The day when YOUR LORD comes

and your Lord comes with the angels, row after row

THE EXPLANATION OF VERSE 22

 وَجَاءَ رَبُّكَ وَالْمَلَكُ صَفًّا صَفًّا 

and your Lord comes with the angels, row after row

In the verse and your Lord comes, it is Allah ( عزّ وجلّ ) who will actually come on that day because the Arabic verb mentioned is attributed to Allah. Anytime a verb is attributed to Allah, it is actually Allah himself that does the action and not someone or something else. This is a simple grammatical rule in language. This also leads to an important principle when understanding Allah's names and descriptions: Whenever Allah mentions anything and associates it with Himself then it is He alone that does the action or is described with the quality. It is not to be attributed to anyone or anything else. So based on this principle, Allah ( عزّ وجلّ ) Himself will actually come on that day.

The verse is not to be misunderstood as the people who twist and distort verses claim when they say, "It is really the command of Allah that will come." This is nothing more than a baseless example of changing the apparent meaning of a text to something else without proof for doing so.

As for us—and this is part of our creed and belief—we always accept and understand the speech of Allah ( تعالى ) and that of His messenger ( صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) upon the outward, apparent meaning. We do not twist the words to mean some other secret meaning.

Asking How Allah's Actions & Descriptions Are:

 Based on this verse, we say and believe that Allah Himself will actually come on the Day of Judgment. But how will Allah come, arriving on that day? This is the part about which we have no knowledge; we do not know how Allah will come. Simply asking about how Allah does something is a religious innovation as Imam Mālik ( رحمه الله ) said

when he was asked about the following verse, "How did Allah rise over the throne?"

 الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى 

The Most-Merciful rose over the throne.

Upon hearing this, Imam Mālik bowed his head and began to sweat due to the weight of such a question upon him because it is certainly an example of excessive questioning. It is an arrogant question, a religious innovation with malicious intent. Imam Mālik then raised his head and replied, "(The word) 'rising' is not something unknown. The 'how' of it is not something we could comprehend. Yet believing in it is essential, and asking about it is an innovation." The relevant part here is his last statement, "Asking about (the 'how') is a religious innovation," and this applies to all of Allah's descriptions and actions.

For example, regarding the verse about the creation of Adam:

 لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ 

...to that which I created with My hand.

If someone asks you about this verse, "How did Allah create Adam with His hand?" We respond, "Such a question is a religious innovation." Even if the questioner were to come back, saying he only wants more knowledge so that nothing of the characteristics of his Lord is hidden from him, we could ask him a simple question, "Are you more eager to gain religious knowledge than the messenger's companions ( "?( رضي الله عنهم Either he answers, "Yes," (then he's lying), or he answers, "No," which is expected. We then ask the questioner, "Is the one you just now directed your question to more knowledgeable about how the actions and descriptions of Allah ( عزّ وجلّ ) are or is the messenger, Muhammad ( صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) more knowledgeable about them?" The messenger is more knowledgeable obviously. So the companions were more eager for knowledge than you and the one they used to ask for it is more knowledgeable than the one you are asking, yet they still did not ask such a question. This is because they behaved with the utmost respect and best manners before Allah ( .( عزّ وجلّ

The companions said with their hearts, and perhaps even with their tongues, that Allah is greater and more honorable than for our minds and intellects to fully comprehend how His actions and characteristics are. He ( عزّ وجلّ ) says in His book about issues which we cannot encompass in knowledge:

 وَلا يُحِيطُو بِهِ عِلْمًا 

And they do not comprehend it with knowledge. Sūrah ṬāHā (20:110)

And He says about things we cannot perceive:

 لا تُدْرِكُهُ الأَبْصَارُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ الأَبْصَارَ 

No vision can perceive Him but He can perceive all vision. Sūrah al-An'ām (6:103)

To conclude this point, we say: Brothers, have respect for Allah and behave with Him with good manners. Do not ask how Allah created Adam with His hand because the question itself—and this pertains to all of Allah's characteristics—is a form of introducing something baseless and unnecessary into our religion. If someone were to ask, "What is Allah's eye like?" this is a religious innovation. "How does He have a hand?" This is an innovation and you must return to good manners with Allah ( عزّ وجلّ ) and not ask how His characteristics are.

So in the verse here when Allah says, and your Lord comes and someone asks, "How will He come?" we explain that such erroneous questioning is unacceptable in our religion and this is a fundamental rule in our belief so stick to it. And anyone who insists on asking how Allah's characteristics are is an innovator who has gone too far with his excessive questioning. He asks about something which he will never be able to understand.

Our Position Regarding Allah's Actions & Descriptions: 

Our belief and position regarding the verse and your Lord comes and others like it is that we simply believe that Allah will come on the Day of Resurrection. But how will He come? Allah alone knows. The proof for our belief is His statement ( :( تعالى

 لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ 

There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (Sūrah al-Shūrá (42:11))

So we know what Allah is not like although we do not know what He is like. In other words, we know for certain that Allah will not come or arrive (on the Day of Judgment) like a person arrives someplace. Yet we neither know nor try to determine how He will come. This is the correct belief and position that is incumbent upon us to accept. 

In the second part of the verse, Allah says, and the angels, row after row. The Arabic word used here is actually singular: المَلَك (al-malak) – literally, "the angel." However, this is a well-known concept in Arabic grammar where the singular usage (with the definite article) can be inclusive to mean all angels in general.

Therefore, all the angels will come, descending until they surround the rest of creation. The angels who occupy the lowest heaven, the sky of our world, will descend then those in the second heaven, and so on. They will surround creation as a display of their grandeur. No one will be able to escape left or right. Angels will gather as a display of the majesty of Allah and of the horror of that dreadful day. They surround creation as they are gathered on the day which will be witnessed.

As Allah describes it in Sūrah Hūd (11:103):

 ذَلِكَ يَوْمٌ مَّجْمُوعٌ لَّهُ النَّاسُ وَذَلِكَ يَوْمٌ مَّشْهُودٌ 

That is a day for which the people will be gathered, and that is a day which will be witnessed.

 Angels, people, and Jinn will  witness that day. Even animals will witness such a day as Allah says:

 وَإِذَا الْوُحُوشُ حُشِرَتْ 

And (the day) when wild beasts will be gathered. (Sūrah al-Takwīr (81:5))

It will be such an astonishing day, the magnitude of which we cannot fully perceive or imagine now.

We have here two events we are warned of in this verse: the coming of Allah and the angels standing in ranks, row after row. As for the third event... (to be continued in next chapter)