In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

The Blowing of the Trumpet

(In the Light of Ḥadīth)

    Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
    “The interval between the first and the second blowing of the Trumpet will be forty.”

    The students of Abū Hurayrah asked him: “Forty days?” He replied, “I do not know.”
    They asked: “Forty months?” He said, “I cannot say.”
    They asked: “Forty years?” He replied, “I do not know.”

    Then Allah will send down rain from the sky, and people will grow (from the earth) like vegetation grows. The Prophet ﷺ said:
    “Every part of the human body will decay except the tailbone (the lower part of the spine). From it, the entire body will be reassembled on the Day of Resurrection.”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

Explanation:
When the Angel Isrāfīl (peace be upon him) blows the Trumpet for the first time, all creation will fall unconscious. After forty (interpreted in other narrations as forty years), the Trumpet will be blown again and creation will be resurrected. Although this narration leaves ambiguity regarding whether the forty refers to days, months, or years, other reports indicate that it refers to forty years.

All human bodies will decay except those of the Prophets (peace be upon them), whose bodies the earth is forbidden to consume.

    Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
    “On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will grasp the earth in His Hand and roll up the heavens in His Right Hand. Then He will proclaim: ‘I am the King. Where are the kings of the earth?’”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

    ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a Jewish scholar came to the Prophet ﷺ and said:
    “O Muḥammad ﷺ, on the Day of Resurrection Allah will place the heavens on one finger, the earths on one finger, the mountains on one finger, the water and soil on one finger, and the rest of creation on one finger. Then He will shake them and say: ‘I am the King! I am Allah!’”

    The Prophet ﷺ smiled in amazement, affirming what he said, and recited the verse (meaning):
    “They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal, while the whole earth will be in His grasp on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His Right Hand. Exalted is He above what they associate with Him.”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

The scholars of the early generations (Salaf) held that such narrations are to be affirmed as they are, without delving into interpretation or speculation, and believed in as part of faith. (And Allah knows best.)

    Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
    “How can I feel at ease when the Angel entrusted with the Trumpet has placed it to his mouth, lowered his forehead, and is waiting for the command to blow it?”

    The Companions asked: “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, what should we say?”
    He replied: “Say: Ḥasbunallāhu wa niʿma al-wakīl (Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs).”
    (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī)

    ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
    “The Trumpet is a horn into which it will be blown.”
    (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Sunan Abū Dāwūd)