Tafsir of Surah Maryam - Verse 68

Man's Amazement about Life after Death and the Refutation against this Amazement

Allah, the Exalted, informs that mankind is amazed that he could be returned to life after death and he thinks that this is something farfetched. As Allah says,

وَإِن تَعْجَبْ فَعَجَبٌ قَوْلُهُمْ أَءِذَا كُنَّا تُرَابًا أَءِنَّا لَفِى خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ

(And if you wonder, then wondrous is their saying: "When we are dust, shall we indeed then be (raised) in a new creation")13:5 Allah also says,

أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الإِنسَـنُ أَنَّا خَلَقْنَـهُ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٌ مٌّبِينٌ - وَضَرَبَ لَنَا مَثَلاً وَنَسِىَ خَلْقَهُ قَالَ مَن يُحىِ الْعِظَـمَ وَهِىَ رَمِيمٌ - قُلْ يُحْيِيهَا الَّذِى أَنشَأَهَآ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ خَلْقٍ عَلِيمٌ

(Does not man see that We have created him from Nutfah. Yet behold he (stands forth) as an open opponent. And he puts forth for Us a parable and forgets his own creation. He says: "Who will give life to these bones after they are rotten and have become dust" Say: "He will give life to them Who created them for the first time! And He is the All-Knower of every creation!")36:77-79 And Allah says here in this Surah,

وَيَقُولُ الإِنْسَـنُ أَإِذَا مَا مِتُّ لَسَوْفَ أُخْرَجُ حَيّاً - أَوَلاَ يَذْكُرُ إلإِنْسَـنُ أَنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُ مِن قَبْلُ وَلَمْ يَكُ شَيْئاً

(And man says: "When I am dead, shall I then be raised up alive" Does not man remember that We created him before, while he was nothing) Allah uses the beginning of creation as a proof for its repetition. This means that He, the Exalted, created the human being while he was nothing. So can he not repeat this creation after the human had actually become something Similalry Allah says;

وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ

(And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it; and this is easier for Him.) 30:27 In the Sahih it is recorded that the Messenger ﷺ of Allah said,

«يَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى: كَذَّبَنِي ابْنُ آدَمَ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ أَنْ يُكَذِّبَنِي، وَآذَانِي ابْنُ آدَمَ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ أَنْ يُؤْذِيَنِي، أَمَّا تَكْذِيبُهُ إِيَّايَ فَقَوْلُهُ لَنْ يُعِيدَنِي كَمَا بَدَأَنِي، وَلَيْسَ أَوَّلُ الْخَلْقِ بِأَهْوَنَ عَلَيَّ مِنْ آخِرِهِ، وَأَمَّا أَذَاهُ إِيَّايَ فَقَوْلُهُ إِنَّ لِي وَلَدًا وَأَنَا الْأَحَدُ الصَّمَدُ الَّذِي لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَد»

(Allah, the Exalted said, "The son of Adam denies Me and he has no right to deny Me. The son of Adam harms Me and he has no right to harm Me. His denial of Me is his statement that I will never repeat His creation like I created him the first time. Yet, the second creation is not more difficult upon Me than the first. His harming Me is his statement that I have a son. Yet, I am One Alone, the Self-Sufficient Whom all creatures need. He Who does not beget children, nor was He born and there is none coequal or comparable unto Him.") Concerning Allah's statement,

فَوَرَبِّكَ لَنَحْشُرَنَّهُمْ وَالشَّيَـطِينَ

(So by your Lord, surely We shall gather them together, and the Shayatin,) The Lord, Blessed be He the Most High, swears by His Noble Self that He will definitely gather all of those who worshipped other than Allah and their devils as well.

ثُمَّ لَنُحْضِرَنَّهُمْ حَوْلَ جَهَنَّمَ جِثِيّاً

(then We shall bring them round Hell, Jithiyya.) Al-`Awfi related that Ibn `Abbas said, "This means sitting and it is similar to His statement,

وَتَرَى كُلَّ أُمَّةٍ جَاثِيَةً

(And you will see each nation Jathiyah.)" 45:28 As-Suddi commented on the word Jithiyya, "It means standing." It has been reported from Murrah that Ibn Mas`ud said the same. Concerning Allah's statement,

ثُمَّ لَنَنزِعَنَّ مِن كُلِّ شِيعَةٍ

(Then indeed We shall drag out from every sect) This means from every nation. This is what Mujahid said.

أَيُّهُمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَى الرَّحْمَـنِ عِتِيّاً

(all those who were worst in obstinate rebellion against the Most Gracious.) Ath-Thawri reported from `Ali bin Al-Aqmar, from Abu Al-Ahwas, from Ibn Mas`ud that he said, "The first of them will be bound to the last of them until their number is complete. Then, they will be brought all together. Then, Allah will begin with the greatest of them in crime and continue in succession. That is Allah's statement,

ثُمَّ لَنَنزِعَنَّ مِن كُلِّ شِيعَةٍ أَيُّهُمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَى الرَّحْمَـنِ عِتِيّاً

(Then indeed We shall drag out from every sect all those who were worst in obstinate rebellion against the Most Gracious.) This is similar to Allah's statement,

حَتَّى إِذَا ادَّارَكُواْ فِيهَا جَمِيعًا قَالَتْ أُخْرَاهُمْ لاٍّولَـهُمْ رَبَّنَا هَـؤُلاءِ أَضَلُّونَا فَـَاتِهِمْ عَذَابًا ضِعْفًا مِّنَ النَّارِ

(Until they will be gathered all together in the Fire. The last of them will say to the first of them: "Our Lord! These misled us, so give them a double torment of the Fire.") Until His saying,

بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْسِبُونَ

(For what you used to earn.) 7:38-39 The first of them will say to the last of them: "Your were not better than us, so taste the torment for what you used to earn." Concerning Allah's statement,

ثُمَّ لَنَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِالَّذِينَ هُمْ أَوْلَى بِهَا صِلِيّاً

(Then, verily, We know best those who are most worthy of being burnt therein.) Then, at this point Allah attaches one piece of information to another. The meaning here is that Allah best knows which of His creatures deserve to be burned in the fire of Hell and remain there forever and who deserves to have his punishment doubled. This is as He says in the Ayah that was previously mentioned,

قَالَ لِكُلٍّ ضِعْفٌ وَلَـكِن لاَّ تَعْلَمُونَ

(He will say: "For each one there is double (torment), but you know not.") 7:38

لَنَحْشُرَ‌نَّهُمْ وَالشَّيَاطِينَ ثُمَّ لَنُحْضِرَ‌نَّهُمْ

"We will definitely gather them together with the devils, then We will definitely make them present." - 19:68.

This verse may be interpreted in two ways. First, that on the Day of Judgment every infidel will be brought before God along with his own devil, and this suggests that this is a reference to the gathering of infidels and their devils. But if it is interpreted in a general sense to include all believers and infidels then the meaning of the devils being gathered with all of them would be that while the infidels will be gathered with their devils, the believers would also be gathered at the same time and place. Thus the devils will be gathered along with the infidels as well as with the believers.

حَوْلَ جَهَنَّمَ جِثِيًّا

"Around the Jahannam fallen on their knees." - 19:68.

On the Day of Resurrection every one - believers, infidels, the blessed and the wretched - will be assembled around Hell. Everyone will be seized with awe and terror, and they will all be on their knees, then the believers and the blessed will be taken across Hell and admitted into Paradise, so that having viewed the extreme suffering of Hell they may all the better enjoy their own state of felicity, and at the same time rejoice at the punishment which has been inflicted upon the infidels.

The Arabs, who were the primary addressees of the Quran, accepted the theory of life after death. All the words in the Quran relating to the life hereafter were already present in their vocabulary. But their acceptance was purely formal, as such it had no impact on their lives. In practice, they led their lives in a way that implied, ‘The life of this world is the only life. Who is going to resurrect us after our death and who is going to call us to account?’ This indifference or denial, persists because man does not give serious consideration to this matter. If he did so, he would find that his initial, first birth is in itself an argument in support of his re-birth. Here, the word ‘Satan’ stands for leaders who, with the help of deceitful words, mislead the common man. In this sense, they do the same work as Satan does. In the present world, these leaders are highly visible in their positions of greatness, and the people are therefore unable to ignore them. But, in the life hereafter, they will lose this ‘greatness’ and will be pushed into the pit of ignominy along with their followers.