11-16-2009, 03:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-16-2009, 03:22 PM by Peregrinus.)
Quote:Except for the theme of monotheism, the Qur'an speaks more of the coming Qiyamah - also known as the Resurrection, the Day of Judgment, Day of Gathering, and the Great Announcement - than of any other topic. "Confessing the Shahadah - "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God" - and believing in the accountability of all humans before God are the cement which holds Islam together.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), among other things, came to warn us of a time when truth would be known, when the thoughts and intentions of the heart would be revealed. He earnestly proclaimed as inevitable a day when accounts would be settled and when scales would be balanced.
Fazlur Rahman, in an oblique paraphrase of sura 50:22, said that Judgment Day is the "Hour when every human will be shaken into a unique and unprecedented self-awareness of his deeds; he will squarely and starkly face his own doings, not-doings, and mis-doings and accept the judgment upon them. . . . "
Something like a Final Judgment or Day of Reckoning is a naturally corollary of monotheism. If there is one God who knows all and sets standards of behavior for the world, there must be a time of judgment, or the edifice crumbles of its own weight."
This major theme and promise is upheld not only in the Qur'an, but also in other religious scriptures. Though opinions may differ on precise details it is generally believed that it is connected to a time of momentous upheaval, calamity and the end of Earth.
The Muslim faith also believes in Jesus as the son of God, and that the second coming will mark "the final hour".
Quote:And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment: therefore have no doubt about the (Hour), but follow ye Me: this is a Straight Way.
Qur'an 43.61
More about "the resurrection" of mankind can be found here, though just as the Christian and other faiths find this confusing, so does the Muslim faith. It appears to me that only the LOO gives us a clearer understanding than those thousands of years ago understood, wanted to understand, or changed so as to acquire and/or maintain religious or political power.