Simply stated, there will be a Day when God will resurrect
and gather the first and the last of His creation and judge everyone
justly. People will enter their final abode, Hell or Paradise.
(A) Belief in Events Of The Grave
Muslims believe that after a person dies, the second,
intermediate phase of life begins. Many events will take place in this
new “world.”
One of the first events is the “trial” of the grave - everyone
will be questioned by angels about their religion, prophet, and Lord.
Second, a Muslim should also believe in the punishment and the
bliss of the grave. Basically a Muslim must believe in the details of
the events that will take place in the grave as they have come in the
Quran and Sunnah.
(B) Events of the Day of Judgment
After the duration of this earth is over, God will command a
great angel named Israfeel to blow the Trumpet. At the first blowing,
all the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth will fall unconscious,
except those spared by God. The earth will be flattened and the
mountains turned into dust.
The skies will rain for forty days, people will be resurrected
into their original bodies from their graves, thereby entering the third
and final phase of life.
Israfeel will blow the Trumpet for the second time upon which
people will rise up from their graves, alive. The disbelievers and the
hypocrites will be caught by surprise and regret, whereas the believers
will find it exactly as they were told.
Hashr. The first one to be dressed on that Day
will be Abraham. At the Great Plain of Gathering, a re-created sun will
shine close to their heads, and they will sweat according to their
deeds. Some people will be sheltered under the shade of God’s
Magnificent Throne.
When the conditions will become unbearable, people will request
God to allow the Prophets and the Messengers to intercede on their
behalf to save them from distress. All prophets will excuse themselves,
until Prophet Muhammad will be allowed to intercede and thus Judgment
will begin.
The Balances
The balances will be set and the deeds of men will be weighed.
These balances will be real. God will give the deeds of His creatures a
material existence with weight. Good deeds will be placed in one pan and
the evil deeds will be placed in the other, as God has informed in the
Quran.
The Records
Disclosure of the Records of the deeds performed in this life
will follow. The person who will receive his record in his right hand
will have an easy reckoning. He will happily go back to his family.
However, the person who will receive his record in his left hand would
wish he were dead as he will be thrown into the Fire. He will be full of
regrets as will wish that he were not handed his Record or that he had
not known it.
Then God will judge His creation. They will be reminded and
informed of their good and evil deeds. The faithful will acknowledge
their sins and be forgiven. The disbelievers will have no good deeds to
declare because an unbeliever is rewarded for his good deeds in this
life. Some scholars are of the opinion that the punishment of an
unbeliever may be reduced in lieu of his good deeds, except the
punishment of the great sin of disbelief.
The Prophet’s Pond
Every prophet will have a pond, but the Pond of our Prophet
will be the largest, sweetest, and with the largest number of visitors.
Its water will be sweeter than honey and whiter than milk; its utensils
will be as numerous as the stars; and anyone who quenches his thirst
once from it will never thirst again.
Siraat
Siraat is a real bridge that will be
established over Hell extending between Paradise and the Fire. Anyone
who is steadfast on God’s religion in this life will find it easy to
pass it. It will be thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword! People
will pass over it as fast as the blinking of an eye, lightening, wind,
fast moving horses, running camels, or at a normal walking pace. Some
will barely crawl over it. They will be grabbed by iron hooks and thrust
into the Fire. The one who crosses the Siraat will get into Paradise.
Those who cross it will be assembled at a place between
Paradise and Hell. They will get their mutual debts settled and then
allowed to enter Paradise.
(C) Intercession Granted To the Prophets & the Righteous
God has clearly explained proper intercession:
a) He has to allow it, and
b) It will be allowed only to those He will be pleased with.
Types of Intercession
Three forms of intercession are special for the Prophet:
1) The Prophet will make the first intercession, called the
Greatest Intercession, at the Great Plain of Gathering to get the
Judgment started.
2) The second will be to gain permission for the people of Paradise to enter it.
3) He will be allowed to intercede on behalf of some pagans to get their punishment reduced in Hell.
4) The last type of intercession will be for those who deserve
to be in Hell. The Prophet will share this intercession with other
Prophets and some pious believers. This intercession will be for:
(i) Those who will never enter Hell although they deserved it, and
(ii) Those who will enter Hell, but will be taken out of it.
Finally, the Most Merciful Lord will take some people out of Hell Fire by His infinite Bounty.
After everyone has entered Paradise, there will still be some
place left in it. God will create a special creation and enter them into
Paradise.
(D) Paradise & Hell
Both will be discussed in some detail below.