"And fear the day you will return to your Lord" - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

The Last Verse Revealed — A Final Command

The last verse of the Quran to be revealed was the 281st verse of Surah al-Baqarah, according to Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). He said: آخِرُ مَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ — the last verse to be revealed to our Prophet (ﷺ) from the Book of Allah was the statement of Allah:

And fear the day upon which you will return to Allah, and then each and every single soul will be paid in full what they earned in this world, and no one will be wronged or oppressed.

I don't think that there is anyone here sitting in this masjid today listening to this khutbah except that if I was to ask them — what was the first verse of the Quran to be revealed? What was the story behind that first verse? What was the incident that took place on the mountain of Hira? — they would be familiar and aware of that situation. They would know the story, they would be familiar with the incident and the narration of the revelation of اقْرَأْ. But just as Allah began the Quran with a verse and a command to seek knowledge — to learn, to learn about Allah, to learn about the halal and the haram, to learn about the obedience of Allah — then likewise Allah completed the Quran and finished His revelation with another command. And that is a command that most of us aren't so familiar with, aren't so aware of, aren't so cognizant of. And that is that Allah commanded each and every single one of us to fear, to be aware, to prepare and be ready for the day upon which we stand before Him.

That awareness, that preparation — for the Muslim it should be a daily activity. Each and every single day we wake up, and not just once a day but multiple times a day, it should come across our mind, it should be within our thinking, that sooner or later — perhaps today, even tomorrow — we are going to leave this world. And the preparation that we put in for that day, that is the distinguishing factor between the believers and the disbelievers on the Day of Judgment. The difference between salvation and damnation, success and failure on Yawmul Qiyamah, is whether a person either prepared for that standing before Allah, or was completely heedless of it.

And it is from the traps of Shaytan — because of how busy our life is, how busy our existence in this dunya becomes, how distracted we become with all of the other things that we have to focus on, and some of them are duties and responsibilities that we have, that also have an Islamic bearing — but sometimes when we are performing those duties and responsibilities we perform them in such a way that we divorce from them the Islamic concept, we divorce from them Allah and the Prophet (ﷺ). So I am a father, or there is a mother, or you are a son or a brother, or a husband, or whatever you are in your life — that situation that you are in, you are doing duties that you are performing, and inshAllah you are being rewarded for them. But are you conscious, as you are performing those deeds and those actions, that I am preparing for Yawmul Qiyamah? Because the person who stands up and wakes up each and every single morning and has in their mind that I have to prepare for Yawmul Qiyamah — that no matter what else happens on this day, good or bad, ease or hardship, I have to prepare for the standing before Allah — that person is going to approach that day in a very different way to the person who is completely neglectful of that fact.

And that is why the Prophet (ﷺ), in the Sunnah, in a number of our hadith, told us constantly that we should be reminding ourselves of the fact that we will stand before Allah. Remember death, remember the akhira, remember the hawf and paradise — all of those different narrations and their meanings that we have in the Sunnah — so that we are conscious of that fact.

The last command that Allah gave — in the narration, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said that between the revelation of this verse in al-Baqarah and the death of the Prophet (ﷺ) was a month. Others from amongst the scholars of the Tabi'een said 6, 7, 8, or 9 nights. Between the revelation of the verse and the death of the Prophet (ﷺ): Fear the day upon which you will stand before your Lord.

Because if you were to remember Yawmul Qiyamah — and not only remember it but prepare for it, because that is what taqwa is; it is not just to be conscious, not just to remember, not just to be aware, but to actively prepare each and every single day by doing that which Allah commanded and staying away from that which Allah prohibited — every day you prepare for that day when you stand before Allah. Because if you were to read the verses of the Quran that speak about Yawmul Qiyamah and the hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ), you will realize that each and every single one of those events — every single thing that happens from the moment the Hour strikes until the very end when the people of the Fire will go into the Fire and the people of Paradise into Paradise for eternity — you will know that each one of those events in itself is something which is terrifying. Let alone all of it together.

The Terrors of That Day

Let alone the fact that each and every single one of us will have to stand on that day, as Allah says:

On a day its length is 50,000 years. Allah tells us how it starts in the Quran:

O mankind, fear your Lord, for indeed the terror — the striking of the Hour — is something which is extremely great. On the day that you will see it, the nursing mother will neglect her baby, and every pregnant female will miscarry, and you will see the people as if they are drunk but they are not drunk — but the punishment of Allah is severe on that day.

And that is why the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ), because of their proximity to the revelation of the Quran and the Sunnah, and because of their understanding of these concepts — that you have to constantly be aware of them and remind yourself of them — they understood the importance of remembering things like this. Because it sets your direction for that day. It puts into place what is important and what is unimportant. Certain things will come across your path that day, but when you remember that you have a greater goal and a greater objective in this life, and that Allah did not put you here so that you can buy a house or buy a car or anything else — the greatest reason that Allah created you for was His worship — that mindset in itself helps you to navigate through the challenges of life.

The Hadith of 'Aisha and the Three Stages

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is mentioned in the Sunan of Abu Dawud. She said that she was once remembering the Fire, so she began to cry. The Prophet (ﷺ) saw her and he said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud)

"What makes you cry, O Aisha?" And Aisha said, "O Messenger of Allah:"

"I remembered the Fire, so I began to cry." Then she said: "O Messenger of Allah, will you remember your family on the Day of Judgment?" And we know from the Sunnah that there was no one more beloved to the Prophet (ﷺ) than Aisha. She had an amazingly close place in the heart of the Prophet (ﷺ). She is saying: "O Messenger of Allah, will you remember your family on the Day of Judgment?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud)

"As for three stages — three times, three places on the Day of Judgment — no one will remember anyone else."

The first of those stages is when Allah places down the Meezan — the scales — on the Day of Judgment. And if you were to go into the books of the Sunnah and look at each one of those stages, whether it is the placing of the Meezan, or the giving of the book and the record of deeds, or whatever it may be on the Day of Judgment, each one of those in and of itself is a terrifying event.

Because in another hadith — the hadith of Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him), collected in the Mustadrak of Imam al-Hakim — the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

(Mustadrak al-Hakim)

"The scales of justice — Allah will place them on the Day of Judgment. And if you were to place all of the heavens and the earth within those scales, it would be enough." Meaning that that scale is greater than the heavens and the earth in its sheer size and scale. And that is just one thing. Allah says:

And We will place the scales of justice on the Day of Judgment, and not a single person will be oppressed. And even if it is a mustard seed that you have performed of good or evil, We will bring it forth. And sufficient is Allah as one who holds to account.

In the hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) said those three stages in which no one will remember one another: The first is when the Meezan is put down — the scales of justice — until a person knows whether the scale will be heavy or whether it will be light. The second stage is when Allah will give to people their record of deeds, until a person knows whether that record comes to their right hand or to their left hand. And the third is when Allah places the bridge over Jahannam. Those three stages — no one remembers anyone else.

And when the trumpet is blown, then there will be no family ties or kin or relationships. No one will remember anyone else, nor will anyone inquire after another. You will not care about your family. You will not care about your wife or your children. The closest people to you in this dunya — you will have no concern for them. Why? Because Allah tells us:

On that day you will run from your father and your mother. You will run from your brother and your sister. You will run from your children and your spouse. Because each person is only preoccupied with their own selves.

Even the Prophets Will Be Overwhelmed

Even the prophets of Allah (peace and blessings be upon them all) — and they have that station that Allah afforded to them, that station that Allah gave to them, and chose and selected them for over and above all of His creation — the vast majority of them, as we know in that long hadith of shafa'ah, will not go before Allah to intercede on behalf of others. Because we know the Prophet (ﷺ) told us that the people will go to Adam, and they will go to Nuh, and they will go to Ibrahim, and they will go to Musa, and they will go to Isa (peace be upon them all), and ask each and every single one of those mighty messengers of Allah to intercede. But not a single one of them will do so. And each one of them will say: "Today my Lord is so angry. Never has He been this angry before. Never again will He be this angry." And it is only our Prophet (ﷺ) that will take up that mantle of intercession.

The Fire of Hell Being Brought Forth

From that beginning stage of Yawmul Qiyamah, if you were to read all the way to the very end — when Allah will command that the Fire of Hell is brought out — as is mentioned in the narration of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2842)

"On the Day of Judgment, Allah will command that the Fire of Hell be brought forth. It will have 70,000 chains. On every chain will be 70,000 angels dragging it forth." That is the size, the sheer scale, of just one thing on Yawmul Qiyamah.

Preparing Each Day for That Standing

And so when the Prophet (ﷺ), or when Allah in the Quran, tells us to remember that day, to prepare for that day, to be ready for that day — it is something which should be extremely close to our hearts and minds. Each and every single day you wake up — multiple times a day — that thought should be going through your head: What do I need to do today? What do I need to accomplish in order to prepare for that day of Yawmul Qiyamah? What do I need to do in terms of making tawbah? In terms of worshipping Allah? In terms of making sure that my wajibat are fulfilled? In terms of asking Allah's forgiveness? In terms of all of those things that I can do in order to come closer to Allah on the Day of Judgment?

Because on Yawmul Qiyamah, the scales and the way that we measure things are not the same as the scales of Allah. The way that we look at things, the way that we measure people, and the way that we judge one another is not necessarily the judgment and the scales that Allah will be using.

That is why the Prophet (ﷺ) told us in the hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), collected in the Sahihain — al-Bukhari and Muslim — that a man will come on Yawmul Qiyamah; all he did in this world was eat and drink — meaning he is extremely big, weighty, and hefty — and he will be placed on the scale, but he will not even weigh the wing of a mosquito. Because Allah is not measuring such things. What Allah is looking at on Yawmul Qiyamah is your iman and your righteous deeds and the weight of that. So a person will come with a single good deed of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ and it will be heavier than all of their evil deeds. But other people will come with multiple good deeds, but because of a sin that they have performed, Allah will render it all null and void.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2564)

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah that He protect us from the evil outcome. That Allah makes us from amongst those people who are firm upon His tawhid in this life and the next. That Allah gives us the blessings of iman and the reward of iman. That Allah resurrects us in the company of the Prophet (ﷺ). That He showers His blessings upon us. That Allah makes it easy for us — that standing on that day.