A Description of the Last Day and the Afterlife
1. The Purpose of Life and the Test of This World
When Allah created humans, he was able to immediately put whoever he wanted in paradise and whoever he wanted in hell, however, he chose to test people on the planet Earth from adulthood to death so that we will all know that Allah’s justice is complete, and His mercy is infinite.
Furthermore, every person will bear witness against or for him or herself for all the good and evil that he or she committed before Allah puts all the righteous people in paradise and all the evildoers in hell.
2. The End of This World and the Minor Signs
Allah has decreed that this world shall exist for a limited time and will be destroyed at a time that only He knows.
Before the end of this world, there are some minor signs and events that have occurred or will occur, as prophesized, such as:
➢ the splitting of the moon,
➢ the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
➢ a disappearance of trust,
➢ widespread bloodshed,
➢ the Arabian peninsula becoming a verdant land with rivers again,
➢ and the appearance of a mountain of gold in the Euphrates river.
3. The Major Signs of the Last Day
There will be some major signs which appear directly before the end of this world and the beginning of Judgement Day, such as:
➢ the appearance of the prophesized smoke,
➢ the return of Jesus Christ,
➢ the appearance of the people of Yajuj and Majuj,
➢ the appearance of a great beast,
➢ and, finally, the sun rising from the west.
4. The Blowing of the Trumpet and Resurrection
When an angel blows into the trumpet of the Last Day the first time, everything alive will immediately die.
Then, the second time that the angel blows in to the trumpet, everyone that ever died will be resurrected.
Allah is able to do this, just as He created everything the first time.
5. The Gathering of Humanity on the Last Day
When the people leave their graves, they will be barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised.
They will wait for a long period of many, many difficult years and will plead with the various prophets of Allah to intercede for them for the Judgement to start until they reach the Last Prophet, Mohammad, peace be upon him.
The Prophet Mohammad will prostrate before Allah and ask Him to judge the people.
The angels will then descend in ranks and rows and Allah will come in His majesty.
The Events of That Day
💠 The heavens will split and the sun will be extinguished.
💠 The stars will fall, the seas will boil and the mountains will disintegrate.
💠 The Earth will become spread out and flat so that there will be no place for anyone to hide and there will be no shade except that which is cast by the Great Throne of Allah.
💠 Young children’s hair will turn white from the traumas of that day and pregnant women will have spontaneous miscarriages.
💠 People will act as if they were intoxicated from the fear of the events of that day.
6. The Judgment and the Record of Deeds
People will be called by their full names, one by one, to stand before Allah for their Judgements without any intermediaries.
There will be a scale to weigh peoples good and bad deeds which were recorded in minute detail during their lives.
The People Who Receive Their Book in Their Right Hand
Whoever used to do good deeds in this life and believed in Allah’s message and oneness will receive his or her book of deeds in his or her right hand and then be admitted to paradise.
The People Who Receive Their Book in Their Left Hand
Whoever used to do bad deeds in this life and lived in disbelief of the truth will be given his or her book of deeds from behind his or her back in the left hand and then be put in the hellfire.
7. Paradise: The Eternal Abode of the Righteous
Paradise will be the eternal abode of those who believed in the unseen and lived righteously.
Its dimensions are as large as those of the entire universe and it contains the best things that peoples’ minds cannot even imagine.
The Blessings of Paradise
- It contains rivers of honey and milk.
- Its inhabitants’ clothes will be made of silk and they will have adornments of gold, silver, and pearls.
- They will smell the best smells and have access to low-hanging fruits and all good foods.
- The women of paradise will be as beautiful as rubies and pearls.
- They people of paradise will recline on beautiful sofas and hear sounds of birds chirping and beautiful songs.
Paradise is called the land of peace because there is no shortage or imperfection in it, nor any fear or negative feelings.
Allah says in the Quran,
Quran 43:68–73
{يَاعِبَادِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ وَلَا أَنْتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ (68) الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُوا مُسْلِمِينَ (69) ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ أَنْتُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ تُحْبَرُونَ (70) يُطَافُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِصِحَافٍ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ وَأَكْوَابٍ وَفِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِيهِ الْأَنْفُسُ وَتَلَذُّ الْأَعْيُنُ وَأَنْتُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ (71) وَتِلْكَ الْجَنَّةُ الَّتِي أُورِثْتُمُوهَا بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ (72) لَكُمْ فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ كَثِيرَةٌ مِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ (73)} [الزخرف: 68 – 73]
“O My servants, no fear will there be concerning you this Day, nor will you grieve, the ones who believed in Our verses and were Muslims. Enter Paradise, you and your kinds, delighted. Circulated among them will be plates and vessels of gold. And therein is whatever the souls desire and delights the eyes, and you will abide therein eternally. And that is the Paradise which you have inherited because of what you used to do. For you therein is much fruit from which you will eat.” (The Quran, 43:68-73)
8. Hellfire: The Eternal Abode of the Evildoers
On the other hand, the hellfire is a deep, dark pit of a prison which closes in on its inhabitants.
Every time that they try to escape from it, they are returned in to it and punished with iron maces by the angels charged with overseeing it.
It is a place of fire, smoke, and torment which will roast peoples’ skins.
Every time their skins are completely charred, they will be replaced by new ones to continue the cycle of punishment.
The Food and Drink of Hellfire
They will eat thorny fruits like devils’ heads from the tree of Zaquum that won’t satiate or nourish and drink boiling water that will burn their faces and destroy their intestines.
Quran 40:49–50
{وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ فِي النَّارِ لِخَزَنَةِ جَهَنَّمَ ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ يُخَفِّفْ عَنَّا يَوْمًا مِنَ الْعَذَابِ (4 9) قَالُوا أَوَلَمْ تَكُ تَأْتِيكُمْ رُسُلُكُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ قَالُوا بَلَى قَالُوا فَادْعُوا وَمَا دُعَاءُ الْكَافِرِينَ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ (50)} [غافر]
{And those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell, “Supplicate your Lord to lighten for us a day from the punishment.” They will say, “Did there not come to you your messengers with clear proofs?” They will say, “Yes.” They will reply, “Then supplicate [yourselves], but the supplication of the disbelievers is not except in error.”} (The Quran 50:49-50)
Quran 43:77
{وَنَادَوْا يَامَالِكُ لِيَقْضِ عَلَيْنَا رَبُّكَ قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ مَاكِثُونَ} [الزخرف: 77]
And they will call, “O Malik, let your Lord put an end to us!” He will say, “Indeed, you will remain.” (The Quran 43:77)
Quran 23:106–108
{قَالُوا رَبَّنَا غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْنَا شِقْوَتُنَا وَكُنَّا قَوْمًا ضَالِّينَ (106) رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْهَا فَإِنْ عُدْنَا فَإِنَّا ظَالِمُونَ (107) قَالَ اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ (108)} [المؤمنون: 106 – 108]
They will say, “Our Lord, our wretchedness overcame us, and we were a people astray. Our Lord, remove us from it, and if we were to return [to evil], we would indeed be wrongdoers.” He will say, “Remain despised therein and do not speak to Me. (The Quran 23:106-108)
9. Seeking Allah’s Mercy and Paradise
We seek refuge with Allah from living lives in disbelief and the punishments of the afterlife.
We ask Allah for His mercy and to enter us in to His paradise with the prophets, righteous people, and martyrs.