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What is the Day of Judgment in Islam?

The Qur'an returns to the Day of Judgment on nearly every page. The classical tradition's reconstruction of its sequence — the trumpet, the gathering, the reckoning, the scale, the ṣirāṭ.

10 passages from 6 books in the library

The Day of Judgment (Yawm al-Qiyāmah) is the day of final reckoning when every person's deeds are weighed and each is requited. Drawing on Imam al-Ghazali's Iḥyāʾ, the cited passages teach that whoever's good deeds outweigh his bad enters Paradise without reckoning, and whoever's good and bad are equal will have an easy reckoning before entering. Al-Ghazali also relates that those facing a detailed account endure a prolonged reckoning, that Adam will be permitted to intercede for vast numbers of his descendants, and that a book is brought forth from beneath the Throne.

Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.

Where the answer comes from

The classical approach.

These passages are drawn from 6 books by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.

Read them closely. If a passage doesn't sit right, open the full book in the library and listen to the chapter around it. Context in the classical tradition is everything.

Cover of Book 40: The Book of the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife
Book 40: The Book of the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "Whoever's good deeds outweigh his bad deeds on the Day of Judgment, that is the one who enters Paradise without reckoning."

  2. "Hadith, Allah will allow Adam to intercede on the Day of Judgment for some of His descendants numbering 100 million, 10 million,"

  3. "And whoever's good deeds and bad deeds are equal, that is the one who will have an easy reckoning and then enter Paradise."

  4. "On the Day of Judgment, Allah will bring forth a book from beneath the throne in which it is written,"

Cover of Book 30: The Condemnation of Self-Delusion
Book 30: The Condemnation of Self-Delusion
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "If he thinks he is free at reckoning and like someone who never possessed the wealth or needed to sell it,"

  2. "folly causes more harm than the immoral with their wickedness. On the Day of Judgment, people will be"

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