Witnesses of the Day of Judgement (ep 27)
Bismillah Al Rahman Al Raheem.
What is the Divine court like?
Does the Divine Court on the Day of Judgement need witnesses on that day?
Allah swt is the ultimate witness for everything but we read in the Quran there are many other witnesses will present their testimony on the Day of Judgement and before the Divine Court. The Court of the Divine Justice.
On the Day of Judgement the dead are to be resurrected and assemble in the Court of Divine Justice where records of deeds will be opened and each is to be presented to a comprehensive record of their deeds, large or small.
Some will receive their records in the right hand and some others in the left and that is to go in accordance with their deeds.
Wether that record is full of good deeds, good behaviour, charitable works and everything in line with obedience to Allah swt.
Wether they are obligatory or recommended (Wajibat or Mustahabaat).
Those who observed the fear of Allah swt and Piety.
Those who focused on what pleased Allah swt, so of course this is the book of records to be given to people in their right hand (Wa amma man ootiya kitabahu biyameenihi)
Whilst on the other hand we see some other people who are receiving their records or book of records in their left hand(Wa amaa man ootiya kitabahu bishimalihi)
Sometimes there are worst. That some people are given their records from behind. The behind of their backs, as humiliation and disrespect to them because they were so corrupt and they did nothing good to entitle them to pardon or something to bring them close to Allah swt and (Min waraa’i thuhoorihim) and this is the worst what will happen to those who where doing every nasty thing, the sinners and those who only knew the disobedience to Allah swt and they neglected all their (Wajibaat) - All their duties.
Now this Court is there, our deeds will be examined and the records will be shown clearly.
Sometimes that record is so bad that Allah swt says that the person who received it, he says that ‘I wish I havenet received such a record! No wealth. no position, no relatives will avail and all whatever i worked hard for them they left me and they cannot assist me at all.’
Some people would claim ‘Oh allah give us another opportunity that we go back to life and we might do something good’ and Allah swt says ‘NO!’ and it is ‘no’ with strongest claims and statements.
For the witnesses, of course Allah swt IS the ultimate and the first, the prime witness because HE is aware of the manifest and the hidden, the seen and the unseen, so if for example we can see people and judge them from their visage, from their behaviour, from their manner but we don’t know whats going on in their hearts, in their intentions, in their minds. But Allah swt is aware of both the external and the internal part of our being.
So he knows exactly.
Still the pardon is something else but we are talking about what? The witnesses.
So the first and the prime witness on that day, the Day of Judgement is Allah Himself.
The second place we will see that the Prophet of each nation will be witnessing over his own nation.
Allah tells us in the Quran in Surah 16;89 that on the day we raise people there will be a witness from among themselves and we will bring you ‘Oh Muhammad’ to witness over them and later on we say that all messengers will be witnessing, sand as witnesses for their nations.
And here what we said about the Infallibility or being immune of error, immune against error with regard to Prophets and Messengers, when we where talking about Prophethood will be used here as a good example, why?
Because if the witness is not reliable, if there is a mere possibility that the witness is twisting the fact, is not telling the truth which means that the judgement will go wrong but because Allah swt protected the Messengers from going astray, from giving the wrong testimony, so this is their characteristic and their word will be accepted. This is one.
Second because each Prophet, each Messenger knows about how his people dealt with him, treated him.
We read in the many Ayaat in the Quran that people, different people, different nations they treated their Prophets badly. They ignored them, they did not listen to them.
We read about Nouh (as) that whenever the Prophet Nouh was telling his nation, teaching them, advising them, they put their fingers inside their ears, then cover their heads just to avoid any word of wisdom or guidance reach their ears and they understand it.
This continued for how many years? 950 years that the Quran tells us about.
The same happened with Ibrahim (as), with Musa (as), with Isa (as), so now who is better than the Prophet of each nation to come forward and give the testimony in the Divine Court of Justice?
Then we see as,notice the Prophet of Islam of course will be one of the witnesses on that day and his way of life he will be exampler, he will be a role model that all other Messengers and Prophets try to look for.
One of the witnesses against everybody on the Divine Court of Justice is our limbs and organs. How?
Allah swt tells us in the Quran, that this is Surah 24;24 that on the day where their tongues, hands and feet bare witness against them.
So if somebody denies doing something, the hand by which he acted and did that act will stand as a witness against him.
If someone was accused or he was pressed in the Divine Court of Justice that he assaulted people, he accused people, he used bad language or he was telling the false ideas here and there or spreading something wrong in the community, misleading them, so if he denies that then his own tongue, according to the Quran, will stand as a witness against him. That ‘oh don’t do that because you used me’ and this is the tongue ‘you used me to tell all those lies to mislead, to create confusion in the mind of people or to insult or use bad language against others’
So here in Surah 24;24 it is clear that amongst the witness in that Divine Court of justice we’ll see the tongue, the hands, the feet.
If someone for example was held accountable for going somewhere, like a disco for example or something wrong to do there then if he denies that his own feet will bare witness against him, yes by the very these feet you committed that sin.
So we have to be more careful about if people don’t know something about us, if we can hide something from the eyes of public but nothing will go wrong. Everything will be recorded and our limbs and organs will bare witness against us.
In another Ayah Allah swt says that ‘On that day we will seal their mouths for their hands to communicate with us and their feet will bare witness to all that they have done’ and this is in Surah 36;65.
Regardless of the absence of any scientific explanation as to how limbs are witness, we believe that Allah Almight to be be Omnipotent.
Yes, you may think that how your tongue will bare witness, or your hand or organs, but Allah swt is Omnipotent. HE is able to do all that.
Not only the tongue, hand and foot rather the skin itself and this is mentioned in the Quran and that is in Surah number 41;19-21, the Almighty Allah tells us when the enemies of Allah are driven to the fire, the ears, eyes and skin will bare witness against them. They shall ask the skin, and this is interesting, that the argument will start between the person and his skin because he always looked after his skin, all moisturises or creams to keep that skin fresh and look nice and beautiful, ‘i served you, i looked after you, now you are turning against me?!’ and in this was Allah swt says that they shall ask the skin ‘ why did you testify against me?’ and what is the response of the skin?
It shall respond ‘Allah who orders all things made us to speak’
‘So Allah made us speak. Don’t blame me’
This is the response of the skin to the owner of that body and that skin.
Angels are other people who are witnessing there.
Of course we know that with each person there are two angels who record their good deeds and evil acts and they are so strict in writing down every single thing.
Of course we have other ahaadeeth to say that if the person repents there is a, for example, a period of five, six hours or seven hours, something like that, that allowing a person to look back, focus on what he is doing and now change his mind and repent.
So, although they record, but still there is possibility to be erased b the order of Allah swt provided the person repents and decides to change. But if he doesnt care for that then of course that which is recorded by the angels will be fixed and used against the person that day.
Another witness on the Day of judgement is the Earth.
Allah swt tells us about the Earthquake that is to precede the Day of judgement. That day the Earth will yield up all the events that your Lord has revealed to it and this is in Surah 9;99 (Surah Al Zilzaal)
On Allah Almighty’s command all these will tell us about the exact thing which, like fingerprints on every single part of our life will record our actions as now in Forensic Science they try to chase and trace the crime and prove, if you deny, they prove that - yes this is your fingerprint, these are the things which you used, the tools which you used in committing that crime and furthermore nowadays Archeology will be able and is able to tell us about the wild life that lived millions of years before by using certain technology.
So it is the Earth itself which will reveal the news. Will stand as witness that will provide the information needed for that Court of Justice on the Day of Judgement.
And of course the last witness we can consider it as the physical embodiment of deeds.
According to Islamic teachings every action that humans make have two distinct aspects:
One that corresponds with their materialistic life of the world and the other one with the everlasting life in the hereafter.
The night where the Prophet (saww) was admitted to Paradise he saw angels building castles, bricks of gold and another bricks of silver and sometimes those angels would stop working so the Prophet (saww) asked Gabriel who was accompanying him ‘Gabriel, why did they stop?’ and he asked them. They said we are waiting for building materials. What is the building materials for you in Paradise when you build a castle or castles with bricks of gold and silver?
And they said that when the servant of Allah on Earth pronounces (subhannalahi wal hamdulillahi wa laa ilaha illa Allah wa Allahu Akbar) The materials reach us and we continue building. When he stops here we stop working because we don’t have building materials.
So this is only to explain to us how the energy, and that is what we utter or pronounce is turned into matter, and that is gold and silver so the embodiment of our acts, our actions, our deeds, we do something, we utter something, we function, these are turned into spiritual phrase and phase and that way they again will be recording and witnessing all our actions on the day of judgement.
May Allah swt enable us to understand the meanings of the Quran in the precise way.
May Allah swt give us the honour and the ability to follow the teachings of the Quran and act upon them.
Allahumma Sali Alaa Muhammadin Wa Aali Muhammad.