THE HOUR IS NEAR
 Most
people know at least something about the Last Day. Almost
everyone has heard one thing or another about the horror of
the Hour. Nevertheless, most tend to have the same reaction
to it as they do to other matters of vital importance, that
is, they do not want to speak or even think about it. They
try very hard not trying to think about the terror they will
experience on the Last Day. They cannot bear the reminders
of the Last Day found in a news report of a terrible accident
or a film report about some disaster. They avoid thinking
about the fact that that day will certainly come. They do
not want to listen to others who talk about that great day,
or to read authors’ works about it. These are some of
the ways that people have developed in order to escape the
dread of thinking about the Last Day.
Many do not seriously believe that the Hour is
coming. We are presented with an example of this in a verse
of Surat al-Kahf, about the wealthy owner of a rich vineyard:
I do not think the Hour will ever come.
But if I should be sent back to my Lord, I will definitely
get something better in return. (Surat al-Kahf: 36)
The above verse reveals the true mentality of someone
who professes to believe in Allah but avoids thinking about
the reality of the Last Day and puts forward claims contradicting
some verses of the Qur'an. Another verse relates the doubt
and uncertainty that engulfs disbelievers in regards to the
time of the end.
When you were told, “Allah’s
promise is true and so is the Hour, of which there is no
doubt,” you said, “We have no idea what the
Hour is. We have only been conjecturing. We are by no means
certain.” (Surat al-Jathiya: 32)
Some people entirely deny that the Last Day is
coming. Those who have this opinion are mentioned in the Qur’an
as follows:
But instead, they deny the Hour; and We
have prepared a Searing Blaze for those who deny the Hour.
(Surat al-Furqan: 11)
The source that can guide us on the way and show
us the truth is the Qur’an. When we look at what it
says, we learn an obvious fact. Those who deceive themselves
about the Last Day commit a grave error, because Allah reveals
in the Qur’an that there can be no doubt that the Last
Day is near.
And the Hour is coming without any doubt...
(Surat al-Hajj: 7)
We did not create the heavens and earth
and everything between them, except with truth. The Hour
is certainly coming. (Surat al-Hijr: 85)
The Hour is coming—there is no doubt
about it… (Surat al-Mu’min: 59)
There may be some who think that the message of
the Qur’an concerning the Last Day was revealed more
that 1400 years ago and that this is a long time compared
to the length of a human life. But here, it is a question
of the end of the world, the sun and the stars, in short,
of the universe. When we consider that the universe is billions
of years old, fourteen centuries is a very short period of
time.
A great Islamic scholar of recent times, Bediuzzaman
Said Nursi, responded to a similar question in this way:
The Qur’an
says, “The Hour has drawn nigh.”
(Surat al-Qamar: 1) That is, Doomsday is near. It still not
having come after a thousand or this many years does not injure
its closeness. Because, Doomsday is the appointed hour of
the world, and in relation to the life of the world one or
two thousand years are like one or two minutes in relation
to a year. The Hour of Doomsday is not only the appointed
hour of mankind that it should be related to it and seen as
distant. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Risale-i
Nur Collection, Words, Twenty-Fourth Word, Third Branch, Eighth
Principle) |
