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Islamic Eschatology 4 Islamic Eschatology Lesson 4: The Blowing of the Trumpet and the Final Day The Death of the World • All messengers of God have informed us that one day this present world (dunya) will come to an end, and the entire world of creation will enter a new phase which is called the hereafter (akhira). • Dunya encompasses the realms of the living as well as the dead; therefore, the life of those living on the earth as well as those living in barzakh will both come to an end on that Day and everything that has been granted life will die. The Death of the World • The end of the world will come about violently and terrifyingly such that every sentient being, including the souls of human beings, the jinn, and the angels will be stunned. َوﯾَ ْو َم ﯾُﻧﻔَ ُﺦ ﻓِﻲ اﻟ ﱡﺻو ِر َﻓﻔَ ِز َع َﻣن ﻓِﻲ اﻟ ﱠﺳ َﻣﺎ َوا ِت َو َﻣن ﻓِﻲ ا ْﻷَ ْر ِض “On the day that the trumpet will be blown everyone in the heavens and the earth shall be petrified…” Quran 27:87 The Death of the World ﯾَﺎ أَﯾﱡ َﮭﺎ اﻟﻧﱠﺎ ُس اﺗﱠﻘُوا َرﺑﱠﻛُ ْم إِ ﱠن َز ْﻟ َز َﻟﺔَ اﻟ ﱠﺳﺎ َﻋ ِﺔ َﺷ ْﻲ ٌء َﻋ ِظﯾ ٌم “O people! Be conscious of your Lord! Surely, the earthquake of the final hour is a tremendous thing.” Quran 22:1 The Death of the World إِذَا اﻟ ﱠﺷ ْﻣ ُس ﻛُ ِّو َر ْت َوإِذَا اﻟﻧﱡ ُﺟو ُم اﻧ َﻛدَ َر ْت َوإِذَا ا ْﻟ ِﺟﺑَﺎ ُل ﺳُﯾِّ َر ْت “When the sun will be extinguished. And when the stars will fade and when the mountains are set in motion…” Quran 81:1-3 The Death of the World إِذَا اﻟ ﱠﺳ َﻣﺎء اﻧ َﺷﻘﱠ ْت َوأَ ِذﻧَ ْت ِﻟ َرﺑِّ َﮭﺎ َو ُﺣﻘﱠ ْت َوإِذَا ا ْﻷَ ْر ُض ُﻣدﱠ ْت “When the sky is rent asunder, obeying its Lord as it must. And when the earth is leveled…” Quran 84:1-3 • Of course, nothing can remain alive in the face of such events and every creature will perish. • This includes the realm of barzakh and the world of angels. The Blowing of the Trumpet • The death of the world shall be heralded by a fearsome blast of sound which is in fact the cause of the end of the world. • The blast is generated by Israfeel, one of the greatest angels of God, and it will be of a nature unknown or previously experienced. blowing of“ ﺔﺧﻔﻧ روﺻﻟا The Quran refers to the action of Israfeel as • the trumpet” The Blowing of the Trumpet َﻓ ِﺈذَا ﻧُ ِﻔ َﺦ ﻓِﻲ اﻟ ﱡﺻو ِر ﻧَ ْﻔ َﺧﺔٌ َوا ِﺣدَةٌ َو ُﺣ ِﻣﻠَ ِت ا ْﻷَ ْر ُض َوا ْﻟ ِﺟﺑَﺎ ُل ﻓَدُ ﱠﻛﺗَﺎ دَ ﱠﻛﺔً َوا ِﺣدَةً ﻓَﯾَ ْو َﻣﺋِ ٍذ َو َﻗﻌَ ِت ا ْﻟ َواﻗِﻌَﺔُ َواﻧ َﺷﻘﱠ ِت اﻟ ﱠﺳ َﻣﺎء ﻓَ ِﮭ َﻲ ﯾَ ْو َﻣﺋِ ٍذ َوا ِھﯾَﺔٌ “And when the trumpet is blown with a single blast, and the earth and the mountains are carried away and crushed with a single crushing; on that day the Great Event shall come to pass, and the heaven shall cleave asunder and become weak…” Quran 69:13-16 The Blowing of the Trumpet َوﻧُ ِﻔ َﺦ ﻓِﻲ اﻟ ﱡﺻو ِر َﻓ َﺻ ِﻌ َق َﻣن ﻓِﻲ اﻟ ﱠﺳ َﻣﺎ َوا ِت َو َﻣن ﻓِﻲ ا ْﻷَ ْر ِض إِ ﱠﻻ َﻣن َﺷﺎء ا ﱠ[ُ “The trumpet shall be blown, and all those that are in the heavens and all those that are in the earth shall die, except whom God wills…” Quran 39:68 The Blowing of the Trumpet • In this verse, the dwellers of the heavens refers to angels and the dwellers of earth refers to human beings and jinn, both in the material world and in barzakh. • Obviously, this is no ordinary sound blast because it will affect the material world as well as the world of souls. • No creature shall remain in the entire cosmos, except for a handful who will remain alive by God’s will • Death shall encompass all. It shall be as if life never existed at all. A Prelude to Eternal Life • What is the purpose of this complete annihilation of all creatures? • All this is to facilitate the evolution of the universe into a new phase of existence • During the long period between the two blasts of the trumpet several developments occur. • First of all, the earth and the solar system are transformed in their structure and properties. A Prelude to Eternal Life ﯾَ ْو َم ﺗُﺑَدﱠ ُل اﻷَ ْر ُض َﻏ ْﯾ َر اﻷَ ْر ِض َواﻟ ﱠﺳ َﻣﺎ َوا ُت “On the day when the earth shall be changed into a different earth, as will the heavens...” Quran 14:48 A Prelude to Eternal Life • The different dimensions of the universe are replaced by new systems or their properties are altered to facilitate the extraordinary life of the world of the hereafter. • This new world will also contain water, earth, fire, gold, silver rubies etc. But the enhanced properties and potentials of these substances cannot be understood until we experience them. A Prelude to Eternal Life • A second major change will be that every atom in the universe will gain the ability to perceive, understand and communicate. • The earth will recount the events that it silently witnessed throughout the long and eventful history of mankind. ﯾَ ْو َﻣﺋِ ٍذ ﺗُ َﺣ ِدّ ُث أَ ْﺧﺑَﺎ َر َھﺎ ﺑِﺄَ ﱠن َرﺑﱠ َك أَ ْو َﺣﻰ َﻟ َﮭﺎ “That day it will convey its news, now that God has inspired it.” Quran 99:4-5 A Prelude to Eternal Life • Thirdly, the hand of God that is hidden today behind the system of causes and effects will become apparent and obvious, and the system of causes and effects will fade from sight behind it. • On that day everyone will see and realize that everything is from God and can only be sought from Him. • Both His Sovereignty and Authority will be clearly apparent to all. • Of course, this does not mean the system of cause and effect is annulled, rather it fades behind the glorious manifestation of the One who initiated and sustains existence. The Second Blowing and Resurrection • The second blast or blowing of the trumpet will also be executed by Israfeel. However, this is no longer the same Israfeel who blew the trumpet that caused the death of creation, rather he is the Israfeel who has been resurrected by God in the realm of the hereafter. • With his enhanced form, he blows into the trumpet and By God’s command the breeze of life enters every atom in creation and enlivens every dead being: angels, jinn, man and animal. The Return of Man • Now the setting is prepared. All dimensions of the akhira have been formed; the place and the station of every angel has been determined. As each of them returns to life, he finds himself at his station. • The return to consciousness for human beings is a surreal experience. • They find themselves in the same place where they were buried and where their body had decomposed but now their material body has been resurrected and transformed. The Return of Man • Their body does not resemble their barzakhi body but looks more like the body they had in the earthly world except that it is composed of a different material. • In amazement he realizes that now he has two bodies; the barzakhi body and the material body; he learns that he can make use of either one or both at the same time, thus simultaneously appreciating the blessings of the material (mulk) as well as the angelic realms (malakut) The Return of Man ذإا رﷲأ زداﻋ لﺟو نأ ﻌثﺑﯾ ﻠقﺧﻟا رطﻣأ ءﺎﻣﻟﺳا ﻰﻠﻋ ض ﺻنﯾﻌﺑرأرﻷا ،ﺎﺣﺎﺑ ﻌتﻣﺗﺟﺎﻓ ﻌتﻣﺗﺟﺎﻓ ،ﺎﺣﺎﺑ ﺻنﯾﻌﺑرأرﻷا ض ﻰﻠﻋ ءﺎﻣﻟﺳا رطﻣأ ﻠقﺧﻟا ﻌثﺑﯾ نأ لﺟو زداﻋ رﷲأ ذإا لﺎﻷاوﺻ ﻧو ﺑ تﺗ ا ﻟ موﺣﻠ موﺣﻠ ﻟ ا تﺗ ﺑ ﻧو لﺎﻷاوﺻ “When God wills to bring creation back to life, He makes a rain fall for forty days that causes bones to knit together and become clothed in flesh.”- Imam al-Sadiq (a) Source: Bihar al-Anwar, v. 7, p.33 Awakening • In most cases, human beings will develop and mature within the ground where they were buried, because most of their cellular remnants are in that area. • Then will come a time when the ground splits all around and the dead begin to emerge swiftly. Awakening ﯾَ ْو َم ﺗَ َﺷﻘﱠ ُق ا ْﻷَ ْر ُض َﻋ ْﻧ ُﮭ ْم ِﺳ َرا ًﻋﺎ ذَ ِﻟ َك َﺣ ْﺷ ٌر َﻋ َﻠ ْﯾﻧَﺎ ﯾَ ِﺳﯾ ٌر “On the Day when the ground will split open and [people] shall rush out-that is an easy gathering for Us.” Quran 50:44 Awakening • Human beings will emerge one by one from the earth and remain waiting next to their graves. • It will take some time for the stupor of their long sleep to dispel. • They will be wiping away the mud and grime from their faces as they look around in amazement, unsure about what exactly has happened. • Their multitudes resemble scattered moths that flutter in a vast desolate desert. Awakening ﯾَ ْو َم ﯾَﻛُو ُن اﻟﻧﱠﺎ ُس َﻛﺎ ْﻟﻔَ َرا ِش ا ْﻟ َﻣ ْﺑﺛُو ِث “The Day on which mankind will be as scattered moths.” Quran 101:4 Awakening َﻗﺎﻟُوا ﯾَﺎ َو ْﯾﻠَﻧَﺎ َﻣن ﺑَﻌَﺛَﻧَﺎ ِﻣن ﱠﻣ ْرﻗَ ِدﻧَﺎ َھذَا َﻣﺎ َو َﻋدَ اﻟ ﱠر ْﺣ َﻣ ُن َو َﺻدَ َق ا ْﻟ ُﻣ ْر َﺳﻠُو َن “They shall say: Woe to us! Who has roused us from our sleeping place? This is what the Merciful Lord promised and the messengers spoke the truth.” Quran 36:52 Awakening • At this point, both believers and disbelievers, will still be together scattered amongst a congregation of billions of human beings.
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