The Terror of The Last Day - Sheikh Muhamamd Ali

The Terror of The Last Day

إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا

Allah said in Surah Al-Mu'minun: Until when death comes to one of them, he says, "My Lord, bring me back. Perhaps I will do righteousness in that which I have left behind." No — it is merely a word that he says. وَمِن وَرَائِهِم بَرْزَخٌ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ — and ahead of them is a barrier until the day they are resurrected.

My brothers and sisters in Islam — wallahi thumma billahi thumma tallahi — there is no reminder better than the reminder of Allah. There is no khutbah better than the Quran of Allah.

And the reminder will be beneficial for the believers. My brothers and sisters in Islam, in today's khutbah I have chosen a section of the Quran, especially from Surah Al-Mu'minun — Surah Qad Aflaha Al-Mu'minun — where Allah is informing us about what is going to happen when the inevitable comes.

All of us — Muslims, non-Muslims — we will all agree that one day every individual, every human being, will have to leave this world. Will have to die. But Allah is reminding us: when death comes to you, how are you going to feel?

The Wish at the Moment of Death

Those who disbelieve Allah and the wrongdoers — the people who are not listening to Allah, the Quran, and the Prophet — when death comes to them, what is the wish that they are going to have?

When death comes to us, people will say: رَبِّ ارْجِعُونِ — "Oh my Lord, return me." Why should I return you? لَعَلِّي أَعْمَلُ صَالِحًا فِيمَا تَرَكْتُ — "Maybe I will do righteousness." And what will Allah's reply be? كَلَّا — No. Nay. إِنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَائِلُهَا — this is just a word that he utters, nothing else.

وَمِن وَرَائِهِم بَرْزَخٌ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ — And ahead of them is the barzakh. What is the barzakh? It is the barrier between this life and the hereafter, which is the grave, until they are resurrected.

My brothers and sisters in Islam, instead of having this wishful thinking, we have the opportunity today to listen to Allah, to remember Allah, and to do the best that we can. Allah is telling us all of this to prepare us for what is about to come.

The people who will not do justice to themselves in this life — in the hereafter this is what they will say. But will Allah listen to them and give them a second chance? That is not going to happen. Because Allah has the knowledge of what they would do even if given the chance to come back to this life.

Look at Surah Al-An'am where Allah has said:

When people are brought before the hellfire, they will have this wishful thinking: "Oh Allah, please return us back. Let us do more work, let us do more righteousness." But what will Allah say? وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ — even if they were returned, given a second chance, they would not benefit from it. They would just do the same thing. It is an empty excuse.

When the Trumpet is Blown

My brothers and sisters in Islam, as Muslims we believe that death will come. And when death comes, we will not be dead forever. There will be a day when we all have to come out and be accountable in front of Allah. What did Allah say?

When the trumpet is blown, فَلَا أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَلَا يَتَسَاءَلُونَ — that day, there will be no relationship. There will be no relationship that will remain between us. Allah is telling us: O people, those who are kin to one another, those who have relationships in this world — let me warn you now — when the trumpet is blown, you will have no relationship with nobody. You will be by yourself.

We know that on that day, even the prophets will be saying: نَفْسِي نَفْسِي — "Myself, myself."

My brothers and sisters in Islam, this is the day which is ahead of us. It is a day when your family will not do anything for you. It is a day when your own father will not be able to do anything for you — your own mother, your own brothers.

Today, we fight because of our families. We fight because of our community, because of our party. We do many things that are wrong because of our families, because of our tribes. "I am going to do this haram thing — it doesn't matter, because my tribe wants me to do this." "My business partner wants me to sign a contract which is haram. He's my business partner, I have to listen to him. If I don't do this deal, he will kick me out of the company." "If I don't support my tribe, whether they are doing halal or haram, it doesn't matter to me."

Will they do anything for you when the trumpet is blown? Allah is telling you right now very clearly: be careful. When the trumpet is blown, there will be no relationship.

What did Allah say? وَلَا يُسْأَلُ حَمِيمٌ حَمِيمًا — that day, no one who is dear to you will ask about you. And the people that are dear to you in this life — do you think you will not see them on the Day of Judgment? You will see them. يُبَصَّرُونَهُمْ — Allah will make people see one another. And then what will happen?

يَوَدُّ الْمُجْرِمُ — the wrongdoer, the evildoer, the mujrim — the one who has transgressed — he will wish that day if he could give everything just to save himself. "Oh Allah, take my mother and put her in hell. Oh Allah, take my father and put him in hell. Oh Allah, take all of my family and put them in hell. Oh Allah, take all of my community and put them in hell — just save me from the hellfire." That is what people will wish on the Day of Judgment. He will say: "Oh Allah, take my wife, take my children, put them in hell in my place — and save me alone." Because the hellfire is so severe.

The Description of Hellfire

The description of hellfire is something I cannot fully cover in this khutbah — the time will not allow us. But let me give you just a glimpse. Allah has described the hellfire in so many different verses of the Quran, and the Prophet also described it to us. He told us what the hellfire is going to look like. The Prophet has said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 40, Hadith 6810)

Just imagine, my brothers — imagine the Day of Judgment. Allah is going to bring the hellfire to the people. And when hellfire is brought, what will it have? Hellfire is going to have 70,000 leads — 70,000 ropes connected to it. And each rope, each lead — who is going to pull it? 70,000 angels. That is 4.9 billion angels pulling hellfire and bringing it before the eyes of the people. Otherwise the hellfire would come and consume everyone — whether they are good or bad. So these angels have to hold it back.

And the people who are going to hell — how big are they going to be? The Prophet has told us in an authentic hadith that the distance between the two shoulder blades of a person in the hellfire will take about three days to travel. That is how wide a human being is going to be in the hellfire.

Shaytan might come to you today and say: "If you are thrown into the hellfire, which is 69 times hotter than the fire of this world, you will just diminish and be finished within seconds." Do not think like that. The Prophet told us that a single molar tooth of the people of hellfire is going to be the size of the mountain of Uhud. Look at the proportion of that human being. How big is that human being going to be? How thick is the skin going to be?

This is a day which is waiting for us, my brothers and sisters in Islam. خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ — 50,000 years — one day as long as 50,000 years, when people are standing there waiting for Allah to carry out the judgment.

So what is Allah saying to us?

"My people, let me tell you — when the Day of Judgment comes, you will have no relationship. You will forget every relationship that you have with anyone in this world." We have brothers and fathers here together, uncles and their nieces and nephews, business partners, good friends — but are these people going to help you on the Day of Judgment? Allah said: يَوْمَئِذٍ وَلَا يَتَسَاءَلُونَ — no one is going to ask about you, no one is going to care about you. You will be on your own. No one is going to care for us. This is the day which is waiting for us.

The Scales of Deeds

This is the only thing that is going to save you — فَمَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِينُهُ — the good deeds. If the good deeds outweigh the bad deeds, this is your savior. But the question is: how much good do we do? And how much evil do we do?

Unfortunately, a lot of us will come to the masjid. We will pray in the masjid. But as soon as we walk out of the masjid, what actions do we do? Some of us will just walk back to the café and sit there for six, seven, eight hours. And what are these people talking about? Are they remembering Allah? Are they teaching one another about the Quran and the deen? No. They are backbiting one another. And what did Allah say about backbiting?

We backbite one another, sitting for hours and hours. We go back home and do what — halal things? So Allah is telling us: فَمَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِينُهُ — the only way you are going to be among the people who survive is if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds.

What about if the case is the other way?

If your bad deeds outweigh your good deeds, you become a loser. The fire will burn their faces — those people's faces will become disfigured. Imagine having your lips all the way down to your navel and the other lip going up. Your face will be disfigured.

And then Allah will say to these people:

"My verses — did they not come to you? Were they not read? Were they not recited to you? Was the Quran not recited to you before?"

My brothers and sisters in Islam, unfortunately we come to the Friday khutbahs every week, but we listen and then it leaves from the other ear. It comes through one ear and leaves from the other. A lot of us — as soon as the khutbah is finished and the salah is finished — if you ask them what the khatib was talking about, they will not know. They will have forgotten. Because we are thinking about this dunya. And is this dunya worth anything? It doesn't worth anything.

All of us — most of us — are working so hard to earn this dunya. But look at the companions and how they understood this dunya. Abu Dharr Al-Ghaffari — a man visited his house and saw nothing in it. The man said to him: "Where are your belongings? Where are the things that you should have — the beds, the chairs, the utensils? Do you not have anything in this house?" And Abu Dharr, what did he say? "This is not my house. This is not my real house. My real house is in the hereafter."

Look at the Prophet — the greatest example. How much wealth did the Prophet leave in this world? Today, every father is working so hard, wanting to say: "I want to leave house after house after house for my children. I want to leave millions of pounds for my kids." But where is this going to take them?

أَلَمْ تَكُنْ آيَاتِي تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ فَكُنتُم بِهَا تُكَذِّبُونَ — Allah is going to say to them: "My ayat — were they not recited to you? But you disbelieved? You did not care about it?"

And then what will they say? What will their excuse be?

Allah is telling us this story — how it is going to happen. And when Allah tells us something, it will definitely happen. If we do not believe that, we are not even Muslims. If we doubt a single verse from the Quran, we are not even Muslims. A single ayah, a single letter of the Quran — we cannot doubt it. If Allah says it will happen, it will definitely happen.

What will be the people's excuse? They will say: رَبَّنَا غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْنَا شِقْوَتُنَا — "O our Lord, what has overcome us is our wretchedness." Is that going to be an excuse? That is not going to be an excuse. And they will ask Allah a second time: رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْهَا — "O Allah, take us out of this hellfire. And if we ever go back to it, we are the wrongdoers." And what will Allah say to them? قَالَ اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ — "Remain in there, stay there, and do not even talk to me."

They will call out to Malik, the angel who is in charge of the hellfire:

They will call: "O Malik — can you ask our Lord to finish us off? To kill us in the hellfire and let that be the end of it." And what will be said to them? إِنَّكُم مَّاكِثُونَ — "You will remain there forever."

My brothers and sisters in Islam, this is what is ahead of us. Unless we prepare ourselves for this, we will be among the losers. And inshaaAllah in the second part of the khutbah, we will speak about things related to the first part.

Second Khutbah: Shaytan's Final Speech

My brothers, one of the verses we read today — Allah has said that when the trumpet is blown, فَلَا أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ — there is no relationship. Do you know that even Shaytan is going to distance himself from us? The Shaytan that led us to the hellfire — do you think he is going to admit what mistakes he has made? Do you think Shaytan is going to say: "Oh Allah, it was my fault — let him go to paradise, forgive him"? Do you think Shaytan is going to say that?

The Shaytan that takes us and leads us to wrong things — what will he say?

Shaytan himself will say: "Oh Allah, I have nothing to do with this person. I was not the one who actually misled him. It was his own fault."

And your friends — the friends that we admire today, the friends that we look up to, the friends that tell us what to do and what not to do, that we listen to more than we listen to Allah, His Prophet, and our parents — are these friends going to be your friends on the Day of Judgment? What did Allah say?

The best of friends will be enemies to one another on the Day of Judgment — except those who had piety. If you have a great friend who has piety, that friend is going to be good for you on the Day of Judgment. Because what did the Prophet say? Among the people who will be under the shade of Allah:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Book 5, Hadith 2248)

Two men who loved one another for the sake of Allah — they came together upon that love and parted upon it. Choose a great friend from this world. Someone that you love for the sake of Allah, and someone that loves you for the sake of Allah — not because of your color, not because of your tribe, not because of your community, not because of your wealth. You need to have a great friend who loves you for the sake of Allah, not because of who you are. If you have that friend, you will be under the shade of Allah on the Day of Judgment.

Today, the weather is only about 20 degrees Celsius. Look — all the fans are working, the doors are open, air conditioning is on. But on the Day of Judgment, what are we going to feel like when Allah brings the sun just one mile above our heads? What are we going to feel like? Do you want to be under the shade of Allah? Have a righteous friend. Do not have these evil friends that are all over the place these days.

The Final Speech of Iblis

I will conclude my khutbah today with the speech that Iblis himself will give. Where will he give it? He will deliver this speech inside the hellfire. Do you think Iblis is going to admit his mistakes? Why is Allah telling us this? This is out of the mercy of Allah. Allah has said:

Shaytan will say — when the judgment is finished — to all the people inside the hellfire. They will come to him and say: "It's your fault, it's your fault!" Listen to what he is going to say. May Allah not make us among the people who will listen to his speech — say Ameen.

This is the final speech of Iblis — لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ. He will say to the people: "Allah promised you the true promise, and I promised you — but I did not fulfill my promise. وَمَا كَانَ لِيَ عَلَيْكُم مِّن سُلْطَانٍ — I had no authority over you." Shaytan is going to say this — Iblis will say: "I had no authority over you."

Have we ever seen someone whom Iblis came to and put a gun to his head and said: "You have to commit this haram"? We have never seen that. If Shaytan ever came to you and put a gun to your head and said: "Do the haram — backbite right now, take riba, kill people, steal" — have we ever seen Shaytan doing that?

Shaytan will say on the Day of Judgment: وَمَا كَانَ لِيَ عَلَيْكُم مِّن سُلْطَانٍ إِلَّا أَن دَعَوْتُكُمْ — "I just called you, that's it." فَاسْتَجَبْتُمْ لِي — "And then you accepted my call." فَلَا تَلُومُونِي وَلُومُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ — "Do not blame me — blame yourselves." That is what Iblis is going to say at the end of the day.

If Iblis is going to say that, why bother following him? Why do we want to act like him? Why do we want to be part of his group? Let us be Muslims — let us be good Muslims — those who will inshaaAllah be among the people of paradise.

Because of time, my brothers and sisters in Islam, I will not be able to continue the khutbah. I ask Allah to forgive us, and I ask Allah to make us among the people of Ahlul Jannah.