“Let him who looks forward to meeting Allah know that Allah’s appointed term will surely come to pass. He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.”
(Al Qur’ān – 29:5)
This ayah underlines the inevitability of the Day of Judgement. The case of the person who does not believe in the Afterlife, who does not consider himself accountable to anyone, who is convinced that there will never come a time when his deeds will be subjected to reckoning, is quite different. Such a person is free to remain engrossed in his negligence and to act as recklessly as he wants. A Day shall surely come, however, when he will be confronted with reality, which will be quite contrary to his estimates.
As for those who recognise that one Day they shall have to appear before God and shall be rewarded or punished in accordance with their deeds should not delude themselves that death is a remote possibility. Rather, they should think that death is just around the corner and that the term granted them to reveal their true natures is about to end. This should prompt them to do whatever they can for their own good in the Hereafter. There is no reason why they should defer efforts to reform themselves in the vain hope that they will live a long life.
They should not succumb to the delusion that they will have to deal with an ill-informed sovereign. On the contrary, the Lord before Whom they are required to appear is All-Hearing and All-Knowing. Nothing about them is hidden from Him.