Sūrat al-Ḥajj
Section 2 of 18 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
The Tremor of the Hour
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ ٱلسَّاعَةِ شَىْءٌ عَظِيمٌ يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّآ أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى ٱلنَّاسَ سُكَـٰرَىٰ وَمَا هُم بِسُكَـٰرَىٰ وَلَـٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ ٱللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ
“O mankind, fear your Lord. Indeed the quake of the (destined) Hour is something terrible. The day you will see it, every suckling female will forget that which she suckles, and every female having pregnancy shall abort her fetus, and you will see people as if they are drunk, while they are not drunk, but Allah’s torment is (so) severe.” (22:1–2)
These verses deserve to be set out in full, for it is an awe-inspiring beginning. It speaks of the magnitude — one might say the terror — of the Day of Judgement: the tremor of the Day of Judgement is a mighty event indeed. On the day it is seen, its severity will be such that pregnant women will miscarry, and people will appear as though in an intoxicated state, not knowing what to do.
People are ordinarily found in that state only if they are drunk; and if they are not drunk, the only other cause is utter bewilderment — when they have no idea what they must do, because they cannot make sense of what is happening around them, and have lost their reason.
May Allah protect us on that day. May Allah give us thabāt on that day. May Allah give us understanding on that day. May Allah (swt) allow us to remain with Him on that day.
Such is its beginning, and the passage rewards reading and reflection in full. Sūrat al-Ḥajj, as mentioned, is a Madanī sūrah. It comprises seventy-eight verses, in ten sections.