What happens on the day of judgment?

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After the revival of the dead and their entrance into the domain of the Resurrection-but before they proceed to Heaven or Hell¬ various events come to pass, events which the Qur'an and Hadith describe:
1. Each person's reckoning will be conveyed in a particular way; one of these is the presentation to each record of his deeds .

And [for] every person We have imposed his fate upon his neck, and We will produce for him on the Day of Resurrection a record which he will encounter spread open.(Bani Isra'il, 17:13)

2. Apart from the recording of all deeds, small or great, being registered in the account of each person, there will also be, on the Day of Resurrection, witnesses from within and without man, that will testify to his actions on earth. The external witnesses consist of God (Al 'Imran, 3:98); the Prophet of each religious community (al-Nahl, 16:89); the Prophet of Islam (al-Nisa', 4:41); the foremost among the Islamic community (al-Baqara, 2:143); God's angels (Qaf, 50:18); and the earth (al-Zilzal, 99:4-5). The internal witnesses consist of the members and limbs of man (al-Nur, 24:24): and the embodied forms of his own acts (al-Tawba, 9:34-5).

3. In order to take account of the actions of human beings, in addition to what has been mentioned, there will be scales of justice set up; and each person will receive his exact due:

And We place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be treated unjustly at all. And if there is [even] the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth. And sufficient are We as accountant. (Sura al-Anbiya', 21:47)

4. It is narrated in certain hadiths that there is a path that all must traverse on the Day of Resurrection. In these hadiths, this path is called al-Sirat, exegetes have identified it with what is referred to [implicitly] in Sura Maryam:

And there is none of you except he will come to it. This is upon your Lord an inevitability decreed.Then We will save those who feared Allah and leave the wrongdoers within it, on their knees.(sura Maryam, 19:71-72)

5. Between those in Heaven and Hell there is a barrier which the Qur'an calls a Hijab. On the Day of Resurrection, eminent individuals will be raised up to a high place from which they will see the inhabitants of Heaven and Hell by their respective marks, as it is said:

And between them will be a partition, and on [its] elevations are men who recognize all by their mark. And they call out to the companions of Paradise, "Peace be upon you." They have not [yet] entered it, but they long intensely. (Sura al-A'raf, 7:46)

These eminent souls, according to hadiths, are the Prophets and their noble successors.

6. When the rendering of account has been completed and the fate of souls is known, God hands to the Prophet a flag called Lawa' al-hamd (Banner of Praise), and he then leads to Heaven those destined for it.

7. In numerous hadiths, mention is made of the pool of al¬Kawthar, present in the domain where the Resurrection takes place; the Prophet comes before all others to this pool, and then those in the community who are saved drink at the pool, through the mediation of the Prophet and his ahl al-bayt.

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