From the original faithfreedom.org site https://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/judgement.htm also available at https://alisina.org/?p=994

[This article is available in Chinese here https://web.archive.org/web/20080829105432/http://www.faithfreedom.org/Chinese/day_of_judgmnet-cn.htm ]

Muslims believe that when a person dies two angels called Nakeer and Munkar visit him in his grave. They question him about his Faith, if he is found a believer his tomb is widened 70 cubits square (each cubit is one foot six inches) and it is illumined. Then he is told to go to sleep like a bridegroom until the day of resurrection when Allah raises him up to reward him. But if he is found a “hypocrite” they order the tomb to squeeze him until his ribs are crushed.

Quran says that at the Day of Judgment, the heaven is split asunder (Q.84:1) and it will heave with (awful) heaving (Q.52:9), the sun is overthrown (Q.81:1), the Earth is shaken with her (final) earthquake (Q. 99:1),  the moon is eclipsed (Q.75:8) and “the angel Israfil will sound the trumpet and all living creatures, mankind, angels and jinn then living, will die. Another blast and all will be raised to life. Allah’s throne will appear in the clouds, carried by 8 angels. Believers will receive a book of their deeds in their right hand, and unbelievers in their left hand. The books will be opened and men’s works weighed on scales (mizan). In fear, men will look for someone to plead with Allah. They will go to Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, but find no help. At last they will turn to Muhammad” 

“Muslims also believe that there is a bridge across Hell, named Sirat, which is sharper than the edge of sword and thinner than a hair. Faithful Muslims believe that they will cross over it in the “twinkling of an eye” and enter Paradise. Other Muslims may fall into Hell, but will later be released. Unbelievers will fall into Hell and remain forever.” 

No one knows the exact time for the Day of Judgment but it is going to be a Friday 10^th of Muharram. At that time Allah will resurrect all the dead. He will collect their dispersed dusts and call them to visit him. And people will see Allah as clear as seeing the sun in a not cloudy day. Then he will judge them based on their beliefs. Those who did not associate any other God with Allah, irrespective of what crimes they have committed will go to Paradise. There are verses in Quran that speak of good deeds like this one, 

[Al-Imran 3:30] On the Day when every soul will find itself confronted with all that it hath done of good and all that it hath done of evil (every soul) will long that there might be a mighty space of distance between it and that (evil).

But actually the evil for Muhammad did not mean what we usually think of it. By evil he meant disbelief. This is clear from the following verse. 

[Ibrahim 14:44] And warn mankind of a day when the doom will come upon them, and those who did wrong will say: Our Lord! Reprieve us for a little while. We will obey Thy call and will follow the messengers. (It will be answered): Did ye not swear before that there would be no end for you? 

For Allah nothing is more abhorrent than disbelief and once you believe all your sins are forgiven and your place in paradise is guaranteed. In a Hadith noted by Bukhari the importance of belief over good deeds is emphasized. 

Bukhari Volume 4, Book 54, Number 445:
Narrated Abu Dhar:
The Prophet said, “Gabriel said to me, ‘Whoever amongst your followers die without having worshipped others besides Allah, will enter Paradise (or will not enter the (Hell) Fire).” The Prophet asked. “Even if he has committed illegal sexual intercourse or theft?” He replied, “Even then.”

 But for disbelievers there is no salvation.

 [al-Ma’idah 5:36] As for those who disbelieve, lo! if all that is in the earth were theirs, and as much again therewith, to ransom them from the doom on the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them. Theirs will be a painful doom.

[al-Kahf 18:106] That is their reward: hell, because they disbelieved, and made a jest of Our revelations and Our messengers.

[Ta Ha 20:100] Whoso turneth away from it, he verily will bear a burden on the Day of Resurrection,

What about those who have loved others? We humans put a great emphasis on loving and helping each other and on charitable works, but for Allah all that is irrelevant. 

[al-`Ankabut 29:25] The love between you is only in the life of the world. Then on the Day of Resurrection ye will deny each other and curse each other, and your abode will be the Fire, and ye will have no helpers. 

Those who did not accept Allah will easily be recognized because they will have their faces “blackened”. 

[az-Zumar 39:60] And on the Day of Resurrection thou (Muhammad) seest those who lied concerning Allah with their faces blackened. Is not the home of the scorners in hell? 

If another person said the above politically incorrect statement, it would have offended the blacks, but strange as it is the blacks are the ones who are flocking towards Islam, as if they are completely unaware of the prophet’s low opinion of their race. 

This stereotyping is reaffirms in another place.   

[Al-Imran 3:106] On the Day when (some) faces will be whitened and (some) faces will be blackened; and as for those whose faces have been blackened, it will be said unto them: Disbelieved ye after your (profession of) belief? Then taste the punishment for that ye disbelieved. 

Of course the absurdity of this belief is self-evident and needs no clarification. However Muslims are unable to ask themselves simple questions like what is the use of a wide and illumined grave to a deceased? Has anyone seen a widened and illumined grave?

Islamic Paradise is a physical place. That is why Allah has to collect all the dust of the dead people to punish or reward them. That makes even less sense when we know that we constantly renew the elements that compose our body..

It seems that the prophet had no idea of the spiritual reality of man that is independent from the material world. Allah’s rewards are hoories, wine, honey, gardens, mansions, cloths with gold embroidery and other material objects. These are all material rewards. What is the use of all these for human spirit? His punishment is also physical: fire. Heaven, in Islam, is the place where believers will be reclining under the shade of the trees, eating and drinking exquisite wines, and engaging in sex with virgins.

 [Surah 55:54-46]“They will recline on carpets whose inner linings will be of rich brocade: the fruit of the gardens will be near. In them will be (Maidens), Chaste, restraining their glances, whom no man or Jinn before them has touched (virgins).” 

Good deeds have no merits; Belief in Allah and his messenger is the only requisite to inherit this materialistic paradise. Even Christians will not be spared. 

In one place one is lead to believe that the people of the scriptures, i.e. the Jews and the Christians are saved, 

[al-Hajj 22:17] Lo! those who believe (this revelation), and those who are Jews, and the Sabaeans and the Christians and the Magians and the idolaters – Lo! Allah will decide between them on the Day of Resurrection. Lo! Allah is Witness over all things. 

Then again, this is contradicted by another verse. 

[al-Ma’idah 5:14] And with those who say: “Lo! we are Christians,” We made a covenant, but they forgot a part of that whereof they were admonished. Therefore We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will inform them of their handiwork. 

The same is said of the Jews (Q.10:93).  So don’t be surprised to see Mother Theresa burning in the Hell while Khomeni and Saddam Hussein who believed in Allah and his messenger sitting under the shade of a tree with a pretty hoory at their right side and another at their left, sipping from the chilled wine in Paradise.

The concept of the life after death in Islam is very much similar to the Jehowa’s Witnesses’ concept of the other world. Jehowa Witnesses believe that after the death, the deceased has no consciousness until the last day when he is risen from death and if found a believer would inherit the Earth and would live in a terrestrial Paradise forever. This is how Quran and Hadith explain the life after death. However, this subject is foggy for most of the Muslims. They have their personal ideas about it that often contradict the above what Quran and the hadithes teach about the life after death.

By Ali Sina

[Ali Sina’s collection of articles from the original blog can be read here http://faithfreedom.org/Author/Sina.htm while those of other authors can be read here http://faithfreedom.org/ancient_Articles.php ]

Another Faithfreedom.org Admin’s comment on this:

The Quran says:

1) “Think not of those who are slain in Allah’s cause as dead, Nay, they are alive, finding sustenance in the presence of their Lord.” (Chapter 3, Verse 169)

2) And say not of those who are slain in the way of Allah: “They are dead”. May they are living though you perceive it not.” (Chapter 2, Verse 154).

    This is ambiguous in several respects.

   Further a close examination of various hadiths indicates that a martyr and even the Prophet will have to wait till the Day of Judgement as below:

1. The Messenger of Allah said: The first group will enter Paradise on the Resurrection Day with shining faces like the brightness of the moon in the full moon light and the second group like mot shining and resplendent star in the firmament.” (Mishkat, Vol 4: 23, p 167)
2. Sulaiman b. Yasar heard the Prophet saying: “The first of men (whose case) will be decided on the Day of Judgement will be a man who died as a martyr.” (Sahih Muslim Vol 3: 4688, p 1270)
3. Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “Surely the first men who will be brought for the Judgement on the Resurrection Day will be one who was (well known as) a martyr. He will be brought and be reminded of favors on him, which he will recognize. Then he will ask, what did you do therein? He will reply: I fought for you till I was martyr. (Mishkat Vol 1 : 114 page 411)
4. Imam Muslim writes, “Ibn Umar reported that Allah’s Apostle said: ‘When a person dies, he is shown his seat in morning and evening. If he is one among the inmates of Paradise, he is shown his seat in Paradise and if he is amongst the denizens of Hell Fire, he is shown his seat in Hell-Fire. Then it is said to him “That is your seat where you be sent on the Day of Resurrection.”‘” (Sahih Muslim, Vol 4: 6858 page 1795)
5. The Prophet said, “Amongst the apostles, I would have the largest following on the Day of Judgement and I would be the first to knock at the door of Paradise.” (Sahih Muslim Vol 1: 382, p 181)
6. The Messenger of Allah said, “I will come to the gate of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection and would seek its opening, and the keeper would say: ‘Who are you?’ I would say: ‘Muhammad.’ He would then say ‘It is for you that I have been ordered and not to open it for anyone before you.’ ” (Sahih Muslim Vol 1: 384, page 161)

All the above hadiths clearly confirm that:

1) Even the first batch of martyrs and inmates of Paradise will enter on the Day of Judgment.

2) The martyrs will be shown only their place in Paradise but they would enter only on the Day of Judgment, and not immediately.

3) Prophet Muhammad will be the first person to reach at the gate of Paradise which will not be opened to anybody else before him.

4) Even he will also have to wait till the Day of Judgement. Hence no martyr will enter immediately after martyrdom and will enter only after Muhammad on the Day of Judgement.

Now the question arises: How long a devout Muslim or a martyr will have to wait for Paradise? The Muslims of early Islamic period became impatient to know from Prophet Muhammad the exact time when the Day of Judgment would be. In this context the Quran says: “They ask you (Muhammad) about the final Hour- when will be it appointed time? Say (O Muhammad): The knowledge thereof is with my Lord (alone); none but He can reveal as to when it will occur: Heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth, only, all of a sudden will it come to you.” (Chapter 7, Verse 187).

   Thus Prophet Muhammad expressed his ignorance about the time of Day of Judgement. However, the Quran and Hadiths describe the various damaging and alarming conditions in the world and moral degradation in people, but give no exact time of the Day of Judgement. In short, it will be sudden.

   Hence, there is the complete uncertainty about the exact date and time of Day of Judgement and so is the uncertainty of getting Paradise by a martyr and a pious Muslim; and till that time, all Muslims will remain buried in their graves.

   Surprisingly this idea has a resemblance with the idea of the Day of Judgement of Christianity where Jesus also did not know the exact Day of Judgement. Bible says, “But of the Day of Judgement and the Hours knoweth no man, not the angels which are in the Heaven, neither the Son (Jesus), but the Father.” (Mark 13: 32-33)

   Besides this there is another problem due to the explanation given by the Prophet of the Quranic Ayats (3:169) on martyrdom referred earlier. In this context Imam Muslim writes in his Hadith:

   “The followers asked the meaning of the Ayat: ‘Think not those who are slain in of their Lord….” (3:169). The Prophet said: “The souls of the martyrs live in the bodies of green birds who have their nests in chandeliers hung from the throne of the Almighty. They eat fruits of Paradise from wherever they like and then nestle in the chandeliers. Once their Lord asked them, “Do you want anything?”….Then Lord asked them the same question thrice, then they said: “O Lord! We wish that you may return our souls to our bodies so that we may be slain in Your way once again.”  (Sahih Muslim Vol 3, No 4651, p 1261) In the note no 2345 of this Hadith the editor explains that this idea of the soul in the body of the bird is found in Jewish Encyclopedia as “The souls of righteous live like birds in cages guarded by angels. The souls of the martyrs have a special place in Heaven.” (Vol VI, p 566).

While commenting on this topic Serge Trifkovic writes:

   “The reports both in the Quran and the Hadith concerning Paradise, the houris, and the silk-adorned youths, the jinn and the angel of death have been directly taken from the ancient books of the Zoroastrians.” (W. St. Clair Tisdall, Sources of Islam). “The Persians have also originated the story that on the Day of Judgement all people will have to cross a bridge stretched across hell leading to Paradise, on which the unbelievers will stumble and fall”. (The Sword of the Prophet by Serge Trifkovic , p 70)

   If, according to Prophet Muhammad, “The souls of martyrs live in the bodies of green birds”, then how can a martyr become a youth of 33 years with virility of 100 men to enjoy seventy-two maidens provided so generously to each inmate of the Paradise?

   On the Day of Judgement there would be no intercession and no one can intercede except Allah, and neither Muhammad nor any angel or martyr of Jihad is authorized to intercede for any one for Paradise. It is so because intercession is totally against the basic doctrine of Justice in Islam. And yet this is contradicted many times in the Hadiths and also in the Quran when it says at times that there is partial intercession, at times full intercession and to anyone, not merely Muhammad or a martyr. So when the Quran and the Hadiths themselves can’t properly tell what exactly is the scope of Intercession, then how can one assume that Islam is true?

   Moreover, even if we presume for a moment that Allah may permit intercession to whoever He pleases, it is not likely to be executed before the Day of Judgement whose time is unknown even to the Prophet, and only Allah knows. Hence intercession is quite uncertain. Further Allah, in Quran does not specify that he would authorize a martyr of Jihad to intercede for his seventy relatives as claimed in Hadith. Therefore possession of intercedary powers by a martyr or any human soul is unfounded and is a myth as the Quran explicitly says:  “It will be the Day when no soul shall have power to do aught for another: for command that Day will be wholly with Allah.” (Chapter 82, Verse 19). Hence claiming any sort of intercession by a martyr of Jihad is not only against the basic commands of Quran but is also an insult of Allah- the Lord of Justice.

   Further the Hadiths confirm that a martyr will be shown only his seat in Paradise but his entry will be only after the Prophet on the Day of Judgement (Qiyamat) and not immediately. Till that day he will have to wait in his grave. Since the time and date of Day of Judgement is quite uncertain and unknown, so is the entry of a martyr, a Jihadi, an Islamist, or a righteous Muslim into Paradise uncertain. Note how many contradictions we have seen in all this- having zero intercession powers at times, partial intercession and whole intercession (for Muhammad only). From all these mistakes and contradictions it should be very obvious that Paradise i.e. JANNAT IS A MIRAGE for Muslims.

   All we need to dismiss the Quran (or any book) as the Word of God is one error. A book of God cannot contain a single error. There are many mistakes in the Quran. The massive contradictions seen above in the most important subject of Paradise i.e. Jannat show clearly that Islam is false, that Muhammad falsely claimed to be a Prophet and promised Paradise to gullible followers. There are many more mistakes in the Quran too (E.g. the food for the people in Hell will be only “Dhari” 88:6, only foul pus from the washing of wounds 69:36, or will they also get to eat from the tree of Zaqqum 37:62-66). If there is anything like Paradise and Hell, Islam will be the way to Hell, not Paradise. No religion is from God. If Heaven & Hell are true, they will be got through deeds, not religion. If the Muslims understand the truth by reading the above facts, they can leave Islam and become mentally free, and rid humanity of the fanatic ideology of convert-or-kill, violence and self-righteousness, and regain freedom.

   Actually the gullible Muslim youths are brainwashed and are victims of the Islamists and if they could understand the truth of these Hadiths, they can be saved from a great disaster. This is why Philosopher E Renan says that: “Muslims are the first victims of Islam. Many times I have observed in my travels in the Orient, that fanaticism comes from a small number of dangerous men who maintain the others in the practice of religion by terror. The best service that one can render a Muslim, is to liberate him from his religion“. (Quoted in Why I am not a Muslim by Ibn Warraq).

Two other important articles on this are ‘Jihad and Jannat in Hadiths’ in English as well as in Hindi.