Tafsir of Surah Ar-Ra'd - Verse 34

Punishment of the Disbelievers and Reward of the Pious Believers

Here, Allah mentions the punishment of the disbelievers and the reward of the righteous believers, after describing the Kufr and Shirk that the disbelievers indulge in,

لَّهُمْ عَذَابٌ فِى الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا

(For them is a torment in the life of this world,) by the hands of the believers, killing and capturing them,

وَلَعَذَابُ الاٌّخِرَةِ

(and certainly, the torment of the Hereafter.) which will come after they suffer humiliation in this life,

أَشُقَّ

(is harder) many times harder. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to those who agreed to Mula`anah,

«إِنَّ عَذَابَ الدُّنْيَا أَهْوَنُ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْآخِرَة»

(Surely, the torment of this life, is easier than the torment of the Hereafter.) Indeed, and just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stated, the torment of this life ends but the torment of the Hereafter is everlasting in a Fire that is seventy times hot than our fire, where there are chains whose thickness and hardness are unimaginable. Allah said in other Ayat,

فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لاَّ يُعَذِّبُ عَذَابَهُ أَحَدٌ - وَلاَ يُوثِقُ وَثَاقَهُ أَحَدٌ

(So on that Day none will punish as He will punish. And none will bind as He will bind.)89:25-26, and,

بَلْ كَذَّبُواْ بِالسَّاعَةِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِمَن كَذَّبَ بِالسَّاعَةِ سَعِيراً - إِذَا رَأَتْهُمْ مِّن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ سَمِعُواْ لَهَا تَغَيُّظاً وَزَفِيراً - وَإَذَآ أُلْقُواْ مِنْهَا مَكَاناً ضَيِّقاً مُّقَرَّنِينَ دَعَوْاْ هُنَالِكَ ثُبُوراً - لاَّ تَدْعُواْ الْيَوْمَ ثُبُوراً وَحِداً وَادْعُواْ ثُبُوراً كَثِيراً - قُلْ أَذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ أَمْ جَنَّةُ الْخُلْدِ الَّتِى وَعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ كَانَتْ لَهُمْ جَزَآءً وَمَصِيراً

(And for those who deny the Hour, We have prepared a flaming Fire. When it (Hell) sees them from a far place, they will hear its raging and its roaring. And when they shall be thrown into a narrow place thereof, chained together, they will exclaim therein for destruction. Exclaim not today for one destruction, but exclaim for many destructions. Say: "Is that (torment) better, or the Paradise of Eternity promised for those who have Taqwa" It will be theirs as a reward and as a final destination.) 25:11-15 Similarly He said;

مَّثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِى وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ

(The description of the Paradise which those who have Taqwa have been promised) meaning its description and qualities;

تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَـرُ

(Underneath it rivers flow,) these rivers flow in the various parts and grades of Paradise and wherever its people wish they flow and gush forth for them. Allah also said,

مَّثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِى وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ فِيهَآ أَنْهَارٌ مِّن مَّآءٍ غَيْرِ ءَاسِنٍ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِّن لَّبَنٍ لَّمْ يَتَغَيَّرْ طَعْمُهُ وَأَنْهَـرٌ مِّنْ خَمْرٍ لَّذَّةٍ لِّلشَّـرِبِينَ وَأَنْهَـرٌ مِّنْ عَسَلٍ مُّصَفًّى وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَتِ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ

(The description of Paradise which those who have Taqwa have been promised (is that) in it are rivers of water the taste and smell of which are not changed, rivers of wine delicious to those who drink, and rivers of clarified honey, therein for them is every kind of fruit, and forgiveness.) 47:15 Allah said next,

أُكُلُهَا دَآئِمٌ وِظِلُّهَا

(its provision is eternal and so is its shade) for Paradise has foods, fruits and drinks that never end or finish. It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that Ibn `Abbas narrated in the Hadith about the Eclipse prayer that the Companions said, "O Allah's Messenger! While you were standing in prayer, we saw you reach for something with your hand and then you brought it back." The Messenger ﷺ said,

«إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ الْجَنَّةَ أَوْ أُرِيتُ الْجَنَّةَ فَتَنَاوَلْتُ مِنْهَا عُنْقُودًا، وَلَوْ أَخَذْتُهُ لَأَكَلْتُمْ مِنْهُ مَا بَقِيَتِ الدُّنْيَا»

(I saw Paradise - or was shown Paradise - and reached for a cluster (of grapes or other fruit), and had I kept it, you would have eaten from it as long as this life remains.) iImam Muslim recorded that Jabir bin `Abdullah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«يَأْكُلُ أَهْلُ الْجَنَّةِ وَيَشْرَبُونَ، وَلَا يَتَمَخَّطُونَ وَلَا يَتَغَوَّطُونَ، وَلَا يَبُولُونَ، طَعَامُهُمْ جُشَاءٌ كَرِيحِ الْمِسْكِ، وَيُلْهَمُونَ التَّسْبِيحَ وَالتَّقْدِيسَ كَمَا يُلْهَمُونَ النَّفَس»

(The people of Paradise eat and drink, and they do not need to blow their noses, or answer the call of nature, or urinate, for they pass the food excrements in belches, which smell like musk. They will be inspired to praise and glorify (Allah) as spontaneously as they breathe.) Imams Ahmad and An-Nasa'i recorded that Thumamah bin `Uqbah said that he heard Zayd bin Arqam say, "A man from the People of the Scriptures came and said to the Prophet , `O Abul-Qasim! You claim that the people of Paradise eat and drink' The Prophet ﷺ said,

«نَعَمْ، وَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ، إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ مِنْهُمْ لَيُعطَى قُوَّةَ مِائَةِ رَجُلٍ فِي الْأَكْلِ وَالشُّرْبِ وَالْجِمَاعِ وَالشَّهْوَة»

(Yes. By He in Whose Hand is Muhammad's life, a man among them will be given the strength of a hundred men in eating, drinking, sexual intercourse and appetite.) That man asked, `He who eats and drinks needs to relieve the call of nature, but Paradise is pure from feces and urine' The Prophet said,

«تَكُونُ حَاجَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ رَشْحًا يَفِيضُ مِنْ جُلُودِهِمْ كَرِيحِ الْمِسْكِ فَيَضْمُرُ بَطْنُه»

(One of them (residents of Paradise) relieves the call of nature through a sweat that emanates from the skin, with the scent of musk, and the stomach becomes empty again.) Imam Ahmad and An-Nasa'i collected this Hadith. Allah said in other Ayat,

وَفَـكِهَةٍ كَثِيرَةٍ - لاَّ مَقْطُوعَةٍ وَلاَ مَمْنُوعَةٍ

(And fruit in plenty, whose supply is not cut off nor are they out of reach.)56:32-33, and,

وَدَانِيَةً عَلَيْهِمْ ظِلَـلُهَا وَذُلِّلَتْ قُطُوفُهَا تَذْلِيلاً

(And the shade thereof is close upon them, and the bunches of fruit thereof will hang low within their reach.)76:14 The shade of Paradise is everlasting and never shrinks, just as Allah said,

وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ سَنُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّـتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الاٌّنْهَـرُ خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَداً لَّهُمْ فِيهَآ أَزْوَجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ وَنُدْخِلُهُمْ ظِـلاًّ ظَلِيلاً

(But those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, We shall admit them to Gardens under which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. Therein they shall have pure mates, and We shall admit them to shades wide and ever deepening.)4:57 Allah often mentions the description of Paradise and the description of the Fire together, to make Paradise appealing and warn against the Fire. This is why, after Allah mentioned the description of Paradise here, He next said,

تِلْكَ عُقْبَى الَّذِينَ اتَّقَواْ وَّعُقْبَى الْكَـفِرِينَ النَّارُ

(this is the end (final destination) of those who have Taqwa, and the end (final destination) of the disbelievers is Fire.) Allah said in another Ayah ,

لاَ يَسْتَوِى أَصْحَـبُ النَّارِ وَأَصْحَـبُ الْجَنَّةِ أَصْحَـبُ الْجَنَّةِ هُمُ الْفَآئِزُونَ

(Not equal are the dwellers of the Fire and the dwellers of the Paradise. It is the dwellers of Paradise that will be successful.) 59:20

In the verse: أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ نَفْسٍ (Is then He, who is watchful over everyone ... 33), the ignorance and irrationality of the disbelievers has been exposed by saying that these people are certainly short on sense when they equate inert idols with His pure Being, a Being that watches everyone and is the ultimate reckoner of everyone's deeds. Then, it was said that the real reason behind their unreasonable attitude is that shaitan has made their very ignorance look good in their sight and, therefore, this they take to be 'achievement' and 'success.'

Research shows that there is a system of recording in this universe. Whatever a man says or whatever a man does is immediately recorded by a universal arrangement. In view of this, only such a Being can be treated as God of this universe who possesses the powers of Hearing and Observing. But the so-called partners of God, presumed to be such by human beings, are all such as possess no power of hearing or power of observing. In view of this, how can they be the Creator and Lord of a world like the present universe? How can one who is not capable of hearing create the capacity to hear in his creations, and how can he make other things capable of observing, when he himself is not capable of observing? There is so much uniformity in this universe that it leaves no scope for the idea of partnership. The universe rejects any kind of partnership in godhead. ‘Indeed, their devices, seem fair to the unbelievers’ — here ‘devices’ means their utterances. Whenever a man rejects the truth, his mind invents something to justify his rejection, though what he says may be a combination of pointless words, but, those who are not serious in the matter of truth, are prone to utter empty words and think that they have justified their rejection, irrespective of the fact that the words uttered by them may not have any value outside their own minds. Such false words can give solace or satisfaction to a man only in the present world. In the Hereafter, when the reality of everything will be made plain, these beautiful words will carry so little weight that a man will be ashamed of repeating them.