28 Yawm – Day
Earlier in this series of posts on Facebook mention was made of the congregational prayer which takes place on Friday (see post 5). Friday, in Arabic, is yawm al-jum’a - the Day of Congregation. Another expression is yawm al-dîn, the Day of Judgement. In the prayer which forms the opening sûra of the Qur’an, al-fâtiḥa (see AR 20), a mention of this Day is to be found:
Praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy, Master of the Day of Judgement (Q 1:2-4).
The Day of Judgement is also known as the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyâma), in other words the general resurrection at the end of time when all human beings will be assembled in God’s presence for their actions to be judged. This is one of the Islamic pillars of belief (see AR 17).
It is not known when this Day will come, but come it will. The Qur’an calls it the “Inevitable Hour” (Q 69:1-3). It is described in an apocalyptic manner which may remind Christians of the book of Revelation. Here is one example:
When the sun is rolled up,
when the stars are dimmed,
when the mountains are set in motion,
when pregnant camels are abandoned,
when wild beast are herded together,
when the seas boil over,
when souls are sorted into classes,
when the baby girl buried alive is asked for what sin she was killed,
when the records of deeds are spread open,
when the sky is stripped away,
when Hell is made to blaze and Paradise brought near,
then every soul will know what it has brought about (Q 81:1-14).
The last ten days of Ramadan are a special time of prayer in preparation for this Day of Judgement.
The following prayer is recommended:
O God. I ask you for Paradise and whatever words and actions may take me near it. I seek your
protection from the fire [of Hell] and whatever words or actions that may take me near it. I
beseech you to make Your decisions for me good.
(cf. Abdullah Quilliam Mosque and Heritage Centre, Ramadan Guide 2019 p.35).
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