When Mountains Turn to Sand: The Day of Judgment

Alhamdulillah. Continuing.

[Silence]

In verses number 14- 19. As a matter of fact, we will be more focused on verses 15 and 16 due to their subject matter. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes the day of judgment in two places here in this chapter. The first one he says this is verse number 15. He then describes it again and says in verse number 17 he describes it in a different way. In the first one, he says, "The day when the earth and the mountains will shake violently and the mountains will be turned back to running sand." And in the second description he says a day he describes the day of judgment as a day when even infants and children will become instantaneously grayhaired due to the horrors and terror of that day. Now what's interesting about these two verses or one of the interesting things about these two verses is that there are how many blows into the into the horn by who blows into the horn? Huh? Is and is also one of the what? H we mentioned this back in we mentioned and we mentioned two main descriptions for him or two main duties that he has. Number one, he has been commissioned to blow into the horn on the day of judgment. And number two, he is one of the there's eight of them. H what is it? Say it loud, please. He's one of the bears of the throne of Allah. Very good, brother Jame. Sitting in the cut, soaking it up a sponge. Right. He he is one of the bearsers of the throne. Eight. So he is one of the eight bears of the throne that carry the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he is also the one that has been commissioned by Allah to blow into the horn. Now how many times will he blow into the horn? H two times it's al some scholars also mentioned what three but the opinion of the majority and the correct opinion is that it is twice the first time to end this world the second time to commence the next world correct now he did both of these occasions are mentioned in this chapter The first one he says in ver in verse number 15. He says the day describing the day of judgment that it is the day in which the earth and the mountains upon it will shake. violently and the mountains will be running sand. They will be rendered into a mound of running sand. This is which blow into the trumpet? The first or the second? This is the first. This is destruction. Correct. Now the second he says a day in which children will turn gray and witness to the horrors and the fear of that day. Correct. This is a description of which blow into the trumpet. The second because the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam mentioned that and we will get to that when we arrive at that verse inshallah. So both blows into the trumpet are me into the horn are mentioned in this chapter. the first in verse number 15 and the second in verse number 17. They are alluded to in both of these instances. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says describing the day of judgment. Now I want you to take this description of the day of judgment into account in the context that it is mentioned because the two previous verses Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions and describes what he had prepared for the disbelievers those who rejected the message. Correct? He says he says indeed we have reserved for them those disbelievers restraints and a furious raging fire and food that will stick in the throats and a very painful punishment on the day in which the earth and the mountains upon it will shake violently will rumble violently and the mountains will be rendered to a mound of running sand. So why is this appropriate for this context? This is articulating to us the in the allencompassing horror of the day of judgment. Why? Because on the day of judgment, there will be nothing that a person can look to to seek some kind of solace or peace in some kind of reassurance because everything will be different. It will essentially be a day when up is down and down is up. Allah mentions that on that day people will be walking on their faces. People will be drowning in their own sweat. The sun its light will be put out and it will be folded up. That the people of wealth will abandon their wealth. That the animals that are wild will become domesticated on that day etc etc. These are descriptions. Why? What do these descriptions have in common? They have in common that everything that the human being seeks solace in that the human being is comforted by will be no more on the day of judgment. There will only be one comfort available on the day of judgment. And that is the comfort of what? the comfort of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There will be no more illusion of comfort anywhere else. You'll look to the earth which the earth is what makes it possible for us to live on on this planet and its stability is is a staple of our existence here. The earth is stable. We seek peace in that, comfort in that. There is a rhythm to things. There is a predictable nature to things. The sun rises from the east. The sun sets in the west. The earth is stable. The mountains are solid. These are things that make our existence give us some sense of stability. Correct? Why? there's a narration in Sah Bkari in which the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam mentions that the the sun will rise from the west one day and when the people see it rise from the west they will all believe immediately and entirely every last one of them. But that is a day when belief is not going to be accepted anymore. Why is it that that singular change in the rhythm of life on this planet influences people so strongly to all believe suddenly to abandon their egos to abandon their agendas to abandon their arguments and believe. The reason is, can you imagine how terrifying and jarring it is for something as stable as the sunrise to change? This this will make a person unhinged. Suicide is very prevalent in the very northern regions of the world where the sun doesn't set for months on end. and where the sun goes away for six or seven months at a time. It's nighttime for six months, right? People go crazy because they start to lose faith in the rhythm and stability of the world around us. that chaotic that chaos of unpredictability that will cause a person to become incredibly terrified. So imagine now that the earth which is our stable platform now is no longer stable. It is doing the exact opposite of what we expect it to do. It is constantly moving. It is shaking. You cannot plant your feet on it because it is shaking violently. And the mountains which are a paragon of stability and a symbol of stability now become what? Running sand underneath your feet. A mound of running sand underneath your feet. The description that the pro that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives he says even the rhythm of the syllables in the verse articulate a kind of movement. You hear that rhythm? That is a rhythm that reflects the movement and the violence of the day of judgment. And for this reason, Allah describes the day of judgment elsewhere. He says, He says, "When the day comes that the horn is blown into everyone in the heavens and the earth will be taken with shock and terror that will paralyze them." The prophet sallall.aii Wasallam described in Bkari that when the horn is blown, people will be in the middle of their movements. He describes a man selling a piece of fabric, handing it over to the customer. And he describes a customer handing over the money for that piece of fabric. And suddenly they are interrupted by the blow into the horn. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam says and they will freeze in place from what? From the terror. This one will be unable to drop or or retract what is in his hand and the other as well. They will freeze in place immediately as soon as the blow into the horn reaches their ears. The prophet sallall.aii Wasallam says that on the day of judgment, he describes certain people on the earth. And he says, "One man will be on the outskirts of Medina with his flock of animals, whether it be sheep or goats or cows or whatever it is, his herd. and he will be trying to get his herd to behave and his herd will be acting wild. You know how animals sense when something is off? You know how animals go against their nature when something is off? And he will find his animals have turned into wild beasts. And a man will be preparing the trough for his camel when suddenly the horn is blown and they will freeze in place and they will be taken by a black terror. And that is the day when the earth will shake and jostle violently and the mountains will be rendered into a mound of running sand. Listen to the description.

[Silence]

And the mountains. which when we look at them, we draw from them consciously or subconsciously, we draw from them a sense of stability. When we look at the mountains, no matter how bad life gets, right? No matter how random tragedy may seem, how are we able to keep our sanity? And I'm not speaking about Muslims. Muslims, we are anchored in our belief in Allah. That's where we find our stability. But we look to the mountains, we see a symbol of stability. We feel the earth underneath our feet and we see it as a symbol of stability. Down is still down. Up is still up. mountains are still standing. There is hope. But what happens when those things change? What happens to that hope when the mountains turn into the antithesis of stability and now the mountains are running sand? Where before they were solid, now they are fluid. And the earth was stable and now it is nothing but movement under your feet. How then can a person find any hope in such a situation? There is no hope except in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so the believers whilst they may be scared, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes them saying he says subhanahu.

[Silence]

He says those believers essentially they will not be stricken with grief on the day of the great terror. And the angels will receive them and they will assure them. These are the believers. The disbelievers. Listen to the difference in description. On the day when the earth and the mountains will shake violently and incessantly and the mountains will be rendered into a mound of running sandal.

[Arabic recitation]

Jesus. What's your name?

[Arabic recitation]

Guess. Don't tell me. Don't tell me.