1. Names of the Day of Resurrection

Allah has called the Last Day by several names, by way of highlighting how momentous it will be, and so as to alarm people so that they will fear it. All of them are names which are indicative of its great significance and how terrifying it will be, and what people will undergo on that day of hardship and horror.

These names include the following:

i. The Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyamah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Every soul will taste death, and only on the Day of Resurrection will you be requited in full for your deeds." (Al ‘Imran 3:185)

Ibn ‘Uthaymin said, “It is called the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyamah) because three things will happen on it: 


The first is that people will be resurrected from their graves to stand (qiyam) before the Lord of the Worlds, as Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Do they not think that they will be resurrected For a tremendous Day. The Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?" (al-Mutaffifin 83:4-5)

The second is that the witnesses will stand (qiyam) to testify for the Messengers and against the nations, because Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand." (Ghafir 40:51)

The third is that justice will be established (qiyam al-‘adl), because Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "We will set up scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection." (al-Anbiya’ 21:47)

ii. The Last Day (al-yawm al-akhir): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says, (interpretation of the meaning), "Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but true righteousness is in one who believes in Allah, the Last Day…" (al-Baqarah 2:177)

‘Iyad said, “Belief in the Last Day… It is called last because it will be the last of the days of this world, and because it will be the end of created time.”

iii. The Approaching Day (al-azifah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "And warn them, O Muhammad, of the Approaching Day, when hearts are at the throats, filled with distress. For the wrongdoers there will be no devoted friend and no intercessor who is obeyed." (Ghafir 40:18)

Ibn Kathir said, “The Approaching Day is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection. It is called thus because it is close, as Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says elsewhere (interpretation of the meaning), "The Approaching Day has approached,
none but Allah can disclose it."
(al-Najm 53:57-58)

iv. The Day of Resurrection (yawm al-ba‘th): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Those who were given knowledge and faith will say: You remained, according to the decree of Allah, until the Day of Resurrection, and this is the Day of Resurrection, but you did not know." (al-Rum 30:56)

Ibn Jarir said, “and this is the Day of Resurrection – that is, this is the day on which people will be resurrected from their graves, but you did not know – that is, but in the previous world you did not know that it would happen, and that you would be resurrected after death, hence you disbelieved.”

v. Day of great loss (yawm al-taghabun): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "The day on which He will gather you for the Day of Gathering, the day of great loss." (al-Taghabun 64:9)

Al-Qurtubi said, “The Day of Resurrection is called the Day of great loss because on that day the people of Paradise will have got the better of the people of Hell. In other words, the people of Paradise will take Paradise and the people of Hell will take Hell by way of exchange, thus there will be loss because the people of Hell will have exchanged with the people of Paradise what is good for what is bad, and bliss for torment.”

vi. The Day of Meeting (yawm al-talaqi): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Most Exalted in rank, Lord of the Throne, He sends down His revelation by His command to whomever among His slaves He wills, to warn people of the Day of Meeting, the day when they will be brought forth, with nothing of them hidden from Allah. Allah will say: To whom does dominion belong this day? To Allah, the One, the Subjugator!" (Ghafir 40:15-16)

Ibn ‘Abbas and Qatadah said, “The Day of Meeting is when the inhabitants of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth will meet.”

Qatadah, Abu’l-‘Aliyah and Muqatil said, “On that day, the people and the Creator will meet.” It was also said that ‘the worshippers and those whom they worshipped,’ ‘the oppressor and the oppressed,’ will meet; and that ‘each person will meet the recompense for his deeds’ and ‘the first and the last will meet on a single plain.’”

Al-Qurtubi said: “All these views are correct.”

vii. The Day of Gathering: Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "So that you may warn the Mother of Cities Makkah and all those around it, and warn them of the Day of Gathering, concerning which there is no doubt." (al-Shura 42:7)

Al-Qurtubi said, “The Day of Gathering is the day on which Allah will gather together the first and the last, humans and jinn, the inhabitants of heaven and the inhabitants of earth. It was said that it is the day on which Allah will bring together each person and his deeds. It was also said that it is called thus because on it the oppressor and the oppressed will be brought together; or because each prophet and his ummah will be brought together; or because those who obeyed Allah will meet reward and those who disobeyed Him will meet their punishment.”

viii. The Day of crying out to one another (yawm al-tanadi): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "O my people, verily I fear for you the day when people will cry out to one another." (Ghafir 40:32)

Al-Qurtubi said, “It is called thus because people will cry out to one another. The people on the heights (al-a‘raf) will cry out to men whom they will recognise by their marks; the people of Paradise will cry out to the people of Hell: We have indeed found what our Lord promised us to be true 7:44; the people of Hell will cry out to the people of Paradise: Send down to us some of the water … 7:50… The angels will cry out to the people of Paradise: This is paradise, which you are made to inherit as a reward for your deeds 7:43. And when death is slaughtered, the cry will go out: ‘O people of Paradise, it is eternal and there will be no death; O people of Hell, it is eternal and there will be no death.’ There will be a cry to summon every community with their leaders, and there will be other types of cries.”

ix. The Day of Reckoning (yawm al-hisab): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Musa said, 'I seek refuge with my Lord and your Lord from every arrogant person who does not believe in the Day of Reckoning." (Ghafir 40:27)

Al-Qurtubi said, “What this means is that the Creator Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, will check and count people’s deeds, good and bad, and He will count the blessings that He bestowed upon them, then show the contrast between them.”

x. The Inevitable Hour (al-Haqqah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "The inevitable Hour! What is the inevitable Hour? How could you know what the inevitable Hour is?" (al-Haqqah 69:1-3)

Ibn Jarir said, “The Inevitable Hour is when the fulfilment of matters becomes due and when the requital for deeds becomes due.”

xi. The Day of remorse (yawm al-hasrah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Warn them of the day of remorse, when the matter will have been decided, for they are heedless and do not believe." (Maryam 19:39)

Al-Sam‘ani said, “The words Warn them of the day of remorse mean: the day of regret. It was said that all people will feel regret and remorse on the Day of Resurrection. As for the doer of bad deeds, he will feel remorse and wish that he had done good. As for the doer of good deeds, he will feel regret and wish that he had done more. According to the view of most of the commentators on this verse, this regret and remorse will come when death is slaughtered on the sirat (bridge over Hell).”

Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the words Warn them of the day of remorse, “Allah will cause death to appear in the form of a black and white ram, which will be slaughtered. Then the people of Hell will despair of death, for they will no longer have any hope of it, and they will be seized by remorse because of the fact that Hell is eternal.”

xii. The Day of Eternity (yawm al-khulud): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Enter it in peace. This is the Day of Eternity." (Qaf 50:34)

Al-Shawkani said, “It is called the Day of Eternity because it will have no end; rather it will go on for ever.”

xiii. The Day of Emergence (yawm al-khuruj): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "The day when they will hear the second Trumpet blast in truth, that will be the Day of Emergence from the graves." (Qaf 50:42)

Ibn Jarir said, “Here Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, is referring to the day when the people of the graves will emerge from their graves.”

vix. The Day of Judgement (yawm al-din): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Master of the Day of Judgement." (al-Fatihah 1:4)

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The Day of Judgement is the day when people will be brought to account. It is the Day when they will be judged for their deeds; if their deeds were good, the outcome will be good, and if they were bad, then the outcome will be bad, except for those whom Allah pardons, for He decides what He wills.”

vx. The Hour (al-Sa‘ah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "For verily the Hour is coming, but My will is to keep it hidden so that every soul will be requited for its endeavours." (Ta-Ha 20:15)

Al-Baydawi said, commenting on the verse (interpretation of the meaning): On the day when the Hour begins, the evildoers will swear that they had not remained in their graves for longer than an hour. Thus they were ever diverted from the truth! al-Rum 30:55: “The Hour is the qiyamah. It is called thus because it will begin (taqum) in the last hour of this world, or because it will happen suddenly. This is the name by which it (the resurrection) is most widely known.”

xvi. The Deafening Blast (as-sakhkhah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "So when the deafening blast comes, on that day a man will flee from his own brother, and from his mother and his father, and from his wife and his children. Every one of them, on that day, will have too many concerns of his own to care about anyone else." (‘Abasa 80:33-37)

Al-Nasafi said regarding the meaning of the Deafening Blast, “It is the blast of the Day of Resurrection. It is called thus because it will deafen the ears.”

xvii. The greatest overwhelming calamity (al-tammah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "But when there comes the greatest Overwhelming Calamity on that day man will remember all that he did." (al-Nazi ‘at 79:34-35)

Al-Qurtubi said, “What is meant is that it will overwhelm everything. This name is more applicable to the Day of Resurrection than anything else.”

vxiii. The Overwhelming Event (al-ghashiyah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Has there come to you the story of the overwhelming event?." (al-Ghashiyah 88:1)

Al-Nasafi said, “The overwhelming event is the Day of Resurrection. It is called overwhelming because it will overwhelm everything with its horrors.”

xix. The Day of Judgement (yawm al-fasl): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Verily, the Day of Judgement is a time appointed." (al-Naba’ 78:17)

Ibn Jarir said, “On that day, Allah will judge and decide between His creation, so He will settle scores between them… It was narrated from Qatadah that it is a day which Allah has ordained will be a momentous day, on which He will judge the first and the last according to their deeds.”

xx. Day of Judgement (yawm al-fath): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Say O Muhammad: On the Day of Judgement, no good will it do to the disbelievers to believe then, nor will they be given any respite." (al-Sajdah 32:29)

Al-Alusi said, “The phrase yawm al-fath refers to the Day of Judgement when Allah will judge between people and settle disputes. Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ." (al-Sajdah 32:25)

xxi. The Catastrophe (al-qari‘ah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "The Striking Calamity! What is the Striking Calamity? And what can make you know what is the Striking Calamity?" (al-Qari ‘ah 101:1-3)

Al-Sa‘di said, “The Striking Calamity – al-Qari‘ah – is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection. It is so called because it will strike (taqra‘) people and distress them with its horrors.

Hence Allah highlights how significant it is and emphasises its importance by saying:
The Striking Calamity! What is the Striking Calamity? And what can make you know what is the Striking Calamity?

xxii. The Inevitable (al-waqi‘ah): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "When the inevitable comes to pass, no one will deny it." (al-Waqi‘ah 56:1-2)

Al-Alusi said, “It is called thus to confirm that it will surely come to pass, as if it has already happened.”

xxiii. The day whereof warning had been given (yawm al-wa‘id): Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "And the Trumpet will be blown; that will be the day whereof warning had been given." (Qaf 50:20)

Al-Shawkani said, “that will be the day whereof warning had been given means: that is the time when the Trumpet will be blown, the day of which Allah warned the disbelievers. Muqatil said: “What the warning is about is the punishment in the hereafter. The warning is singled out for mention even though that day will be a day of fulfilment of both the promise and the warning, so as to highlight how serious and momentous it is.”

Ibn Hajar said regarding the names of the Day of Resurrection, “They were compiled by al-Ghazali then by al-Qurtubi, and the number of names reached approximately eighty, including: the day of gathering, the day of the greatest alarm, The Day of crying out to one another (yawm al-tanadi), the day whereof warning had been given (yawm al-wa‘id), the Day of remorse (yawm al-hasrah), the Day of Meeting (yawm al-talaqi), the Day of return (yawm al-ma’ab), The Day of Judgement (yawm al-fasl), the Day of presentation before Allah (yawm al-‘ard ‘ala Allah), the Day of Emergence (yawm al-khuruj), and the Day of Eternity (yawm al-khulud). It is also known as a momentous day, a difficult day, a witnessed day; a grim and awful day (76:10), the day when people’s inner secrets will be examined (86:9), the day when no soul will have the power to do anything for another (82:19), the day when they are shoved forcibly towards the fire of hell (52:19), a day when the eyes will stare fixedly in horror (14:42), the day when no excuse will benefit those who did wrong (40:52), a day on which they will not speak (77:35), the day when neither wealth nor sons will be of any avail (26:88), the day when they will not be able to conceal anything from Allah (4:42), a day which no one can avert (30:43), the day when there will be no bargaining and no friendship (14:31), a day about which there is no doubt (3:25).