What does Judgment Day mean? Explain briefly the benefits of having faith in the Hereafter. What does death mean? What will life in the grave be like? What does Doomsday mean? Explain the meaning of the words reward and penalty. What is paradise and hell? Who have they been created for?
Topics:
- What does faith in Judgment Day mean?
- Benefits of faith in the Hereafter
- Death, the grave and Doomsday
- Reward, penalty, paradise and hell
WHAT DOES FAITH IN Judgment DAY MEAN?
The fifth condition of faith is to ‘Believe in Judgment Day.’ Just as there is an end to people and other life forms, there will also be an end to the world one day. When the time determined by Allah arrives, the angel Israfil will blow the trumpet called ‘Sur’. All living creatures will die (except those Allah wishes otherwise) with the effect of this awful noise. The natural order in the Earth and the skies will be destroyed and the universe will take a new form.
After this period, known as Judgment Day, Israfil will, with the command of Allah blow the trumpet for a second time. All people will then rise from the dead and will be called to a meeting place called ‘Mahshar’(Gathering Place). Here, everyone will be brought into the presence of Allah and will be interrogated about the things that they did in this world.
Each person will be handed their book of deeds that records of their rewards and the sins that they did as written by the Kiraman Katibin angels. Everyone will see and read what they did in this world in their book of deeds.
All worldly offences committed whether publically or privately will be revealed, all good and evil will be measured with the sensitive scales of justice and human beings will get return for what they did in this world.
A person will reap in the Hereafter what they sow in this world. Divine justice will find its place and no one will be inflicted with injustice.
Our beloved Prophet advised as follows:
“On the Day of Judgment, a person cannot move from Allah’s presence until they have been interrogated about four things:
– Where they spent their life,
– Where they wore out their body,
– Where they earned and spent their wealth,
– What deeds they did with their knowledge.”[10]
This time, which commences with resurrection and continues until eternally, is called Judgment Day. That is why this is one of the most important principles of faith to believe that people will rise again from the dead and enter the eternal life.
BENEFITS OF FAITH IN THE HEREAFTER
- a) To believe in Judgment Day helps a person achieve a feeling of responsibility. A person who carries the feeling of responsibility pays attention to their actions.
To believe in Judgment Day means to believe that we will rise from the grave after dying and give account in the presence of Allah for all we did in this world. It is to believe that the doers of good will see reward and the doers of harm will be punished. This belief ensures that a person refrains from doing harm and it makes them owners of good morality and virtues by directing them to goodness and rightness. No person will harm anybody else in a community where such belief exists. They will show respect for each other’s rights and perform as many good deeds as possible. These actions will develop reciprocal love and feelings of trust amongst people. Belief in the Hereafter plays a very important role in individuals having good morality, providing safety and tranquility in the community.
- b) A person who believes in the Hereafter will prepare for an exalted and endless life in this temporary world. A person embarking on a long journey will make preparations and take enough money with them for spending. They will not depart for the journey without preparing and having enough money.
However, the road in the Hereafter continues after we die, it is much longer and more important than those journeys across this world.
Therefore, we must make preparations and acquire much more provisions for the Hereafter.
A person believing in the Hereafter prepares for it by performing Allah’s commands and avoiding His prohibitions. Those who depart for a journey as prepared and ready will pass through to an exalted life. Allah the Almighty wants us to make preparations by stating, “Acquire provisions.”
Those who do not prepare for the Hereafter will see the truth at the time of their death and will want to return to this worldly life to perform Allah’s commands. However, this request will not be accepted because the opportunity has passed. This situation is described in the Qur’an as follows: “When death comes to one of them, he says, My Lord! Send me back so that I may do good in that which I have left behind.”[11]
- c) Believing in Judgment Day consoles people and diminishes sadness.
Such as:
There are many nice people in the world who die without seeing reward for their goodness or suffer injustice without obtaining their rights and where many cruel people die without receiving a penalty. Judgment Day is a day where the just and the unjust, the good and the bad will be distinguished and everyone will receive their recompense with exactitude.
Divine justice will find its place on Judgment Day. The doers of good will receive their reward in abundance. Those being wronged will get their rewards in full. The evil doers will not keep their doings; they will get the penalty that they deserve. It is this belief that gives people tranquility and hope.
DEATH
Every person lives in this world for a prescribed period. When this time elapses, people die. A human being is a creation of the coming together of the body and soul. The soul gives liveliness and movement to our bodies. The soul separates from the body when the time allocated by Allah arrives. The event of the soul separating from the body is called death. Death is ordained for all humans. There is no escape from this.
This truth is expressed in the Qur’an as follows:
“Every soul will taste death.” [12]
“Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction.” [13]
Death does not mean to disappear. It is the transition from this temporary world to eternal life in the Hereafter. Death for those carrying out their duties towards Allah is a door opened to obtain a more exalted life.
THE GRAVE (QABR)
The period of time from when a person dies until they rise again from the grave on Judgment Day is known as “life in the grave.” The place they will exist during this time is called the “grave.” When a person dies, their body decomposes and mixes with the earth, but the soul that separates from the body does not. When people are placed inside the grave, they are questioned by the angels called Munkar and Nakir. For those who answer correctly, their graves will be a resting place, yet it will be a place of torture for those who cannot provide answers.
Our Prophet (saw) explains the status of the grave as follows:
“The grave is either a piece of the gardens of paradise or a pit in the pits of hell.” [14]
The grave is a resting place in the gardens of paradise for those who carry out good deeds and perform their duties towards Allah whereas it is torture in the pits of hell for those who do not.
DOOMSDAY (QIYAMAH)
As we stated earlier, when the determined time by Allah comes, of the four archangels, Israfil will blow an instrument called the ‘Sur’ which will make an awful noise. All living creatures will die as a consequence of this noise creating important changes in the universe.
Namely:
The sky will crack; the sun which illuminates our day will be folded losing its light. There will be a moon eclipse and the moon will merge with the sun.
The stars that shine in the sky will burn out and pour down like pieces of hail. A horrendous earthquake will shake the earth, the seas will merge and mountains will be broken off and thrown like cotton. Briefly: the current order of the universe will be destroyed and the earth and sky will take a different form.
This big event is called Doomsday. Only Allah knows when it will take place.
REWARD, PENALTY, HEAVEN AND HELL
“Reward” is recompense for doing of good, whereas the recompense for doing bad is “Penalty.”
People have been sent to this world as part of a test. They have been informed of the duties for which they are accountable. Those who fulfil Allah’s commands, avoid His prohibitions and do good to people will achieve success in the examination and as recompense will be rewarded greatly. Everyone will receive recompense in full in the Hereafter for what they do in this world.
Allah the Almighty commands:
“And We place the scales of justice for the Day of Judgment, so no soul will be treated unjustly at all.” [15]
“So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.” [16]
Heaven is a place of reward prepared for believers.
There are blessings in heaven which no person has even dreamed of, which eyes of this world have not seen and ears have not heard. Heaven is a place of unique beauty where people will continuously find everything that they enjoy and that pass through their hearts. Everything there is in accordance with people’s desires; whatever they wish for will be instantly ready next to them.
There is no sickness, fear or sadness in paradise. People will always remain young and never age there. Life in paradise is eternal. There is no death. Those who enter there will not exit, they will find whatever their hearts desire, they will reside there with pleasure and joy until eternity.
On this topic, the holy Qur’an commands:
“But they who believe and do righteous deeds – those are the companions of paradise; they will remain therein eternally.” [17]
“There they will have all that they desire, and with Us is more.” [18]
The recompense of actions for those who do not perform their duties towards Allah, who do not avoid the haram and those who harm others, will be penalized in hell.
Hell is a place where faithless people and those committing sins, even if they are believers, will be penalized by fire. People who die without faith will remain there eternally. Even though they believe, those who do not act according to the commandments of Allah, who do not fulfil their religious duties will remain in hell for a defined period and will later leave there and enter paradise. The infidels and hypocrites will remain in hell eternally.
The status of infidels and hypocrites are explained in the Qur’an as follows:
“And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs – those will be companions of the Fire; they will remain there eternally.” [19]
“Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire – and never will you find for them a helper .” [20]
Footnote:
[10] Et-Terğib ve’t- Terhib Volume 1, Page 125.
[11] Mu’minun, 23/99-100
[12] Al-i ‘Imran, 3/185
[13] Nisa, 4/78
[14] Keşfu’l-Hafa, Volume 2, Page 90.
[15] Anbiya, 21/47
[16] Zalzalah, 99/7-8
[17] Baqarah, 2/82
[18] Qaf, 50/35
[19] Baqarah, 2/39
[20] Nisa, 4/145
Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, Basics of Islam, Seyfettin Yazıcı
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