Basic Beliefs of Islam

Chapter 14 : Qiyamat - Doomsday

Qiyamat, resurrection or the day of judgment is the fifth fundamental belief in Islam. The doctrine of Tawhid and resurrection are the most basic concepts of Islam which were emphasized by all the prophets. This is the reason that we find these two concepts in almost all the religions of the world. However, in other religions, the concept of resurrection has been distorted like other teachings of the prophets and only Islam gives correct and accurate information about the occurrence of this great event.

The Doomsday: Why! How! and When!

Why the Doomsday must occur ? How the Doomsday would occur? When the Doomsday shall occur?

These are indeed very pertinent questions. Almost every nation has asked these questions from their prophets. But mostly the questions were asked in sarcastic manner to ridicule the actuality of the concept.

Basically, those who are not capable to understand, why the universe was created, are not qualified to comprehend, why the universe should have an end. But, even those scientists who reject the core concept of the creation, believe in an inevitable occur rence of the Doomsday.

The Holy Quran has answered these and many other related questions about the Doomsday in hundreds of verses. Allama Faiz-i-Kashani, one of the renowned scholar of Islam, has discovered more than 100 names of this great event and said that the significance of each name is that it reveals a peculiar secret about the incident . The most common name of this event is Qiyamah which has appeared 70 times in the Holy Quran.

Different names of Qiyamat

Some other names of Qiyamat which throw considerable light on what will happen on this day are as follows

1 - Yaumul- Hisab: i.e., The day when the final and total accountability of all human deeds will take place.

2 - Yaumul-Akhera: i.e., The final and the last day after which no any other event will occur.

3 - Yaumut- Talaq: i.e., The day when all belongings will be detached from their owners.

4 - Yaumul- Hashr: i.e., The day when all the human beings will gather to know their ultimate fate.

5 - Yaumul-Fasl: i.e., The day when a clear separation between the evil-doers and vir tuous will take place or the day when all existing relationships among humans will be cut off.

6 - Yaumul-Jamaa: i.e., The day when every thing that existed will be brought into account. 7 - Yaumud-Deen: i.e., The day when the final judgment of all affairs with absolute justice will be declared.

8 - Yaumul- Huq: i.e., The day when only truth will prevail. 9 - Yamus-Saah: i.e., The definite time when all of us will be resurrected for final judgment. 10 - Yaumul-Baath: i.e., The day when all dead people will be given a new life. 11 - Yaumun-Nashr: i.e., The day when who were born in this world will rise. 12 - Yaumul-La-yanfaul maal wala banoon: i.e., The day when all material belongings and family relationships will be of no use.

Thus, summing-up the meanings of these words used in the Holy Quran, and connecting it with other facts described in other verses and hadiths, a clear picture of the Doomsday can be visualized.

When the Doomsday will occur ?

Scientists strongly believe that one day the world will cer tainly come to an end but do not know when it will precisely happen. It is vir tually impossible to know the timings of the Doomsday. From the Quran and the hadith, it is clear that the exact timings of the Doomsday is an absolute Divine secret. No one except Allah (swt) knows the time of Qiyamat. Quran clearly tells us, why the time of the Qiyamat is held in secret. "The Hour of Doom is sure to come. But I choose to keep it hidden, so that every soul may be rewarded for its efforts". (20:15)

"They question you (Muhammad) about the Hour of Doom: When shall it be ? (say) you have no knowledge to say anything about it. Allah alone knows when it will come. You are but a Warner for those who fear". (79:42-44) The Doomsday will come suddenly at its own time fixed by Allah (swt). The time is fixed but no one knows it except Him.

"They ask you (Muhammad) about the Hour ( of Doom ) and when it is to come. Say : None knows except my Lord. He alone will reveal it at the appointed time. A fateful hour it shall be , both in the heavens and the earth. It will come suddenly." (7:187) " People ask you about the Hour of Dooms. Say: the knowledge of it is with Allah alone. Who knows? it may well be that it is near at hand". (33:63)

What will be the length of the Doomsday?

No one knows the actual length of the Doomsday. However, we can guess a figure from the reliable data available to us. The Doomsday will cause complete destruction of the universe. There are billions of galaxies in the universe and each galaxy contains billions of stars. Thus, from the size of the universe as well as from the hadiths, it seems that the whole event of Doomsday will take quite a long period of time.

Professor Bashiurdin Mahmood has given an approximate length of the Doomsday. He said that from the Quranic verse 70:4, the minimum length of the Dooms may be as long as 50,000 solar years. But the length of one day of Allah is equal to 1000 solar years (32:5) . In this proportion, the period of Universal Doomsday from the star t to the end may be as long as 18 billion solar years of our ear thly measure of time.

However, this is just a figure based on some reliable calculation. But no one knows the actual duration of the Doomsday. Allah is All- Mighty. He can do everything. He can complete it in 18 seconds or less, and He can spread it in 18 billion of solar years.

Another clue in support of the above calculation is that Allah (swt) has created the universe in six days. These days are not cer tainly the 24 hours days of ours, as the sun and the ear th were not created then. Six days means six periods which may be of billions or trillions of years duration. Thus, as creation of the universe has taken trillions of years, the distraction process can also consume billion years. [Allah knows better.]

How the Doomsday will start ?

The Doomsday will appear all of sudden with a catastrophic big bang. It has been referred in the Holy Quran as Soor. No one knows the actual nature of the Soor. But Quran tells us that the Soor will be a tremendous bang which will spread a wave of terror throughout the universe. "And the day when the Soor will be blown and all who are in the heavens and the earth, will stare in terror, save him whom Allah wills." (27:87)

There will be two Soors:

The First Soor

The Divine Bugle! The Big - Bang - Sound! - The star t of the Universal Doomsday. It will be a horrible event. The whole universe will star t shaking causing to shake everything everywhere. The Quran has called it a 'heavy day ' "Heavy day in the Heavens and the Earth". (7:187 )

An unprecedented and an unexampled condition of sweeping chaos on a cosmological scale will grip the entire universe. The residents of planet ear th will experience tremendous turbulence of whole-earthquake, that has never occurred before in the entire history of mankind. Then a chain of disastrous events will occur one after the other destroying the whole universe. Every living creature living anywhere in the universe, including the Angel of Death and the Angel who will blow the Soor, will finally die.

"Every thing that exists will perish, except the Face of your Lord, Full of Majesty, Bounty and Honor". (55:26-27)

The Secound Soor Resurrection Day :

Allah will then command the blowing of the second Soor by His will for resur rection of the dead souls. The second Soor will bring the new order of creation. Allah will create a new universe much larger than the present one and the most beautiful one. This will be the fulfillment of the promise of Allah Subhanahu taala, made in the Holy Quran.

"He will surely repeat the creation of the universe again" (21:104) The new world will be unimaginably different (but with some resemblance also) in all respects viz. shape, size, climate, laws and living conditions. "On that Day when the earth will be changed into another earth and the heavens (they will also be changed)" (14:48)

An Important hadith about the initiation of the Doomsday. Some one asked a question to Imam Zainul-Abideen (as) about the duration between the two soors. Imam replied: "As much as Allah would please."

Then Imam was further asked by the same person about the nature of the soor and how it

would be blown.

Imam replied: "So far as the first blowing is concerned, verily Allah will command angel Israfil to come down towards the earth to blow the Soor. The Trumpet will have one mouth-piece and two tubes. The space between the two tubes will be like the distance between the sky and earth.

When the angels will see Israfil descending towards the ear th with his Trumpet, they will say: Verily, Allah has ordered the inhabitants of the earth to die, and the inhabitants of the heaven to die.

Then Israfil will bump into it, and the voice will come out from that tube which is towards the earth side. All living beings on the ear th will die. And the voice will come out from that tube which is towards the heaven side, and all living beings in the heaven will die, except Israfil. Then Allah will say to Israfil: "O Israfil, Die. and he will die."

Then they will remain in this condition as long as Allah would wish. And His ARSH will retur n upon the water, as it was in the beginning, independent with His Majesty and Power. At that time, Allah will create a very loud voice which will reach in every part of the heavens and the earth, saying: Whose is the Kingdom this day? No one will answer as there will be none alive.; then Allah will answer Himself creating a loud voice: It is of Allah, the One, the Irresistible (Quran 40:16).

The One Who created all the creatures and gave them death; verily, I am Allah, there is no god except I alone, there is no par tner for Me nor any minister; and I made the creatures by My hand (power) and I made them die by My Will; and I shall resurrect them by My power. Then Allah will cause the second blowing of the Trumpet; the voice will come out from the side which is towards the Heavens, and all inhabitants of the heaven will become alive. and will take their previous positions, and then all people will be gathered for reckoning."

While Imam was saying all this, he was weeping profusely. [Bihar-ul-Anwar, vol. iii] The important part of the Imam's narration is the eventuality of the whole episode, i.e., when all living creatures in the universe i.e. both, the inhabitants of the earth and the heavens will die by the order of Allah, and then Allah alone will sustain His Arsh and will create a loud voice saying, There is no god but Allah. This would be an absolute affirmation that,

He is the sole creator of everything, and He is alone and absolutely one, He has no partner, no Prime Minister, no father and no son, and there is no god of any kind but Allah, and there is no power other than Him who can create and destroy.

Absolute silence other than His one voice is an absolute proof of His absolute oneness. The scientific clues of the Doomsday - From Big-Bang to Big-crunch. Scientists can explain how and why the Doomsday would occur. As the Big-bang theory explains how the universe came into existence, the Big Crunch theory explains how the universe will come to an end.

Scientists believe from observing the red shift in distinct galaxies that the universe is currently expanding. According to Einstein theory, the universe has a finite volume and finite number of hydrogen atoms. At some time in the future, no one knows when, the expansion of the universe would stop. The galaxies which are now receding from one another will star t to approach towards each other and finally they will star t colliding with each other. As there are more than 100 billions of galaxies, billions of collisions will occur one after the other - that is how the scientists believe in the occurance of the Doomsday. The Holy Quran confirms it.

"All that is there will perish, except the Countenance of your Lord, Full of Majesty and Bounty and Honor." (55:26-27) The Big Crunch will be like the Big Bang in reverse. At present the universe is expanding, but it is being observed that the rate of expansion of the universe is gradually slowing down. This shows that the time of the Doomsday is approaching nearer and nearer.

Quran warns:

"Closer and closer to mankind comes their reckoning, yet they heed not and they run away." (21:1)

This verse is a dire reminder to all the inhabitants of the ear th that the Doomsday is not too far but is gradually approaching its appointed time. "Every event has its appointed times." (54:3).

The possible scientific explanation of the Doomsday in the light of the Holy Quran has been described by a renowned Muslim scholar Professor S. Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood in his monu- mental book Doomsday and Life after death. We shall take relevant material from his book.

Why the Doomsday will be indescribably a horrible day?

The earth is a planet out of the nine planets of the solar planetary system. The sun is one star out of billions of stars in the Milky Way. The Milky Way is just one galaxy out of billions of galaxies floating in the universe.

There are more than 200 billion [200,000,000,000,000,000,000.] stars in the universe. Many of these stars are bigger than the sun. The sun is only a medium-sized star, but its diameter is more than 100 times the diameter of the ear th. The Doomsday will be a universal event in which billions of galaxies and their trillions of stars along with their planets, satellites and all other kinds of heavenly bodies will collide with each other and will ultimately come to an end with high explosion.

Both, Quran and science explain, how all this will happen in a chain-reaction immediately after the Soor is blown.

A star is a huge ball of gas. The sun is also a star like other stars in the sky. It looks different from other stars in its size and brightness because it is the only star which is very near to our earth - 150 million Km. The other billions of stars are so far away that they appear to be like phosphorescent dots. We can hardly imagine the great size of these stars. They look like the tiny dots of light because they are billions of kilometers away from us. For example, the nearest star - other than the sun - is more than 40 million million kilometers away. The fastest

Jet would take a million years to fly that far. But even this great distance is only one-billionth the distance to the farthest stars. Stars produce nuclear energy by changing hydrogen into helium through a series of nuclear reactions. This is just like the explosion of atom bomb.

Billions and trillions of atoms are exploding every second in sun and in other stars producing tremendous amount of energy. It is a great mercy of Allah Subhanahu taala and His Hikmat that He equipped the light to travel without a material medium but did not fit out the Sound Waves to travel in this way. Thus, by His mercy, the residents of earth receive only light from sun and not the horrible sound of nuclear reactions.

The First Soor

The great natural events that will occur on the planet ear th and in other parts of the cosmos will start with the Soor - The Divine Alarm. It would be a bugle raised by a special angel - Hazrat Israfeel, who has been appointed by Allah (swt) to declare the Doomsday. The bugle will be an indescribably high - pitched sound which will be heard by everyone as if it were near and will make all resident of the earth instantly unconscious for some time.

A series of earthquakes of extremely high intensity, massive volcanic eruptions on earth, and gigantic thermonuclear explosions in the solar system and in other heavenly bodies will combine to bring the following chaotic changes in the universe.

"One Day We shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the earth as a level stretch, and We shall gather them, all together, nor shall We leave out any one of them.[18:47] Other Quranic Reference :

[18:49, 20:102, 23:101, 27:87, 30:25, 36:51, 38:51, 39:68, 50:20, 50:42, 69:13, 74:8, 78:18, 79:13-14.]

1 - The loudness of the Sound of the Soor will make everyone in the heavens and the earth unconscious.

Sound is produced by vibrations of cer tain object. The intensity of a sound depends upon the amount of energy flowing in the sound wave. At a given frequency, the more intense a sound is, the louder it seems. Sound of 140 decibels produce severe pain in the ear and can damage the tissues. A supersonic jet airplane creates shock waves which is 130 decibels at close range. No one can imagine the intensity of the Soor and its immense vibrational pressure. The loud noise, known as a sonic boom, of the Soor will sweep over the vast universe. All who are in the heavens and ear th shall fall down fainting except those who will be spared by Allah's mercy.

"On that day the Trumpet shall be sounded and all who dwell in heavens and earth be seized with fear, except those whom Allah will be pleased (to exempt). All shall come to Him." (27:87)

Other Quranic Reference :

[22:2, 52:45 27:87, 39:68,] 2 - The earth will burst and will be leveled flat.

It is more likely to happen due to bursting of the ear th's interior explosive materials. There are millions of tons of molten lava inside the ear th. According to the modern geologists, the earth is gradually contracting since its beginning. As the ear th is constantly contracting, its internal pressure is also continuously rising. At its climax, when it can no longer hold back its internal pressure, the earth will explode like a bomb. This theory is supported by the Holy Quran.

"See they not ? How We are reducing the earth gradually, from all its sides."( 13:41) As the Quran has told us 1400 years ago, the modern geologists have also reported in their recent findings that the earth has been shrinking in size since it came into existence 4.5 billion years ago. This shows that like living species, the earth is also approaching its end with its age.

· "They wait not but one blast, which will surprise them, while they are disputing." (36:49) The continous powerful earthquake can also level the earth. Earthquake greater than 8.5 on Richter scale can level the skyscrapers and huge mountains. A severe ear thquake may release energy 10,000 times as great as that of the first atomic bomb. Rock movements during an earthquake can make rivers change their course.

Quranic Reference :

[ 36:51, 50:44, 54:7, 70:43, 79:13, 82:4, 99:6, 100:9, 18:4, 84:3,84:4-5,99:2]

3 - The gigantic mountains will fly like dust particles. Massive earthquake, volcanic eruptions, and continuos showers of meteorites will grind the huge mountains into pieces.

Prof. SB Mahmood gives some other explanations of how the gigantic mountains like Himalayas and Kilimanjaro will become like carded wool.

According to him, this is likely to happen due to the increased centrifugal forces acting on the body of the earth. The increase in the magnitude of centrifugal force will be due to the increasing speed of rotation around the axis and on its orbits. First the mountains will break apart, and then, they will be thrown around like the projectiles from a potter 's vessel. Another possible explanation rendered by him is that the ear th may explode like a powerful bomb by its massive internal pressure.

"The mountains which you see to be firm will pass away like clouds. Such is the Might of Allah, Who has rightly perfected all things. He has knowledge of all your actions". (27:87) Quranic Reference :

[18:47, 20:105-107, 27:88, 52:10, 56:5-6, 69:14, 70:9, 72:10, 73:14, 77:10, 78:20, 81:13, 101:15.]

4 - Vigorous shaking of the earth.

Vigorous shaking of the earth may be caused due to the combined effect of powerful earthquake, disturbance in the gravitational equilibrium of the ear th - sun - moon and other planets in the solar system.

It is possible if a giant asteroid or any other heavenly body of a extremely large mass strikes the earth and pushes it out of its orbit. The ear th will start shaking vigorously as a result of being hit by the massive asteroids and also due to the expulsion from the orbit. Ground shaking by the normal earthquake causes huge structures to sway from side to side, bounce up and down, and move in other violent ways.

"One Day We shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the ear th as a level stretch, and We shall gather them, all together, nor shall We leave out any one of them". (18:47) "When the earth is shaken with a (violent)shock, and the mountains crumble away and scatter abroad into finest dust". (56:4-5)

Quranic Reference :

[22:1, 56:4-5, 18:47, 73:14, 79:6-7, 99:1.]

5- All oceans will boil and catch fire.

The fire in oceans has been scientifically explained by Prof. S.B Mahmood in two ways.

1 - Violent release of red hot lava beneath the sea due to the volcanic activity. 2 - There is a large amount of hydrocarbon in the interior of the ear th. As it is highly explosive in nature, it can easily catch fire beneath the sea beds during the massive ear thquakes.

When it happens, the oceans will become the fireballs.

Also, an earthquake on the ocean floor can ignite the under-sea-petroleum reservoirs, which on explosion can cause fire in the oceans.

Quranic Reference : 81:6, 82:3-4 6 - The earth will pour out its entire contents.

This may be the result of ear thquakes and volcanic eruptions. Earthquake usually begin deep in the ground in a range of 70 to 700 kilometers beneath the surface of the earth. Powerful earthquake will throw out the contents of the ear th with pressure.

"When the earth is expanded and casts out all that is within it and becomes empty, obeying its Lord as it must do". (84:4) Quranic Reference : [99:1-2, 84:4-5, 99:3, 99:4-5,86:9, 100:10. 7 - The earth will be pounded and pounded again and again.

The earth is revolving around the sun in its orbit and also spins on its own axis. The centrifugal force and electrostatic force keep the earth in equilibrium. The disturbance in these forces will cause imbalance in the ear th's motion.

Quranic Reference :[56:4,69:14,89:21] 8- The normal atmosphere of the earth will be filled with suffocating smoke. The combined effect of massive volcanic eruption, gaseous material from the heavenly bodies and the bombardment by meteorites may fill the ear th's atmosphere with dust, porous glassy matter and mixture of gases.

Volcanoes release gases like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide and water vapors. These volcanic gases go up to the 15 kilometers height in the stratosphere. "Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke (or mist) plainly visible".

The Holy Prophet said:

"Dukhan refers to the smoke which will be seen on the day of judgement." This is a warning to those who reject the true faith. They will see smoke every where on the day of reckoning. It will envelop them as a grievous penalty.

Quranic Reference : [44:10-11] 9 - The sun, planets and the moon will collide with each other. There are many possible explanations.

1- All heavenly bodies are floating in their respective orbits under the influence of gravitational and other kinds of forces. The disturbance in the equilibrium of these acting forces will bring the heavenly bodies out of their orbits. Inevitably they all will start colliding with each other.

2- After the sun becomes a red giant, it may explode and the debris may be blasted into space.

3- The sun and its planet are in equilibrium. When the nuclear fuel of the sun would be exhausted, the planets including our ear th will fall into the sun.

"When the Sun is folded up" (81:1) Quranic Reference : [84:4-5, 99:2-3, 75:8, 75:9. 44:10-11] 10 - The dazzling light will blind the eyes. "So when the sight becomes dazed". [75:7] 11 - The galaxies will be split asunder. Once the precise equilibrium of the universe is disturbed, billions of stars and planets will crash into one another filling the space with gases. "A day, when the heaven splits asunder, with a dazzling white cloud, and the angels ascend in continuos stream." (25:25)

Quranic Reference: [25:25, 55:37, 69:15, 73:18, 77:9, 78:19, 82:1, 84:1-2.] 12 - The stars will disintegrate and will be scattered into dust balls. In the receding universe, stars, embodied in white hot space will star t to boil, then explode. The stars will disintegrate and their atoms will be smashed to pieces.

Quranic Reference: [77:8, 81:2, 82:2,70:8, 55:37]

13 - The galaxies will shake vigorously and the entire space will be filled with gaseous material.

It would be the scene of a contracting universe. Galaxies will be full of turbulence as the stars would be crashing into each other, spewing out hot plasma gases, space filling up with smoky radioactive particles, the skies littered all round with the radioactive debris.

Thus, when clusters of galaxies containing billions of stars will collide with each other, the entire space will be filled with their radioactive gaseous materials by nuclear blasts. Quranic Reference: [52:9, 44:10, 39:68]

14 - The stars in their galaxies will be rolled back like the scroll of papers. According to the modern cosmological theories, the present universe is not open but closed one. This precisely means that the universe has a beginning and eventually it would come to an end. This phenomenon of creation and then annihilation is described as cosmological expansion and contraction.

Quran also tells us that there was a time when Allah (swt) created the universe, gave a full course of its evolution, and finally He will fold it back. Allah Subhanahu taala will then recreate a new more larger and magnificent open universe which will never end.

"Remember the Day When We shall roll up the Heavens As a Recorder rolls up a Scroll:

Likewise We began the First Creation, Surely, We are going to repeat it" (21:104) Quranic Reference: [21:104, 39:67] 15 - The whole universe will collapse and will take a new shape. The universe will be shrinking more and more. Finally the cosmic contraction will end into an uncontrolled implosion, Big-Crunch, setting the stage for a re-beginning. Quranic Reference: [14:48, 55:26]

Thus, these were some of the conditions of the Doomsday, but no one can imagine its full destructive nature. In one verse of the Holy Quran, the condition of the men at the initial occurrence of the Doomsday has been pictured as;

"O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him. Verily, the earthquake of the Doomsday is a terrible event. The day you shall see it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling, and every pregnant mother will drop her load, and you shall see mankind reeling like drunkards although not drunk ; but dreadful will be Allah's chastisement." (22:1-2)

Thus, the First Divine Doomsday bugle - will envelope the entire universe and will shake the billions of galaxies at once. Everyone in the heavens and the earth will die except what Allah wills. The whole course of destruction of the universe might take billions of years.

The Second Soor

1 -The Second and the last soor will bring the new world into existence. [17:51] 3- The Resurrection Day Begins ! All men will be brought into life and will be assembled in groups and nations. Each group will attend the Divine Cour t with his Imam. Every event

recorded or not recorded in the history of the previous world will be discussed with the highest accuracy and with all minor and major details. Allah, The Master of the Day of Judgment will give His final judgment.

Quranic Reference :

[53:47, 2:28, 2:73,2:222-259-260, 4:7, 18:48, 6:36, 60, 7:14, 7:24, 7:36, 16:21, 21:104, 22:5, 23:16, 26:81, 27:65, 30:14, 30:19, 31:28, 36:52,37:144, 38:79, 42:9, 58:6-18, 64:7, 67:15,71:18, 72:7, 78:18, 83:4-6, 89:25, 99:6,45:28, 101:9.]

All Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus and atheist scientists strongly believe that the world is not a permanent place to live. A day will come when the whole solar system will collapse. According to the modern astronomical findings, the sun has passed 4.5 billions years of its age and has another 4.5 billions of years to live. But ultimately the sun will also die like many other stars in the galaxy.

It is not very difficult to perceive the concept of the Doomsday. We know that the usual small scale Doomsday have occurred several times in the universe.

Astronomers know very well that a large number of stars die somewhere in the universe at all times. Similarly, the earthquakes and natural disasters frequently occur on the earth. Doomsday would be just the universal disaster with total collapse of the cosmos. However, only Islam gives the most precise picture of the Doomsday and its purpose. Islam teaches its adherents to do all the necessary preparations to escape from the horrors of the Doomsday.

Both, creation and the destruction of the universe is according to the Divine planning. Neither the universe came into existence accidentally nor it will be destroyed by any accident. "We have not created the heavens and the earth, and all that lies between them but with a purpose, according to a pre-fixed measurement. [Quran - 46:3]