There is a difference between what the believers, who spend their lives obeying Allah's commands, receive in return for their obedience, and what the unbelievers, who spend their lives chasing their desires, forgetting Allah and the Day of Judgment, receive in return for their rejection. This difference makes itself known at the moment of death. Whereas the angels take the lives of believers nicely, they take the unbelievers' lives in a most agonizing manner. The angels greet the believers and give them the good tidings of Paradise and gently draw out their souls. All believers come face to face with the gateway to the eternal life (death), having prepared for it throughout their lives, knowing its inevitability.
On the other hand, the unbelievers meet death with overwhelming pangs of regret, having tried to evade it all their lives, having known its existence and yet still having ignored its reality. The Guards of Hell reach out for them, striking their faces and their backs, plucking out their souls harshly, which causes much pain, and then send them to a humiliating and burning punishment. One verse says:
On the other hand, the unbelievers meet death with overwhelming pangs of regret, having tried to evade it all their lives, having known its existence and yet still having ignored its reality. The Guards of Hell reach out for them, striking their faces and their backs, plucking out their souls harshly, which causes much pain, and then send them to a humiliating and burning punishment. One verse says:
If only you could see when the angels take back those who did not believe at their death, beating their faces and their backs: "Taste the punishment of the Burning!" (Surat an-Anfal, 50)
The believers have prepared for this Day all their lives, and have prayed to Allah that He may not disgrace them, as the following verse indicates:
[Those who remember Allah say:] "Our Lord, give us what You promised us through Your Messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. You do not break Your promise." (Surah Al ‘Imran, 194)
The events of the Day of Judgment increase the believers' awe of Allah, but He reveals that He will protect them from the evil of that hard Day, for:
"Truly We fear from our Lord a glowering, calamitous Day." So Allah has safeguarded them from the evil of that Day and has made them meet with radiance and pure joy. (Surat al-Insan, 10-11)
