The Four Questions on the Day of Judgement

There are four questions that everyone will be asked about.

In a hadith narrated by at-Tirmidhi, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, Your feet will not move from their spot on the day of judgment until you are asked four questions.

The first question is: Your life, how did you spend it? This is the value of time – you will be asked how you spent your time. Time is even more worthy than money; with every second that passes by, it is taking some of you.

The second question: How did you use your knowledge? Did you practice it, or did you learn for the sake of learning and showing off? Knowledge is evidence against us if we don’t use it. It is a great sin not to practice the knowledge you don’t know. Allah says: “O you who have believed, why you say what you do not do? Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.” (61:2-3). So we have to practice what we say.

The third question will be about your money. You will be asked two questions about your money: how did you gain it and how did you spend it? You will be questioned about every dollar that you spent and every dollar that you earned. Therefore, suffering poverty your whole life is better than suffering for one dollar on the Day of Judgment. To be questioned means you will be punished. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Anybody whose account (record) is questioned will surely be punished.” [Bukhaari, 8/76/543]

This is also one of the reasons why the poor enter into Jannah before the rich. Even though there could be a rich man who could be better in level and rank than a poor person; we are talking about the timing of entering into Jannah. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, the poor of the muhajireen will enter into jannah 500 years before the rich. The hadith mentions that they will go the gates of jannah and the angels will ask, How did you get here? Weren’t you held accountable? These fuqaraa` (poor men) will say, What will we be held accountable for? We don’t have any money and we were carrying our swords in the sake of Allah. At the same time, there could be many rich people who could have a higher rank than many of the poor – for example, ‘AbdurRahmaan ibn ‘Auf.

Money is a very dangerous tool. It can be used to open the doors of jannah for you, and it can go to the extreme other opposite, and that is in the lower ranks of hell fire. We have to give money the attention it deserves: how we earn it and how we spend it.

Finally, the last question will be: How did you use your body? Allah gave you the strength. You are not the inventor of your power; Allah gave you your body as a trust. Did you put your strong body to use or did you consume that body in the sake of Allah and optimize it to the extreme? This is a ni’mah, blessing, from Allah, and we will be asked of how we used it.

There are also some hadith mentioned about questioning on the Day of Judgement

About The Luxury of this Life

Allah says: “Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure.” (102:8) There are many interpretations for this ayah. Mujaahid says, you will be questioned about every pleasure you had in this world. Ibn ‘Abbaas says that part of the pleasure of this world is your health and body. We also know that in the hadith, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “There are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) Health and free time for doing good.” [Bukhaari, 8/76/421] We need to use these two blessings for the sake of Allah or they will be used against us. 

About Promises and Covenants

The most important covenant is the covenant of Imaan – the covenant between us and Allah subhaana wa ta’aala. If you didn’t realize you signed a covenant with Allah: you did. When you say that you are a Muslim, you are signing a contract between you and Allah. When you claim that you are a Muslim or a mu`min, that means you are consenting to abide by a certain set of rules and laws. We are going to be questioned about that. Allah says: “And fulfill (every) covenant. Verily! The covenant will be questioned about.” (17:34)

About Sight, Hearing and Mind

These three are very important – sight, hearing and mind. The sight and hearing is where we input all of the data into our mind. If you imagine your mind as the central processing of the unit of the body, where does it get its information? By the sight and hearing. That is why Allah will specifically question us about these.

Did you use your eyes to read Qur’an, or use it to see what is forbidden? Did you use your ears to listen to the dhikr of Allah or did you use it for what is forbidden? How did you use your mind? Did you invest it for Allah subhaana wa ta’aala, or did you use it for the sake of serving yourself in the dunya and neglecting akhirah? The mind is what controls us. The way we use our minds is how our body will function and what we will be held accountable for. We should use all three of these for shukr of Allah.

Allah says: “[...] and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful.” (16:78) We ask Allah to make us of the shakireen.

Allah says: “[...] Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart – about all those [one] will be questioned.” (17:36)

About Salah

Finally, for the believer who believed in Allah subhaana wa ta’aala, will be asked about Salah. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said in a hadith narrated by An-Nasaa`i, The first thing you will be questioned about on the day of judgment is your Salah. If it was complete, it will be written down as complete. If there is deficiency in your salah, then Allah will tell the angels to look in your book of records to look if you have any voluntary prayers to complete the deficiency. This is what the nawaafil do; this is the role of Sunnah and nafil. The five mandatory prayers have to be completed. Of course we will have deficiencies here and there. How will those deficiencies be completed? By the sunnah and nawaafil. Then RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that the same will be done with the rest of the deeds; Allah will say to look at the obligatory fasts. If the fardh are not completed, then the voluntary will be looked at.