The belief in the Day of Judgement is a fundamental of Islam. This is when Allah (swt) will be the only Judge and no-one will be able to help us - not even our own parents! On the Day of Judgement, the hair of a child will turn grey. [Bukhari]. This shows the severity of that Day where even children will be stricken with fear, although they are innocent and going to Heaven (Jannah). The only thing which will benefit us will be our good deeds. We will either be told that we have been successful thus will go into Heaven, or have failed so will end up in Hell.

Heaven

What does Heaven look like?

The Qur’an and Hadith reveal many detailed descriptions of Heaven:

• The Prophet was asked the question: “O Rasulullaah. What is Jannah made of?” The Prophet replied: “It is made of bricks of gold and silver, its mortar is of strongly scented musk, its gravels are made of pearls and rubies and its clay that of saffron.” [Tirmidhi].
• “It is made of bricks of gold and silver, its mortar is of strongly scented musk, its gravels are made of pearls and rubies and its clay that of saffron.” [Tirmidhi].
• There are rivers of milk, wine and pure honey. [Qur’an 47:15].
• The wine which would be consumed would be clean therefore would not cause any intoxication or any other problems. [Qur’an 37:45-47].
• There will be trees but the trunks will be made of gold and have pearls with dates clinging from them.
• Heaven will be very spacious, and just to give you an idea of how large it will be, the Prophet said: “Jannah contains a hundred stages; each of them has the capacity to accommodate the entire population of the world.” [Tirmidhi].
• It has been mentioned that Heaven has eight gates and they will be guarded by angels who have been assigned by Allah (swt). The distance between two gates is like the distance from Makkah and Hajar, but due to the number of people who will be entering Heaven, the wide gates will seem narrow. [Muslim].

However, all the descriptions given of Heaven are insufficient, because Allah (swt) says:

“I have prepared for My righteous slaves that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has never crossed the mind of any human being.” [Hadith Qudsi]

So no matter how wide our imagination is, we will never be able to contemplate what Heaven actually looks like. Just to illustrate this point further, the Prophet said:

“A space the size of a whip in Paradise is better than this world and all that is in it”. [Bukhari]

Who will enter Heaven?

There are many people who will enter Heaven, and they have been mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith:

• The first person to enter Heaven will be Prophet Muhammad (saw), as he said: “I will come to the gate of Paradise and ask for it to be opened. The gatekeeper will ask, ‘Who are you?’ I will say, ‘Muhammad.’ The gatekeeper will say, ‘I was ordered not to open the gate for anyone else before you.’” [Muslim].
• The first nation to enter Paradise will be the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (saw), and the first person of this Ummah (second person after the Prophet (saw)) to enter Heaven will be Abu Bakr (ra).
• There will be seventy thousand people who will enter Heaven without being called into account on the Day of Judgement, so they will skip all the trials and tribulations which most people will face. [Ahmad, Tirmidhi].
• The poor will enter Heaven before the rich; the time ranges from forty to five hundred years. So the poor will be in Heaven while the rich are still waiting to go in. [Bukhari, Tirmidhi].
• Muslim sinners who are sent to Hell will eventually enter Heaven by the mercy of Allah (swt) and also by the intercession of the Prophet (saw). Even if a person had an atom’s weight of faith in their heart, they will be taken out of Hell.
• The last person to enter Heaven will be a man who will be crawling out of Hell on all four limbs. He will be the lowest in status among the people of Heaven. However, he will be given ten times this Earth and everything in it - something that even the highest person in this world can’t achieve. [Bukhari].

We will all face many trials and tribulations on the Day of Judgement. The deeds of every person will be weighed up, and if their good deeds are heavier, they are destined for Heaven. On that Day, whichever hand your book of deeds is given to you will also depend on where you go. If it is given in your right hand then you are considered to be safe [Qur’an 84:7-8], but if it is given in your left hand then you know there’s a problem, as the person will say:

“I wish that I had not been given my Record!” [Qur’an 69:25-31]

On the Day of Judgement, a believer who suffered the most in this world will be dipped into Heaven for a moment and then they will be taken out and Allah (swt) will ask him: “O My servant, did you ever feel any suffering in your life?” He will reply “No, by Allah”. So just a moment in Heaven is able to make him forget all the pain he suffered in this world; how beautiful Heaven must be.

What will the people of Heaven do, and what has Allah (swt) promised them?

As the people are going into Heaven, the angels will be saying “Peace be upon you!” and congratulating them and the people of Heaven will enter with honour. [Qur’an 39:73]. After the people have entered they will be grateful and “They will say: ‘Praise be to Allah, who has truly fulfilled His promise to us, and given us (this) land in heritage; we can dwell in the Garden as we will; how excellent a reward for those who work (righteousness)!’” [Qur’an 39:74].

• The people in Heaven will never become sick, and they will live forever and never die. [Muslim]. An old woman once came to the Prophet and asked him if he could pray that she would be granted Jannah. But the Prophet said that old women will not enter Heaven so the woman left weeping. The Prophet then told his companions to inform her that she won’t be old at the time of entering Jannah.
• The people will have tents made out of a single, hollowed-out pearl sixty miles wide [Muslim].
• The people of Heaven will sweat and the smell will be fragrant, but sweating won’t occur because of the heat. There will be all kinds of fruits and when one desires to eat, it will just come to him [Ibn Kathir].
• Everyone who enters Heaven will be free of jealousy, malice, weaknesses and any impurities.
  There are many other things Allah (swt) has promised for the people of Heaven, and I can go on and on.

Hell

What does Hell look like?

Hell is not a place where anyone would want to be. The descriptions of Hell (Jahannam) and its punishments can be found in the Qur’an and Hadith:

• The depth of Hell is unimaginable, but just to give you an idea of how deep it is, the Prophet was sitting with his companions when they all heard the sound of a dropping object, and the Prophet asked them if they knew what the sound was but they couldn’t answer. So the Prophet said: “This is a stone which was dropped by Allah from the mouth of Jahannam, and it has landed on the bottom after 70 years of continuous falling; this was the sound of the falling of the same stone.” [Muslim].
• Hell is surrounded by four walls, and the width of each wall is a walking distance of 40 years.
• Hell has seven gates as Allah (swt) says: “It (Hell) has seven gates, for each of those gates is a (special) class (of sinners) assigned.” [Qur’an 15:44]. So the person going into Hell will enter one of these seven gates, depending on their bad deeds.
• There will be people who deserve more punishment than others so there are different levels/layers in Hell. Regarding this, Allah (swt) says: “Verily the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths (grade) of the Fire…” [Qur’an 4:145]. So the people who angered Allah (swt) the most will be punished accordingly.
• The fire in this world will be nothing compared to the fire in Hell. The Prophet said: “Jahannam was heated for a thousand years and its fire turned red; it was then heated for another thousand years and it became white; it was again heated for another thousand years and it turned black. At present, Jahannam is pitch black and dark.” [Tirmidhi].
• The Qur’an tells us that there are nineteen angels who have been assigned to be the guardians of Hell, and they do not even flinch to execute the commands of Allah (swt).

Who will be sent to Hell?

It will generally be the non-believers and Muslims who sinned. Allah (swt) says: “And We shall drive the sinner into Jahannam (like thirsty cattle driven to water).” [Qur’an 19:86]

• The person who drinks alcohol or anything intoxicating. They will be given pus to drink in Hell. [Ahmad].
• The person who preaches good deeds without acting on them will have their lips cut with the scissors of fire. They will be thrown into Hell where people will say to them, “You were the one who used to tell people to do good and avoid evil but didn’t do it yourself” and he will reply, “Yes”.
• The person who boasts about their deeds will be in a ditch in Jahannam. The ditch in Jahannam is such, that Jahannam itself seeks refuge from it 400 times a day.
• Being disobedient to our parents is a grave sin as it opens up the doors of Hell. The Prophet stressed the importance of obeying our parents many times and said that if our parents are pleased with us then it means Allah (swt) is also pleased with us. [Tirmidhi].
• The sin of neglecting or ignoring the Salah (prayer) deserves the Hellfire because Salah will be the first thing we will be accounted for on the Day of Judgement. The Prophet said: “Prayer is the foundation of Islam. Who performs it, will uphold the religion and who ignores it, it will destroy the religion.” [Muslim].
• There are many temptations in society (especially living in the West) and unfortunately some people fall into the trap of committing illegal sexual intercourse, which is a major sin in Islam. Allah (swt) says: “Do not approach Zina (fornication/adultery); it is a gross sin, and an evil behaviour.” [Qur’an 17:32]. The Prophet related a dream, in which he saw naked men and women being punished in a hole in the ground that resembled a baking pit. When asked who these people were, the reply was those that indulged in Zina. [Bukhari].
• Backbiting is also something which is unfortunately prevalent in society today. It might surprise some people, but it is a great sin. Allah (swt) says: “…Neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate back biting).” [Qur’an 49:12].

Many people will be thrown into the Hellfire. Allah (swt) says: “The Day We will ask Jahannam: ‘Are you full?’ It will say ‘Are there any more (to come?)’” [Qur’an 50:30].

How will Allah (swt) punish the people in Hell?

The people in Hell will not only burn, they will also suffer from other painful punishments.

• The Prophet said: “Verily, there are donkey size scorpions in Jahannam. If anyone of these stings a Jahannami, he will feel pain for 40 years.” [Ahmad].
• As you can imagine the person in Hell will be burning and they will need something to eat and drink and what will they be given? In the Qur’an it says, Jahannamis will be given thorns to eat and boiling water to drink. They will also be given food to eat which will stick to their throat, so it will neither go in nor come out.
• Boiling water will also be poured over their heads so they will melt away. The worst thing is that the people in Hell will never die; instead after their bodies have melted, their bodies will be restored back and this will continue so they will be in constant pain and agony.
• Among the people in Hell, the least punishment given will be that ones shoes and laces will be made of fire and this in turn will make their brain boil like a cauldron. They will think that they are being punished the most but in fact they are being punished the least. [Bukhari, Muslim].

There are many other punishments which the people in Hell will endure. They will be screaming but the pain will be everlasting. However, the sinners who were Muslim will stay in Hell as long as Allah (swt) wills and then they will be cleansed and sent to Heaven.

h3>It’s decision time!

So what will your final destination be? Heaven… or Hell… it’s really that simple! Do you wanna chill in Heaven… or burn in Hell?!

Can you sin knowing the painful punishments that await you? Are you following what Allah (swt) and His Messenger commanded, and staying away from what He and His Messenger forbade? No-one said getting into Heaven was going to be easy. We must always remember that we’re only here in this world for a short period of time, and this life is only a test.

We will face many difficulties along the way but we should be patient and never lose hope. We should bear in mind the words of the Prophet (saw):

“No tiredness, illness, difficulty, sorrow, harm or sadness afflicts a Muslim, even to a thorn pricking him, without Allah wiping away his errors (sins) through it.” [Bukhari, Muslim]

The important question is what are YOU actually doing to secure your ticket into Heaven? Is the hereafter (Akhirah) even something you think about in your day-to-day life? If not, then it’s not too late to start planning for it right now. The Prophet said:

“If you had seen what I saw, you would laugh little and cry much.” [Muslim]