وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ
“But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from impure evil desires, and lusts. Verily, Paradise will be his abode.” [Quran 79:40-41]
We have a lack of awareness of the Aakhirah, we are heedless and unaware. I don’t think it affects us like how it used to have an effect on the Sahabah. They truly use to fear Al-Aakhirah. Whenever Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) talked about the Aakhirah they would cry and weep and they always had this on their minds, meeting Allah on Day of Qiyamah.
And the way to achieve success with this is by mujahadah, it is a struggle to have this fear of the Aakhirah.
The fear that the sahabah had in itself is a form of worship. Having the fear of Allah and His punishment is a type of ibaadah. We have to have 2 wings. like a bird, one wing of hope and good expectations, that Allah is merciful and it should be balanced with the other wing of fear, and that His punishment is severe. If one outweighs the other or is stronger than the other, then the bird cannot fly, it will not be balanced. Too much hope makes you procrastinate doing good deeds and if you have too much fear, then you would be so afraid that you would give up doing good deeds thinking that you cannot make it.
Umar bin Abdul Azeez once he went to bed and his wife Fatima said: ‘My husband went to sleep and suddenly he was shaking in his bed and he woke up and he was crying until morning and he couldn’t sleep. I asked him why and he said, ‘I remember the day when I will be told to either go to Jannah or Jahannam. That will be the last day, the final decision, the final destination. Whenever he remembered that day he would cry the whole night.’
The sahabah gave their lives even after they were already promised Jannah. They were given the glad tiding of Jannah but not one day did they get slack or lazy in their Salaah or obligations, in fact, they became even more regular.
To fulfill our obligations is a payment. To protect ourselves from prohibition is a bonus.
So a true believer is always worried that one day he/she will have to stand in front of Allah, and this causes him to control his desires.
The situation of the Muslims sinners/the Muslims who committed specific sins.
Allah mentioned them in the Quran and Sunnah mentioned that a few sins have specific punishments on the Day of Qiyaamah.
1) State of those who don’t perform Salaah regularly:
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “One who does not say his prayers regularly, to him his prayers will neither bring light nor will it be the plea for salvation and on the Day of Qiyamah he will be grouped with Pharaoh, Qarun, Haman and Ubai ibn Khalaf.”
Sinners from amongst the groups, they will come out like pieces of charcoal. They will be spread over the rivers of Jannah. Allah will tell the dwellers to pour water over them and they will grow and they would grow like how sprouts grow in a stream.
Who will be taken out from the fire?
Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says: ‘Allah will he command the angels to bring out those who had not associated any partners with Allah, to whom Allah decides to show His mercy, and then those who would say there is no God but Allah.
(Now how would the angels recognize them?) They would recognize them in the fire by the marks of prostration. For hell fire will devour everything of the sons of Adam except the marks of prostration.
Since this is the case, then how will the angels ever find a person who does not pray? Salaah is a very serious worship and important worship in the life of a Muslim. Allah has forbidden the fire to consume the marks of sajdah.
We ask Allah to enter us straight in to Jannah for we cannot survive for a single moment in Jahanam.
2) The ones who do not pay zakah.
The punishment for them varies:
In one hadith the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has said:
“The owner of the wealth who does not pay zakah his money on the Day of Judgment will be presented in the form of a huge snake and that snake will surround the person and crush him on the Day of Judgment.”
Then he recited an ayah “And let not those who covetously withhold that which Allah has bestowed on them with bounty, think that it is good for them. Nay it will be worst for them the things which they withheld shall be tied to their necks like a collar on the Day of Judgment and to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth and Allah is well acquainted with what you do.”
Hadith: The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has said: “The one who has gold and silver and does not pay zakah on that gold and silver, this gold and silver will be formed into flat plates, and these plates will be heated in the hellfire and then they will be branded with these plates on their forehead planks and backs.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that this will continue for 50 thousand years.
It will continue for the whole Day of Qiyamah.
And then Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) talked about the one who has camels and goats and does not pay zakah on them. On the Day of Qiyamah they will be told to lay on a flat land and these animals will be running over them stampeding them and crushing them with their hoofs and biting them with their mouths on a day which is 50 thousand years long.
Hadith: “Whoever dies and leaves behind him hoarded wealth (on which zakah was not paid) a huge snake will be made for him that has two dots. It will follow him. He will ask it who are you? It will say “I am your hoarded wealth that you left behind. It will remain with him until it bites his hand and chews it. Then it will do the same with the rest of the body.”
To withhold a miserly small amount of money and then suffer for 50 thousand years is not worth it at all, because, you will not have barakah in that money in the Dunya and then you will have to pay the price for it in the Aakhirah. If you don’t spend this money, then surely you will be leaving it behind. Give, and Allah will give in return. When we were created, we did not have any wealth whatsoever, and Allah provided us with wealth. So He is the one that gave it to us, He is the one that can take it away as well. Allah created us and He created us with our sustenance.
3) Pride:
This is extremely dangerous and the cause of the wrath of Allah. This is what caused Iblees to go from the high level to the lowest. He said that he was better than Adam. Arrogance and pride will always lead to destruction.
It is so dangerous that:
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: ‘Whoever has even an equivalent of a small grain of arrogance in his heart will not even smell the scent of paradise.’
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: ‘The arrogant people will be assembled on Qiyamah in the form of men but the size of very small ants, humiliation will come to them from every direction. They will be stepped upon on that day.’
Arrogance is a lie, a fake personality, because as a creation we are humble and it is Allah who has given us value. A time came when we were nothing. We should continue being humble. When we are arrogant we are lying, claiming to be someone big and this lie will be exposed on Qiyamah and we will all come in the form that we deserve to be in. Allah will de-value the people of arrogance.
Hadith: Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: ‘The worst name, the most humiliated and belittled name on Qiyamah is the name of a man who use to call himself in the Dunya the king of kings, he will come in the form of an ant.’
4) Those who conceal their knowledge:
Hadith: ‘The person that is asked concerning knowledge and conceals it will come on the day of Qiyamah with a collar of fire on his neck.’
Allah will not speak to such a person.
Allah says: “Indeed, they who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book and exchange it for a small price – those consume not into their bellies except the Fire. And Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. And they will have a painful punishment. (174) Those are the ones who have exchanged guidance for error and forgiveness for punishment. How patient they are in pursuit of the Fire!” (2:174-175)
Another hadith states that Allah will conceal their mouths with fire.
Knowledge has been revealed by Allah for the purpose of conveying it to others, so what is the use if one conceals it and does not convey it. If there is a need for a message to be told, then you need to bring awareness to the people to prevent them from their mistakes. Unless you can justify a reason why it was not possible to correct that mistake at that time. For example, if it would cause more evil than benefit, then this is a vaild reason for withholding knowledge.
5) The situation of the weak and the extravagant:
Hadith: Abu Zar (r.a) said: ‘The ones who have the most wealth in the Dunya will be with the least rewards on the Day of Qiyamah except that they are the ones whom Allah has given wealth but they spend it right, left, front and behind and they spend it and they do good with it.’ (Bukhari)
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says the ones with the most are going to be the ones with the least on Qiyamah except the ones who spend it here and there and they receive it by halal means.
So money in itself is not evil, in fact Allah called it in the Quran as khair. Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) also called it khair and good. It only becomes bad when it is used in the wrong way, because it can be used for both. But we need to keep in mind that money always need to be purified so it remains pure and that is by spending it. We know that a lot of Sahabah who were wealthy like Abdurrahman ibn auf, Hazrat Uthman (r.a), but they would spend their wealth in the path of Allah.
6) A betrayer:
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says that On Qiyamah when Allah assembles all the people, the one who betrays will be carrying a flag that says this man is a betrayer. He will be exposed on this day and he will have to carry a flag.
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says the flag will be coming out of the back of the person and he will be going around running around with this banner. The size and the height of the banner depends on how bad the betrayal was.
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says on Qiyamah every betrayer will be carrying a banner and their banner will be according to how bad their betrayal was and there is no betrayal greater than the betrayal of the Ameer, the leader of the masses. This is the worst because he is betraying everyone.
7) The one who takes the land illegally:
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says: “Whoever usurps one hand span length of property, Allah will make him dig it until it reaches seven earths. Then Allah will place it on his neck until the reckoning is finished.”
Hadith: “The person that steals a property will be made to lift its soil on the day of Qiyamah.”
Hadith: “He will be made to sink till the end of the seventh layer of the earth.”
8) Double faced: who meets with a person with one face meets others with another face:
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “You will find that the worst people on Qiyamah will be the people who are double faced. They meet these people with a face and they meet others with a different face.”
Hadith: “Whoever used to have 2 faces in the Dunya will have a tongue of fire on Qiyamah.” This is so because 2 faces is really the tongue the tongue is changing, the face itself does not change. It changes its tone according to the situation. Islam is decency. Islam is honesty. It is not being 2-faced. It is speaking the truth and being direct, telling the truth, but also without being rude and disrespectful.
9) Begging even though you have enough:
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Whoever begs and has enough, that begging will come on as scars on their faces on the day of Qiyamah.”
Hadith: ‘The person that begs while he is not in a state of poverty nor does he have dependants whose expenses overwhelms him, he will come on the Day of Qiyamah with a meat less face.’
They will be brought on this day appearing in such a condition in order to put them to shame and disgrace and the people will recognize them as beggars right away.
It will be a form of humiliation because you are asking when you already have. Islam wants a person to live with dignity. Greed, Allah does not accept.
On the contrary Islam considers the situations of emergency, if a person is in dire need or is over whelmed by disaster, Islam permits them to ask and it is an obligation on the people to help.
10) Punishment for claiming that you have seen a dream that you didn’t see:
Hadith: Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says: “Whoever claims that he has seen a dream and he has not seen it will be asked to tie two hairs together or two grains together and he will not be able to.” (Bukhari)
Meaning it is impossible to do such a thing, this is a very difficult task. You will not be able to do it as a punishment for claiming that you have seen a dream that you didn’t see. You may have caused a person a lot of agony when you had told a person you have seen a dream and this and that happened to them and you are, in reality, lying. Or some people may want to claim a high status in front of people that he is a buzrugh and he has seen the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in their dreams. Or people may be trying to justify their position or their cause by making up a dream.
These are some of the believers who will be punished on the Day of Judgement.
May Allah protect us all.
The Punishment of the Believers Pt. 1
By: Aalimah Umm Zubair
Researched and presented by Aalimahs at Maktabun Nisaa
