Islamic eschatology in the context of "Last Judgment"

The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven (the Ascension is said to have occurred about two thousand years ago). The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies.

In Islamic eschatology, Jesus (ʿĪsā ibn Maryam) is also believed to return in the end times. According to Islamic belief, he will descend from Heaven to defeat the false messiah (al-Masih ad-Dajjal), restore justice, and reaffirm monotheism. His return is regarded as one of the major signs of the Day of Judgment, and he is viewed as a revered prophet, not divine, in Islamic theology.

In Islam, "the promise and threat" (waʿd wa-waʿīd) of Judgement Day (Arabic: یوم القيامة, romanized: Yawm al-qiyāmah, lit. 'Day of Resurrection' or Arabic: یوم الدین, romanized: Yawm ad-din, lit. 'Day of Judgement'), is when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, and "all people" are "called to account" for their deeds and their faith during their life on Earth. It has been called "the dominant message" of the holy book of Islam, the Quran, and resurrection and judgement the two themes "central to the understanding of Islamic eschatology."Judgement Day is considered a fundamental tenet of faith by all Muslims, and one of the six articles of Islamic faith.

The trials, tribulations, and details associated with it are detailed in the Quran and the Hadith (sayings of Muhammad); these have been elaborated on in creeds, Quranic commentaries (tafsịrs), theological writing, eschatological manuals to provide more details and a sequence of events on the Day. Islamic expositors and scholarly authorities who have explained the subject in detail include al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, Muhammad al-Bukhari, and Ibn Khuzaymah.

In Islam, Jahannam (Arabic: جهنم) is the place of punishment for evildoers in the Akhirah / afterlife, or hell. This notion is an integral part of Islamic theology, and has occupied an important place in Muslim belief. The concept is often called by the proper name "Jahannam", but other names refer to hell and these are also often used as the names of different gates to hell. The term "Jahannam" itself is used not only for hell in general but (in one interpretation) for the uppermost layer of hell.

The importance of Hell in Islamic doctrine is that it is an essential element of the Day of Judgment, which is one of the six articles of faith (belief in God, the angels, books, prophets, Day of Resurrection, and decree) "by which the Muslim faith is traditionally defined".

General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead (Koine: ἀνάστασις [τῶν] νεκρῶν, anastasis [ton] nekron; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died would be resurrected (brought back to life). Various forms of this concept can be found in Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Samaritan and Zoroastrian eschatology.

Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (Arabic: الْمَسِيحُ الدَّجَّالُ, romanized: Al-Masih ad-Dajjal, lit. 'the deceitful Messiah'), otherwise referred to simply as the Dajjal, is an antagonistic figure in Islamic apocalyptism who will pretend to be the promised Messiah and later claim to be God, appearing before the Day of Judgment according to the Islamic eschatological narrative.The Dajjal is not mentioned in the Quran, but he is mentioned and described in the Hadith. Corresponding to the Antichrist in Christianity, the Dajjal is said to emerge out in the East, although the specific location varies among the various sources.

The Dajjal will imitate the miracles performed by Jesus, such as healing the sick and raising the dead, the latter done with the aid of demons. He will deceive many people, such as weavers, magicians, and children of fornication.

The Mahdi (Arabic: ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, romanized: al-Mahdī, lit. 'the Guided'), also Masih al-Mahdi (Arabic: المسيح المهدي, romanized: al-Masīḥ al-Mahdī, lit. 'the Guided Redeemer'), is a messianic figure in Islamic belief. He is comparable to the Christian idea of the return of Jesus and the Mashiach ben David in Judaism. He is believed to appear at the End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad and will appear shortly before Jesus.

The Mahdi is mentioned in several compilations of hadith, but absent from the Quran and the two most-revered Sunni hadith collections (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). As such, he plays only a marginal role in Sunni Islam and some Sunni theologians have rejected the concept of the Mahdi altogether. However, the Mahdi plays a significant role among Twelver Shias, who believe that the Mahdi is Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth Imam, son of the eleventh Imam Hasan al-Askari (d. 874), who is said to be in occultation (ghayba) by divine will.

Muhammad al-Mahdi (Arabic: محمد بن الحسن المهدي, romanized: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justice and redeem Islam.

Hasan al-Askari, the eleventh Imam, died in AH 260 (873–874), possibly poisoned by the Abbasids. Immediately after his death, his main representative, Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi, claimed that the eleventh Imam had an infant son named Muhammad, who was kept hidden from the public out of fear of Abbasid persecution. Uthman also claimed to represent Muhammad, who had entered a state of occultation. Other local representatives of al-Askari largely supported these assertions, while the Shia community fragmented into several sects over al-Askari's succession. All these sects, however, are said to have disappeared after a few decades except for the Twelvers, who accept the son of al-Askari as the twelfth and final Imam in Shia Islam, remaining in a state of occultation.