This sūra briefly refers to disbelievers and the punishments coming to them, but its main theme is the efforts of the “righteous” and the rewards they deserve in the hereafter.

Eschatology in the Quran David Cook Inside the Quran, eschatology – beliefs about the end of the world and life in the hereafter – is a major theme. The first part of eschatology is concerned with the end of the world as an event that will happen by necessity to the world, with specific signs leading up to this end. The second part describes the Day of Judgment, when Allah will judge humanity, as well as the shape of the hereafter. Most of the quranic apocalyptic material is localized with the word al-sā ‘ a (the Hour [of Judgment], closely related to the Hebrew and Aramaic terms), which appears in the text about forty-five times. Because the seventh century began with a lengthy war between the Byzantines and the Sasanian Persians (602–28), it is not surprising that people were asking about the end of the world. In the Quran there is no doubt that the Hour will come (18.21; 22.7; 40.59; 45.32). It is said to be very close (16.77), and it will come suddenly (6.31; 12.107; 22.55; 47.18). Only Allah knows its exact time (7.187; 31.34; 43.85), though he has promised that it will indeed come (18.21; 45.32). Unbelievers, who are the majority of the people (40.59), say that it will not come (22.55; 25.11; 34.3) and are said to be making a grave error by making this assumption (42.18). They will see the punishment and the Hour which God has promised with their own eyes (19.75). As with other unfamiliar quranic concepts, people are uncertain about the exact meaning of “the Hour” (45.32), while others are said to be ignorant of its portents (12.107), so they are encouraged to watch carefully (43.66; 47.18) and to ask the Prophet: “When is it, and what are its signs?” (7.187; 79.42). Its coming was heralded by the splitting of the moon (54.1), and its arrival is likened to an earthquake (22.1). That the audience was intensely interested in the coming of the Hour is obvious from the quranic text, as people continually ask about it (33.63; 42.17). What happens after the end of the world is of even greater concern in the Quran. There are many different terms for the bridge event between the end of the world and the beginning of the hereafter: the Last Day ( al-yawm al-ākhir ), the Day of Resurrection ( yawm al-qiyāma ), the Day of Judgment ( yawm al-dīn ), some of which are related to analogous biblical terms. During this event every human will be raised from the dead, or brought forth, and separated into two groups (3.106; 88.2, 8), the blessed and the damned, on the basis of their deeds and belief. Unlike in later Islam, in the Quran there is not much room for any third category. In general, the Quran gives more details about heaven than hell. There are seven heavens (17.44), which are described in terms of verdancy and luxury: “Reclining there on couches, they do not see there any (hot) sun or bitter cold . . . and its clusters (of fruit) near (at hand). Vessels of silver and cups made of crystal are passed around among them. . . . There they are given a cup to drink, containing a mixture of ginger” (76.13–17). There are numerous other descriptions along these lines. Hell in the Quran is described in terms of psychological terror, burning heat, and being compelled to consume loathsome or disgusting things. “On the day when they are dragged on their faces into the Fire” (54.48). And again: “They will burn in a scorching Fire, and will be made to drink from a boiling spring. They will have no food except dry thorns” (88.4–6). But while one can get a sense of the topography of heaven from the Quran, it is not easy to see what hell looks like other than being a furnace and a torture chamber. Quranic eschatology is immediate in the sense that it is assumed to be happening in the near future and completely transformative in the sense that after its occurrence the world will be entirely different or destroyed. Most likely as a preaching theme, the dramatic quranic eschatology was designed to cause people to change their lives. In this sense eschatology was undoubtedly one of the foundations of the early Muslim community.