If the sun is to folded up in the day of Judgment, how will it come to the top of people in the Gathering Place (Mahshar)?

The Details of the Question

- It is stated in a verse of the Quran that the sun will be folded. If the sun is to be folded, how will the sun be one spear-length above the people in the Gathering Place (Mahshar)?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

The sun will be folded when Doomsday strikes. The sun will appear in the Gathering Place when everything is resurrected. As a matter of fact, human beings will die and they will be resurrected after Doomsday strikes.

Scholars have different interpretations about “the sun’s being folded up” mentioned in the first verse of the chapter of at-Takwir in the Quran.

a) What is meant by takwir is the sun’s light being folded up.

b) What is meant by takwir is the sun’s sliding away from its orbit. (see Razi, ibid)

According to Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, the verse “When the sun (with its spacious light) is folded up” can be interpreted in two ways:

The First: Almighty God drew back the veils of non-existence, the ether, and the skies, and taking from the treasury of His mercy a lamp like a sparkling brilliant to illuminate the world, displayed it to the world. When the world is closed, He shall rewrap that brilliant in its veils and remove it."

"The Second: The sun is an official charged with spreading out the wares of its light and wrapping the head of the earth alternately in light and darkness. Every evening it gathers up its wares and conceals them, and sometimes it does scant business due to the veil of a cloud, and sometimes the moon draws a veil over its face and somewhat hinders its transactions, then it adjusts the account books of its wares and transactions. Similarly, a time will come when this official will resign from its post. Even if there is no cause for its dismissal, due to the enlargement of the two black spots on its face, as has begun, with Divine permission the sun will take back the light that it spreads at a dominical command and wrap it around its own head. It will be told: ‘No work remains for you on earth. Go to Hell and burn those who worshipped you and insulted an obedient official like yourself by inferring you were disloyal!’ It will read out the decree of When the Sun is folded up through its black-spotted face.” (Sözler, p. 116-117)

It is understood from this explanation that the sun’s losing its light during Doomsday and its death in a way does not mean that it will not be resurrected again and that it will never show its light.

To sum up, the sun’s sliding away from its orbit or disappearance of its light means the destruction of the solar system. Doomsday is something like that.  

However, we also know that there is a morning after every night and there is a spring after every winter; similarly, there will be a morning of resurrection after the night of death and a spring of gathering place after the death of Doomsday. In this spring of gathering place, living beings will be resurrected, so will be the sun, which is an important source of life and it will heat the Gathering Place as much as Allah wants. Then, it will be a part of Hell to burn those who worshipped it.

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