Tafsir of Surah Fatir - Verse 18

Mankind is in need of Allah, and each Person will carry His own Burdens on the Day of Resurrection

Allah tells us that He has no need of anyone or anything else, but all of creation is in need of Him and is in a position of humility before Him. He says:

يأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَآءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ

(O mankind! it is you who stand in need of Allah.) meaning, they need Him in all that they do, but He has no need of them at all. Allah says:

وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِىُّ الْحَمِيدُ

But Allah is the Rich, Worthy of all praise. meaning, He is unique in His being Free of all needs, and has no partner or associate, and He is Worthy of all praise in all that He does, says, decrees and legislates.

إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُـمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ

(If He willed, He could destroy you and bring about a new creation.) means, if He wanted to, He could destroy you and bring forth another people, and this is not difficult or impossible for Him. He says:

وَمَا ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِعَزِيزٍ

(And that is not hard for Allah.) Allah's saying:

وَلاَ تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى

(And no bearer of burdens shall bear another's burden;) means, on the Day of Resurrection.

وَإِن تَدْعُ مُثْقَلَةٌ إِلَى حِمْلِهَا

(and if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load, ) means, if the person who is carrying a heavy burden calls someone else to help him carry his load, all or part of it,

لاَ يُحْمَلْ مِنْهُ شَىْءٌ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَى

(nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin.) means, even if he is closely-related to him, even if he is his father or son, for each person will be preoccupied with his own self and his own situation. Then Allah says:

إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَيْبِ وَأَقَامُواْ الصَّلَوةَ

(You can warn only those who fear their Lord unseen and perform the Salah.) means, `the only ones who will draw a lesson from what you have brought are those who are possessed of insight and wisdom, who fear their Lord and who do as He commands.'

وَمَن تَزَكَّى فَإِنَّمَا يَتَزَكَّى لِنَفْسِهِ

(And he who purifies himself, then he purifies only for the benefit of himself.) means, who does righteous deeds, the benefit of that will come back to him,

وَإِلَى اللَّهِ الْمَصِيرُ

And to Allah is the Return. means, to Him everything will ultimately return, and He is swift in bringing to account. He will reward or punish everyone according to his deeds: if they are good, then the end will be good, and if they are bad, then the end will be bad.

Commentary

Verse 18: وَلَا تَزِرُ‌ وَازِرَ‌ةٌ وِزْرَ‌ أُخْرَ‌ىٰ (And no bearer will bear the burden of any other person) means that, on the Day of Judgment, no one will be able to bear the burden of another person's sins. Everyone will have to bear his or her burden. As for what appears in Surah Al-` Ankabut (29:13): وَأَثْقَالًا مَّعَ أَثْقَالِهِمْ , which means that people who make others go astray will not only bear the burden of going astray personally, but will also bear the burden of having made others go astray. it does not mean that they will somehow lighten the burden of those they had caused to go astray. Instead, their burden will weigh on them as it was in its own place and because of the crime of those who made people go astray, being twofold, their burden too will become twofold, one: that of being astray and two: that of making others go astray. Therefore, there is no contradiction in these two verses. (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani)

Explaining this verse, Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ said: On that Day, a father would say to his son, 'You know how affectionate a father I was to you?' He will say, 'yes, your favors to me are countless. You have certainly faced many a hardship for me during the life of the world.' Then, the father will say, 'son, today I need you. Give me some of your good deeds, so that I can have my salvation.' The son will say, 'father, the return you asked for is not much, but what can I do? If I were to give that to you, I shall be facing the same situation that you are facing now, therefore, I am sorry, I cannot help you.' Then, he will say the same thing to his wife, 'I sacrificed everything for you during the life of the world. Today, I need a few of your good deeds. Please give these to me.' The wife will give him the same answer as was given by the son.

Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ said that this is what the verse: لَا تَزِرُ‌ وَازِرَ‌ةٌ وِزْرَ‌ أُخْرَ‌ىٰ (And no bearer will bear the burden of any other) means. Then he said that the noble Qur'an has taken up this subject in several of its verses. At one place, it has said: لَّا يَجْزِي وَالِدٌ عَن وَلَدِهِ وَلَا مَوْلُودٌ هُوَ جَازٍ عَن وَالِدِهِ شَيْئًا that is, on that Day, neither a father would be able to have his son be spared from the punishment, nor would a son be able to do that for his father (31:33). The essential sense is that no one will save another person by carrying the burden of his sins over one's own shoulders. However, the matter of intercession (shafa'ah) is dierent. Similarly, in another verse, it was said: يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ‌ الْمَرْ‌ءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ that is, on that Day, one will run from his brother and his mother and father and his wife and children (80:34, 35). The purpose of running is no other but that he would be in fear, lest these people try to pass on the burden of their sins on him or come up with a request for some of his good deeds. (Ibn Kathir)

Man is an extremely vulnerable creation. His whole existence depends on a particular balance of natural factors. If this balance were to be disturbed, the very existence of man would be threatened. If, for instance, the sun reduced its distance from the earth and came near it, then all human beings would be burnt and reduced to ashes. Also, a large part of the inside of the earth consists of an extremely hot, semi-liquid material. If this hot matter moved upwards, the surface of the earth would experience terrible earthquakes which would reduce all human settlements to ruins. Moreover, meteors constantly fall upon Earth from outer space, but the atmosphere shields us against their effects. If the present balanced arrangement of this phenomenon were to be disrupted, the shower of meteors might turn into such a terrible barrage of stones that it would be impossible to save humanity from it. Man is surrounded by innumerable deadly possibilities of this kind; being totally dependent explains why man needs God and not vice versa. The burden of Doomsday will be that of one’s sins. Were it only a question of a physical burden, any individual could share another’s burden. But, the denigration and pain one suffers due to one’s bad deeds are of an extremely personal nature and there is no question of anybody else sharing them. The Truth is very clear, but it is understood only by one who wants to understand. One who is not serious about knowing what is Truth and what is Untruth, cannot be made to understand anything.