Tafsir of Surah Az-Zumar - Verse 60

The Consequences for Those Who tell Lies against Allah and for Those Who have Taqwa

Allah tells us that on the Day of Resurrection, some faces will be blackened and some will be whitened. The faces of those who followed splits and divisions will be blackened, and the faces of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama`ah will be whitened. Allah says here:

وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ تَرَى الَّذِينَ كَذَبُواْ عَلَى اللَّهِ

(And on the Day of Resurrection you will see those who lied against Allah) meaning, by their claims that He had partners or offspring.

وُجُوهُهُم مُّسْوَدَّةٌ

(their faces will be black.) means, because of their lies and fabrications.

أَلَيْسَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِّلْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ

(Is there not in Hell an abode for the arrogant) means, is not Hell sufficient for them as a prison and humiliating final destination, because of their stubborn pride, arrogance and refusal to follow the truth

وَيُنَجِّى اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْاْ بِمَفَازَتِهِمْ

(And Allah will deliver those who are those who have Taqwa to their places of success.) means, because of what Allah has decreed for them of happiness and victory.

لاَ يَمَسُّهُمُ السُّوءُ

(Evil shall touch them not, ) means, on the Day of Resurrection.

وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

(nor shall they grieve.) means, the greater terror (of that Day) will not cause them grief, for they will be safe from all grief and removed from all evil, and they will attain all that is good.

In verse 59, it was said: بَلَىٰ قَدْ جَاءَتْكَ آيَاتِي فَكَذَّبْتَ بِهَا (Why not? My verses had reached you, but you called them untrue, and waxed proud, and became of those who disbelieved...). In this verse, what the disbelievers said in: (If Allah were to show me the way, I would have surely been among those who fear Allah",- 39:57) has been answered. The outcome of this verse is that Allah had already given the necessary guidance, fully and conclusively. He had sent His books, verses and signs. Therefore, their claim that Allah gave them no guidance was absurd. Of course, once He had given the guidance, Allah never forced anyone to be good and obedient. In fact, every servant of His was given the choice to take to either the way of the truth or the way of the false. This was a test for the maker of the choice. On this depended his or her success or failure. Whoever took to the way of error by one's own free will, choice and volition, he or she is, himself or herself, responsible for it.

The discourse of God maintains in all its parts a consistent level of perfection, so that in the Quran, one cannot say that some verses are better than others. Nor can it be said about the Quran in comparison with other divine books that one book is better to the exclusion of all others. The fact is that in the present world of trial, man has freedom of action. He has the option of accepting divine words in their proper sense or of taking them wrongly. He may pay full attention to the real purpose of a talk, or he may try to ferret out insignificant points from it and interpret them wrongly. Ridiculing the Divine words is the result of such misconstruction. Man takes a verse and derives a wrong meaning from it, and then on the basis of that self-devised meaning, starts to make a mockery of it. Man has kept himself hidden from reality, from what he really is. On account of false pride, he simply does not accept the Truth, but then talks glibly to give the impression that he is rejecting the Truth on the basis of principles. But, on the Day of Judgement, his face will reflect his inner condition. At that time his face will reveal that his rejection of the Truth was, in fact, the result of his false interpretation of divine words. Otherwise, the Truth was, in itself, very obvious and clear. At that time he will be full of regret, but regretting then will be of no avail.