Judgement Day

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Judgement Day (5/5)

Abu Yahya

The last comment made me realise that the meeting was ending. I said:
“What are my orders, Master?”
“The time to obey orders has long gone”, the Almighty replied. “Soon, it will be time for you to give orders as a king. For the time being, you should return. Life has not begun yet.”


As I was leaving, I said:
“You would not forget me on the Day of Judgement, would you? I have heard a lot about the horrors of that day and your anger.”


I could feel a beautiful smile spreading in the air. A sharp voice followed:
“You human beings are the ones prone to forgetfulness, Abdullah. The King of kings… your Lord, the One who provides for you, does not forget anything. As for my anger, it never over shadows my mercy. You remembered me your entire life with hope and fear. I will also remember you with forgiveness and mercy. However…”


There was a moment of a kingly pause… then he continued:
“… For your consolation, I am sending Saleh along with you. He will look after you.”


This is the account of my first meeting with Saleh, and the real reason for the benefit of his company. I did not have a physical body during my life in Barzakh. Here, my feelings, emotions, experiences, and observations were akin to a dream. It was a non-physical life but one full of insight. I had full realisation of the blessings that awaited me in the Paradise. Saleh used to visit me regularly, whenever I wished for him to do so. Whenever he would come, he would inform me about all sorts of new things and answer all my questions. Slowly, our friendship became stronger. In our last meeting, he told me that life was about to begin. Hence today, along with him, I was crossing the vast plane on the Day of Judgement, rapidly moving towards the Throne.


Saleh left the sentence incomplete and became silent. On hearing his reply, my mood suddenly became sad. He put his hand on my shoulder and tried to elevate my spirit in these words:
“Have faith in God, Abdullah. You were a fighting soldier in God's army. For this reason, you have risen before others. Rest of the people are rising up now. Those people will also meet you, God-willing, in the right circumstances. For the moment, continue to move ahead.”


My moral rose due to his reassurance and I started to walk briskly along with him.


As I was walking along with Saleh, I looked around; it was a never-ending plane, as far as the eyes could see. The atmosphere felt like it used to be just after dusk before sunrise, around the time of morning prayers; it was as if, daybreak was about to scatter all around. At that time, I could see only a handful of people in the field, albeit, all of them had the same destination. I wondered if anyone amongst those people was a prophet or a messenger. I looked towards Saleh; he knew what I wanted to know. He replied:
“All of them woke up earlier. We are in fact, going towards them.”


“Will I get a chance to meet them?” I asked him eagerly, excited like a child.


He stopped walking and spoke gently:
“In fact, your life will now be spent amongst them. Abdullah! You have still not managed to grasp what is happening. The trial has now finished. There is no façade anymore. Life is now beginning in real and in this life, righteous people will live along with other righteous people forever, and the ones who are evil, shall live along with people who are evil.”


The truth was that I had still not recovered from the shock of all that was happening around me. In fact, the entire introduction to this new world had already taken place in the Barzakh. That was a kind of non-physical world but now, here, on this Day of Judgement, everything was similar to the physical world in which I lived previously. My hands and feet, my feelings and the Earth and the sky around me… everything was similar to what I was used to in the previous world. In that world, I had a home, a family, a neighbourhood, a region and a nation... suddenly there was an explosion in my head. I stopped immediately and grabbing Saleh with both my hands, asked him:
“Where is my family? My relatives, my friends, where are they? What will happen to them? Why can I not see them?”


Saleh answered while avoiding my gaze:
“Do not ask me such questions Abdullah whose answers I do not know. Every person is on his own today. No one can benefit anyone else. If their deeds are good, then remain confident that they will end up meeting you. No injustice shall be done to them. But, if their deeds are not good, then...”