To have iman (belief) in the Last Day is to believe that the life of this world will one day come to an end. Allah (Exalted be He) says:

Whatsoever is on it (the earth) will perish. (Ar-Rahman 55:26)

When Allah wills this world to come to an end, Allah will order an angel called Israfil to blow a horn. At that point, everything in the heavens and earth will perish, except who Allah wills. Then He will order him to blow it again, and upon that, all people will rise from their graves, alive and in their own bodies. Everyone from all parts of the world, from the time of Adam (peace be upon him) until the end of time, will be resurrected. Allah says:

And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will collapse and die, except him whom Allah will. Then it will blow a second time and behold, they will be standing, looking on (waiting). (Az-Zumar 39:68)

To have iman in the Last Day means to have iman in all of what Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) informed us of what will occur after death. From these things is the following:

1- To Believe in the Life of the Barzakh

This life is the time after one’s death until the Last Day. In it the believer will live a life of pleasure while the rejecting disbelievers will be punished. Allah says:

The Fire; they are exposed to it, morning and afternoon, and on the Day when the Hour will be established (it will be said to the angels): ‘Cause Pharaoh people to enter the severest torment!’ (Ghafir 40:46)

2- To Believe in the Resurrection

This is the Day on which Allah will resurrect the whole creation, naked, barefoot, and uncircumcised just as they were born. Allah says:

The disbelievers falsely think that they will never be resurrected (for the Account). Say: ‘Yes! By my Lord, you will certainly be resurrected, then you will be informed of (and recompensed for) what you did, and that is easy for Allah’. (At-Taghabun 64:7)

3- To Believe in the Gathering

Allah will gather all of the creation together and call them to account. Allah says:

And (remember) the Day We shall cause the mountains to pass away (like clouds of dust), and you will see the earth as a leveled plain, and We shall gather them all together so as to leave not one of them behind. (Al-Kahf 18:47)

4- To believe that People Will be Set before Allah

Allah says:

And they will be set before your Lord in (lines as) rows, (and Allah will say): ‘Now indeed, you have come to Us as We created you the first time’. (Al-Kahf 18:48)

5- To believe that One’s Limbs Will Bear Witness

Allah says:

Till, when they reach it (Hellfire), their hearing (ears) and their eyes, and their skins will testify against them as to what they used to do. And they will say to their skins, ‘Why do you testify against us?’ They will say: ‘Allah has caused us to speak, He causes all things to speak: and He created you the first time, and to Him you are made to return.’ And you have not been hiding yourselves (in the world), lest your ears, and your eyes, and your skins testify against you; but you thought that Allah knew not much of what you were doing. (Fussilat 41:20-22)

6- To Believe in the Questioning

Allah says:

‘But stop them, verily they are to be questioned. What is the matter with you? Why do you not help one another (as you used to do in the world)?’ Nay, but that Day they shall surrender. (As-Saaffaat 37:24-26)

7- To Believe in the Sirat and that everyone must pass over it.

The Sirat is a bridge set over the Hellfire over which all must pass, thinner than a strand of hair and sharper than a sword. Some will cross it as fast as lighting, some like a gust of wind, some like the speed of a fast horse, while others will cross it crawling, each according to his deeds. Allah says:

There is not one of you but will pass over it (Hell); this is with your Lord a decree which must be accomplished. (Maryam 19:71)

8- To Believe in the Weighing of Deeds on the Scale

Allah will call people to account and pay them their exact dues for their deeds.

He will reward those who did well with what they deserve, due to their righteous deeds, their iman, and following the messengers, and He will punish those who did evil, as a payback for what they committed of evil, disbelief, and disobedience to their messengers.

Allah says:

And We shall set up balances of justice on the Day of Resurrection, then none will be dealt with unjustly in anything. And if there be the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it. And Sufficient are We as Reckoners. (Al-Anbiyaa’ 21:47)

9- To Believe in the Handing out of Scrolls and Books

Allah says:

Then, as for him who will be given his Record in his right hand, he surely will receive an easy reckoning. And he will return to his family in joy! But whosoever is given his Record behind his back. He will invoke (his) destruction. And he shall enter a blazing Fire and made to taste its burning. (Al-Inshiqaq 84:7-12)

10- To Believe that People will be Rewarded with either Jannah (Paradise) or Hellfire in an everlasting and eternal life which will never end. Allah says:

Verily those who disbelieve from among the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) and the pagans will abide in the Fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures. Verily, those who believe and do righteous deeds, they are the best of creatures. Their reward with their Lord is the Paradise of Eden (Gardens of Eternity), underneath which rivers flow. They will abide therein forever, Allah will be pleased with them, and they with Him. That is for him who fears his Lord. (Al-Bayyinah 98:6-8)

11- To believe in the Hawd, Intercession and all other things which the Messenger of Allah informed us.

The Hawd Literally means pool; the pool from which the true followers of Muhammad will drink, after which they will never feel thirst again.

And by intercession (or shafa`ah) Allah will allow certain people to intercede for others, and from those will be the intercession of the Prophet (peace be upon Him).

The Fruits of Iman in the Last Day

Through the belief in Last Day, one benefits in the following ways:

1- In preparing for that Day, by continually performing good deeds and competing in doing so, hoping for its reward, and abstaining from sins and removing oneself from them, fearing Allah’s punishment.

2- In comforting the believers, that whatever they leave from the entertainment of this life will be exchanged with a better reward in the Hereafter.

3- To distinguish the believers truthful in their faith from others.

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The article is an excerpt from the author’s book “How to Become a Muslim”.