Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
It is established that the Day of Judgment will last fifty thousand years. Allah تعالى says:
“The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years.” [Al-Maʿārij: 4]
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما interpreted this verse as referring to the Day of Judgment, and this is the view of a number of scholars.
It is also established in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim that people will be judged between on a day whose measure is fifty thousand years, and then every person will see his path either to Paradise or to Hell.
As for whether the reckoning ends halfway through the day, some scholars have cited the saying of Allah تعالى:
“The companions of Paradise, on that Day, will have the best place to settle and the best resting place.” [Al-Furqān: 24]
The word maqīl refers to a place of midday rest, which occurs around the middle of the day. Therefore, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn Masʿūd, ʿIkrimah, Ibn Jubayr, and others said:
“The midday of the Day of Judgment will not arrive until the people of Paradise have reached their dwellings and the people of Hell have reached their dwellings.”
It has also been narrated from Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه, in a report attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, that people will stand before the Lord of the worlds for the equivalent of half a day out of fifty thousand years, and that this day will be made easy for the believer.
Accordingly: the entire Day of Judgment will have a measure of fifty thousand years, while reports and the interpretation of the verse indicate that the reckoning and judgment between people will not continue until the end of the day. Rather, it will end before or around its midpoint, at which point the people of Paradise will be in their dwellings and the people of Hell will be in their dwellings.
This does not necessarily mean that all people will actually experience a period of twenty-five thousand years. The stated measure of the day does not necessarily mean that every individual will experience the same duration, and the Prophet ﷺ informed us that this day will be made easy for the believer.
The Day of Judgment will have a measure of fifty thousand years. As for the reckoning ending around the middle of the day, this is supported by the interpretation of Allah’s saying: “and the best resting place,” as well as reports and narrations from the early generations. Thus, the people of Paradise will have settled in their dwellings by then, and the people of Hell will have settled in their dwellings.
And Allah تعالى knows best.