What Will Disbelievers Experience on the Day of Reckoning?
While he is uncomfortably cramped in his tight grave, the disbeliever will briefly be shown a glimpse of Heaven, which he will never enter. In this terrifying state, the wretched disbeliever will repeatedly beg Allah not to bring the final hour. The Day of Reckoning will be a dreadful sight for disbelievers. As we learn in Surah Ibrahim, eyes will gaze in horror on that day.
The disbelievers will be in a humiliating state when they are resurrected. As Allah tells us in Surah Al-Ma’arij, they will hurriedly come out of their graves like they are rushing towards an idol. They will be enveloped in shame. The disbelievers will be assembled unclothed and uncircumcised, fallen on their faces, deaf, dumb, and blind, as mentioned in Surah Al-Isra, with the scorching Hellfire lying in wait for them.
The disbelievers will encounter Allah three times
Their first encounter with Allah will be when they pursue His Sympathy. They will claim that the Prophets did not come to them. However, Allah has already refuted their false claim in the Holy Quran. In Surah Al-Isra, we are told that He would never punish without sending a Messenger. Moreover, in Surah Al-Ma’idah, Allah mentions that he would send Messengers to prevent their absence from being used as an excuse for disbelief.
The second time they meet Allah, the disbelievers will still be making excuses to defend themselves. However, they will also accept their wrongdoing. Their devil companions will absolve themselves and lay the blame squarely at the disbelievers’ feet, as mentioned in Surah Qaf. Allah will tell them not to argue, and He will say that He had already warned them. His Judgment will not be altered, and He is not at all unfair.
The third and last meeting the disbelievers will have with Allah will be to receive their Book of Deeds. As mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf, the record of their deeds will terrify them, and they will acknowledge the comprehensive nature of the book, in which all their deeds will be recorded, whether minor or significant. They will see all their deeds, and Allah is not unfair to anyone.
Their rejection of Resurrection and misguidance of others
Allah will admonish them in front of all of mankind for their evil and rejection of resurrection, as mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf. When they admit that they never thought they would encounter Allah, He will tell them that He will forget about them in the same way. Allah won’t talk to them or purify them, and their dishonesty will continue until Allah seals their mouths, and their limbs will expose their deeds, as mentioned in Surah Ya-Seen. Like we learn in Surah An-Nahl, they will also bear some of the sins of people they led astray.
There will be no intercessor or helper for them
The Prophet (PBUH) will intercede for the believers, but the disbelievers will receive no intercession. They will have no protector or assister on that day. The Day of Reckoning will result in the erasure of any alliances the disbelievers had in the world. The wicked disbelievers will be divided on that day. They will disassociate themselves from each other despite any closeness they may have had on earth, as mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah. They will be overcome with regret and condemned to Hell for eternity.
The disbelievers will be unable to ransom themselves
According to Sahih Al-Bukhari, Allah will ask the desperate disbelievers if they wish they had an earth-full of gold to ransom themselves. They will reply in the affirmative. Then, Allah will tell them that they were simply asked to worship Him alone.
Allah will thus make clear to them how they foolishly defied his simple Command and cost themselves in the Hereafter. They disobeyed a divine order that was simple but would eventually define their afterlife. Their pride and arrogance resulted in their ultimate ruin. Even an earth-full of gold won’t be enough to serve as a ransom for them on the Day of Judgment.
The good deeds of disbelievers will be of no benefit
Their good deeds will be of no use whatsoever because they did not believe in One God. Anyone who does not believe in One God will not be able to gain any benefit from his good deeds in the Hereafter. He may well be rewarded for good deeds in the worldly life. However, every disbeliever’s good deeds will be lost in the afterlife. In Surah An-Nur, the deeds of the disbelievers are described as being akin to a mirage in a lowland.
The disbelievers will receive their records in their left hands
The disbelievers will be handed their records from behind their backs in their left hands. The records’ being in their left hands will signify that their life of earth was of no use. The disbelievers will be so devastated that they will wish they had never received their record and known what they had done, as Allah tells us in Surah Al-Haqqah.
Furthermore, in Surah Al-Inshiqaq, we learn that those who receive their record behind their backs will call out for their destruction. Hence, it is evident that the disbelievers will be in a horrible state when they are handed their records.
They will be thrown into Hell and wish that they were dust
The disbelievers will be taken into Hell in groups. The keepers of Hell will ask them if no book or messenger came to them as a warner. They will reply in the affirmative, but Allah will have already sealed their fate.
Polytheists, and then Jews and Christians will be thrust into the Hellfire. Some of them will be pushed to Hell, while others will plunge into it, seized by hooks. As we discover in Surah An-Naba, disbelievers will wish to be turned to dust, preferring that to the eternal torment of Hell that they brought upon themselves.
