(Taken from Ibne Kathir R.A. book sign before the day of Judgment.)
ÂYAT AND AHADÎTH ABOUT THE HOUR/The day of judgement
Allâh - subhânahu wa Ta’âla - said:
“They ask thee about the Hour, ‘When will be its appointed time?’ Wherein art thou (concerned) with the declaration thereof? With thy Lord is the Limit fixed thereof. Thou art but a Warner for such as fear it. The Day they will see it, (it will be) as if they had tarried but a single evening, or (at most till) the following morn!” (an-Nâzi’at 79:42-46)
“They ask thee about the (final) Hour - when will be its appointed time? Say: ‘The knowledge thereof is with my Lord (alone): none but He can reveal as to when it will occur. Heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth. Only, all of a sudden will it come to you.’ They ask thee as if thou were eager in search thereof: say: ‘The knowledge thereof is with Allâh (alone), but most men know not.’ ” (al-A‘râf 7:187)
There are many Âyat and Ahadîth concerning this subject: Allâh said:
“The Hour (of Judgement) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder.” (al-Qamar 54:1)
The Prophet - sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam - said, whilst pointing with his index and middle
fingers, “The time of my advent and the Hour are like these two fingers.”
In another report he said,
“The Hour almost came before me.” This indicates how close we are, relatively speaking, to the Hour.
Allâh said: “Closer and closer to mankind comes their Reckoning: yet they heed not and they turnaway.” (al-Anbiyâ’ 21:1)
“(Inevitable) cometh (to pass) the Command of Allâh: seek, ye not then to hasten it.” (an-Nahl 16:1)
“Only those wish to hasten it who believe not in it: those who believe hold it in awe, and know that it is the Truth.” (ash-Shûra 42:18)
In Sahîh al-Bukhârî, there is a Hadîth which states that a Bedouin asked the Prophet about the
Hour. He said, “It will surely come to pass. What have you prepared for it?” The man said, “O
Messenger of Allâh, I have not prepared much in the way of prayer and good works, but I love
Allâh and His Messenger.” The Prophet said, “You will be with those you love.” The Muslims had
never rejoiced as much they did when they heard this Hadîth.
Some Ahadîth report that the Prophet was asked about the Hour. He looked towards a young boy
and said, “If he lives, he will not grow very old before he sees your Last Hour coming to you.” By this he meant their death and entering the Hereafter, because everyone who dies enters theHereafter; some people say that when a person has died, his Judgement has begun. This Hadîth
with this meaning is "correct" (Sahîh). Some heretics comment on this Hadîth and give it an
incorrect meaning.
The exact timing of the Great Hour (as-Sâ’at al-’Uzma) is something which
Allâh alone knows and which He has not revealed to anyone,
as is clear from the Hadîth in which
the Prophet said:
“There are five things which nobody knows except Allâh;” then he recited,
“Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allâh (alone). It is He Who sends down rain, and He Who knows what is in the wombs. Nor does anyone know what it is that he will earn on the morrow: Nor does anyone know in what land he is to die. Verily with Allâh is full knowledge and
He is acquainted (with all things).” (Luqmân 31:34)
When Gabriel (Jibrîl) - ’alayhis salâm - came to the Prophet in the guise of a Bedouin, he asked him about Islâm, Îmân (faith) and Ihsân (excellence of faith); and the Prophet answered his
questions. But when he asked him about the Hour, he said, “The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner.”
Jibrîl said, “Tell me about its signs.” Then the Prophet described them,
as we shall see later when we quote this Hadîth and others in full.
