107. What is the concept of Judgement
Day according to Islam?
According to Islam, God created man as an eternal being, but divided his lifespan into two: the worldly life and the post-death life. While the pre-death period is temporary, the post-death one is eternal. To illustrate this, let us compare human life with an iceberg. The iceberg is a huge mass of ice floating in the ocean, but only about 10 per cent of it is above the surface of water, and the rest of it is under water.
God has created a world called Paradise — an ideal world, a perfect world. According to the Quran, it is a place where man will find fulfilment of all his desires:
Therein, you shall have all that your soul desires. (Quran 41:31)
[Paradise] is a place where people shall not fear, nor shall they grieve. (Quran 2:112)
Our life on earth is just a preparation for the eternal afterlife. In this world, there are different kinds of situations and challenges. Man is here to face those challenges and prepare himself to be a deserving candidate for Paradise. In this sense, our life on earth is a world of opportunities. Those who avail of these opportunities and prepare themselves accordingly, will be chosen and will be settled in Paradise after death.
In this life, there are all kinds of problematic and unwanted situations. But they have a purpose. They constitute a training ground that gives us a chance to cope with adversity, thus preparing us for eternal entry into Paradise. The Quran introduces Paradise thus:
God calls man to the home of peace. (Quran 10:25)
According to Islam, the present world is a place of work, while the world Hereafter is a place of reward. When one dies, life does not come to an end. One simply enters the second phase of life, that is, the world Hereafter. It is only in the present world that one can prove that one is deserving of Paradise in the world Hereafter. This opportunity ends at the time of death; after death, there is no opportunity to prepare oneself. Success and failure are both determined by one’s deeds in this world, in the pre-death period.
The basic theme of the Quran is to make the reader aware of the creation plan of God, according to which the present world has been created for a limited period of time. When this time is over and this world shall be brought to an end, the Day of Judgement shall take place. According to Islamic belief, it would be a Day of Justice where the deeds of every individual – good or bad – shall be laid bare and according to the deeds in the pre-death period, their final destination shall be decreed.
Entry into Paradise is not based on any kind of recommendation, and it is not anyone’s birthright. It depends totally on one’s deeds and how one uses one’s God-given freedom. The Quran is very clear on this point:
Man shall have only that for which he strives. (Quran 53:39)
If a person has true faith in God, then such a faith makes him modest. His speech and his conduct reflect his living faith in God. He thinks of God constantly watching over him. Some commentators on the Quran have defined a true believer as one who believes in the unseen in the manner in which he believes what is seen. A believer lives in this world in the same state that will overcome people when they will directly see God on the Day of Judgement. A believer surrenders to God in the present world itself.
