In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Judgement Day ( or ), is when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, and "all people" are "called to account" for their deeds and their faith during their life on Earth. It has been called "the dominant message" of the holy book of Islam, the Quran,Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.63 and resurrection and judgement the two themes "central to the understanding of Islamic eschatology."Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.64 Judgement Day is considered a fundamental tenet of faith by all Muslims, and one of the six articles of Islamic faith.
The trials, tribulations, and details associated with it are detailed in the Quran and the Hadith (sayings of Muhammad); these have been elaborated on in creeds, Quranic commentaries (tafsịrs), theological writing,Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.vii eschatological manuals to provide more details and a sequence of events on the Day. Islamic expositors and scholarly authorities who have explained the subject in detail include al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, Muhammad al-Bukhari, and Ibn Khuzaymah.
Names Among the names of the Day of Resurrection/Judgement used in the Qur'an are: —the Calamity; (), Chapter (surah) 101 is named al-Qari'ah; the word is found in Q.69:4, 101:1, 101:2, 101:3 —the Earthquake; () Surah 99 is name al-Zalzalah; the word is found in Q.99.1 —the Blast; —the Hard Day; —the Encompassing Day; —the Day of Separation; —the Great Disaster; —the Reality; —the Day of Judgement; —the True (inevitable) Day; —the Day of Reckoning; —the Day of Exodus (from the graves); —the [Last] Hour () is reportedly mentioned 39 times in the Qur’an (54:46, 25:11, 33:63, 30:55, 45:32, 69:2, 79:42, 30:12, 54:1, 43:66, 21:49, 30:14, 22:1, 22:7, 20:15, 40:59, 43:61, 42:17, 12:107, 15:85, 18:36, 45:27, 22:55, 43:85, 47:18, 6:40, 40:46, 42:18, 6:31, 16:77, etc.) —Day of Resurrection; () Literally means the "rising up at the resurrection" although it "has come to signify the entire series of events to take place" on Judgement day, "although technically " means the actual hour", according to scholars Jane Smith and Yvonne Haddad; On the Day of Resurrection (Nay! I do swear by the Day of Resurrection) it is mentioned 70 times in the Qur’an.
Related terms include (according to scholars Jane Smith and Yvonne Haddad), —"The Trumpet";Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.214-215, note 26 —the "extinction of all save God".Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.71 "means the specific gathering together" of resurrected for their judging; "signifies the calling forth for judgement"; —"the return", "the general term used by theologians for the entire process" of resurrection, judgement and consignment to heaven or hell. —the terror of the place of assembly;Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.75 —the time of standing before God before being judged by God.
Events
The events prophesied for the day of resurrection and judgement "are numerous and presented in varying ways", but "a sequence of the events" for the day can be made based on both the many details "suggested by the Qur'an" and also on "the elaborations and additions provided as usual by the hadiths, the manuals, and the interpretations of theologians". Four segments of end times in Islam can be presented: the signs/portents of "The Hour" () and other events heralding the imminent end of the world; the soundings of the trumpet, the resurrection () of the dead, and the gathering together of all living beings (); the reckoning () where the resurrected are judged; the preparation for final consignment to heaven or hell, the crossing of the bridge () that the damned fall off of to hell below, and the saved reach the other side, the possibility of intercession (shafā'a) to save sinners from hell.
Portents
Many verses of the Quran, especially the earlier ones, are dominated by the idea of the nearing of the Day of Resurrection.Isaac Hasson, Last Judgment, Encyclopaedia of the Qur'anL. Gardet, Qiyama, Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an In Islam the signs of the coming of Judgement Day are described as "major" and "minor". The Al-Masih ad-Dajjal will appear, deceiving the foolish and killing Muslims until killed by either the Mahdi or Jesus. Following him, two dangerous, evil tribes of subhumans with vast numbers called Yajooj and Majooj will be released from where they have been imprisoned inside a mountain since Roman times. And according to some narratives, a murderous tyrant called the Sufyani will spread corruption and mischief, killing women, children and descendants of Muhammad. To save believers from these horrors, the Mahdi will appear and Isa bin Maryam (Jesus) will descend from heaven to assist him. The sun will rise from the west. A breeze will blow causing all believers to inhale it and die peacefully.Sahih Muslim, Book 001: 0273
Destruction and resurrection
Following these portents, the Earth will be destroyed. (In surah Al-Haqqah) When the trumpet is blown with a single blast and the earth and the mountains are lifted up and crushed with a single blow, then, on that day, the terror shall come to pass, and heaven shall be split, for upon that day it shall be very frail. ... " (Q.69:13–16) Verses from another surah (At-Takwir) describe When the sun shall be darkened When the stars shall be thrown down When the seas shall be set boiling When the souls shall be coupled, ... When the scrolls shall be unrolled When heavens shall be stripped off, When Hell shall be set blazing, When Paradise shall be brought nigh Then shall a soul know what it has produced. (Q.81:1,2,6,7,10-14)
A second trumpet blast will signal a "final cataclysm" (), the extinction of all living creatures – even the angel of death himself – save God. God will then ask three times, "'To whom belongs the Kingdom this day?' No one answers Him so He answers Himself, saying, 'To God who is one alone, victorious!'"al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad. al-Durra al-fākhira. Ed. M. Gautier. Leipzig, 1877. MS pp. 39. quoted in Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.72 Numerous Qur'anic mentions that every soul will taste death during "the hour" are thought to underscore the absolute power and tawḥīd of God while the resurrection of life demonstrates "His justice and mercy".Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.72 The time between annihilation of all life and its resurrection is both "beyond all human time constructs" and generally estimated by many commentators to be forty years.
Resurrection The Afterlife will commence with a trumpet blast (different sources give different numbers of trumpet blasts), signaling the "Day of the Arising", according to the classical Islamic scholar and theologian al-Ghazali.
The sounding of the trumpet is mentioned at least two times in the Qur'an, but "the Qur'an itself does not make explicit the chronology involved with the blowing(s) of the horn" and "it has been for the followers of the Prophet to determine for themselves the exact sequence of events after that."
Know that Isrāfīl is the master of the horn []. God created the preserved tablet [] of white pearl. Its length is seven times the distance between the heaven and the earth and it is connected to the Throne. All that exists until the day of resurrection is written on it. Isrāfīl has four wings—one in the East, one in the West, one covering his legs and one shielding his head and face in fear of God. His head is inclined toward the Throne .... No angel is nearer to the throne than Isrāfīl. Seven veils are between him and the Throne, each veil five hundred years distance from the next ...Kitāb aḥwāl al-qiyāma, pp. 49–50. quoted in Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.70
This will wake the dead from their graves. Bodies will be resurrected and reunited with their spirits to form "whole, cognizant, and responsible persons". The first to arise will be the members of the Muslim community, according to "an often-quoted saying" of Muhammad, but will be "subdivided into categories" based on their sins while on earth. The classification of the resurrected into groups comes from "certain narratives" about Judgement Day that "suggest" the grouping, and are based on "a number of scattered verses in the Qur'an indicating the woeful condition" of resurrected sinners.Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.74
In the time between resurrection and judgement will be an agonizing wait (Q.21:103, Q.37:20) at the place of assembly [], or the time of standing before God [], giving sinners "ample opportunity to contemplate the imminent recompense for his past faults" (just as sinners suffer in the grave before Resurrection Day). The resurrected will gather for "The Perspiration" — a time when all created beings, including men, angels, jinn, devils and animals will sweat, unshaded from the sun, awaiting their fate. Sinners and nonbelievers will suffer and sweat longer on this day, which some say will last for "50,000 years" (based on Q.70:4) and others only 1000 (based on Q.32:5).
Judgment The final judgment (Reckoning, ) where God judges each soul for their lives lived on earth, will be "carried out with absolute justice" accepting no excuses, and examine every act and intention—no matter how small, but "through the prerogative of God's merciful will".
Quran verses in Al-Haqqah (surah 69) are thought to refer to the reckoning on Judgement Day: As for the one who is given his book in his right hand, he will say: Take and read my book. I knew that I would be called to account. And he will be in a blissful condition (Q.69:19–21) .... But as for him who is given his book in his left hand, he will say: Would that my book had not been given to me and that I did not know my reckoning! (Q.69:25-26) ... [And it will be said] Seize him and bind him and expose him to the burning Fire!(Q.69:30-31)
"The book" is thought to refer to an account each person has, chronicling the deeds of their life, good and bad. Commentators reports "affirm" that each day in a person's life, "one or two angels" begin a new page, inscribing deeds, and that upon completion, the pages are assembled "in some fashion ... into a full scroll or record". On Judgement Day the book is presented to the right hand of the resurrected person if they are going to Jannah, and left if they are to be sent to Jahannam.Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.76
Another version of how the resurrected are judged ("particular elements that make up the occasion of the reckoning" in the Quran are not ordered or grouped and are called "modalities of judgement")Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.77 involves several references in the Quran to (balance), which some commentators believe refers to a way of balancing the weight of an individual's good deeds and bad on Judgement day, to see which is heavier, as the occurrence stated in , which will span in fifty thousand years.Kitāb Aḥwāl al-Qiyāma, p.81, quoted in