The Final last Hour

Arrival of Final Hour

A moment will come when every living thing will cease to exist. All forms of life will end. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala says, “everything on it will perish.” Everything on the face of the earth will die.

And Allah says: “They await only but a single shout which will seize them while they are disputing.” It will come so suddenly that while people are discussing and disputing, everything will stop. Now there’s no time to advise your family or take care of unfinished business.

Allah says, “Then they will not be able to make bequest, nor will they return to their family.”

It comes so suddenly that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in the hadith, “The Hour will arrive when two men are discussing a deal. One man will be selling a piece of cloth to the other, but the Hour will arrive and they will not even have time to wrap up that piece of cloth or sell it. The Hour will come when a man is going back home with fresh milk from his camel, but he will not be able to taste it. And the Hour will arrive when one will raise the food to his mouth, but he will not be able to put it in his mouth.”

As Soor

How will it happen? It will be blown with as-soor. What is as-soor? It is mentioned in the Qur’aan in many places. It is a trumpet or a horn. The Angel Israfeel is holding it.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saw Israfeel. And this is what RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam had to say, “The eyes of the angel are fixed on the throne of Allah, because he is afraid the command will come and he will not have time to turn his sight. So he has fixed his eyes on the arsh, waiting for the command to come. His eyes are like two bright stars.” When RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saw this with his own eyes, he lost any appetite for this world. So he said, “How can I enjoy myself? How can I have any entertainment in this world when the angel has put the horn in his mouth and he has leaned his head forwards, and he has opened up his ears, waiting for the moment when the command will come, so he will blow in the horn?”

When will the Horn be Blown?

On what day will the horn be blown? On Al-Jum’ah. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “The greatest and the best day the sun has risen over is the day of jum’ah (Friday). In that day, Adam was created. In that day, he entered into Jannah. And in that day, he was driven out of Jannah. And on that day the Hour will occur.” The Hour is the day of judgement.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith, “All of the days were presented to me. So I saw the day of Friday, it looked like a white mirror – very bright and clean – but in the middle there was a dark spot. So I asked what the dark spot was and I was told that it was the Hour.”

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith, “The best day the sun has risen over is Friday. On that day, Adam was created. On that day, he came down to earth. On that day, Allah accepted his repentance. On that day, he died. On that day the Hour will occur.” What’s new in this hadith? The rest of the hadith tells the response of the animals. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “Every animal is worried on the day of jum’ah – from the time of fajr because they know that is when the Hour will occur, except Jinn and humans.” We are the only creation that is asleep and unaware. We are heedless and continue to do everything on Jum’ah as if this Hour is something that will never occur.

The Exceptions

Allah says, “And the trumpet will be blown, and all who are on the earth will swoon away, except him whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown a second time and behold, they will be standing, looking on.” The ayah gives an exception – everyone would die – so who are the exceptions? Some scholars say hoor al-ayn; some say the servants in jannah; some say jibra’eel, mika’eel and israfeel; some say the angels who are carrying the throne; some say the shuhadaa`; and on and on.

AlQurtubi says, “The right opinion is that there is no evidence to support any of this. All of them are possible.” We don’t need to dwell too much on this. What we need to know, we already know – we are not one of those who are excluded. We don’t need to theorize and hypothesize, because we don’t need to know.

This is a very, very important principle in Islam – we should always be practical and know the information that will help us. When a Bedouin came into the masjid and asked the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “When is the Hour?” He came in and interrupted the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam when he was giving a speech. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam kept on going and didn’t give him any attention. The man insisted and asked a second and a third time. By now, the sahabah are upset and want him to calm down. They thought that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is not responding because he doesn’t like the question. When RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was done with his speech, he said, “Where is the one who was asking about the Hour?” He then asked the Bedouin, “What have you prepared for it?” Why do you want to know? You should know the information that will help you. A lot of times, we waste our times on issues that will not benefit us or add to our good deeds. That is knowledge that does not benefit.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “O Allah, we want from You knowledge that will benefit us and we seek refuge in You from the knowledge that does not benefit us.”

The man then said, “I did not prepare for it a lot of fasting and prayer, but I have prepared for it with love for Allah and His Messenger.” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “You will be with the ones that you love.”

How many Times will the Horn be blown?

Some scholars, such as Ibn Hajar and Qurtubi, say that there will be two shouts. One shout that will destroy everything that is living (as sa’aq), and then another shout that will revive everything again (al ba’ath).

Some scholars say that there are three blowings. One is al faza – it will strike fear in all of the hearts. The second is sa’aq and the third is al ba’ath. This is the opinion of Ibn Katheer, Ibn Taymiyyah and some other scholars.