The Day of Resurrection
“The horn is blown, whereupon everyone in the heavens and the earth is struck unconscious, except those spared by God. Then it is blown a second time, whereupon they rise up.”
Approximately 150 billion humans and jinns will be resurrected on earth. Using the caterpillar-to-butterfly metaphor, the Quran describes how resurrected beings will not remain earthbound — just as a butterfly exits the cocoon as an airborne creature (), the resurrected will transcend their earthly forms.
Physical Events During Resurrection
When God arrives with the angels (), “the earth will shine with the light of God” (). The stars will crash into one another (, ) and the earth will shatter underfoot (, ). Believers, however, will not fear these occurrences ().
The Realms of the Hereafter
The souls of the Hereafter are distributed across distinct realms based on the degree of spiritual development attained during earthly life:
The High Heaven
Individuals who developed their souls through worshiping God alone, believing in the Hereafter, and living righteously will occupy the highest ranks closest to God.
The Lower Heaven
Those with lesser spiritual development, plus those who died before the age of forty, will inhabit this realm, where they can approach God within their capability limits.
The Purgatory
People who developed their souls minimally — enough to avoid Hell but insufficient for the Lower Heaven — will eventually be admitted there (–).
Hell
An eighth universe will house those who rejected God through their own free will, having failed entirely to develop their souls ().