Bismillaah

Day of Resurrection 
The Third Event

The Sun is Brought Near

The sun will be brought near to mankind, as close as a “mile,” the Arabic word used for mile here being مِيْل (mīl). Whether it is the mile we know to be the common unit of distance or the eye-pencil to apply kohl (as the word could imply in Arabic), whatever the case the sun will be very close to people.[29] If the sun’s heat is as we know it here in this life while there is such a great distance between it and us, then how will it be when it is a “mile” above our heads?

Here is a question: It is well-known that if the sun were to move even a hair from its position, it would burn the earth, incinerating it completely. So how is it possible on that day for the sun to be that close and not burn creation? The answer is that although people will be resurrected on that day with their previous bodies, they may not be recreated in the same exact state and with the same capability as they have now. Rather, they will be stronger and greater in what they can withstand.

For example, if people were to remain for fifty days in direct sunshine with no shade, no food, and no water, they would be unable to do so; they would die. But on the Day of Resurrection, they will remain in such a state for fifty thousand years [30] without food,water, or shade except those to whom Allah ( عزّ وجلّ ) shades. In addition, they will witness other terrifying events but they will be made to withstand them.

As an example of this greater capability to bear situations without dying, look at how the people of the fire will withstand such seemingly unbearable circumstances:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا سَوْفَ نُصْلِيهِمْ نَارًا كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُم بَدَّلْنَاهُمْ جُلُودًا غَيْرَهَا لِيَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ

Indeed, those who disbelieve in our verses, we will drive them into a fire. Every time their skins are roasted through, we will replace them with other skins so they may taste the punishment. [Surah An-Nisa 4:56]

Will anyone be saved from the heat of the sun on the Day of Resurrection? Yes, there are types of people whom Allah will shade from the sun. The prophet ( صلّى اللّه عليه وسلّم ) said:

There are seven (types of people) whom Allah will shade in his shade on a day when there will be no shade except his shade: a just ruler; a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah; a man whose heart is attached to the mosques; people who love each other for Allah’s sake, meeting for his sake and parting for his sake; a man who is called by a woman of beauty and position (for adultery), but he says: “(No) I fear Allah;” a man who gives in charity and hides it so much so that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity; and a man who remembered Allah in private so much that his eyes shed tears. [Recorded by al-Bukhārī, Muslim, and al-Tirmidhī]

There are also other types of individuals Allah will shade on that day. And by, “when there will be no shade except his shade,” it means no shade except the shade Allah creates. And it is not as some people think that it is the shade of Allah himself because that would necessitate that the sun would be above Allah ( عزّ وجلّ)

In this life, we can take shelter in shade ourselves, but on the Day of Resurrection, there will be no shade except the shade Allah ( سبحانه وتعالى ) makes so that whoever he wills can take shelter in his shade when the sun is brought near.

Due to the closeness of the sun, people will sweat so much that it will rise.

The Fourth Event

The Sweat Rises

Because of the sun’s heat, people will sweat profusely in proportion to their deeds. For some, the sweat will rise to their ankles, some to their knees, some to their waists, and for some, the sweat will rise up to their mouths. So individuals will be at different levels regarding their sweat. They will sweat from the intense heat and the extremely uncomfortable situation: crowdedness, extreme hardships, and at close distance to the sun. Still, although people will sweat from the circumstances of that day, their sweat will only be according to their deeds in this life. [33]

Here is a question: How will they be of varying degrees in sweat if people are all together in one place? To answer, we must return to a basic principle of belief. It is that when dealing with affairs of the unseen, events that authentic texts confirm will take place in the future, it is incumbent upon us to believe in them, trusting them to be true without persisting in asking, “How? Why?” These are things beyond the extent of our own intellects; it is not yet possible for us to perceive or fully understand it.

Imagine two people buried in a single grave, one a believer and the other a disbeliever. The believer will still experience the enjoyment that he deserves, and the disbeliever will experience the punishment he deserves even though they are in the same grave. Likewise, we believe the sweat will rise on the Day of Judgment as foretold.

Now are we saying that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) will gather together someone whose sweat will reach his mouth in a particular place, someone with sweat to his ankles in a different place, and others with sweat rising to their knees or waist in other places? No, not necessarily but Allah knows best. What we are saying is that it is possible for the individual with sweat reaching only to his ankles to be next to someone with his sweat up to his mouth because Allah is capable of doing anything. This is comparable to the fact that light will encompass believers all around them, yet at the same time, disbelievers in Allah will be surrounded by darkness.

So regarding the Day of Resurrection, we must believe in it and all that is to occur on that day. As for the “How?” and “Why?” of the exact nature, that is not our right to know. As people suffer on the Day of Resurrection, standing in their own sweat, they will anxiously wait for judgment to begin. And this will only occur by “The Greatest Intercession.”

Footnotes:

[29] The prophet ( صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ) said in the ḥadīth recorded by Muslim confirming this:

» تُدْنَى الشَّمْسُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ الْخَلْقِ حَتَّى تَكُونَ مِنْهُمْ كَمِقْدَارِ مِيلٍ «

On the Day of Resurrection, the sun will be brought close to creation so much that it will be a “mile” from them.

One of the narrators of the ḥadīth, Sulaym Ibn ‘Āmir, said, “By Allah, I do not know if he meant by mīl the distance of land or the mīl that is used to apply kohl to the eye.”

[30] The scholar is perhaps alluding to the verse in Sūrah al-Ma’ārij (70:4) in which Allah says,

تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ

The angels and the spirit will ascend to him during a day the extent of which is fifty thousand years.

Also, the prophet ( صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said in a ḥadīth recorded by Muslim:

مَا مِنْ صَاحِبِ كَنْزٍ لا يُؤَدِّي زَكَاتَهُ إِلاَّ أُحْمِيَ عَلَيْهِ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ فَيُجْعَلُ صَفَائِحَ فَيُكْوَى بِهَا جَنْبَاهُ وَجَبِينُهُ حَتَّى يَحْكُمَ اللَّهُ بَيْنَ عِبَادِهِ فِي  يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ ثُمَّ يَرَى سَبِيلَهُ إِمَّا إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَإِمَّا إِلَى النَّارِ

There is no owner of treasure who does not pay its zakāh (obligated charity), but it will be heated in the fire of Hell and made into plates with which his sides and forehead will be branded until Allah passes judgment between his slaves on a day the length of which will be like fifty thousand years. Then he will be shown his path, whether it leads to Paradise or to Hell.

[33] This is established by the ḥadīth recorded by Muslim in which the prophet ( صلّى اللّه عليه وسلّم ) said:

فَيَكُونُ النَّاسُ عَلَى قَدْرِ أَعْمَالِهِمْ فِي الْعَرَقِ ، فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَكُونُ إِلَى كَعْبَيْهِ ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَكُونُ إِلَى رُكْبَتَيْهِ ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَكُونُ إِلَى حَقْوَيْهِ ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يُلْجِمُهُ الْعَرَقُ إِلْجَامًا

The people will be in sweat in accordance with their deeds. For some, it will rise to their ankles, some to their knees, some to their waists, and for some of them, the sweat will reach their mouths.

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