Tafsir of Surah al-Isra Ayah 97-98
The rule of guidance and misguidance states that the one whom Allah guides to believe in His Oneness is indeed the guided one. On the other hand, the one whom Allah lets go astray because he rejects to follow the truth, no one can guide him to the right path.
(Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided; and whom He lets go astray, you will find no supporters for them other than Him. And We shall gather them on the Day of Judgment, dragged on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf. Their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase its burning.
That will be their recompense because they disbelieved in Our proofs and said, ‘What! When we become bones and crumbled remains, shall we be resurrected as a new creation?’)
[Quran Surah al-Isra: 97-98]
Relationship with the Previous Part
Some suspicions of the disbelievers were refuted in the previous part. Then consolation to Messenger Muhammad is mentioned for the oppression and abuse he suffered from the disbelievers. He was told that whomever is destined to follow the right path would be rightly guided, and those whom are destined to follow the path of misguidance would never be guided to the right path.
Tafsir
(Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided; and whom He lets go astray, you will find no supporters for them other than Him. And We shall gather them on the Day of Judgment, dragged on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf. Their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase its burning.) [97]
(Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided; and whom He lets go astray, you will find no supporters for them other than Him.)
Whomever Allah guides to the right path is truly the guided one. He will attain the pleasure of Allah. On the other hand, whomever is destined to follow the path of misguidance, will go astray, and one can guide him to the right path. Indeed, being guided to the right path and being misguided is only in the hands of Allah, according to His will and wisdom.
It should be understood that the fact that Allah knows beforehand who will follow the right path and who will not follow it does not mean human beings are compelled to be believers or disbelievers. Rather, man has full will to choose which path to follow according to his will. Allah says, interpretation of meaning,
(It is nothing but admonition for all the worlds, for whomever of you who wants to be rightly guided. And you will not want unless Allah, the Lord of the worlds, wants.)[Q81:27-29]
The Quran is admonition for whomever wants to be rightly guided to the truth, but whoever does not want to benefit from its guidance, he will never be guided to the truth. Someone may say, ‘Can a person choose what he wills? Yes, he can choose what he wills. Allah has given man will and ability to choose and do what he wants. If he wants to something, he will do it. On the other hand, if he does not want to do something, he will do it. Otherwise, evidence against people to whom the messengers of Allah were sent would not be established. Likewise, whoever wants to obey Allah will obey Him, and whoever wants to disobey Allah will disobey Him. Thus, man has his own will, yet it is certain that man is unable to choose anything unless Allah wills it to be so in the first place.
Then the ayat depict the horrible state of the disbelievers when they will be gathered and resurrected on the Day of Judgment.
(And We shall gather them on the Day of Judgment, dragged on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf.)
On the Day of Judgment, the disbelievers will be resurrected from their graves, be gathered, and dragged to Hell on their faces. On that day, they will be blind, dumb, and deaf. They will be humiliated and treated in such a disgracing manner because they rejected to believe in the Oneness of Allah in the worldly life.
The scholars have three opinions on how the disbelievers will be gathered on the Day of Judgment. The first is that they will walk on their faces. Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that a man asked Messenger Muhammad about how the disbeliever will walk on his face on the Day of Judgment when Allah will gather people. The Messengerﷺ said, ‘The One, Who made him walk on his feet in the worldly life, will make him walk on his face on the Day of Judgment.’ The second is that the disbelievers will be resurrected and gathered while being dragged on their faces. The third is that they will be gathered and move swiftly.
Then the ayat mention the end abode of the disbelievers.
(Their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase its burning.)
The final abode of the disbelievers will be Hell. It will severely burn and destroy their skins and flesh. This will make it abate. Then their burned skin and flesh will be changed, and this will make Hell rekindle blazingly. This process will be repeated forever.
The following ayah presents the causes that make the disbelievers deserve such horrible punishment.
(That will be their recompense because they disbelieved in Our proofs and said, ‘What! When we become bones and crumbled remains, shall we be resurrected as a new creation?’) [98]
The disbelievers will deserve such severe torment because they disbelieved in the Oneness of Allah in the worldly life though proofs, denoting His Oneness were conclusively clear and abundant. Denyingly and ignorantly, they said, ‘When we become bones and crumbled remains after death, shall we be resurrected as a new creation?’
They insisted on disbelief and denied resurrection and reckoning on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, their punishment will be severe. Allah will make Hell burn their skins and flesh. Then they will be given new skins and flesh and it will be re-burn again. This process will be repeated forever.
Learned Lessons
• Only Allah can guide to the right path. Thus, He must be worshipped alone and invoked for help and guidance.
• The torment of the disbelievers in Hell on the Day of Judgment will be severe and forever.
• Hell is the final abode of those who disbelieve on resurrection and reckoning on the Day of Judgment.
• Proofs in the Quran, Sunnah of Messenger Muhammad, and logic confirm that the Day of Judgment will be established. Logic dictates that the one, who creates something from nothing, is able to re-create it. Allah has created man from nothing and He is able to re-create him on the Day of Judgment.
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