What are the phases that a person will go through on the Day of Judgment? If a person passes a particular phase, does this mean that he will be immediately admitted into Paradise, or will he still have to pass the next phase?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

Concerning the Day of Judgment and its horrors, Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {O mankind, fear your Lord. Indeed, the convulsion of the [final] Hour is a terrible thing. On the Day you see it every nursing mother will be distracted from that [child] she was nursing, and every pregnant woman will abort her pregnancy, and you will see the people [appearing] intoxicated while they are not intoxicated; but the punishment of Allaah is severe.}[Quran 22:1-2]

This is not, however, the only verse that refers to the events on the Day of Judgment, because there are many other verses that describe how horrible and terrifying that day will be. This is why even the believer who is assured in his grave of going to Paradise will still be terrified. This will be the case as well with the Prophets and Messengers who, despite being sheltered by the shade of the Ever Merciful, will not respond to peoples’ requests to ask Allaah the Almighty to speed up the reckoning, because they will be concerned about themselves.

When a believer takes the record with his right hand, he will still not know whether his evil deeds have outweighed the good or whether they will be held against him. Furthermore, if his good deeds are found to exceed the evil deeds, the person will still have no idea how he will go on the Siraat (bridge over Hell). The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, informed us that people will go through different experiences when crossing the Siraat: some will cross it safely; others will be wounded and have their limbs maimed by the hooks found on the Siraat that are ordered to wound them then release them; and another group of people will be cast into Hell and the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, will be standing on the Siraat invoking Allaah the Almighty for their salvation. This will continue until the last person is found unable to cross the Siraat except by crawling. [Muslim]

In another Hadeeth the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, mentioned that the Siraat will be put somewhere between the two sides of Hell and he will be the first to cross it with his people. He added that no one will be entitled to speak on that Day except the Messengers, who will continuously invoke Allaah for salvation. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

After passing the phase of the Siraat, there will be another Siraat for settling grievances as mentioned in a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Sa‘eed Al-Khudri . In this Hadeeth the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, mentioned that when believers are saved from Hell they will be prevented from entering Paradise and ordered to stand at the edge of the Siraat close to Paradise. There, they will receive their worldly due rights and will remedy the grievances that they should have settled in life. Once they are completely purged of guilt, they will be permitted into Paradise. [Al-Bukhari]

Considering all this, it is apparent how serious this day is. It will be a horrific situation for all people and none will feel safe until they are admitted into Paradise, and may Allaah the Almighty make us among those who are destined for Paradise.

It is also worth quoting the words of Al-Qurtubi, on the Siraat. He called upon his readers to reflect on how terrified they will be when they see the Siraat with its sharp edge and with the dark Hell underneath and when they hear the piercing and awful sounds made by Hell. Moreover, a person should try to imagine how dreadful the situation would be when ordered to cross the Siraat while knowing that he is feeble, shaky, and burdened with sins that would obstruct his progress. What if a person puts his foot on the sharp-edged Siraat and finds himself compelled to lift his other foot, despite seeing others falling into Hell with their heads down and legs up and the angels of Hell snatching at them with hooks. What a horrible scene, a difficult track and a narrow field this would be! We ask Allaah to save us from this.

This means that passing a particular phase on the Day of Judgment does not mean that a person gains direct admittance to Paradise thereafter. In fact, a person will not be allowed to enter Paradise until he passes all the phases. However, those who will enter Paradise without reckoning are an exception, for they will be spared some of these phases. Nonetheless, they will still have to cross the Siraat.

To sum up, the phases of the Day of Judgment, as mentioned by scholars, are:

-The gathering of people in the place where they will be reckoned.

-The great intercession.

-Receiving the records, either with the right or left hand.

-The Scale.

-The Hawdh (Basin).

- The crossing of the Siraat.

- The crossing the Siraat of settling grievances.

- Admittance to Paradise or Hell.

And Allaah Knows best.