The Gathering for the Enduring Home

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

The Gathering for the Enduring Home (1)

‘Abdullah ibn Hamoud al-Furaih

The Gathering for the Enduring Home (1)

After people finish with the scales, it is time (to deal with) those who earned paradise (to enter) into the comforts of The Merciful; those of the community of the fire, the wrongdoers and losers

What a beautiful moment it is when the scales are finished with in preparation to enter the gardens. What a loss it is for whoever is from the community of the fire. It is for you to picture with me that moment when you have finished with the scales and the moment has come for the gathering for paradise or the fire.

What wonder it is where you will be taken? Oh our Lord use us for your obedience so that we can be from the community of your paradise where the gathering is for the Enduring Home and eternal comfort. I will prepare for you dear reader a picture of the gathering of the slaves so ponder upon it. May Allah make you among the community of paradise:
the gathering of the disbelievers
At the end of this tense day, the results come after passing over these horrors, the important moments, the standing in front of the Giant, His Highness and Majesty and being accounted for before Him. After your book has been transferred and you present yourself in front of the scales with yourself, your deeds and scrolls, the results of these reckoning are displayed. It is requested from every community to follow the diety that they used to worship so whoever used to whorship the sun will follow the sun, whoever used to worship the moon will follow it, whoever used to worship idols; will have statues resembling their gods moving in front of them so they will follow them and likewise, whoever used to worship Pharoah will follow him so they will fall into the fire with their gods.

Allah Almighty said about Pharoah:

{يَقْدُمُ قَوْمَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَأَوْرَدَهُمُ النَّارَ وَبِئْسَ الْوِرْدُ الْمَوْرُودُ }

“He will precede his people on the Day of Resurrection and lead them into the Fire; and wretched is the place to which they are led” [Hud: 98]

After that, there will not remain except the believers, the hypocrites and the remaining of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians). After that, the purification for the People of the Book starts as their disbelief is visible, with the exception of the hypocrites as they are with those who know that Allah is more aware of their needs but Allah Almighty wants to place judgement on them and then throw them in Hell. This is from His complete justice, His Highness and Majesty. The purification starts for the People of the Book from the Jews and Christians. Judgement is placed on them, then they are thrown into the Hellfire.

In the two Sahih, there is the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him); the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "God will gather people on the Day of Resurrection and say: Let every people follow what they worshipped. Those who worshipped the sun would follow the sun, and those who worshipped the moon would follow the moon, and those who worshipped the devils would follow the devils. This Ummah (of Islam) alone would be left behind and there would be hypocrites too amongst it. Allah would then come to them in a form other than His own Form, recognisable to them, and would say: I am your Lord."[1]

In the two Sahih also, there is the Hadith of Abu Sa`id Al Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him); the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "When the Day of Resurrection comes a Mu'adhdhin (a proclaimer) would proclaim: Let every people follow what they used to worship. Then all who worshipped idols and stones besides Allah would fall into the Fire, till only the righteous and the vicious and some of the people of the Book who worshipped Allah are left. Then the Jews would be summoned, and it would be said to them: What did you worship? They will say: We worshipped 'Uzair, son of Allah. It would be said to them: You tell a lie; Allah had never had a spouse or a son. What do you want now? They would say: We feel thirsty, O our Lord! Quench our thirst. They would be directed (to a certain direction) and asked: Why don't you go there to drink water? Then they would be pushed towards the Fire (and they would find to their great dismay that) it was but a mirage (and the raging flames of fire) would be consuming one another, and they would fall into the Fire. Then the Christians would be summoned and it would be said to them: What did you worship? They would say: We worshipped Jesus, son of Allah. It would be said to them: You tell a lie; Allah did not take for Himself either a spouse or a son. Then it would be said to them: What do you want? They would say: Thirsty we are, O our Lord! Quench our thirst. They would be directed (to a certain direction) and asked: Why don't you go there to get water? But they would be pushed and gathered together towards the Hell, which was like a mirage to them, and the flames would consume one another. They would fall Into the Fire…"[2]. The Hadith has in it: "Then the bridge would be set up over the Hell".

In this, there is proof that the bridge that is the Sirat does not dissolve, except after the disbelievers enter the fire. Building upon this the disbeliever will not pass over the Sirat but will fall into the fire before it is placed so the passing over of the Sirat is special for the believers and hypocrites as will follow.

[1] Narrated by Al Bukhari number (6573). Narrated by Muslim number (182)

[2] Narrated by Al Bukhari number (4581). Narrated by Muslim number (183)