Surah Al Hajj Tafseer

The Hour

Allah commands:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ

O mankind! Have Taqwa of your Lord! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour is a terrible thing.

Allah commands His servants to have Taqwa of Him, He informs them of the terrors of the Day of Resurrection which will come to them with its earthquakes and other horrors, as He says:

إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الاٌّرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا

وَأَخْرَجَتِ الَارْضُ أَثْقَالَهَا

When the earth is shaken with its (final) earthquake. And when the earth throws out its burdens. (99:1-2)

وَحُمِلَتِ الاٌّرْضُ وَالْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةً وَحِدَةً

فَيَوْمَيِذٍ وَقَعَتِ الْوَاقِعَةُ

And the earth and the mountains shall be removed from their places, and crushed with a single crushing. Then on that Day shall the (Great) Event befall. (69:14-15)

إِذَا رُجَّتِ الاٌّرْضُ رَجّاً

وَبُسَّتِ الْجِبَالُ بَسّاً

When the earth will be shaken with a terrible shake. And the mountains will be powdered to dust. (56:4-5)

It was said that this earthquake will come at the end of the life span of this world, at the outset of the Hour.

Ibn Jarir recorded that Alqamah commented on Allah's saying,

إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ

(Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) is a terrible thing).

"Before the Hour."

Others said that this refers to the terror, fear, earthquakes and chaos that will happen on the Day of Resurrection, in the arena (of Judgement), after the resurrection from the graves.

This was the view favored by Ibn Jarir, who took the following Hadiths as evidence:

Imam Ahmad recorded that Imran bin Husayn said that when the Messenger of Allah was on one of his journeys and some of his Companions had fallen behind, he raised his voice and recited these two Ayat:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ

يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّا أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَى

وَمَا هُم بِسُكَارَى وَلَكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ

O mankind! Have Taqwa of your Lord! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour is a terrible thing. 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 Allah's torment is severe.

When his Companions heard that, they hastened to catch up with him, because they knew that he wanted to say something. When they reached him, he said:

أَتَدْرُونَ أَيُّ يَوْمٍ ذَاكَ ذَاكَ يَوْمُ يُنَادَى ادَمُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَمُ فَيُنَادِيهِ رَبُّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَيَقُولُ يَا ادَمُ ابْعَثْ بَعْثَكَ إِلَى النَّارِ فَيَقُولُ يَا رَبِّ وَمَا بَعْثُ النَّارِ فَيَقُولُ مِنْ كُلِّ أَلْفٍ تِسْعُمِايَةٍ وَتِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعُونَ فِي النَّارِ وَوَاحِدٌ فِي الْجَنَّة

Do you know what Day that is! That is the Day when Adam will be called. His Lord will call him and will say:"O Adam, send forth (those of your progeny) who are to be sent to the Fire."

He will say, "O Lord, how many are to be sent to the Fire!"

He will say, "From every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine will be in the Fire and one will be in Paradise."

His Companions were filled with despair and stopped smiling. When he saw that, he said:

أَبْشِرُوا وَاعْمَلُوا فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ إِنَّكُمْ لَمَعَ خَلِيقَتَيْنِ مَا كَانَتَا مَعَ شَيْءٍ قَطُّ إِلاَّ كَثَّرَتَاهُ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ وَمَنْ هَلَكَ مِنْ بَنِي ادَمَ وَبَنِي إِبْلِيس

Be of good cheer and strive hard, for by the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, you will be counted with two creations who are of immense numbers, Ya'juj and Ma'juj, and those who have already died of the progeny of Adam and the progeny of Iblis.

Then they felt happier, and he said:

اعْمَلُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ مَا أَنْتُمْ فِي النَّاسِ إِلاَّ كَالشَّامَةِ فِي جَنْبِ الْبَعِيرِ أَوِ الرَّقْمَةِ فِي ذِرَاعِ الدَّابَّة

Strive hard and be of good cheer, for by the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, in comparison to mankind you are like a mole on the flank of a camel or a mark on the foreleg of a beast.

This was also recorded by At-Tirmidhi and by An-Nasa'i in the Book of Tafsir in their Sunans.

At-Tirmidhi said, "It is Hasan Sahih."

Another Version of this Hadith

At-Tirmidhi recorded from Imran bin Husayn that when the words,

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ

(O mankind! Have Taqwa of your Lord.) Until His saying,

وَلَكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ

(but Allah's torment is severe), were revealed, the Prophet was on a journey, and he said:

أَتَدْرُونَ أَيُّ يَوْمٍ ذَلِكَ

قَالُوا اللهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ

قَالَ ذَلِكَ يَوْمٌ يَقُولُ اللهُ لاِادَمَ ابْعَثْ بَعْثَ النَّارِ

قَالَ يَا رَبِّ وَمَا بَعْثُ النَّارِ

قالَ تِسْعُمِايَةٍ وَتِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ وَوَاحِدٌ إِلَى الْجَنَّة

Do you know what Day that is?

They said, "Allah and His Messenger know best."

He said:That is the Day on which Allah will say to Adam, "Send forth (those of your progeny) who are to be sent to the Fire."

He will say, "O Lord, how many are to be sent to the Fire!"

He will say, "From every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine will be in the Fire and one will be in Paradise."

The Muslims started to weep, then the Messenger of Allah said:

قَارِبُوا وَسَدِّدُوا فَإِنَّهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ نُبُوَّةٌ قَطُّ إِلاَّ كَانَ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهَا جَاهِلِيَّةٌ قَالَ فَيُوْخَذُ الْعَدَدُ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَإِنْ تَمَّتْ وَإِلاَّ كُمِّلَتْ مِنَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَمَا مَثَلُكُمْ وَمَثَلُ الاْاُمَمِ إِلاَّ كَمَثَلِ الرَّقْمَةِ فِي ذِرَاعِ الدَّابَّةِ أَوْ كَالشَّامَةِ فِي جَنْبِ الْبَعِير

Be close in your rank and be straight forward, for there was never any Prophet but there was a time of ignorance just before his advent, so the number will be taken from that time of ignorance, and if that is not enough, it will be made up from the hypocrites. A parable of yours in comparison to the other nations is that, you are like a mark on the foreleg of an animal, or a mole on the flank of a camel.

Then he said,

إِنِّي لَاَرْجُو أَنْ تَكُونُوا رُبُعَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّة

I hope that you will be a quarter of the people of Paradise.

They said, "Allahu Akbar!"

Then he said,

إِنِّييَلَرْجُو أَنْ تَكُونُوا ثُلُثَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّة

I hope that you will be a third of the people of Paradise.

They said, "Allahu Akbar!"

Then he said,

إِنِّييَلَرْجُو أَنْ تَكُونُوا نِصْفَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّة

I hope that you will be half of the people of Paradise.

They said, "Allahu Akbar!"

Then he (the narrator) said,

"I do not know if he said two-thirds or not."

This was also recorded by Imam Ahmad.

Then At-Tirmidhi also said, "This is a Hasan Sahih Hadith."

In his Tafsir, under this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Sa`id said,

"The Prophet said:

يَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَا ادَمُ

فَيَقُولُ لَبَّيْكَ رَبَّنَا وَسَعْدَيْكَ فَيُنَادَى بِصَوْتٍ إِنَّ اللهَ يَأْمُرُكَ أَنْ تُخْرِجَ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِكَ بَعْثًا إِلَى النَّارِ

قَالَ يَا رَبِّ وَمَا بَعْثُ النَّارِ

قَالَ مِنْ كُلِّ أَلْفٍ أُرَاهُ قَالَ تِسْعُمِايَةٍ وَتِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعُونَ

فَحِينَيِذٍ تَضَعُ الْحَامِلُ حَمْلَهَا وَيَشِيبُ الْوَلِيدُ

On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will say:"O Adam."

He will say, "At Your service, O Lord."

Then a voice will call out:"Allah commands you to send forth from your progeny those who are destined for the Fire."

He will say, "O Lord, who is destined for the Fire?"

He will say, "From every thousand" -- I think he said -- "nine hundred and ninety-nine."

At that time every pregnant female will drop her load and children will turn grey.

وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَى وَمَا هُم بِسُكَارَى وَلَكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ

and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet they will not be drunken, but Allah's torment is severe.

That will be so difficult for mankind to bear that their faces will change.

The Prophet said:

مِنْ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ تِسْعُمِايَةٍ وَتِسْعَةٌ وَتِسْعُونَ

وَمِنْكُمْ وَاحِدٌ أَنْتُمْ فِي النَّاسِ كَالشَّعْرَةِ السَّوْدَاءِ فِي جَنْبِ الثَّوْرِ الاَْبْيَضِ أَوْ كَالشَّعْرَةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ فِي جَنْبِ الثَّوْرِ الاَْسْوَدِ وَإِنِّي لَاَرْجُو أَنْ تَكُونُوا رُبُعَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ

فَكَبَّرْنَا

ثُمَّ قَالَ ثُلُثَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ

فَكَبَّرْنَا

ثُمَّ قَالَ شَطْرَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ

فَكَبَّرْنا

Nine hundred and ninety-nine from Ya'juj and Ma'juj, and one from you.

Among mankind you are like a black hair on the side of a white bull, or a white hair on the side of a black bull. I hope that you will be one quarter of the people of Paradise.

We said "Allahu Akbar!"

Then he said, A third of the people of Paradise.

We said, "Allahu Akbar!"

Then he said, One half of the people of Paradise.

We said, "Allahu Akbar!"

Al-Bukhari also recorded this elsewhere.

It was also recorded by Muslim, and An-Nasa'i in his Tafsir.

The Hadiths and reports about the terrors of the Day of Resurrection are very many, and this is not the place to quote them all.

And Allah says:

إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ

Verily, the earthquake of the Hour is a terrible thing.

means, a serious matter, a terrifying crisis, a horrendous event.

This earthquake is what will happen to people when they are filled with terror, as Allah says:

هُنَالِكَ ابْتُلِىَ الْمُوْمِنُونَ وَزُلْزِلُواْ زِلْزَالاً شَدِيداً

There, the believers were tried and shaken with a mighty shaking. (33:11)

Then Allah says