89:21 No! When the earth is pounded, pounded and pounded,
89:22 and your Lord comes, and the angels rank on rank,
89:23 and Hell is brought, on that day man will remember, and how will the remembering avail him?
89:24 He will say, ‘O would that I had forwarded for my life?’
89:25 On that day, none will punish as He punishes,
89:26 and none will bind as He binds.
89:27 O soul at peace,
89:28 ‘Return to your Lord, well-pleased, well-pleasing!
89:29 Enter among My slaves,
89:30 and enter My Paradise.’
Relationship with the Previous Part
The previous part reprimands those who covetously collect wealth and do not help the needy as they favor this world over the Hereafter. They also devour people’s rights, especially the orphan, without fearing the evil end of such an abominable act. Then this part mentions how the conditions of the believers and the disbelievers will be and what will be their recompense in the Hereafter.
Tafsir
89:21 No! When the earth is pounded, pounded and pounded,
No! The matter must not be as mentioned earlier. The wicked will suffer the evil consequences of their sins on the Day of Judgment when regret will not be beneficial. It will be a horrible day. On that day, the earth will be pounded again and again so that everything on its surface will be dust.
89:22 and your Lord comes, and the angels rank on rank,
On the Day of Judgment, Allah will come and the angels will come rank on rank.
The people of as-Sunnah believe that a believer must believe that Allah will come on the Day of Judgment, and the angels will come rank on rank. He must believe in this issue just as it is mentioned in the Quran and the authentic prophetic narrations without asking about the manner of coming nor likening it to the coming of human beings.
89:23 and Hell is brought, on that day man will remember, and how will the remembering avail him?
On the Day of Judgment, Hell will be brought before the disbelievers and the wicked. Abdul Allah bin Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Hell will be brought. It will have seventy-thousand bridles, each of which will be pulled by seventy-thousand angels.’
On the Day of Judgment, which will be a horrible and difficult day, man will remember his past in the worldly life. He will remember that he failed to obey Allah’s commands and follow the right path. He will also remember his sins and wrongdoings.
Will this remembering avail him? No, it will not avail him in the least. The worldly life is the abode of work and preparation for the Hereafter, and the Day of Judgment is the day of recompensing the doers according to their deeds, good or evil. Regretting and hoping to return to the worldly life will never avail man. Only belief in Allah’s Oneness and righteous deeds that are done for Allah’s sake will be beneficial then.
89:24 He will say, ‘O would that I had forwarded for my life?’
When man experiences the horrors of the Day of Judgment and sees Hell, he will say, ‘O would that I had forwarded for my life? I hope that I did righteous deeds that will benefit me in the lasting life of the Hereafter. I wish I worshipped Allah alone and obeyed His commands so that I will be saved from His punishment.
Indeed, the life of the Hereafter is the lasting life for which the prudent should be prepared.
89:25 On that day, none will punish as He punishes,
89:26 and none will bind as He binds.
On the Day of Judgment, none will punish as Allah punishes, and none will bind as Allah binds. There will be no escape from Allah’s punishment on the Day of Judgment. The only way to avoid such severe punishment is to perform righteous deeds for Allah’s sake in this world.
89:27 O soul at peace,
89:28 ‘Return to your Lord, well-pleased, well-pleasing!
89:29 Enter among My slaves,
89:30 and enter My Paradise.’
Surah al-Fajr is concluded with giving good news to the believers. The soul that is at peace will not suffer fear or sadness on the Day of Judgment because it believes in Allah’s Oneness and performs righteous deeds in this world, which will make it enter Paradise by Allah’s bounty and generosity.
It will be said to the soul of the believer, ‘O soul at peace! O soul that will never suffer whatsoever fear or sadness! O soul that is certain of Allah’s bounty and generosity! Return to your Lord, Allah, Who created you. Return to Allah and you will be pleased by the immense reward that He has prepared for you. Return to Allah, Who will be pleased with you because you believe in His Oneness and perform righteous deeds. O soul at peace! Enter among My righteous slaves and enter My Paradise, where you will enjoy lasting happiness.
The scholars of Tafsir mention the following meanings for ‘O soul at peace’: 1) It is the soul of the believer. 2) It is the soul that is pleased with Allah’s decree. 3) it is the soul that is certain of Allah’s promise. They differ about when it will be said, [O soul at peace…]. The following are their opinions: 1) It will be said so when the soul dies in the worldly life and it leaves the body, which is the opinion of most scholars. 2) It will be said so when the soul will be resurrected for reckoning on the Day of Judgment.
Learned Lessons from Surah al-Fajr Ayah 21-30
• Severe reprimand to people for favoring this world over the Hereafter, which will lead them to regret and loss on the Day of Judgment.
• When the Day of Judgment takes place, the earth will be strongly pounded again and again so that it will become dust.
• On the Day of Judgment, Allah will come to judge between the creatures, and the angels will also come rank on rank.
• On the Day of Judgment, Hell will be brought before people so that they will see it.
• On the Day of Judgment, the disbeliever will acknowledge his sins and hope that he believed in Allah’s Oneness and did righteous deeds in the worldly life to be saved from the severe punishment of Hell. However, this regret will not avail him at all since the Hereafter is the lasting abode of recompense and he will never be able to return to the worldly life.
• On the Day of Judgment, none can punish as Allah punishes and none can bind as Allah binds. Complete authority will be only for Allah on that day.
• The soul that believes in Allah’s Oneness and performs righteous deeds for His sake will suffer no fear nor sadness on the Day of Judgment. It will be admitted to Paradise where it will enjoy lasting happiness. Allah will be pleased with it and it will be pleased with the immense reward that Allah has prepared for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment