What are the characteristics of the Last Day?

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 'alyhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The Last Day is the day on which Allaah The Almighty will gather all creatures in order to reckon them for their deeds in this world - which is the venue for undergoing tests. There are many characteristics that are specific to that day:

First, this will be a tremendous day, as Allaah The Almighty described it in the Quran; He Says (what means): {Do they not think that they will be resurrected - for a tremendous Day?} [Quran 83: 4-5] Allaah The Almighty mentioned this description so that people would have an idea about something that is beyond their imagination.

Second, this day will be filled with terror. One of the characteristics of this day is that it will afflict people with horror and terror, and people will be horrified to the extent that the nursing mother will be distracted from her child, the pregnant woman will abort her pregnancy, and the newborn baby will become white-haired. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):

Third, on that day there will be no kinship or blood relations; Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {So when the Trumpet is blown, no relationship will there be among them that Day, nor will they ask about one another.} [Quran 23: 101]

Fourth, the disbelievers, on that day, will be willing to ransom themselves by giving anything in order to avoid the painful punishment; Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And if each soul that wronged had everything on earth, it would offer it in ransom. And they will confide regret when they see the punishment; and they will be judged in justice, and they will not be wronged.} [Quran 10: 54]

Fifth, that day will be very long. It will be so long that people will think that they had lived in this world for only one hour. Referring to this, Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And on the Day when He will gather them, [it will be] as if they had not remained [in the world] but an hour of the day, [and] they will know each other.} [Quran 10: 45]

Sixth, on that day truth will be made manifest and secrets will be revealed; Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And the Trumpet will be blown. That is the Day of [carrying out] the threat. And every soul will come, with it a driver and a witness. [It will be said], "You were certainly in unmindfulness of this, and We have removed from you your cover, so your sight, this Day, is sharp."} [Quran 50: 20-22]

Seventh, Allaah The Almighty will appear before His servants and talk to them directly without a translator or a screen. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that on the Day of Judgment Allaah The Almighty will directly talk to each person without an intermediary or translator [Al-Bukhari]. In another narration of this Hadeeth, he said that Allaah The Almighty will talk directly to each person without a translator or a curtain. At that moment, man will look to his right and his left, but will see nothing but his deeds, and he will look in front of himself and see nothing but Hell. Then, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, commanded Muslims to safeguard themselves from Hell by doing righteous deeds and giving charity even if it is one half of a date. [Al-Bukhari]

These are some of the characteristics of that day. There are many others in the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, however, it is not possible to mention them all here.

Allaah Knows best.