This temporary world will end on the Last Day when the whole universe will be destroyed and recreated under new laws to last forever. At the start of the destruction stage, the whole earth will experience intense earthquakes at a scale humanly unimaginable, far beyond the top level 10 of the Richter scale. The Soorah starts with describing this scenario.

1.Imagine when Earth is shaken with its utmost violent shaking, 2.and Earth throws out its burdens, 3.and everyone wonders “What is the matter with it?” 4.On that Day, it will report its chronicles, 5.because your Lord has commanded it to do so.

The shaking of Earth will be accompanied by explosions that will cause the inside matter of Earth to be spewed out. It also means that all the particles of dead people from which they are to be raised and which Earth is carrying in different forms and at different stages of decay will be extracted for being raised and revived. In addition, all records of events that the earth witnessed the individuals and nations perform on it will be off loaded.

“That day” is not a day with what we are accustomed to on this earth. It refers to a series of incidents that will occur one after the other in an unimaginable period of time. This series of incidents that is referred to as “Day” includes the total destruction and collapse of the current universe, recreation of the new eternal universe that will operate under the new laws, raising of all dead human beings, accountability session and Judgment, throwing criminals into Jahannam (Hell) and welcoming righteous believers into Jannah (Paradise).

Once the new Earth is created, and people are raised and the accountability session starts, the records of the earth will be played as witness to human deeds, as and when needed, at the command of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala. According to Aboo Hurairah’s narration reported in many books of Hadeeth such as Musnad of Ahmad, Tirmidzi, Nasaai, etc., the Prophet sall Allaahu `alayhi wa sallam explained, “Earth will give witness for the actions a man or woman performed on it back – that is, he or she did so and so at such and such time. These are the chronicles that it will report.” There are also other similar narrations reported by Anas and Rabee‘ah Al-Kharshi.

6.On that Day people shall come forth severally[1] to be shown their deeds. 7.So whoever has done an atom's weight of good shall see it; 8.and whoever has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it.

People will have to face accountability in their individual capacities. Everyone will mind his or her own business. No one will care for or support anyone else. No friend, guardian, helper, intercessor, supporter or backer will be available at hand or be of any avail. There will be no collective accountability. Even actions performed or crimes committed collectively will have to be defended individually, as it is every person’s own decision to participate in a collective activity.

Everyone will be shown a complete record of their deeds. Even the most minute and the slightest of good or bad moves will be included in the record of individual performance. Though the record will be complete, the Judgment will be based on overall performance, not on each and every action. The first criteria of Judgment will be faith: the disbelief will override everything else. The disbelievers will automatically be disqualified from any rewards. The severity of their punishment in hell will be determined by the extent of their bad behaviour and their overall lifestyle. The believers will be given 10 to 70,000 credits for their good deeds depending on the level of their sincerity, purity of their intentions and the extent of the sacrifice they had to make to do that good action. However, they will be charged only one debit for each of their bad actions. The overall balance will determine whether they are rewarded or punished and at what level.

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