Five Question on the Day of Judgement

We move with a lot of unstinting efforts for big achievements in our worldly life. It has to be done because winning in the life is conditional upon struggle. Nothing of knowledge, wealth, social status and honour is possible without pain. Anxieties, hard work, sweating and burning the blood all is the price for all this which man pays. Then it has to be decided whether all the achievements are actual goal of life in their nature or a means to reach a point much loftier and higher? If all these attainments are the end and are actual goal then raising any question about how they are met remains needless. In almost all the big civilizations in past and also in the existing Western civilization growth in man’s affluence and earthly ecstasy is thought ultimate goal of life. A limitless freedom has been guaranteed to flourish; yes absolute freedom as long as it becomes a danger for the basics of the very civilization.

But in almost all the Heavenly Revealed Scriptures and particularly in the Quran and teachings of Muhammad, be peace and blessings upon him, the annotator of the last and final Word sent by Allah, the All-Mighty, there is no room for man to behave as a wayward. There are strict checks for keeping a wise balance. Though Islam does not put any hurdle in making progress and gaining prosperity in the life. It is absurd to think that has put dignity and honour, high offices and posts, physical energies and faculties of mind and the acquired knowledge in the list of contraband things. All are means to fulfill the basic aim for which man was created. They are regarded to be wasted if they are not used up for something very high in their purpose.

All of the above mentioned gifts, even either gained with use of man’s own good efficiencies and abilities, as long as they are in his possession, are in fact Allah’s trust with man. As a trustee man is bound to prove his trustworthiness.We find a Hadith in Tirmidhi that the Messenger of Allah, be peace and blessings upon him, had once said:

لاَ تزولُ قدَمُ ابنِ آدمَ يومَ القيامةِ من عندِ ربِّهِ حتَّى يسألَ عن خمسٍ : عن عمرِهِ فيمَ أفناهُ ، وعن شبابِهِ فيما أبلاَهُ ، وعن مالِهِ من أينَ اكتسبَهُ وفيمَ أنفقَهُ ، وماذا عملَ فيما علِمَ

 Son of Adam will not be allowed to move a step from the presence of his Lord unless he answers five questions.

1: He will be asked in what kind of activities he had spent his life.

2: He will be asked how his youth potential was worn out.

3: And he will be questioned about his sources of earning the wealth.

 4: And also that where it was spent?

5: And lastly about the knowledge whether life was lead in its light or not?

The question about life shows that man’s creation in the shape of a shrewd and sagacious living being with perfection of all parts of his body is a great benefaction from the Creator. Ambitions and potentialities of youth age to do something great is another gift. Money and property, the Quran says, has been made a means of support in life. A fruitful and beneficial knowledge is a blessing. So the Giver has all right to make man stand before Him for accountability about all these gifts.

What happens if man is left out of accountability? Only yesterday, (17-5-13) I saw a piece of news in Half Weekly Dawat (Delhi) about a wedding ceremony in Bihar state of India, one of the most backward and poor states of the country where millions of the people long for the basic needs of their lives. Marriage procession of a Muslim member of the parliament, Muhammad Tausif Alam, had to move only 25 km away from his town. This distance could easily be covered within 20 minutes by road. But the man hired a helicopter to fly to the bride’s home that cost him one and half million Rupees. To make the event extraordinarily memorable 50 thousand people, including the Chief Minister of the state, were invited to attend the function. Only the decoration gulped down around 2.7 million Rupees. Total expenditure of this marriage went up to 10 million Rupees. Why? This pomp and show spendthrift was just for personal and family delight and proud demeanor. The Quran says:

“Verily, the spendthrifts are brothers of Shayatin (devils), and Shaitan (Devil) is ever ungrateful to his Lord.” (Al-Isra: 27)

The Muslim parliament member proved ignorant of the basic cause of his life. To him life has not any lofty purpose above from rakishness. This man was not the only man who exhibited his voluptuousness and transgressed the limits of his Lord. There are many, many and many in our ranks deviating from the trait of honesty, humbleness, responsibility, thankfulness and trustworthiness. If the law of the land and its authorities are not so forceful to ask the man about from where he got huge of money to waste it senselessly, it does not mean there is no other place to bring him to the account for his earning from Haram sources and and spending to please Shaitan. Establishment of the Day of Judgement is logical to have a place where at one time they stand answerable for all that they had been doing in their lives. With a little contemplation we can come to conclusion that all the FIVE QUESTIONS above are of very crucial nature encompassing almost whole of our life.