Events of that Day

The Wrapping of the Heavens

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala will grab the earth with His Hand and then He will wrap the sky like a scroll – that is how easy it will be for Allah to sweep up this earth. Remember that we are not talking about the atmosphere around the earth – we are talking about something greater than that. We know there are seven heavens and we live on the lowest one. The scholars and people of astronomy tell us that the stars are billions of light years away – they are all in the lowest heaven. Remember that the measurement is by the speed of light. Imagine that there are stars light years away – so imagine how far they are because the light takes years to travel to us. The closest star to us (after the sun, of course) is 4 ¼ light years away. That is the closest. There are some that are thousands and billions of years away.

Allah says, “Verily! We have adorned the near heaven with the stars (for beauty).” (37:6)  This vast creation, that we are struggling to understand, is just adornment to Allah, and on that Day, it will be wrapped in His Hand.

The scholars say that the lowest heaven, in comparison to the size of the heaven above it, is like a ring in a desert. Allah is going to wrap it all in His Hand. We are not able to give right estimate to Allah.

Allah says, “They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand….” (39:67)

What will happen to the earth? What will happen to the mountains?

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala also says, “And the earth and the mountains shall be removed from their places, and crushed with a single crushing.” (69:14) Allah subhaana wa ta’aala also says, “And the mountains will be like carded wool,” (101:5) and “And when the mountains are blown away” (77:10)

What will happen to the oceans?

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says two things: wa idhal bihaaru fujjirat (82:3) and idhal bihaaru sujjirat (81:6). The first one means exploding and bursting. Sujjirat means burning. So the oceans of the earth are exploding and also burning. How can that happen to water? Now we have a little bit of understanding of that. All knowledge belongs to Allah. The atoms, like hydrogen or helium or uranium, can be broken up and split, and the result would be a nuclear reaction that would cause exploding and fire. It’s very powerful – it makes a powerful bomb. Imagine this happening to every single atom in the oceans and the sea. On the Day of Judgment, everything will be blowing up and catching fire around you.

What will happen to as-samaa` – the heavens?

The first thing that will happen is that it will start moving and shaking. In an earthquake, when a building starts shaking, the building will begin to crack and form holes. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says – itha as samaa`un fatarat – “When the heaven is cleft asunder.” (82:1) and “When the heaven is split asunder” (84:1).

The heavens would be moving above your head, and you would see it cracking here and there. Holes will be popping out in the sky; it will crack. Eventually, what will happen is “And the heaven will split asunder, for that Day it (the heaven will be frail (weak), and torn up” (69:16). It will keep on cracking and falling apart until it is frail and weak. Waahiya means frail and weak. And it will start falling apart.

What will happen to the sun, the moon and the stars?

The sun will kuwirat (81:1) – it will be wrapped together; it will lose its light. The moon will eclipse and fall out of its orbit. The stars would be knocked out of their orbits and falling down around us.