AL-SIRAT (THE BRIDGE)

After the unbelieving atheists and the misguided polytheists have been taken to their miserable abode and worst residence, there will remain at the precincts of Resurrection the monotheists, the followers of the Messengers along with those who have committed sins and acts of disobedience and the hypocrites. They will be in the darkness before the Bridge.

It is reported on the authority of Abu Zubair that Jabir Ibn ‘Abdullah was asked about the arrival (of people on the Day of Resurrection) and he said that he heard Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) saying: “We will come on the Day of Resurrection like this, like this. Then the people will be summoned along with their idols that they worshipped, one after another. Then our Lord will come to us and say: ‘Who are you waiting for?’ They will say: ‘We are waiting for our Lord.’ He will say: ‘I am your Lord.’ They will say: (We are not sure) till we gaze at Him.’ and their Lord will manifest Himself to them smiling, and He will give every person, whether a hypocrite or a believer, light tinted with darkness. Then they will follow Him accompanied by the hypocrites along the Bridge of Hell where there will be spikes and hooks that will catch hold of those whom Allah willed. Then the light of the hypocrites will be extinguished, and the believers will secure salvation, and the first group to secure safety will comprise seventy thousand men who will have the brightness of the full moon on their faces, and they will not be called to account. Then the people immediately following them will be like the brightest star in heaven. This is how (the groups will follow one another). Then the moment of intercession will be due, and they (who are permitted to intercede) will intercede, till he who had declared: ‘ There is no god but Allah’ and had in his heart (faith equal to) the weight of a barley grain will come out of the Fire. They will be then brought to the courtyard of Paradise and the inhabitants of Paradise will begin to pour water on them till they sprout like a thing sprouts in flood water, and their burns will disappear. They will ask their Lord till they are granted  (as much as the bounties of) the world and ten times as much besides it.”[18]

Muslim mentioned in his Sahih part of the hadith narrated by Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, where it is said that a bridge will then be laid across Hell and intercession will be permitted and people will say: “O Allah! Grant safety, grant safety.” It was said: “O Allah’s Messenger! What is the bridge?” He said: “The void in which one is likely to slip. There will be hooks, tongs, and a thorny plant found in Najd and known as Sa'dan. The believers will then pass over within the twinkling of an eye, like lightning, like wind, like a bird, like the finest horses and camels. Some will escape and be safe, some will be lacerated and let go, and some will be pushed into the fire of Hell.”[19]

In Sahih Muslim also we read: “And the Bridge is laid down over Hell and I and my Ummah will be the first to cross it. None but the Messengers will speak then, and their invocation will be ‘O Allah! Grant us safety! Grant us safety!’”[20]

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