Many, many years ago while I was living in Saudi Arabia the Imam at my local masjid was a man named Majed Al-Shuraida. His day job was manager of corporate affairs at a large Saudi Arabian oil company..
I would really enjoy his Friday khutba. It was always well structured and delivered in eloquent, flawless classical Arabic.
When Majed learned that I knew Arabic, he approached me one day and asked me if I'd be willing to translate his khutbas into English for the benefit of the many expats there who did not know Arabic.
I willingly agreed. So at the end of every prayer he would hand me his handwritten Arabic notes. And then I'd sit with a group of expats at the back of the Masjid and convey in English the essence of what he had said.
Sometimes, when I found a khutba to be particularly useful or moving, I'd translate it into English to share with friends further afield who obviously could not come to the masjid.
Attached is one such khutba which I stumbled up recently in my old documents.
Note. Blue text is used for Ahadeeth, red for verses from the Quran.
The Day of Judgement
Majed Al-Shuraida started by mentioning a hadith that is attributed to Umar ibn al- khattab and related by the Imams Ahmed and Tirmidzi:
Umar ibn al-khattab said: O people call your souls to account before you are called to account, and assess them before you are assessed, and adorn yourself (with good deeds) for the ‘great presentation’, the day on which nothing (in your souls) will be hidden. For indeed on the day of judgement those will be treated lightly who have called their souls to account in the ‘dunya’.
So what is this ‘accounting’ (hisaab)? What are its attributes? And what is it that Allah holds his slaves accountable for? And how should a Muslim call his soul to account?
The ‘hisaab’ in the terminology of the ‘fuqahaa’ – the Islamic jurisprudents – is the court of Divine justice in which Allah rules (judges) on his creation and his slaves (worshippers).
And it is imperative that you my fellow Muslim are aware that the day of judgement is a day on which Allah will gather all who have ever lived on this planet so that justice be rendered to them:
49. Say (O Muhammad) verily, those of old, and those of later times. 50. All will surely be gathered together for an appointed Meeting of a known Day. (Surah Al-Waqiah)
It is a day of reckoning on which all reality will be revealed, all that has covered or concealed will be removed. The souls of all and their deeds and their destiny will be evident:
18. That Day shall you be brought to Judgement, not a secret of you will be hidden. (Surah Al-Haqaa)
The day of judgement will be of such horror and enormity that the newborn will appear aged, mothers will reject their sucklings, and the pregnant will abort their fetuses. Allah says in the Quraan:
1. O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) is a terrible thing. 2.The Day you shall see it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling, and every pregnant one will drop her load, and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet they will not be drunken, but severe will be the Torment of Allâh.(Surah Al-Hajj)
And a Hadeeth relates:
And that is the day when Allah will say to Adam: Separate those of your people who are deserving of the Fire. And Adam will ask: My Lord who are those who are deserving of the Fire? And He will say: Of every thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine are of the Fire and one merits Heaven.
And as for the nature of this Divine Court of Justice:
Every court of justice must implement the law of the sovereign, and every court of justice must have a judge, and it must have witnesses, it must have an accused to be tried, and a chamber in which the proceedings will take place.
The Sovereign
As for the sovereign it is Allah exalted is His majesty, Lord of the earth and the sky, glorified are His names, and magnificent are His attributes. He it is who knows what is hidden, and the treachery of the eyes, and what the hearts conceal. The Creator of everything exalted and sublime.
And then the proceedings will begin:
On the command of Allah the angel Israfeel will sound a horn whose sound will strike all of creation like a thunderbolt and all of creation will perish:
And the Horn will be blown and all who are in the Heavens and the Earth will be stricken (68, Surah Al-Zumar)
And then changes will be made to the structure of the Universe, the sky will be rent apart, the stars will be scattered, the planets will collide, and the Earth will crumble:
And when the Sun is extinguished, and the stars lose their luster, and the mountains pass away(as they were dust blown by the wind)(1,2,3 Surah Al-Takweer)
And then, on the command of his Lord, Israfeel will blow a second time in the horn and all of creation from the beginning of time till the end will be brought back to life:
And then it will be blown a second time and lo they will stand and stare (68, Surah Al- Zumar)
And the throne of the Rahman(exalted is his glory) will descend:
16. And the heaven will rent asunder, for that Day it (the heaven) will be frail, and tattered. 17. And the angels will be on its sides, and eight angels will, that Day, bear the Throne of your Lord above them.(Surah Al-Haaqa)
And then the earth will be lit up by the light of the ‘Truth’ (Al-Haq), exalted is His glory:
And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord (69 Surah Al-Zumar) when He descends to render judgment on his creatures.
And His advent will be in a manner befitting His grandeur and His majesty:
21. Nay! When the earth is ground to powder. 22. And your Lord comes with the angels in rows. (Surah Al-Fajr)
And this awe filling advent of Allah to the ground of the ‘Mahshar’(where all of creation will be gathered on the Day of Judgement) will start the proceedings of the Divine Court:
210. Do they then wait for anything other than that Allâh should come to them in the shadows of the clouds and the angels? (Then) the case would be already judged. And to Allâh return all matters (for decision). (Surah Al-Baqara)
These are proceedings that will be characterized by absolute justice:
7. And whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom shall see it. 8. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom shall see it.(Surah Az-Zalzila)
Ibn Masood has said: On the Day of Judgement Allah will bring together those who have come before and those who came later (i.e. all of creation) and a caller will call out: “Let whosoever has been wronged come forward to claim his right” and people will be delighted to learn that they will have the right to seek justice for the wrongs committed against them by their parents or their children or their wives, even though these wrongs be trivial.
And indeed Allah speaks the truth: 101.Then, when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no kinship among them that Day, nor will they ask of one another.(Surah Al- Moo’minoon). On that Day man’s relationship to anyone else will be of no benefit, and even a father will have no pity or care for his son.
The Witnesses
As for the witnesses there will be many. So there will be no room for denying or lying or dissembling.
1 – The most exalted of them will be Allah Himself: 7.Have you not seen that Allâh knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth? There is no Najwa (an intimate conversation) of three, but He is their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth, not of less than that or more, but He is with them wheresoever they may be. And afterwards on the Day of Resurrection He will inform them of what they did. Verily, Allâh is the All Knower of everything. (Surah Al-Mujadala)
2 – The Messengers (Prophets) may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon them. And amongst those who will bear witness in favour of the earlier Messengers will be our
Prophet Mohammad(SAW) as related in his hadith: Noah will be called forward on the day of ‘Qiama’ and it will be said to him: ‘Did you deliver Our message to your people?’ and he will reply in the affirmative. Then his people will be called and it will be said to them: ‘Did he deliver Our message to you?’ And they will reply: ‘No one came to us’. And it will be said to Noah: ‘Who will bear witness for you?’ Noah will reply: ‘Mohammad and his ummah.’ And then I (Mohammad) will bear witness on your behalf.
3 – The Angels: 17. (Remember) that the two receivers (recording angels) record (the actions of each human being), one sitting on the right and one on the left. 18. Not a word does he (or she) utter but there is a watcher by him ready (to record it). (Surah Qaaf)
The ascetic and scholar Al-Hassan of Basra (May Allah have Mercy on him) says: O Son of Adam your scroll has been spread out, and two angels have been delegated to you. One of them on your right and the other on your left. The one on the right will record your good deeds and the one on the left the bad. So do what you will. And when you die your scroll will be rolled up, suspended from your neck and placed with you in your grave. And when you emerge from it (your grave) on the day of ‘qiama’ you will meet what you have done as a printed book. And indeed, By Allah, the One who made you the custodian of your soul would have rendered a perfect justice.
4 – Your limbs: 21.And they will say to their skins, why do you testify against us? They will say: Allâh has caused us to speak, He causes all things to speak: and He created you the first time, and to Him you are made to return. (Surah Fussilat)
Anas (a companion of the Prophet) has related: We were with the Prophet when he smiled and said: Do you know what has made me smile? We said Allah and His Prophet know better. He said: It is the conversation the slave (here applied to all humans) will have with his Lord on the day of Qiama. He will say: My Lord will You not protect me from injustice? And Allah will say: Yes. And then the slave will say: I will not permit anyone on this day to bear witness for me other than myself. And Allah will say: You and the best of those who write will suffice you today as witnesses. And then his (the slave’s) lips will be sealed and Allah will say to his limbs: ‘Speak’. And they will speak of his deeds. And then the ability to speak will be returned to him. And he will say: Away with you (his limbs). It is for your sake that I used to struggle.
5 – And amongst the witnesses will be the Earth: 4.On that Day it (the Earth) will state its news. (Surah Az-Zalzilah). The Prophet read this ayat and then turned to his companions and asked: Do you know what ‘its news’ will be? They said: Allah and his Rasool know better. So the Prophet replied: Its news will be that it will bear witness to what every man and woman did on its surface and it (the Earth) will say: Such and such did this and this on such and such day. That will be its news.
The Accused
As for the accused in this court: he will be the human whom Allah created with His hand, and to whom he caused the angels to prostrate before him, and to whom He sent
His messengers, and on whom He caused His Books to descend, and for whom He subjugated the universe, and in whom he planted an innate awareness (in Arabic: fitra) of His presence and of the binding obligation to obey Him and beware of the Shaitan. And man’s response to this was of mocking derision: 30.Woe be to mankind! There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him. (Surah Ya Seen)
The ‘Chamber’
As for the place of the trial: It will be on an Earth that is not the Earth we know: 48.On the Day when the earth will be changed to another earth and so will be the heavens, and they (all creatures) will appear before Allâh, the One, the Irresistible.(Surah Ibraheem). And a hadith tells us: On the day of qiama mankind will be gathered on an earth that no one has tread on, white in colour, like a disc of featureless purity. And another hadith tells us: An earth white in colour, on which no blood has been shed, and no sins have been committed.
This is indeed another earth. Not our earth. An earth on which no foot has tread, on which no sin has been committed, on which no blood has been shed, an earth characterized by purity, purity from the sins of man and from his tyranny, purity that conforms absolutely to the purity of the judgment to be rendered.
And what is it that Allah will hold His slaves responsible for? Allah’s accounting will envelope everything:
- One’s life, wealth, body, and knowledge: A hadith tells us: On the day of qiama judgment will not be rendered on a slave until he is asked about four things: His life and how he spent it, his knowledge and what he did with it, his wealth how he acquired it and how he used it, and his body in what deeds he wore it out.
- Gratitude for Allah’s blessings: 8.Then on that Day you shall be asked about the blessings (you were given in, in this world)! (Surah Al-Takathur). The Imam Mujahid has said: (you will be asked) about every pleasure of the pleasures you enjoyed in the dunya. And a hadith tells us: When the slave is first asked about the blessings he enjoyed it will be said to him: Did We not bless you with a healthy body? And did We not quench your thirst with pure, cool water?
- The senses and how they were used: 36. Verily: The hearing, and the sight, and the heart, of each of those you will be questioned.(Surah Al-Israa)
- About responsibility and integrity: 24. But stop them, verily they are to be questioned.(Surah Al-Safaat)
- About the ‘word’(what is said): A hadith tells us: A slave may utter something that will cause him to slip into the fire
6. About the obligatory religious duties salat(nimaz) and zakat. A hadith tells us:
The first duty that Allah ordained was salat, and the last thing that will remain is salat, and the first thing the slave will be asked about is salat. And Allah will say: Look at the salat of my slave. If it is complete then it will be written as such. However, if it is deficient, Allah shall say: Look at his non-obligatory salat. If this is found adequate then his obligatory salat will be deemed complete. Then He will say: Look at his zakat. Is it complete? If it is complete it will be written as such. If it is deficient, He will say: Look at his sadaqa. If his sadaqa is adequate his zakat will be deemed complete.
Sheikh Majed then ended the first part of the Khutba stating that he would take up the issue of how a Muslim should ‘call his soul to account in the dunya’ in the second part.
Second Part of the Khutba
As to how a Muslim should hold himself to account:
- Ensure that at he has not usurped the rights of others: A hadith tells us: Whoever has usurped the right of his brother(in Islam) then let him redeem himself today, before the day comes when his dirhams and his dinars will be of no use to him. One of the salaf has said: May the Mercy of Allah be on him who dies and his sins die with him.
- He should not corrupt his good deeds with injustice. A hadith tells us: The truly bankrupt of my Ummah is he who comes to the day of qiama having performed (in the dunya) his salat(nimaz), and his siyam(roza), and his zakat, he comes (and it is revealed that) he has slandered such and such, and reviled such and such, and embezzled from such and such, and spilt the blood of such and such, and beaten such and such. And all of these who he has wronged will be given from his good deeds. And if his good deeds are depleted before the wronged have been compensated. Then their injustices will be transferred to him. And then he will be thrown into the fire.
- Erase bad deeds with good: 114. Verily, good deeds dispel evil deeds.(Surah Huud). And a hadith tells us: Be aware of Allah wherever you may be, and (always) follow an (inadvertent) evil deed with a good deed to dispel the evil, and treat people with dignity and honour. And another hadith: If you commit a sin follow it with a good deed to negate the sin.
- Beware! Beware! About polluting your piety and knowledge with arrogance. Be always modest for indeed the ultimate test will come at the end. And listen to those who lit up the world with their knowledge, asceticism and piety. This is the daughter of Al-Siddiq, the lady Aisha, to whose purity and innocence the Heaven testified: A Muslim asked her about the verse in the Quraan: 32.Then We gave
the Book as inheritance to such of Our slaves whom We chose, of them are some who wrong themselves, and of them are some who follow a middle course, and of them are some who are, by Allah’s Leave, foremost in good deeds. (Surah Fatir). He asked her: what is the meaning of this. She replied: As for those who are foremost in good deeds they are the companions of the Messenger of Allah, for whom he bore witness that they would be denizens of Paradise. As for those who follow the middle way they are those who followed his (the Prophet’s) path and have passed away. And as for those who wrong themselves they are like you and me!! And this is Sufiyan Al-Thouri – the Imam of the pious – on his death bed. Hammad ibn Salama enters and says to him: O, Abu Abdullah, rejoice you are approaching Whom you always wanted, and He is the most merciful of the merciful. Sufiyan starts to cry and says: O Hammad do you think that someone like me can escape the fire!!
So O Muslim do not be arrogant in regard to piety and knowledge and always be apprehensive as was the Messenger of Allah – the Prophet for whose piety Allah bears witness. And call yourself to account before every deed and after every deed, and for every sin and for every shortcoming and for any negligence.
Shaikh Majed ended the khutba with the following verse:
18. O you who believe! Fear Allâh and keep your duty to Him. And let every person look to what he has sent forth for the morrow, and fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is All Aware of what you do. (Surah Al-Hashar).
Note: Red script denotes verses from the Quraan. Blue script denotes hadith. The terms day of judgment and day of qiama(literally: day of standing) are used interchangeably.
