Why The Day of Resurrection? By Imam Muhammad Metwally Al-Sharawy
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, created this universe and appointed for everything a birth and an end. The earth has a birth and an end; the sun has a birth and an end and similarly everything in the universe has a birth and an end. Allah possesses an ultimate infinite power in His universe; nothing is above or beyond His Will. This universe we live in is created by means. That is to say that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has ordained that everything in this world must be attained through means
The universe is built of two elements: an element that reacts and gives you without means: as the sun, the air, the rain and other things. And another that reacts through you ...if you adopts the necessary means created by Allah in the land it will give you, and if you do not it will not give.
If you cultivate the land, water it, sow the seeds therein, it will give you abundant fruits. But if you do not adopt the means, the land will give you nothing. Also, the riches found within the mountains and inside the earth, if you do not dig them out you will not have them.
This world of having through means is what we call “worldly lifeâ€, which is the life created by Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, through means. When worldly life terminates and the Day of Resurrection comes, the time appointed to this world ends and a new creation of Allah starts in which everything is directly from Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic. In Paradise once anything crosses your mind you shall find it before you; by the Power of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, the means end and the bestowal is directly from The Originator.
Everything is from Allah
Moving from the world of having through means to that of having everything directly from Allah is preceded by what Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, calls The Day of Resurrection a day. On that Day the world of means ends after it has accomplished its mission and a new life, different from the one we live on the earth, begins. In it there is either everlasting pleasure or everlasting torment. A life without death but eternity. A life without choices but recompense. A life without deeds but the matter there belongs completely to Allah.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has informed us in His Law that worldly life encloses a trial, an affliction and a test: a trial of faith in Allah, a test of love for Allah within hearts and an affliction that tries the obedience and disobedience of the servant. We all pass through this trial, whoever succeeds Allah will make him rejoice in Paradise and whoever disbeliefs, disobeys and acts arrogantly the torment of Hellfire awaits him.
The Day of Resurrection is the appointed time for us all. We shall come out of the graves to stand before Allah. Surely, a Day whereon mankind will be gathered together, and a Day which will be witnessed by all.
The Truth1, Blessed and Exalted is He, called resurrection a day. To some people the day is the time from sunrise to sunset. And to others it is from sunrise to sunrise.
However, it is a definition insignificant to discuss, because it is rather relative. It is an adverb of time as they say; something that helps us measure time in worldly life. But why is it mentioned with resurrection?
The Truth, all praise and glory is to Him, with Whom there is no time, qualified resurrection as a day. But how many are the hours of that day? How long is it? Does it end by sunset or what?
To understand the meaning of that day, we have to discuss the concept of time. Time is a creation of Allah. A creation that we got used to live by in this world. Everything in the life of this world is measured by time.
We have a birth day on which we are born, a death day on which we shall die, and days we live in worldly life. Everything in our life has an appointed time. Today we will do certain tasks, tomorrow others, and next year others. We will construct this building within three years, for example, and we will travel to Europe or America next year.
Time is the measure of our life; the measure of the events we pass through. Time is among the veils of the Unseen. It veils before us the past, knowing not what has happened in it except by reading history books or narrators relate it to us.
Time owns but we do not
Time also veils the future. We do not know what will happen tomorrow, or next year. All we know is the present we live, the past we have already lived and the future which we do not know what will Allah judge in it.
Time owns us but we do not. None of us can live outside time; none can remain a child or a youth and never grows old. And no human can bring back time to correct his mistakes. If he committed a murder or an accident happened to him he could not bring back the past to avoid it.
As we have already said time owns man but he does not. That is the value of time in our life. But Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, is the Creator of time – to Him there is no time. There is no past beyond His Knowledge or a future outside His Decree or new arising events.
All the universe and whatever is in it until the Day of Resurrection and after it is encompassed within the Knowledge of Allah. Things He only reveals and does not initiate because He already possess knowledge of it.
When you read the Ayah saying what means:
[His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.] [Yâ Sîn, 82: 36]
You must pay attention to His Saying "it", which means that this thing already exists within the Knowledge of Allah. He, all praise and glory is to Him, only reveals it to us by the Command "Be" and the thing becomes apparent and known to us.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, wants us to realize that time is relative. Allah subjects whom He wills to it and does not subject whom He wills. There are certain stages where man is ruled out of time. This in order for us to grasp the true meaning of time and how it acts as a measure of events. When these events stop, our sense of time also stop and it loses its meaning.
When man sleeps and temporarily becomes still, the meaning of time for him stops. On awakening he does not know how many hours he has slept unless he slept and the sun was shining and he awoke to find it dark, or slept while it was dark and awoke to find the light of the sun everywhere. We all experience this: losing the sense of time during sleep.
But Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, out of mercifulness towards His servants, clarified to us that He can remove man out of time completely. That is to say, time no longer has control over man or acts as the measure of his life.
When you read the story of the People of the Cave you understand this sign. The People of the Cave were youths who believed in their Lord and sought refuge in the cave from the tyranny of the disbelievers, so what happened to them?
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, says what means: [And they remained in their cave for three hundred years and exceeded by nine.] [Al-Kahf, 18: 25]
Which means that they remained sleeping within the cave for three hundred and nine years. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, covered up their sense of hearing (causing them, to go in deep sleep), thus no noise could affect them or the voice of a wild animal beside the cave might awake them, because the ear is the summoning tool. If you wish to awaken a sleeping person you call him loudly and he awakes. Also, if a person is sleeping and a loud voice is produced near him he will wake up terrified.
How long have you remained?
Those youths slept for more than three hundred years then they awoke, the question is: how should they look like if time had affected them?
Let us suppose that before sleeping they were at least black-haired, when they awoke their hair should have turned white or their beard grew long or their youth withered away.
But Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, made them no longer governed by time. Therefore, their first question upon awakening was as the Noble Qurâan tells us:
[And similarly, We awakened them that they might question one another. Said a speaker from among them, "How long have you remained [here]?" They said, "We have remained a day or part of a day." [Al-Kahf, 18: 19]
The mere question "How long have you remained?" indicates that these youths were out of the ruling of time, why? Because on awakening and looking at one another they did not notice any change in their appearance since the hour they slept. They rather found themselves looking the same as when they went to sleep. Therefore, their answer was: [We have remained a day or part of a day] [Al-Kahf, 18: 19]
If they awoke and found that their hair had turned white or their youth had faded away or their nails and beards had extraordinarily grown long, they would have never said: [We have remained a day or part of a day] [Al-Kahf, 18: 19] and would have realized that they slept for long years.
But they did not notice a change in their appearance because they measured the time they slept with the time that man usually sleeps, that is few hours, or a whole day when extremely exhausted.
Therefore, measuring the time they slept according to the normal time man usually sleeps is a proof that all during their sleep they were no more governed by time. Having no instrument that might indicate the time they spent sleeping, they measured it based on normal human habit.
The Truth, all praise and glory is to Him, sets to us another example in the Noble Qurâan about the relativity of time, and how it acts as a measure that Allah subjects whomever He wills to it and stop it from influencing whomever He wills.
It is the story of the righteous man from the Children of Israel, who was passing by a village visited with punishment. Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic, says what means:
[Or [consider such an example] as the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin. He said, "How will Allah bring this to life after its death?" ] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
This righteous man wondered about the Power of Almighty Allah in reviving a village completely ruined. So, what did Almighty Allah do?
The glorious Ayah says what means:
[So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, wanted to show one of the signs of absolute Power, thus He caused him to die for a hundred years then He brought him to life.
And here we must again contemplate the story of the People of the Cave, whom Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic, had ruled out of time while still alive and they remained sleeping for more than three hundred years. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, did not cause them to die, therefore Allah, all glory is to Him, says what means:
[And you would think them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them to the right and to the left] [Al-Kahf, 18: 18]
His Saying [while they were asleep] [18: 18] signifies that they were alive but asleep for He did not say "Dead." And his Saying [And We turned them to the right and to the left] [18: 18] indicates to us that Almighty Allah wanted to keep their bodies safe and healthy during the long time they slept, for when any person suffers from an illness that confines him to bed for a long time we have to turn his body to protect him from ulcers and infection.
And that is the wisdom behind turning the patient, which we did not realize except after the progress of science. We also learnt the bad effect of long periods of bed confinement without turning the body.
Non-governance by time
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, gave us in Surah Al-Kahf an example of how He rules the living out of time whenever He wills. He also gave us another example in Surah Al-Baqarah concerning the dead and how time no longer has dominion over them, for the life of Barzakh2 from the time of death till the hour of resurrection is timeless.
Therefore, we read the Saying of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, which means:
[So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him. He said, "How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day."] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
When Allah caused that righteous man to die for a hundred years then He resurrected him, the man was not sensible of the time that elapsed from death to resurrection. Therefore, when Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, asked him: ["How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day."] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259] by analogy to the time that man usually sleeps. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, then told him what means: ["Rather, you have remained one hundred years.] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
Afterwards, Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, wanted to manifest to him His absolute Power in two of His creations. He showed him the food that did not change though a hundred years passed away, still it remained as it was, neither spoiled nor did time has any effect on it. Then, He showed him the donkey that he used to ride, which was subjected to the law of time and it became decayed bones.
Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says what means: [Look at your food and your drink; it has not changed with time. And look at your donkey; and We will make you a sign for the people. And look at the bones [of this donkey] – how We raise them and then We cover them with flesh."] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
The man looked at his food and found it fresh, then he looked at his donkey and found that it died, rotted and turned into decayed bones. In this way he saw the effect of time on his donkey, because this could not have happened on a single day but it had to consume a long time.
Then, Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, showed him a sign by making him witness the return of decayed bones to life in the resurrection of the dead donkey. On seeing this the righteous man said (what means): ["I know that Allah is Able to do all things "] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
The righteous man testified to the Power of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, after wondering and asking himself: how would Allah revive a village after being destroyed and all those in it dead?
Absolute Power is manifested here in many signs. The first among them is the death of the man for a hundred years and resurrecting him just as he was. The second is the food that neither rotted nor changed with the elapse of a hundred years. The third is the donkey that became decayed bones then returned to life; a bringing of back of creation witnessed and not unseen.
This way we become certain that time, which is one of the creations of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, is governed by the Will of Allah. If He wills He subjects His creatures to it in worldly life. And if He wills He can remove His creatures out of the ruling of time though still alive, as it happened to the People of the Cave. And if He wills He can rule them out of time when they die, as it happened to the righteous man. As for the dead people in the life of Barzakh there is no time for them as substantiated by the Saying of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, (which means):
[And the Day the Hour appears the criminals will swear they had remained but an hour] [Ar-Rūm, 30: 55]
Perhaps the wrongdoers from the beginning of creation till the Day of Resurrection stayed within their graves for hundreds of thousands of years, and perhaps even more. In the life of Barzakh there is not time for them. Therefore, they do not know the number of years they have spent in their graves waiting for the Day of Resurrection.
No time with Allah
After this we come to the meaning of the word "a day". Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, wants to draw our attention that He, The Most Exalted, creates whatever He wants without restrictions. He wants us to know that time is governed by His Will. The day to Almighty Allah differs depending on the task that will be accomplished in it or the events that will occur on that day.
Therefore, we find in the Noble Qurâan the Saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, which means:
[And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count] [Al-Hajj, 22: 47]
And His Saying:
[The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years] [Al-Ma’ârij: 70: 4]
These two glorious Ayat which some Orientalists used in their claim that there is contradiction in the Noble Qurâan, wondering how a day can be a thousand years and at the same time fifty thousand years?
We answer back by saying that they simply did not understand the great faithful sign in these two Ayat. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, wants us to realize that He is The Creator of time, for every event He creates for it its time.
If He wants a day a thousand years long, He creates it. And if He wants a day fifty thousand years long, He creates it. And if He wants a day one million years long, He creates it. For the Power of Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, is infinite.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, willed that the day in worldly life should be twenty-four hours to suit people's life and their capacities. Human body gets tired after hours. Man usually cannot work more than eight or ten hours, after that he needs rest to renew his energy and work again.
Even those who work twenty-four hours continuously they cannot challenge the nature of their creation. We find that they need to sleep twenty-four hours continuously.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, is The Creator and Maker of man. He made for him daytime that equals the hours of his working capacity and a little longer. And made for him nighttime for his rest hours and a little longer.
This way we perceive that Allah has created night and day to suit man’s capacitates for work and his need for rest. Thus, from the perfection of creation is determining the hours of the day and night as twenty-four hours.
Why a day?
Certainly, a sign of the perfection of creation is that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, creates a day the extent of which is a thousand years. Thus Allah, The Most Exalted, creates it and brings it into existence with the word "Be" so that this day suits the missions it is created for and the events that will happen on it.
If there is need for an interval of events demanding a day fifty thousand years long to happen, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, creates for them a day fifty thousand years long. And if there need for a million years of events, Almighty Allah creates the day which is long enough for them, so that the day lasts a million years.
But how long is the Day of Resurrection?
It is something unknown to us which we cannot specify its time. But from what Allah has taught us in the Noble Qurâan we know that the time of the Day of Resurrection will take all the events of that Day, so that no event is postponed to another day and no event is hastened because time has ended.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, created that Day long enough for the events that will take place in it, where all people shall be gathered, each in his specified place and each will be questioned. And the speech that Allah has disclosed to us some of its events in the Noble Qurâan will pass. Allah has also hidden some of its events and none but Him knows them.
Thus, we learn that the Day of Resurrection could be hours, years, a thousand years, or a million years depending on the events which Allah has decreed to happen in it.
But why did Allah call it a day?
For us to know that it has no tomorrow, and that Judgment will not be carried a part of it today and the rest postponed until tomorrow. But Judgment will continue and the scenes of the Day of Resurrection will be exposed without pause or delay until Allah judges between people “ all people “ from the time of the Prophet Adam (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) until the people who will witness the Last Hour. All these people shall stand before Allah and none shall escape Judgment.
Someone may ask: considering all these billions of people since the time of the Prophet Adam (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), how long shall it take to call them to account?
Some people think that they need millions of years to be called to account and each read his book of deeds.
But such a question only reveals the questioner's limited understanding of Allahâ's Power. The questioner here views Judgment based on limited human power but the Power of Allah is infinite, is boundless.
Ali bin Abu Tâlib (may Allah be pleased with him) was once asked: How would Allah call to account all people at the same time? ˜Ali replied: Just as He provides them with sustenance at the same time?
People also ask: How would Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, bring each one of us on the Day of Resurrection in his very same worldly form and body ? The answer is that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has approximated the picture of what shall happen to our minds: for every human has a unique fingerprint. A fact that we all surely know. Also, every body has a unique smell.
The proof is that if we bring a handkerchief containing the sweat of some person and we made a police dog sniff it, it will identifies the owner of the handkerchief from among hundreds of people present and that is because of his unique sweat smell.
Every body has its own code unrepeated in any other person. If we transfer a member from one human body to another, the body to which the member is transferred will reject it. The body knows through its own unique code that such a member is foreign to it. On the other hand, when man is injured the body starts weaving the cells that heal up the wound. The body knows from its own body code that this member belongs to it thus it helps it. There are other members like the liver, if a part of it is cut off it grows again, also the hair and the nails, when cut they grow again.
Who told this human body that this member belongs to it, consequently it worked with it just as wounds heal up after surgeries, through a self-reactive response from the body? And who told it that this transplanted organ is from another body so it rejected it?
Every body must have a special code in its formation that differs from other human bodies. This code is the one responsible for agreement or rejection. Moreover, sometimes a kidney is transplanted from a mother to her son or daughter or vice versa, but still the son's body refuses the mother's kidney and the mother's body refuses the son's kidney. Does not that prove that every body has its own code unmatched in any other body?
Does not every voice and body has its own print, and the more science progresses the more Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, unveils to us from the secrets of the human body. It only serves to make us all realize that every human is distinguished from the other. In spite of the unity of form in all humans, there is certainly no human identical to another in the details of his creation.
Does not that alone constitute a sufficient proof that the Power of Almighty Allah has differentiated our construction from one another for the purpose of resurrecting each one just the same self that existed in worldly life, to be called to account for the deeds his hands have put forth.
Why do not we then contemplate the Saying of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, which means: [“And on the earth are signs for the certain [in faith]. And in yourselves. Then will you not see?â€] [Az-Zâriyât, 51: 21-22]
Thus, we have reached the conclusion that time is but a creation of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, Who can remove us from the laws of time while we are still alive as happened to the People of the Cave. Or while dead, as happened to the righteous man whom Allah caused to die for a hundred years then He resurrected him. And that the day with Allah has no specific time.
Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic, creates whatever He wills. He is able to create a day that lasts twenty-four hours, or to create a day that lasts a year, or to create a day that lasts a thousand years, or to create a day that lasts fifty thousand years or a day that lasts a million years.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, created the Day of Resurrection to comprehend all the events that shall take place on that Day: gathering, questioning and judgment. All the events that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, decreed to happen shall happen on it.
Every human is distinct from the rest of mankind in a way that resurrects him the selfsame person, with the same self that passed the journey of worldly life.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, created this universe and appointed for everything a birth and an end. The earth has a birth and an end; the sun has a birth and an end and similarly everything in the universe has a birth and an end. Allah possesses an ultimate infinite power in His universe; nothing is above or beyond His Will. This universe we live in is created by means. That is to say that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has ordained that everything in this world must be attained through means
The universe is built of two elements: an element that reacts and gives you without means: as the sun, the air, the rain and other things. And another that reacts through you ...if you adopts the necessary means created by Allah in the land it will give you, and if you do not it will not give.
If you cultivate the land, water it, sow the seeds therein, it will give you abundant fruits. But if you do not adopt the means, the land will give you nothing. Also, the riches found within the mountains and inside the earth, if you do not dig them out you will not have them.
This world of having through means is what we call “worldly lifeâ€, which is the life created by Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, through means. When worldly life terminates and the Day of Resurrection comes, the time appointed to this world ends and a new creation of Allah starts in which everything is directly from Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic. In Paradise once anything crosses your mind you shall find it before you; by the Power of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, the means end and the bestowal is directly from The Originator.
Everything is from Allah
Moving from the world of having through means to that of having everything directly from Allah is preceded by what Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, calls The Day of Resurrection a day. On that Day the world of means ends after it has accomplished its mission and a new life, different from the one we live on the earth, begins. In it there is either everlasting pleasure or everlasting torment. A life without death but eternity. A life without choices but recompense. A life without deeds but the matter there belongs completely to Allah.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has informed us in His Law that worldly life encloses a trial, an affliction and a test: a trial of faith in Allah, a test of love for Allah within hearts and an affliction that tries the obedience and disobedience of the servant. We all pass through this trial, whoever succeeds Allah will make him rejoice in Paradise and whoever disbeliefs, disobeys and acts arrogantly the torment of Hellfire awaits him.
The Day of Resurrection is the appointed time for us all. We shall come out of the graves to stand before Allah. Surely, a Day whereon mankind will be gathered together, and a Day which will be witnessed by all.
The Truth1, Blessed and Exalted is He, called resurrection a day. To some people the day is the time from sunrise to sunset. And to others it is from sunrise to sunrise.
However, it is a definition insignificant to discuss, because it is rather relative. It is an adverb of time as they say; something that helps us measure time in worldly life. But why is it mentioned with resurrection?
The Truth, all praise and glory is to Him, with Whom there is no time, qualified resurrection as a day. But how many are the hours of that day? How long is it? Does it end by sunset or what?
To understand the meaning of that day, we have to discuss the concept of time. Time is a creation of Allah. A creation that we got used to live by in this world. Everything in the life of this world is measured by time.
We have a birth day on which we are born, a death day on which we shall die, and days we live in worldly life. Everything in our life has an appointed time. Today we will do certain tasks, tomorrow others, and next year others. We will construct this building within three years, for example, and we will travel to Europe or America next year.
Time is the measure of our life; the measure of the events we pass through. Time is among the veils of the Unseen. It veils before us the past, knowing not what has happened in it except by reading history books or narrators relate it to us.
Time owns but we do not
Time also veils the future. We do not know what will happen tomorrow, or next year. All we know is the present we live, the past we have already lived and the future which we do not know what will Allah judge in it.
Time owns us but we do not. None of us can live outside time; none can remain a child or a youth and never grows old. And no human can bring back time to correct his mistakes. If he committed a murder or an accident happened to him he could not bring back the past to avoid it.
As we have already said time owns man but he does not. That is the value of time in our life. But Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, is the Creator of time – to Him there is no time. There is no past beyond His Knowledge or a future outside His Decree or new arising events.
All the universe and whatever is in it until the Day of Resurrection and after it is encompassed within the Knowledge of Allah. Things He only reveals and does not initiate because He already possess knowledge of it.
When you read the Ayah saying what means:
[His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.] [Yâ Sîn, 82: 36]
You must pay attention to His Saying "it", which means that this thing already exists within the Knowledge of Allah. He, all praise and glory is to Him, only reveals it to us by the Command "Be" and the thing becomes apparent and known to us.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, wants us to realize that time is relative. Allah subjects whom He wills to it and does not subject whom He wills. There are certain stages where man is ruled out of time. This in order for us to grasp the true meaning of time and how it acts as a measure of events. When these events stop, our sense of time also stop and it loses its meaning.
When man sleeps and temporarily becomes still, the meaning of time for him stops. On awakening he does not know how many hours he has slept unless he slept and the sun was shining and he awoke to find it dark, or slept while it was dark and awoke to find the light of the sun everywhere. We all experience this: losing the sense of time during sleep.
But Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, out of mercifulness towards His servants, clarified to us that He can remove man out of time completely. That is to say, time no longer has control over man or acts as the measure of his life.
When you read the story of the People of the Cave you understand this sign. The People of the Cave were youths who believed in their Lord and sought refuge in the cave from the tyranny of the disbelievers, so what happened to them?
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, says what means: [And they remained in their cave for three hundred years and exceeded by nine.] [Al-Kahf, 18: 25]
Which means that they remained sleeping within the cave for three hundred and nine years. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, covered up their sense of hearing (causing them, to go in deep sleep), thus no noise could affect them or the voice of a wild animal beside the cave might awake them, because the ear is the summoning tool. If you wish to awaken a sleeping person you call him loudly and he awakes. Also, if a person is sleeping and a loud voice is produced near him he will wake up terrified.
How long have you remained?
Those youths slept for more than three hundred years then they awoke, the question is: how should they look like if time had affected them?
Let us suppose that before sleeping they were at least black-haired, when they awoke their hair should have turned white or their beard grew long or their youth withered away.
But Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, made them no longer governed by time. Therefore, their first question upon awakening was as the Noble Qurâan tells us:
[And similarly, We awakened them that they might question one another. Said a speaker from among them, "How long have you remained [here]?" They said, "We have remained a day or part of a day." [Al-Kahf, 18: 19]
The mere question "How long have you remained?" indicates that these youths were out of the ruling of time, why? Because on awakening and looking at one another they did not notice any change in their appearance since the hour they slept. They rather found themselves looking the same as when they went to sleep. Therefore, their answer was: [We have remained a day or part of a day] [Al-Kahf, 18: 19]
If they awoke and found that their hair had turned white or their youth had faded away or their nails and beards had extraordinarily grown long, they would have never said: [We have remained a day or part of a day] [Al-Kahf, 18: 19] and would have realized that they slept for long years.
But they did not notice a change in their appearance because they measured the time they slept with the time that man usually sleeps, that is few hours, or a whole day when extremely exhausted.
Therefore, measuring the time they slept according to the normal time man usually sleeps is a proof that all during their sleep they were no more governed by time. Having no instrument that might indicate the time they spent sleeping, they measured it based on normal human habit.
The Truth, all praise and glory is to Him, sets to us another example in the Noble Qurâan about the relativity of time, and how it acts as a measure that Allah subjects whomever He wills to it and stop it from influencing whomever He wills.
It is the story of the righteous man from the Children of Israel, who was passing by a village visited with punishment. Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic, says what means:
[Or [consider such an example] as the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin. He said, "How will Allah bring this to life after its death?" ] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
This righteous man wondered about the Power of Almighty Allah in reviving a village completely ruined. So, what did Almighty Allah do?
The glorious Ayah says what means:
[So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, wanted to show one of the signs of absolute Power, thus He caused him to die for a hundred years then He brought him to life.
And here we must again contemplate the story of the People of the Cave, whom Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic, had ruled out of time while still alive and they remained sleeping for more than three hundred years. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, did not cause them to die, therefore Allah, all glory is to Him, says what means:
[And you would think them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them to the right and to the left] [Al-Kahf, 18: 18]
His Saying [while they were asleep] [18: 18] signifies that they were alive but asleep for He did not say "Dead." And his Saying [And We turned them to the right and to the left] [18: 18] indicates to us that Almighty Allah wanted to keep their bodies safe and healthy during the long time they slept, for when any person suffers from an illness that confines him to bed for a long time we have to turn his body to protect him from ulcers and infection.
And that is the wisdom behind turning the patient, which we did not realize except after the progress of science. We also learnt the bad effect of long periods of bed confinement without turning the body.
Non-governance by time
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, gave us in Surah Al-Kahf an example of how He rules the living out of time whenever He wills. He also gave us another example in Surah Al-Baqarah concerning the dead and how time no longer has dominion over them, for the life of Barzakh2 from the time of death till the hour of resurrection is timeless.
Therefore, we read the Saying of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, which means:
[So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him. He said, "How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day."] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
When Allah caused that righteous man to die for a hundred years then He resurrected him, the man was not sensible of the time that elapsed from death to resurrection. Therefore, when Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, asked him: ["How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day."] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259] by analogy to the time that man usually sleeps. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, then told him what means: ["Rather, you have remained one hundred years.] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
Afterwards, Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, wanted to manifest to him His absolute Power in two of His creations. He showed him the food that did not change though a hundred years passed away, still it remained as it was, neither spoiled nor did time has any effect on it. Then, He showed him the donkey that he used to ride, which was subjected to the law of time and it became decayed bones.
Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says what means: [Look at your food and your drink; it has not changed with time. And look at your donkey; and We will make you a sign for the people. And look at the bones [of this donkey] – how We raise them and then We cover them with flesh."] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
The man looked at his food and found it fresh, then he looked at his donkey and found that it died, rotted and turned into decayed bones. In this way he saw the effect of time on his donkey, because this could not have happened on a single day but it had to consume a long time.
Then, Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, showed him a sign by making him witness the return of decayed bones to life in the resurrection of the dead donkey. On seeing this the righteous man said (what means): ["I know that Allah is Able to do all things "] [Al-Baqarah, 2: 259]
The righteous man testified to the Power of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, after wondering and asking himself: how would Allah revive a village after being destroyed and all those in it dead?
Absolute Power is manifested here in many signs. The first among them is the death of the man for a hundred years and resurrecting him just as he was. The second is the food that neither rotted nor changed with the elapse of a hundred years. The third is the donkey that became decayed bones then returned to life; a bringing of back of creation witnessed and not unseen.
This way we become certain that time, which is one of the creations of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, is governed by the Will of Allah. If He wills He subjects His creatures to it in worldly life. And if He wills He can remove His creatures out of the ruling of time though still alive, as it happened to the People of the Cave. And if He wills He can rule them out of time when they die, as it happened to the righteous man. As for the dead people in the life of Barzakh there is no time for them as substantiated by the Saying of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, (which means):
[And the Day the Hour appears the criminals will swear they had remained but an hour] [Ar-Rūm, 30: 55]
Perhaps the wrongdoers from the beginning of creation till the Day of Resurrection stayed within their graves for hundreds of thousands of years, and perhaps even more. In the life of Barzakh there is not time for them. Therefore, they do not know the number of years they have spent in their graves waiting for the Day of Resurrection.
No time with Allah
After this we come to the meaning of the word "a day". Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, wants to draw our attention that He, The Most Exalted, creates whatever He wants without restrictions. He wants us to know that time is governed by His Will. The day to Almighty Allah differs depending on the task that will be accomplished in it or the events that will occur on that day.
Therefore, we find in the Noble Qurâan the Saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, which means:
[And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count] [Al-Hajj, 22: 47]
And His Saying:
[The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years] [Al-Ma’ârij: 70: 4]
These two glorious Ayat which some Orientalists used in their claim that there is contradiction in the Noble Qurâan, wondering how a day can be a thousand years and at the same time fifty thousand years?
We answer back by saying that they simply did not understand the great faithful sign in these two Ayat. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, wants us to realize that He is The Creator of time, for every event He creates for it its time.
If He wants a day a thousand years long, He creates it. And if He wants a day fifty thousand years long, He creates it. And if He wants a day one million years long, He creates it. For the Power of Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, is infinite.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, willed that the day in worldly life should be twenty-four hours to suit people's life and their capacities. Human body gets tired after hours. Man usually cannot work more than eight or ten hours, after that he needs rest to renew his energy and work again.
Even those who work twenty-four hours continuously they cannot challenge the nature of their creation. We find that they need to sleep twenty-four hours continuously.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, is The Creator and Maker of man. He made for him daytime that equals the hours of his working capacity and a little longer. And made for him nighttime for his rest hours and a little longer.
This way we perceive that Allah has created night and day to suit man’s capacitates for work and his need for rest. Thus, from the perfection of creation is determining the hours of the day and night as twenty-four hours.
Why a day?
Certainly, a sign of the perfection of creation is that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, creates a day the extent of which is a thousand years. Thus Allah, The Most Exalted, creates it and brings it into existence with the word "Be" so that this day suits the missions it is created for and the events that will happen on it.
If there is need for an interval of events demanding a day fifty thousand years long to happen, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, creates for them a day fifty thousand years long. And if there need for a million years of events, Almighty Allah creates the day which is long enough for them, so that the day lasts a million years.
But how long is the Day of Resurrection?
It is something unknown to us which we cannot specify its time. But from what Allah has taught us in the Noble Qurâan we know that the time of the Day of Resurrection will take all the events of that Day, so that no event is postponed to another day and no event is hastened because time has ended.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, created that Day long enough for the events that will take place in it, where all people shall be gathered, each in his specified place and each will be questioned. And the speech that Allah has disclosed to us some of its events in the Noble Qurâan will pass. Allah has also hidden some of its events and none but Him knows them.
Thus, we learn that the Day of Resurrection could be hours, years, a thousand years, or a million years depending on the events which Allah has decreed to happen in it.
But why did Allah call it a day?
For us to know that it has no tomorrow, and that Judgment will not be carried a part of it today and the rest postponed until tomorrow. But Judgment will continue and the scenes of the Day of Resurrection will be exposed without pause or delay until Allah judges between people “ all people “ from the time of the Prophet Adam (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) until the people who will witness the Last Hour. All these people shall stand before Allah and none shall escape Judgment.
Someone may ask: considering all these billions of people since the time of the Prophet Adam (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), how long shall it take to call them to account?
Some people think that they need millions of years to be called to account and each read his book of deeds.
But such a question only reveals the questioner's limited understanding of Allahâ's Power. The questioner here views Judgment based on limited human power but the Power of Allah is infinite, is boundless.
Ali bin Abu Tâlib (may Allah be pleased with him) was once asked: How would Allah call to account all people at the same time? ˜Ali replied: Just as He provides them with sustenance at the same time?
People also ask: How would Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, bring each one of us on the Day of Resurrection in his very same worldly form and body ? The answer is that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has approximated the picture of what shall happen to our minds: for every human has a unique fingerprint. A fact that we all surely know. Also, every body has a unique smell.
The proof is that if we bring a handkerchief containing the sweat of some person and we made a police dog sniff it, it will identifies the owner of the handkerchief from among hundreds of people present and that is because of his unique sweat smell.
Every body has its own code unrepeated in any other person. If we transfer a member from one human body to another, the body to which the member is transferred will reject it. The body knows through its own unique code that such a member is foreign to it. On the other hand, when man is injured the body starts weaving the cells that heal up the wound. The body knows from its own body code that this member belongs to it thus it helps it. There are other members like the liver, if a part of it is cut off it grows again, also the hair and the nails, when cut they grow again.
Who told this human body that this member belongs to it, consequently it worked with it just as wounds heal up after surgeries, through a self-reactive response from the body? And who told it that this transplanted organ is from another body so it rejected it?
Every body must have a special code in its formation that differs from other human bodies. This code is the one responsible for agreement or rejection. Moreover, sometimes a kidney is transplanted from a mother to her son or daughter or vice versa, but still the son's body refuses the mother's kidney and the mother's body refuses the son's kidney. Does not that prove that every body has its own code unmatched in any other body?
Does not every voice and body has its own print, and the more science progresses the more Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, unveils to us from the secrets of the human body. It only serves to make us all realize that every human is distinguished from the other. In spite of the unity of form in all humans, there is certainly no human identical to another in the details of his creation.
Does not that alone constitute a sufficient proof that the Power of Almighty Allah has differentiated our construction from one another for the purpose of resurrecting each one just the same self that existed in worldly life, to be called to account for the deeds his hands have put forth.
Why do not we then contemplate the Saying of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, which means: [“And on the earth are signs for the certain [in faith]. And in yourselves. Then will you not see?â€] [Az-Zâriyât, 51: 21-22]
Thus, we have reached the conclusion that time is but a creation of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, Who can remove us from the laws of time while we are still alive as happened to the People of the Cave. Or while dead, as happened to the righteous man whom Allah caused to die for a hundred years then He resurrected him. And that the day with Allah has no specific time.
Allah, The Exalted and Ever-Majestic, creates whatever He wills. He is able to create a day that lasts twenty-four hours, or to create a day that lasts a year, or to create a day that lasts a thousand years, or to create a day that lasts fifty thousand years or a day that lasts a million years.
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, created the Day of Resurrection to comprehend all the events that shall take place on that Day: gathering, questioning and judgment. All the events that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, decreed to happen shall happen on it.
Every human is distinct from the rest of mankind in a way that resurrects him the selfsame person, with the same self that passed the journey of worldly life.
