It’s that time of the year when:
– Cars turn into a furnace,
-there’s no rain but you can see umbrellas over peoples head,
-water in the cold tap is way HOTTER than that in the hot tap,
-the secret stock of chocolate bars in your purse turn into a blob.
It’s the advent of summer in Dubai and the most common phrase heard is: Its hell out there.
The moment you open the car door it throws a big ball of hot air on your face. You feel as if your skin in burning and that it’ll roast and peel off. It gets so hot in the following months that when you sit in the car it’s as if you sat on burning coal. Ouch!!!
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “The least punished person of the people of Hell-Fire on the Day of Resurrection will be a man under whose arch of the feet two smouldering embers will be placed, because of which his brain will boil just like Al-Mirjal (copper vessel) or a Qum-qum (narrow-necked vessel) boils with water.” (Bukhari)
During peak hours the sun is unbearable as if it’s right over our heads with sweat pouring out of us although the sun is millions and millions of kilometers away. Can we even imagine this number and distance??
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said “The Sun will get closer to the creations on the Day of Resurrection until it is only a mile away. People will perspire according to the level of their deeds. Some of them will have perspiration covering his ankles, some to his knees, others to their shoulders, some will have it choke them”, and he (Peace and Blessings be upon him) pointed to his mouth. (Muslim)
As the heat becomes unbearable, people suffer headaches and heat strokes due to it. People try to be in shaded and cool places, and go out only when needed, but not possible always as work has to be done. We see the delivery men on their bikes or the boys coming from the grocery in this heat to drop in our order we just placed through our phones in the comfort of our house. Gardeners and Laborers use wet cloth over their heads to get a bit of relief. People like them have no choice!!
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Allah will give shade to seven [people] on the Day when there will be no shade but His.”
- A just ruler
- A youth who grew up in the worship of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic
- A man whose heart is attached to the mosques
- Two men who love each other for Allah’s sake, meeting for that and parting upon that
- A man who is called by a woman of beauty and position [for illegal intercourse], but he says: ‘I fear Allah
- A man who gives in charity and hides it, such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity
- A man who remembered Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears.
It gets so hot, that taking bath several times a day is a must due to all the sweating. But to even pour a mug of that scorching water on the body takes courage. Not to forget Istinja!! Filling water in buckets beforehand to cool it seems a workable solution.
And the companions of the left – what are the companions of the left? [They will be] in scorching fire and scalding water. And a shade of black smoke, Neither cool nor beneficial. (Surah Al-Wāqi`ah; 56:41-44)
“They will [enter to] burn in an intensely hot Fire. They will be given drink from a boiling spring.” (Surah Al-Ghāshiyah; 88:4-5)
Let the blazing summer not be the only thing that reminds us of Hell. Remember our skill of making nice chapatis and that hot roti on the tawa coming up round like a balloon? Poof.. the layer of roti opens up a small hole and lets the hot air of steam blow fiercely on our skin and we withdraw our hand as a reflex action. But we have already experienced that sharp pain. Or remember burning our hand or arm due to a slight brush against that hot vessel we just removed from the stove and placed on the kitchen counter or that slight touch with the iron while pressing the clothes?
Or remember that splash of oil that comes on our face when a drop of water accidently falls from our wet hands in the hot wok or getting our thumb or finger dipped and burned while putting the pakora batter in the hot oil?
And say, “The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills – let him believe; and whoever wills – let him disbelieve.” Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds [their] faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place. (Surah Al-Kahf; 18:29)
The pain from these nano-second encounters are so sharp that it leaves us squeezing and bending in pain and sometimes it even takes more than a few days till the little blisters are completely healed as if nothing happened; sometimes they do leave behind scars.
“Indeed, those who disbelieve in Our verses – We will drive them into a Fire. Every time their skins are roasted through We will replace them with other skins so they may taste the punishment. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted in Might and Wise.” (Surah An-Nisa; 4:56)
Let these encounters of heat and fire in our daily life make us remember the Happenings of the Day of Judgment and the Punishments awaiting the dwellers of the Hell. Let us make it a habit of reciting the Duas seeking protection from them. So whenever the heat disturbs us let us remember that this is nothing comparable to even the minutest detail of what the residents of the Hell will have to suffer. It IS true and it WILL happen. No doubt about it. So always make lots of Dua when we can’t take the heat any more, when leaving the house, entering the car, stepping out of the malls. And not only at these specific moments but daily.
Lets learn these Duas and their meaning, and recite them and seek Allah’s Protection from the Hell which asks Allah’s protection from itself hundred times a day.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “Seek refuge in Allah from Gubb Al-Hazan.” The people said. “O Messenger of Allah? What is Gubb Al-Hazan?” He replied, “A valley in Hell-fire from which Hell-fire, itself seeks refuge in Allah a hundred times every day.” Then, they asked, “Who will enter it, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Readers of the Quran who show off by their deeds.” (Tirmidhi)
So how can we as mere sinful souls not seek Allah’s protection from the wrath of the Hell. May Allah make it easy for us on that Day which is not very far. Its approaching very close, faster than we can imagine. It will surely come.
In sha Allah, in my next post I will share with you the Duas seeking protection from the Hell which we can learn and make it a habit of reciting in our daily life, everyday.