Page 40 - The Day of Judgment

38 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

The sky has always been like a ceiling to people, certain to exist
and persist; a glorious ceiling raised and sustained without pillars
by Allah: a fabulous screen between the vast universe and them.
This ceiling has protected our world and its inhabitants from
countless dangers (e.g., ultraviolet radiation, meteorites, and the
freezing temperatures of space) without fail for ages, and remains
an absolute necessity for the continuation of life. The light coming
through the darkness of space is distributed on Earth as it is because
of the atmosphere's qualities, and warms and lights the planet. And,
the delicate balance of the atmosphere's oxygen content enables
humanity to breathe and live. However, on that Day the sky will no

longer fulfill its functions, for it will have reached its end. The
Qur'an reveals these events, as follows:
On the Day when Heaven sways to and fro. (Surat at-Tur, 9)
The Heaven will be split apart therefrom; His promise will be
fulfilled. (Surat al- Muzzammil, 18)
And Heaven will be split apart, for that Day it will be very
frail. (Surat al-Haqqa, 16)
Air, so essential for life, also will lose its function, for the laws
that apply on that Day will be different from the usual laws. The
atmosphere, so delicately sustained in a stable equilibrium by the
laws of physics, will just melt and flow away. The end of the
heavens is described, as follows:

On the Day the sky is like molten brass. (Surat al-Ma'arij, 8)
The atmosphere will melt and be ignited, and people will see the
usual blue sky as flame-red, split apart, molten, and just like oil:
When Heaven is split apart and goes red, like dregs of oil.
(Surat ar-Rahman, 37)

The Day of Judgment is a day of great remorse for those who did