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No less than 67 chapters of the Koran (56 Meccan and 11 Medinan) contain verses on the day of judgment. It is spoken of under various names, the most frequent of which is yaum al-qiyama or the day of great rising, which occurs 70 times in the Koran. Next to it is al-sa'a means the hour, and occurs 40 times, yaum al-akhir or the last day, which occurs 26 times, while al-akhira as meaning the future life occurs 115 times. Next in importance is yaum al-din, which means the day of requital, occurs 6 times. Yaum al-fasl or the day of decision, occurs 6 times, and yaum al-hisab or the day of reckoning, occurs 5 times. Other names occur only once or twice, such as yaum al-fath (the day of judgement), yaum al-talaq (the day of meeting), yaum al-jam (the day of gathering), yaum al-khulud (the day of abiding), yaum al-khuruj (the day of coming forth), yaum al-ba'th (the day of being raised to life), yaum al-hasra (the day of regret), yaum al-tanad (the day of calling forth), yaum al-azifa (the day that draws near), yaum al-taghabun (the day of manifestation of defects). Other names occuring once or twice without the word yaum (day) are al-qari'a (the striking calamity), al-ghashiya (the overwhelming calamity), al-skhkha (the defening calamity), al-tamma (the predominating calamity), al-haqqa (the great truth) and al-waqi'a (the great event).

A faith in a life after death is the last of the basic principles of Islam. The word generally used in the Koran to indicate that life is al-akhir, and akhir is the opposite of awwal (means the first), and thus it signifies that which comes after or the future, or the last. In the Koran, the word al-yaum al-akhir or the last day is used instead of al-akhira (2:8, 62 etc.); and sometimes al-dar al-akhira, the next or the future or the last abode, is used (28:77, 29:64 and 33:29) and once al-nash'at al-akhira or the future or the next life, which is the real meaning conveyed by all these terms.

Death, in the light of the plain teaching of the Koran, is not the end of man's life; it only opens the door to another, a higher, form of life: "Have you considered the small life-germ? Is it you that create it or are We the Creator? We have ordained death among you and none can prevent Us that We may change your attributes and make you grow into what you know not" (56:58-61). Just as from the small life-germ grows the man, and he does not lose his individuality for all the changes which he undergoes, so from this man is made the higher man, his attributes being changed, and he himself being made to grow into what he cannot conceive at present. That this new life is a higher form of life is also made plain: "See how We have made some of them to excel others, and certainly the hereafter is much superior in respect of degrees and much superior in respect of excellence" (17:21) "The Koran accords to faith in the future life an importance which is next only to faith in God. Very often all the doctrines of faith are summed up, as amounting to belief in God and the future life: "And there are some people who say, we believe in God and the last day, and they are not at all believers" (2:8);

Importance of faith in future life

"Whoever believes in God and the last day and does good, they shall have their reward from God" (2:62)

This world as man actually experiences it and lives in it as a whole, called al-dunya, which is derived from dunuw, being near adwan (lower) and dani (base). Thus, al-dunya literally means the lower or the nearest world. The Koran uses the phrase al-hayah al-dunya (the lower life) in place of the simple word al-dunya. In other words, al-dunya (this world) is nearest to the human senses, and what is the lowest to be perceived. The word al-dunya belongs to a particular category of words, which we might call "correlation" words, that is, those words that stands for correlate concepts, like husband and wife, brother and sister, etc. Each member of the pair presupposes the other semantically and stands on the very basis of this correlation. A man can be a husband only in reference to wife. The concept of husband in other words, implicitly contains that of wife and vice versa. In just the same way, the concept of al-dunya presupposes the concept of the world to come or al-akhira, and stands in contrast to it. And the Koran is very much conscious of this correlation whenever it uses either of the two words, not to speak of those frequent cases where both are mentioned together in the same breath, as for example: "You desire the ephemeral goods of the present world (al-dunya), while God desires (for you) the hereafter (al-Akhira)" (8:68). The hereafter (al-Akhira) is thus the world of clear vision in which truth and untruth will be distinguished from each other.

Now a belief in life after death implies that every deed, however, secretly it may be done, must bear fruit, and therefore this belief is both the greatest impetus towards good and noble, and the greatest restraint upon evil or irresponsible deeds. The Koran says: "Then shall every soul become acquainted with what it had sent before" (10:30). Such belief purifies the motives with which a deed is done. It makes a man work with the most selfless of motives in the world, for he seeks no reward for what he does; his work is for higher and nobler ends relating to the life beyond the grave. The Koran says: "Nay! you prefer the life of this world while the hereafter is better and more lasting" (87:16-17).

Connection between the two lives

"The Koran not only speaks of a life after death which opens out before man a new world of advancement, it also shows that the basis of that life is laid in this very earthy life. For the good, the heavenly life, and for the wicked, a life in hell, begin even here, though the limitations of this material life do not allow most people to realize that other: "Certainly thou wert heedless of it (the future life), but now (after death) We have removed from thee thy veil, so thy sight today is sharp" (50:22) and "On that day you shall be exposed to view" (69:18). It implies that the spiritual life which here is hidden due to material limitations, will become more manifest after death; because human perception will then be sharp, the veil of material limitations having been removed. The Koran plainly speaks of two paradises for the righteous and two chastisements for the wicked, and as plainly of a heavenly and hellish life, each beginning here: "And for him who fears to stand before his Lord are two gardens" (55:46), "O soul that art at rest! Return to thy Lord well pleased with Him, well pleasing Him, so enter among My servants and enter into My paradise" (89:27-30), "Nay! If you had known with a certain knowledge, you should certainly have seen the hell" (89:5-6), "It is the fire kindled by God which rises above the hearts" (104:6-7), "And whoever is blind in this life, shall also be blind in the hereafter" (17:72) and "Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know" (68:33).

Second stage of the higher life

It will have been seen that the Koran speaks of the growth of a higher life even in the life of this world, and thus the spiritual experience of man is the first stage of the higher life. Yet, ordinarily, man is neglected of this higher experience, and it is only persons of a very high spiritual development that are in any way conscious of that higher life. Barzakh is really the second stage in the development of this higher life, and it appears that all men have a certain consciousness of the higher life at this stage, though full development has not yet taken place. In the Koran, even the development of the physical life is mentioned as passing through three stages. The first stage of that life is the state of being in the earth; the second, that of being in the mother's womb; and the third, that in which the child is born. Thus we have: "He knows you best when He brings you forth from the earth and when you are embryos in the wombs of your mother" (53:32). And again: "And He began the creation of man from dust; then He made his progeny of an extract of water held in light estimation; then He made him complete and breathed into him of His spirit" (32:7-9). And still again: "And certainly We have created man of an extract of clay; then We make him a small life-germ in a firm resting place......then We causes it to grow into another creation, so blessed be God, the best of the creators" (23:12-14). Corresponding to these three stages in the physical development of man, the stage of dust, the stage of embryo and the stage of birth into life, the Koran speaks of three stages in his spiritual growth. The first is the growth of spiritual life which begins in this very life, but it is a stage at which ordinarily there is no consciousness of this life, like the dust stage in the physical growth of a man. Then there comes death, and with it is entered the second stage of the higher or spiritual life, the barzakh or the qabr stage, corresponding to the embryo state in the physical growth of man. At this stage, life has taken a definite form, and a certain consciousness of that life has grown up, but it is not yet the full consciousness of the final development which takes place with the resurrection, and which may therefore be compared to the actual birth of man, to his setting forth on the road to real advancement, to a full awakening of the great truth. The development of the higher life in barzakh is as necessary a stage in the spiritual world as is the development of physical life in the embryonic state. The two stages thus stand on a par.

Spiritual experience in the barzakh stage

That there is some kind of awakening to a new spiritual experience immediately after death is abundantly evident from various Koranic references. For example, the very verse in which barzakh is spoken of (23:99-100) set forth the spiritual experience of the evil-doer, who immediately becomes conscious of the fact that he has been doing in his first life something which is now detrimental to the growth of the higher life in him, and hence desires to go back, so that he may do good deeds which may help the development of the higher life. It shows that the consciousness of a higher life has sprung up in him immediately after death. On another occasion, we are told that evil-doers are made to taste of the evil consequences of their deeds in this state of barzakh, the consciousness of the chastisement becoming clear on the resurrection day: "And the most evil chastisement overtook Pharaoh's people: the fire; they shall be brought before it every morning and evening and on the day when the hour shall come to pass: Make Pharaoh's people enter the severest chastisement" (40:45-46).

It should be noted that while, in the Koran, the guilty are spoken of as receiving chastisement in the state of barzakh, in the hadith this punishment is spoken of as adhab al-qabr, or the punishment meted out in the grave.

The righteous are spoken of as tasting the fruits of good deeds immediately after death: "And reckon not those who are killed in God's way as dead; nay, they are alive, being given sustenance from their Lord; rejoicing in what God has given them out of His grace, and they rejoice for the sake of those who, being left behind, have not yet joined them, that they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve" (3:168-169)..

Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani (d. 525/1131) explains that all vision of the spiritual world or of the next world is based on tamaththul (the display of images). Thus, according to the Koran, Jibrail appeared to Mary as "a man without fault" through tamththul (19:17). On this basis we can understand the questioning of the dead by the angels Munkar and Nakir: It takes place within yourself. Those of our contemporaries who are veiled from the truth have come up with this problem: How can two angels, in one instant, visit a thousand different individuals? The concluded that one must accept this as an article of faith, since it contradicts reason. But in this connection Ibn Sina provided a world explanation in two sentences: "Munkar is his evil deeds, and Nakir his good deeds." The ego is the mirror of blameworthy qualities, and the intellect and heart are the mirror of praiseworthy qualities. When a man looks, he sees his own attributes revealing themselves in images (tamaththul-gari kunad). His own existence is his torment, though he thinks someone else is tormenting him. If you want to hear the Prophet himself. If you want to hear the Prophet himself say this, listen when he speaks of the chastisements of the grave: "They are only your works given back to you" (Tamhidat, Tehran, 1962, p. 289).

Three resurrections

The two words used most frequently regarding the resurrection are al-qiyama and al-sa'a. The first of these refers apparently, to the rising, which is its literal significance, the second to destruction, being the hour of doom. Now as regards this latter word, Raghib says that there are three sa'as in the sense of resurrection; viz. kubra (the greater resurrection), which is the rising up of the people for reckoning; wusta (the middle resurrection), which is the passing away of one generation; and sughra (the minor resurrection), which is the death of the individual. An example of the last use of the word sa'a is given as occurring in the Koran: "They are indeed in loss who give the lie to the meeting with God until when the hour comes upon them all of a sudden" (6:31). Here the hour (al-sa'a) clearly stands for the death of the person who gives the lie. As regards the use of al-sa'a in the sense of the end of a generation, a hadith of the Prophet is quoted according to which he is reported to have said referring to Abdullah ibn Unais, who was then only a boy: "If the life of this boy is lengthened, he will not die till the hour (al-sa'a) comes to pass" (Raghib); and it is related that he was the last to die from among the Companions of the Prophet; in other words, al-sa'a in this case signifies the passing away of the generation of the Companions. There are examples of this use in the Koran also: "The hour (al-sa'a) drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder" (54:1). "The hour" in this case, clearly stands for the doom of the opponents of the Prophet. And again: "Do they say, We are a host allied together to help each other? Soon shall the hosts be routed and they shall turn their backs. Nay, the hour (al-sa'a) is their promised time and the hour shall be most grievous and bitter" (54:44-46).

Spiritual resurrection and the greater resurrection

It may also be noted that just as the word al-sa'a is used in a wider sense, and indicates, besides, the doomsday, sometimes the death of an individual and sometimes the passing away of a generation, so do the word qiyamah (rising) and ba'th (raising the dead to life) sometimes occur, each in a wider sense. Thus there is a saying of the Prophet: "Whoever dies, his resurrection has indeed come to pass" (al-Mishkat al-Masabih, 26:7). Here the state of barzakh is called a resurrection, and this shows that no sooner does a man die than he is raised up to a new life. It should be further borne in mind that on any occasion when the Koran speaks of the dead, it means those who are spiritually dead, and by giving life to them means the bringing about of a spiritual awakening in them. Take the following example: "Is he who was dead, then We raised him to life and made for him a light by which he walks among the people, like him whose likeness is that of one in utter darkness whence he cannot come forth?" (6:123). Here, clearly, the dead one is he who is spiritually dead, and God's raising him to life is giving him the spiritual life. On one occasion even, by "those in the graves" are meant those who are dead spiritually: "Neither are the living and the dead alike. Surely God makes him whom He pleases hear, and thou canst not make those hear who are in the graves. Thou art naught but a warner" (35:22-23). The context shows that by "those in the graves" are meant those whom death has overtaken spiritually, whom the Prophet would warn but they would not listen. On another occasion, where those in the graves are mentioned, the words convey a doubt significance, referring to the spiritual awakening brought about by the Prophet as well as to the new life in the resurrection: "And thou seest the earth sterile land, but when We send down water on it, it stirs and swells and bring forth of every kind a beautiful herbage. This is because God is the Truth and because He gives life to the dead and because He has power over all things, and because the hour is coming, there is no doubt about it; and because God shall raise up those who are in the graves" (22:5-7). The first part of this passage, describing the giving of life to dead soil by means of rain, shows that the second part refers to the giving of spiritual life by means of Divine revelation, a comparison between rain and revelation being of frequent occurrence in the Koran. "The hour" here, as in so many other places, refers to the doom of the opponents of the Prophet, and "the dead" and "those in the graves" are evidently the spiritually dead. But though speaking primarily of the spiritual resurrection, there is also a reference to the great resurrection of the dead. In fact, not only here but in many other places in the Koran, the spiritual resurrection, to be brought about by the Prophet, and the great resurrection of the dead are mentioned together, the one being as it were an evidence of the other, because an awakening to the spiritual life shows the existence of a higher life, the development of which is the real aim of the greater resurrection.

Life has an aim

That the whole of creation on this earth is for the service of man, and that human life has some great aim and purpose to fulfill, is yet another argument for resurrection advanced by the Koran: "Does man think that he is to be left to wander without an aim?" (75:36); "What! Do you think that We have created you in vain and that you shall not be returned to Us?" (23:115). Just as the God-idea ennobles man's life, and endows it with the purest and highest impulses, so does the resurrection-idea introduce a seriousness into man's life which cannot be otherwise attained. It will be taking too low a view of human nature to imagine that with all those vast capacities for ruling nature and its wonderful forces, human life itself has no aim, and is like the grass that grows up today and disappears tomorrow, serving either as fodder or manure.

If everything in nature is intended for the service of man, but human life itself is without purpose, then man must be placed lower than the lowest form of creation, which is a contradiction in terms. The Koran makes this argument clear in three brief sentences: "Surely We have created man in the best make, then We render him the lowest of the low, except those who believe and do good, for they shall have a reward never to be cut off" (95-4-6). The last words clearly refer to the higher life which is never to be cut off, and this argument is followed by the conclusion: "So who can give thee the lie after this about the judgment?" (95:7). It cannot be that the whole of creation should serve a purpose and that man alone, who is lord of it and endowed with capabilities for ruling the universe, should have a purposeless existence. It is the resurrection alone that solves this difficulty. Man has a higher object to fulfill, he has a higher life to live beyond this world; and that higher life is the aim of human life.

Good and evil must have their reward

Another argument adduced by the Koran in support of the resurrection is that good and evil must have their reward. Of the whole living creation, man alone has the power to discriminate between good and evil. And so acute is his perception of good and evil that he will strive with all his might to promote good and to eradicate evil. He makes laws for this purpose, and uses the whole machinery of power at his disposal to enforce them. Yet what do we see in practical life? Good is often neglected and starves, which evil prospers. That is not as it should be, "God does not waste the reward of the doers of good" (11:115, 12:90 etc.); "We do not waste the reward of him who does a good deed" (18:30); "I will not waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other" (3:194); "Whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil shall see it" (99:7-8), such are some of the plain declarations made by the Koran. And when we look at nature around us, we find the same law at work. Every cause has its effect, and every thing done must bear a fruit. Even that which man does in the physical world must bear a fruit. Why should man's good and evil deeds be an exception to this general rule working in the whole universe? And if they are not an exception, as they should not be, the conclusion is evident that good and evil must bear their full fruit in another life.