Islamic view of the Last Judgment

In Islam, Yawm al-Qiyāmah "the Day of Resurrection" (Arabic: يوم القيامة) or Yawm ad-Din "the Day of Judgment" (Arabic: يوم الدين) is believed to be God's final assessment of humanity. al-Qiyama is also the name of the 75th Sura of the Qur'an.

The sequence of events according to the most common belief is the annihilation of all creatures, resurrection of the body, and the judgment of all sentient creatures. The time of the hour is said to be unknown, however there are said to be major and minor signs which, according to Islam, are to occur near the time of Qiyamah (Doomsday).

Final judgment forms one of the main themes of the Qur'an. Many Qur'anic verses, especially the earlier ones, are dominated by the idea of the nearing of the day of resurrection.

Importance and terminology

Belief in al-Qiyāmah is considered a fundamental tenet of faith by all Muslims. The trials and tribulations associated with it are detailed in both the Qur'an and the hadith, as well as in the commentaries of the Islamic expositors and scholarly authorities such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, Muhammad al-Bukhari, and Ibn Khuzaimah who explain them in detail. Every human, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, is is believed to be held accountable for their deeds and are believed to be judged by God accordingly.

The importance of the supposed 'last judgment' is underlined by the many references to it in the Qur'an and its many names. For example, it is also called "the Day of Reckoning", "the Hour", "day of the account", "day of the gathering", "day of the reckoning", and the "great announcement".

View from the Qur'an

Muslims believe that the Qur'an provides the framework for understanding the day of judgment. Ideas such as the return of Jesus to earth and the second kingdom before the occurrence are believed to be indirectly mentioned in the Qur'an.

There are a wide variety of views and interpretations of the verses in the Qur'an referring to the day of judgment, many of which use esoteric Arabic words whose meanings are not well known.

According to the Qur'an:

• the timing of the day of judgment is not known to people - only God knows when it will be.
• Muhammad, as the messenger of Islam, does not know when the day will be.
• Muhammad cannot bring it forwards.
• the people will believe that a short time has passed between their deaths and resurrection.
• nothing will remain except God.
• God will resurrect people even if they turn to stone or iron.
• God will pass judgement on the works of people, forgiving or condemning. Books/records of the people shall be given to them in right hands in (front) if they are judged by good or left hands(behind the back) if they are judged to be evil.
• Belief in the Judgment day is requirement for salvation. The Qur'an seems to declare that belief in God and the last day and doing good works is sufficient for salvation even if that person be Jewish, Christian or Sabaean. This puts the belief in the last day as a central requirement. Many Muslim authorities claim that this applies to people pre-dating the Qur'an and does not apply to later people.
• The majority of Islamic 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 of Qur'an in which God says (interpretation of the meaning):

And the trumpet is blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth swoon away, save him whom Allah willeth. Then it is blown a second time, and behold them standing waiting!

— Sura 39 (Az-Zumar), ayah 68

• No injustice shall be done:

Surely Allah does not do injustice to the weight of an atom, and if it is a good deed He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward.

— Qur'an, sura 4 An-Nisa, ayah 40

• Jesus (Isa) will return. The Qur'an claims that all of the "People of the Book" will believe in him before his death. Many Islamic authors take this passage to mean that Jesus has not died, but instead raised to Heaven and will return before the day of judgment to establish the Kingdom of God and as a result everyone of the People of the Book (such as the Jews, Christians, Sabaeans, etc.) will become Muslims (see ahdith below).

Events on the day of judgment

Many chapters/surah of the Qur'an describe events on the day of judgement.

• Events preceding judgment day: These are events that lead up to the day:
  • Death of all people
  • Destruction and elimination of creation

• Events on judgment day itself
  • Creation of a new earth
  • Resurrection of people
  • Gathering of the people
  • Judging of the people
  • Separation of the people who are hell bound and heaven bound

For example from sura 81 (At-Takwir) ayat 1-14:

When the sun (with its spacious light) is folded up;
When the stars fall, losing their lustre;
When the mountains vanish (like a mirage);
When the she-camels, ten months with young, are left untended;
When the wild beasts are herded together (in the human habitations);
When the oceans boil over with a swell;
When the souls are sorted out, (being joined, like with like);
When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned -
For what crime she was killed;
When the scrolls are laid open;
When the world on High is unveiled;
When the Blazing Fire is kindled to fierce heat;
And when the Garden is brought near;-
(Then) shall each soul know what it has put forward.

View from Hadith (written sayings)

The hadith books give the view that the day of the judgment will be foreshadowed by events classified as the minor and major signs of the day. Many classical authors believe that certain of these signs have already passed.

According to some aspects of Muslim belief, there are signs which will possibly indicate the coming of the day of judgment. Classical authors categorized them into major and minor signs, but this varies. Some are general signs mentioned in hadith relating to moral decay and some are more "miraculous".

The Qur'an mentions the ashraat which have already occurred, by the time Muhammad gave the message to his people:

Do they then wait for aught but the hour that it should come to them all of a sudden? Now indeed the tokens of it have (already) come, but how shall they have their reminder when it comes on them?

— Qur'an, sura 47 Muhammad, ayah 18

The hadith literature has a large number of these signs:

Minor Signs

Muslims beleive that these are signs that appear years before the day of judgement.

Major Signs

The major signs are the seven that are thought to occur closer to the supposed day of judgment.

1. The appearance of Masih ad-Dajjal, Antichrist (not mentioned in the Qur'an)
2. The appearance of Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj Gog and Magog
3. The appearance of the Dabbat al-ard (the strange beast)
4. Three huge earthquakes
5. The smoke
6. The rise (Sunni view) or the return from occlusion (Shia view) of the Mahdi to restore Islam
7. The return of Isa (Jesus) from heaven to assist the Mahdi in restoring Islam

Other signs mentioned in Hadith

1. Three huge earthquakes:
2. Fire from the west
3. Naked Bedouin shepherds competing in making tall buildings
4. People fighting over gold revealed by the river Tigris
5. Inanimate objects speaking
6. 50 women for each man
7. The son being the master of the mother
8. Muslims hiding in caves
9. The sun rising from the west: The final sign after which repentance is not accepted.

Resurrection from the bone

From the hadith collected by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Nishapuri, Sahih Muslim Chapter 26: The Interval Between Two Blowings of the Trumpet

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Between the two blowings of the trumpet (there would be an interval of forty). They said: Abu Huraira, do you mean forty days? He said: I cannot say anything. They said: Do you mean forty months? He said: I cannot say anything They said: Do you mean forty years? He said: I cannot say anything. Then Allah would cause the water to, descend from the sky and they (people) will sprout like vegetable The only thing in a man which would not decay would be one bone (spinal chord) from which the whole frame would be reconstituted on the Day of Resurrection.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as say- ing: The earth would consume every son of Adam except his spinal chord from which his body would be reconstituted (on the Day of Resurrection).

Abu Huraira reported so many ahadith from Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and amongst these one was this that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: There is a bone in the human being which the earth would never consume and it is from this that new bodies would be reconstituted (on the Day of Resurrection). They said: Allah's Messenger, which bone is that? Thereupon he said: It is the spinal bone.

Barzakh

Main article: Barzakh

In Islamic eschatology, Barzakh (Arabic: برزخ) is the intermediate state in which the soul (Nafs) of the deceased is transferred across the boundaries of the mortal realm into a kind of "cold sleep" where the soul will rest until the Qiyamah (judgment day).

From the Qur'an itself, Barzakh (Arabic: برزخ) is the intermediate state, interface or barrier between two states.

Views of classical authors

Sunni

• Al-Ghazali
• Ibn Taymiyyah
• Sufi

Views of modern authors

Sunni

• Tariq Ramadan
• Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baaz
• Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen

Shia

• Ruhollah Khomeini

Judgment

During judgment, it is believed that a person's own book of deeds will be opened and will be apprised of every action they did and every word spoken. Actions taken during childhood are not judged. The supposed account of deeds is believed to be so detailed that one would be in awe at how comprehensive the account is, such that even lesser and trivial deeds be included. Throughout the supposed judgment, however, the underlying principle is that of a complete and perfect justice administered by God. The accounts of judgment are also replete with the emphasis that God is merciful and forgiving, and that mercy and forgiveness will be granted on that day.

The Qur'an states that even the smallest acts of the believers will not be wasted.

Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it!
And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it.

— Qur'an, sura 99 Az-Zalzala, ayat 7-8

Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans - whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right - surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

— Qur'an, sura 2 Al-Baqara, ayah 62

Comparison with the Bible

While appearing similar to certain parts of the Bible (Ezekiel, James, 1 Peter, Revelation) this is dissimilar to some protestant branches of Christianity, where salvation comes by faith in Yahweh alone. Catholics, however cite James 2:24 as evidence that judgment is not based on faith alone. Islam emphasizes that grace does not conflict with perfect justice.

The age of the hereafter or rest of eternity is the final stage believed to commence after the day of judgment, when all of humanity is believed to have received their judgment from God, if they were righteous and did good deeds based on their own circumstances, then if God wills, by His mercy they go to Jannah (heaven), a state of bliss, and if they have attained little in life and were unrighteous in their actions—or were, despite all evidence shown to them, bent on denying the truth of life once it was presented to them—based on their own circumstances they shall go to Jahannam. This stage of life is thought to commence after the embodiment of Death is brought up and is slain; thus death literally dies and no one will ever experience or behold the concept of death ever after. Based on the verdict which is brought upon each person by his or her individual deeds, actions and circumstances in life, on the day of judgment, at which time everyone is judged with the sense of justice, each human will spend this stage of life in heaven or hell. Hell will be a place for purification of the soul, so that each realizes the wrongs he or she has committed in life. However, those in hell are eligible to go to the state of heaven after being purified for a time by the state described as hell if they "had an atom's worth of faith in them" and the soul is repentant. It is taught in many hadith that a person who attests to God's will, will end up in Jannah once their sins have been punished.

See also

• Islamic view of angels
• Eschatology

References

• The Qur'an
• Muhammad al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari (hadith collection)
• fath al-bârî fî sharh sahîh al-bukhârî (hadith collection)
• Al-Ghazali, Ihya' ulum al-din (revival of religious sciences)
• Esposito, John (2003). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512558-4.
• Richard C. Martin, Said Amir Arjomand, Marcia Hermansen, Abdulkader Tayob, Rochelle Davis, John Obert Voll, ed. (2003). Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. MacMillan Reference Books. ISBN 978-0028656038. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

External links

• Inter-Islam > A-Z > JudgementDay
• Islam Basics
• Tajweed ul Qur'an
• al-Qiyâmah
• Signs of the Appearance of the dajjal and His Destruction
• Signs of Qiyamah
• The two blowings of the Trumpet of Light which ushers in the period of Judgment