Day of Judgment In Islam

Believing in the Day of Judgment in Islam and its events, such as the resurrection, the gathering, and the reckoning, is a branch of believing in Allah and His Ultimate Power and Justice. Allah Almighty described the Day of Judgment in the Holy Quran and said in Surah Al-Hajj: ”O mankind, fear your Lord. Indeed, the convulsion of the [final] Hour is a terrible thing. On the Day you see it every nursing mother will be distracted from that [child] she was nursing, and every pregnant woman will abort her pregnancy, and you will see the people [appearing] intoxicated while they are not intoxicated; but the punishment of Allah is severe” (يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ. يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّا أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَىٰ وَمَا هُم بِسُكَارَىٰ وَلَٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ).

This is the day when all rights are returned, all good deeds are rewarded, and all evil deeds are punished. Allah gave us a direct warning to fear the terrors of this day, on which people will appear intoxicated while in fact they are not. Everything will be destroyed except Allah. People will be resurrected from their graves to meet Allah and stand before Him. Their claims based on rejecting the Hereafter will be refuted as they will be brought back to life. On this day, the Earth will be replaced with another Earth, and the heavens as well, and all creatures will come before Allah.

How Allah Described This Day in the Quran and the Hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad

The Earth and the Heavens

Allah will grasp the Earth with His Hands, and the heavens will be folded by Him. Allah said in Surah Al-Zumar, Ayah 67: ”They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal, while the earth entirely will be [within] His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand. Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him.” The heavens will be folded like the folding of a sheet of records. As Allah first began the creation, He will repeat it.

The Earth

Allah gave a detailed description of the Earth on this Day because of its importance. It is the place which humans were ordered to inhabit. It is the place which witnessed their obedience to their Creator and their disobedience to Him. The Earth will be shaken by its final earthquakes. It will be levelled, pounded, and crushed. All signs of life will be erased. All the heights you see, with their different sizes, heights, shapes, and types, will all be levelled and become like one paved plain. Allah described it and said in Surah Taha, Ayah 107: ”You will not see therein a depression or an elevation.”

The Mountains

The mountains are one of the manifestations of Allah’s Ultimate Power. All of this firmness that humans can notice in the mountains will be demolished and turned into dust. Nowadays, if humans want to destroy a mountain, they need great machines and sophisticated tools to do so. But, upon the command of Allah on the Day of Judgment, it will happen without any delay: ”When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is.”

On this day, the Earth and the mountains will be lifted and levelled with one blow. These hard mountains will be turned into sand. When the Companions asked the Prophet Muhammad about these mountains and what would happen to them, Allah answered in His Holy Quran and said: ”And they ask you about the mountains, so say, “My Lord will blow them away with a blast” (وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْجِبَالِ فَقُلْ يَنسِفُهَا رَبِّي نَسْفًا).

The Heavens

When you look at the sky, you see a beautiful creation of Allah, with its clouds and colours, decorated with stars, the Sun, and the Moon. This amazing creation will have a completely different form on the Day of Judgment. The reason behind this transformation can be found in Surah Al-Tur, Ayah 9: ”On the Day the heaven will sway with circular motion” (يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا).

The heavens will be cracked and split, and their pillars will be disjointed. All of these movements will lead to their falling. When they are split, they will sound like a flower and become red and weak. They will be opened into gates. The angels will descend to the Earth, to the place of Gathering. Some said that this is to maintain the order of the Earth and the people who will be resurrected, as Allah said: ”And the angels will be on its sides, and eight angels will, that Day, bear the Throne of your Lord above them.”

This world, which is full of arrogance, injustice, and oppression, will come to an end when Allah decrees that it is time for the Day of Judgment. Allah has kept the exact time of the Day of Judgment known only to Himself and has provided us with some descriptions and information to help us prepare for this Day, to be shielded by good deeds, with a real wealth that will benefit us on this Day.