Yes indeed, the world is the Prison of the Believer, for when he sees the Heaven with all of its delights, he will conceive that this earth in comparison, with all of its limited riches and fleeting pleasures, was as miserable as a prison. And yes, when the Kafir faces Hell as an everlasting abode, a prison of no escape, with the severest punishment and the extremes of pain, without reprieve, he will consider that his worldly life, despite its hardships, trials and tribulations, was indeed Heaven. Thus, the day upon which we will be made to arise and brought for judgment, the trial upon our good and bad actions, the sentencing and the punishment, these are matters when considered as they should be considered, shakes the soul and moves one to tears. RasulAllah (saw) said, «لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ مَا أَعْلَمُ لَضَحِكْتُمْ قَلِيلًا وَلبَكَيْتُمْ كَثِيرًا»

"Had you known what I know you would have laughed less and cried more." [Bukhari 986]

What a trial before the sentencing of all sentencing. The second trumpet blast revives and wakes every one of us from the grave. On this Day of the Arising all created beings, including the men, the jinn and the animals will gather and sweat with no shade to hide in. In anticipation of sentencing, the people will sweat in a way that RasulAllah (saw) related with vivid detail,

«يَعْرَقُ النَّاسُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يَذْهَبَ عَرَقُهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ سَبْعِينَ ذِرَاعًا وَيُلْجِمُهُمْ حَتَّى يَبْلُغَ آذَانَهُمْ» "The people will sweat so profusely on the Day of Resurrection that their sweat will sink seventy cubits deep into the earth, and it will restrain then till it reaches their ears." [Bukhari 6051]
This day lasts for 50,000 years which is the questioning that every person will go through, a day that the ones who fear not Allah (swt) see as far away, but Allah (swt) sees it as near. Allah (swt) revealed in His Book, free from all error,

((تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَـئِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِى يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ * فَاصْبِرْ صَبْراً جَمِيلاً * إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُ بَعِيداً * وَنَرَاهُ قَرِيباً))

"The angels and the Ruh ascend to Him in a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years.- So be patient, with a good patience.- Verily, they see it (the torment) afar off.- But We see it near." [Surah Miraaj 70:4-7]

There are no excuses and everything will be examined no matter how small. Then comes the presentation of the scales which is where the good and bad deeds will be weighed out for every individual. And with Hell in view of us, how we will all wish that we had done more than we had done as a rescue from its torture! RasulAllah (saw) said,

مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا سَيُكَلِّمُهُ اللَّهُ لَيْسَ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهُ تُرْجُمَانٌ فَيَنْظُرُ أَيْمَنَ مِنْهُ فَلَا يَرَى إِلَّا مَا قَدَّمَ وَيَنْظُرُ أَشْأَمَ مِنْهُ فَلَا يَرَى إِلَّا مَا قَدَّمَ وَيَنْظُرُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ فَلَا يَرَى إِلَّا النَّارَ تِلْقَاءَ وَجْهِهِ فَاتَّقُوا النَّارَ وَلَوْ بِشِقِّ تَمْرَةٍ

"(On the Day of Judgment) none of you will have an interpreter between him and Allah, He will look to his right and he will see nothing but that which he earned, and then he will look to his left and will see nothing but that which he earned. Then he will look to the front and he will see nothing but the Fire in front of him. And so each one of you should save himself from the Fire even by giving half of a date-fruit (in charity)." [Sahih Muslim 1688]

Hell lurks as an ambush for the careless. Such is Hell, about which we have been warned and about which we must fear as a sentence for, on the Day where the appeal of the condemned will not be heard. Allah (swt) said,

((وَأَنْذِرْهُمْ يَوْمَ الْحَسْرَةِ إِذْ قُضِىَ الاٌّمْرُ وَهُمْ فِى غَفْلَةٍ وَهُمْ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ))

"And warn them of the Day of grief and regrets, when the case has been decided, while (now) they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not." [Surah Maryam 19: 39]

Lastly comes the passage over the traverse, also known as the Bridge of Sirat. This is the bridge over the Fire that every individual has to try to cross. For sinners, the bridge appears as thin as a hair and as sharp as the sharpest knife or sword. Sinners will fall into the fire below and arrive at their final destination place, Jahannam. And for those who fall will suffer in the Fire, the very least of which is immense and beyond anything that we could face in this life. RasulAllah (saw) said,

«إِنَّ أَهْوَنَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ عَذَابًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ رَجُلٌ عَلَى أَخْمَصِ قَدَمَيْهِ جَمْرَتَانِ يَغْلِي مِنْهُمَا دِمَاغُهُ»

"Verily the least person who will be suffering from amongst the people of Hellfire on the Day of Resurrection, will be a man under whose soles would be placed two smoldering embers from which his brain will boil." [Bukhari 6077]

O Allah, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem! Protect us from the Punishment of the Aakhira that you have prepared for the disobedient and the disbelieving. How our eyes widen with fear and fill with tears when we read of your warnings!

كَلاَّ بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَّا كَانُواْ يَكْسِبُونَ * كَلاَّ إِنَّهُمْ عَن رَّبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَّمَحْجُوبُونَ * ثُمَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَصَالُواْ الْجَحِيمِ * ثُمَّ يُقَالُ هَـذَا الَّذِى كُنتُمْ بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ

"Nay! But on their hearts is the Ran (covering) which they used to earn * Nay! Surely, they will be veiled from seeing their Lord that Day * Then verily, they will indeed enter the burning flame of Hell * Then, it will be said to them: "This is what you used to deny!'' [Surah Mutaffafeen 83:14-17]

((إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا سَوْفَ نُصْلِيهِمْ نَاراً كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُمْ بَدَّلْنَـهُمْ جُلُوداً غَيْرَهَا لِيَذُوقُواْ الْعَذَابَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَزِيزاً حَكِيماً))

"Surely, those who disbelieved in Our Ayat, We shall burn them in Fire. As often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for other skins that they may taste the punishment. Truly, Allah is Ever Most Powerful, All-Wise." [Surah An-Nisa'a 4:56]

((هَـذَانِ خَصْمَانِ اخْتَصَمُواْ فِى رَبِّهِمْ فَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ قُطِّعَتْ لَهُمْ ثِيَابٌ مِّن نَّارِ يُصَبُّ مِن فَوْقِ رُءُوسِهِمُ الْحَمِيمُ * يُصْهَرُ بِهِ مَا فِى بُطُونِهِمْ وَالْجُلُودُ))

"These two opponents dispute with each other about their Lord; then as for those who disbelieved, garments of fire will be cut out for them, boiling water will be poured down over their heads * With it will melt (or vanish away) what is within their bellies, as well as (their) skins." [Surah Al-Hajj 22: 19-20]

((وَتَرَى الْمُجْرِمِينَ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُّقَرَّنِينَ فِى الاٌّصْفَادِ * سَرَابِيلُهُم مِّن قَطِرَانٍ وَتَغْشَى وُجُوهَهُمْ النَّارُ))

"And you will see the criminals that Day, Muqarranun (bound together) in fetters * Their garments will be of Qatiran (tar), and fire will cover their faces." [Surah Ibrahim 14: 49-50]

((وَمَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَزِينُهُ فأُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ خَسِرُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ فِى جَهَنَّمَ خَـلِدُونَ * تَلْفَحُ وُجُوهَهُمُ النَّارُ وَهُمْ فِيهَا كَـلِحُون))

"And those whose Scales (of good deeds) are light, they are those who lose themselves, in Hell will they abide * The Fire will burn their faces, and therein they will grin, with displaced lips (disfigured)." [Surah Al-Mu'min 23:103-104]

يَوْمَ تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِى النَّارِ يَقُولُونَ يلَيْتَنَآ أَطَعْنَا اللَّهَ وَأَطَعْنَا الرَّسُولاَ * وَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّآ أَطَعْنَا سَادَتَنَا وَكُبَرَآءَنَا فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلاْ *رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِهِمْ ضِعْفَيْنِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ وَالْعَنْهُمْ لَعْناً كَبِيراً

"On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say: "Oh, would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger.''* And they will say: "Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the way.'' * "Our Lord! Give them double torment and curse them with a mighty curse!'' [Surah Al-Ahzab 33-35]

O Allah, Al-Jabbar, Al-Aziz! Make us strive to obey You, grasp firmly to Your commands and abstain resolutely from that which You have prohibited. Let us never falter in our duties to restore Your Deen on this Earth as it deserves to be, as an authority, in a position of superiority and strength, as a Khilafah "Caliphate" state.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Musab Umair - Pakistan