And the Horn will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown again, and at once they will be standing, looking on. (Qur’an 39:68)
The majority of scholars are of the view that the Trumpet will be blown twice, the first time all creatures will swoon and the second time the resurrection will come to pass. This is based on the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will swoon away, except him whom Allaah wills. Then it will be blown a second time, and behold they will be standing, looking on (waiting)”[Al-Zumar 68]
And it is based on the saheeh ahaadeeth which mention these two blowings and what will follow them. Muslim (2955) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah صَلىَّ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمْ said: “Between the two blowings of the Trumpet there will be forty.” The people said, “O Abu Hurayrah! Forty days?” I said: “I am not sure.” They said, “Forty years?” I said: “I am not sure.” They said, “Forty months?” I said: “I am not sure. Then Allaah will send rain down from the sky and they will grow as herbs grow. There is no part of a man which will not decay except a single bone at the base of the coccyx, from which he will be re-created on the Day of Resurrection.”
Al-Nawawi said: what is meant by the words of Abu Hurayrah, “I am not sure” is that he could not be certain as to whether what was meant was forty days or years or months; all that he was certain of was that it was forty in general terms.
In Saheeh Muslim (2940) it is narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr رَضِى اللهُ عَنْه said: The Messenger of Allaah صَلىَّ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمْ said: “… then the Trumpet will be blown and no one will hear it but he will bend his neck to one side and raise it from the other side. The first one who will hear it will be a man who is busy in setting right the cistern meant for supplying water to the camels. He will swoon and the other peoplewill also swoon. Then Allah will send or He will send down rain which will be like dew and there will grow outof it the bodies of people. Then the trumpetwill be blown again, and they will stand up and begin to look around.”
Some of the scholars said that the trumpet will be blown three times, including the time when it will be blown and all people will be terrified, which will come before the people swoon. They based this on the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And [warn of] the Day the Horn will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will be terrified except whom Allah wills. And all will come to Him humbled”. [al-Naml 27:87]
But the fact that swooning is mentioned in one verse and terror is mentioned in another does not mean that they will not happen at the same time when the Trumpet is blown for the first time. Rather they will happen at the same time, so when the Trumpet is blown the people will be terrified, and will swoon as a result and die.
