The Qu'ran gives great emphasis to a number of key themes.
One of these key themes is Resurrection, and the companion theme of a Soul's Reckoning at the hands of Justice and Mercy.
The Qu'ran is absolutely explicit with regard to the Reckoning, that no soul shall bear another's burden. You will not be punished for your father's, brother's or fellow clan-member's sins, nor (therefore) for any sin Adam may be alleged to have committed in a Garden of Eden. Standing before God, you are responsible only for your own soul.
The Qu'ran was addressing a society that felt that a wrong perpetrated by someone could be avenged on a criminal's relatives or clan. Of course, this led to endless feuding and anarchy, as each wrong was counteracted in an unending tit-for-tat of wrongs. When the Qu'ran teaches that for Justice there is a law of equivalence, what It means is that in performing an unrighteous act, the person's conscience should recognise that in theory the same act is due back again upon them, or its equivalent. Thus if a person cannot avoid committing injustice for love of others, they would at least avoid it for fear of the consequences. In saying this, the Qu'ran clearly indicates that exceeding this equivalence, as was the practice, is unacceptible, and that as an individual, making up amicably in a genuine way without resorting to equivalence, is generally preferable: forgiveness or else a financial compensation being anticipated.
These twin principles of Justice and Mercy are presented as applying both in this world and the next.
God Himself has no equal, and is unconstrained by man's extraordinarily limited conceptions of what is appropriate action; God may always choose to waive whatsoever He Wills, or impose whatsoever He Wills, such is His Wisdom and Knowledge of all things, and His sovereign right to exercise His Desire to achieve what is wholesome.
Much in the Qu'ran is addressed to pagans who worship idols. The pagans did many extraordinary things in the names of their idols, such as burying young girls alive to their deaths, and Muhammad's own father was to be a sacrifice to the gods. The pagans expected, in return for this devotion to the idols, that the idols would intercede for them when they die.
In order to wrench people away from the idols and their associated practices, the Qu'ran portrays the worship of idols as worthless. On the one hand, the idols on the Day of Reckoning, instead of speaking up and interceding for those who worship them, disown them and affirm the way of Allah; whilst, in other verses, the idols are portayed as dumb and senseless stones, unable to benefit anyone.
This also demonstrates that the descriptions of the Day of Reckoning in the Qu'ran are stories, and not to be taken in a literal way. These stories give the idolators many doorways of thought through which they may exit their idolatry and take up Islam. In like manner, apart from matters of clear practical concern, the verses of the Qu'ran generally are to be considered stories and parables.
Despite the fact that individuals only answer for their own soul, nevertheless, Nations are also portrayed as being Reckoned as a whole. When a Nation deteriorates so far as to become quite beyond the pale, and a liability for the spiritual future of anyone born into it, then an Apostle is sent to it, and if the Nation does not reform, it becomes wiped out by either natural or human means. There will of course be good people amongst those wiped out, but they will have followed and been persecuted along with the Apostle, who through his forthright and unflinching nature, will be widely known and talked about by all the people. By 'Apostle' is not meant the term used in Christianity, but a figure such as Jesus or Moses. In the case of Jesus, his nation did not listen to him, and it was obliterated immediately by the Romans.
In the Qu'ran, God is depicted as guiding all the lands of the earth, not just one tiny spot. Historically, most lands consider just themselves alone to be guided, the chosen land, whereas the Qu'ran gives an unequivocal assertion that God always cares for all, and always has done.
There are many stories in the Qu'ran relating former nations and their Apostles. They are not to be taken as divine statements of what literally occurred, for God is not about the business of correcting historical human trivia; rather, the stories are retold in a way that elevates the spirit of people's history and morality by emphasising certain events and issues, speaking to the Arabs, Jews and Christians of Muhammad's era using the legends they already accepted or had heard about, emphasising particularly the seriousness of deciding to follow or reject an Apostle. They are to be considered stories whose main emphasis is their meaning, although as legends they will in many cases bear traces of what had formerly happened.
The portrayals of Heaven and Hell in the Qu'ran are multitudinous, and most appropriate to the wretched desert people the Qu'ran is addressing.
Heaven is generally portrayed as a garden, shaded by trees and watered by streams on which its inhabitants recline on couches. Sometimes you'll see chaste boys and chaste girls waiting on you, the latter particularly important, as girls were often viewed as having no souls and unable to reach heaven, whilst portaying a chaste relationship, contrasts against the sexual abuse of girl and boy servants so prevalent in a great many societies.
The depictions of Hell are various, but usually indicate a scorched and barren situation of some kind. The variability of the descriptions indicates that they are parables, conveying the seriousness of your soul choosing the right path in life, and the seriousness of neglecting the journey of your soul. As Heaven and Hell are unimaginable in this world, these depictions can only be parabolic in nature.
As a rule of thumb, those whose hearts believe in God and do good things, have nothing to fear or regret, whether they be Christians, Jews, or any other religious congregation; nevertheless, saying this is a rule of thumb, is to indicate that God in His inscrutable wisdom and knowledge may choose to do what He wills as best.
In the Qu'ran, a muslim who dies, does not fall into some sleeping state of suspended animation, but is very much alive and well, well-aware of things, and well-provided for (2:154, 3:169, 4:157).
It is important to think about this, as it is an important clue to what the Qu'ran intends by Resurrection: since what most people assume for the Day of Resurrection, is actually depicted in the Qu'ran as happening when a person dies, so the Day of Resurrection must be something entirely different.
The solution can be found by attempting to view things from God's perspective, from which viewpoint the Qu'ran is expressed.
From man's perspective, when a person dies, we all weep and wail, and lament the passing of that person's body. So the thing we assume about Resurrection, is the thing we would like to see most, which is the reversal of the tragedy - that the person regains their body. And if somewhere along the line the person becomes a good person, that's a better thing.
Yet the mortal body is nothing; a handful of dust fleetingly lit up by connection to a soul: and so from a heavenly perspective, when a person dies, nothing at all has happened. The person just puts aside their coat - their body - and puts on some new clothes, a new celestial body; no change has happened to the person, and their heavenly esteem is just the same as when they dwelt within this material world.
Yet, when a person - the soul - becomes distant from God - that's worth weeping and wailing and lamenting over; from a heavenly perspective, that is a person dying, who was once alive; and when a person becomes close again to God, that's worth celebrating, a person who was once dead is now sprung to life - resurrection.
As it is clear that Resurrection refers to a heavenly Resurrection, a little thought will reveal that the Great Day of Resurrection is referring to a spiritual event whereby large numbers of people, both in this world and the next, spring into spiritual life.
It being obvious that nearness to God is not dependent on whether you have a body or lack one, or whether your body is formed from the elements of this world or the next - Moses in this world was closer to God than most others are in the next world - then it is clear that this Resurrection is not confined, but is both in this world and the next.
One well-known event whereby large numbers of people spring into spiritual life, is the coming of an Apostle. From Jesus, a whole ocean of Christians were able to find reunion with God, and from Moses and Muhammad likewise. The heavens are set ablaze by the Holy Spirit at the time of the coming of an Apostle, and many souls are set afire with the love of God. The Great Day of Resurrection denotes that occasion through which the whole world is enkindled and brought to life. Yet it is also the Day of Reckoning, insomuch as many will turn their backs on God's message and His Apostle, persecuting God's ambassador and staying within the shadows of remoteness from God, upon their death becoming acutely aware of all that they have done in their spiritual blindness.
Such is the Resurrection!
Both in this world and the next,
It brings all souls to a reckoning,
Transporting beyond the stars those who are near,
Leaving in darkness those who are afar.
See also: Resurrection in Christianity