that which Allah promised us for following His religion, for having tawheed in Him, for following the way of the Prophet ﷺ, for believing and trusting and hoping in Him. We have found all of the promises that Allah made to us — they have all come true in Jannah. So have you also found that the promises that Allah made to you have also come true?" And they will say, "Yes." And so a caller will call out between them: that the curse of Allah is upon the oppressors.

That will be a source of great remorse and regret — when people realize: those people who perhaps in the dunya thought that there is no such thing as Yawm al-Qiyamah, those people who perhaps in the dunya didn't even believe in a God, those people who perhaps in the dunya chose a path other than the path of our Prophet ﷺ — they enter the Hellfire for eternity, that remorse will come to them and that reality will dawn upon them that they are here in the Hellfire for all of eternity.

And then, to expand upon their regret and remorse and to compound it, Allah also mentions that every time they seek some type of solace, some type of retreat from the punishment of Allah, it will be denied to them. And so the people of the Hellfire will call out to the people of Jannah and they will say:

"Give us something from the water that Allah has provided for you, or something else that Allah has given to you — give us something from it." And the people of Jannah will reply, "Indeed Allah has made it haram upon the disbelievers." So even that type of recourse, that type of retreat from the punishment of Allah, will not be given to them.

And then Allah will further compound their remorse and their regret and make it even worse. When they know that they can have nothing from the blessings of Allah, they will seek that Allah should destroy them — they themselves will want demise and destruction. And so they will call out to Malik, who is the gatekeeper of the Hellfire, and they will say:

"O Malik, let your Lord destroy us — let Him just destroy us so that we don't have to face this punishment." And he will reply, "Rather, you will remain here for eternity."

And then, to further increase the remorse and the regret that those people will feel, they will try — as their last recourse — to call out to Allah directly. After all of the different intermediaries and all of the different intercessors have closed the doors in their faces, they will turn back to Allah and they will call on Allah and they will say:

"Our Lord, take us out from this fire. Return us to the dunya, and then if again we deserve to be entered into the Fire, then surely we will be oppressors." They will seek another chance — a second chance. "Let us go back to the dunya, O Allah, and show You what we can do, how we can be righteous, how we can worship You, how we will have taqwa and iman in You." But Allah will reply to them:

"You will remain therein in a humiliated way and never again speak." And so every single door will be closed to them, and it will be prohibited for them to speak again to Allah. So that will be the greatest of remorses on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

A Call to Act Before It Is Too Late

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah has given everyone the opportunity that we should go back, that we should act in this dunya before we come to that stage where we may experience some of those regrets and remorses. When one of us does something here in this life — whether it is to someone else that we love, someone close to us — we make a decision that we regret and we do everything within our power to right that wrong, so that we don't feel that sense of regret and remorse. And often we say that if you could turn back the clock and go back in time, we would change the decisions that we would make.

Allah has already given us a glimpse of the future. He has given us some of the knowledge of the unseen, some of the events that will occur on Yawm al-Qiyamah — so that it is an opportunity for us to act in this dunya before we even reach that stage.

We ask Allah with His most beautiful names and His most lofty attributes that He gives us all the ability to act in ways that please Him, and that Allah grants us His pleasure and His forgiveness and mercy on Yawm al-Qiyamah, and that He does not make us from amongst those people who will experience regret and remorse on that day.