Tafsir of Surah Ghafir - Verse 18

Warning of the Day of Resurrection and Allah's judgement on that Day

`The Day that is drawing near' is one of the names of the Day of Judgement. It is so called because it is close, as Allah says:

أَزِفَتِ الاٌّزِفَةُ - لَيْسَ لَهَا مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ كَاشِفَةٌ

(The Day of Resurrection draws near. None besides Allah can avert it) (53:57-58)

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ

(The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder) (54:1)

اقْتَرَبَ لِلنَّاسِ حِسَـبُهُمْ

(Draws near for mankind their reckoning) (21:1),

أَتَى أَمْرُ اللَّهِ فَلاَ تَسْتَعْجِلُوهُ

(The Event (the Hour) ordained by Allah will come to pass, so seek not to hasten it) (16:1),

فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ زُلْفَةً سِيئَتْ وُجُوهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ

(But when they will see it approaching, the faces of those who disbelieve will change and turn black with sadness and in grief) (67:27), and

إِذِ الْقُلُوبُ لَدَى الْحَنَاجِرِ كَـظِمِينَ

(when the hearts will be at the throats Kazimin. ) Qatadah said, "When the hearts reach the throats because of fear, and they will neither come out nor go back to their places." This was also the view of `Ikrimah, As-Suddi and others.

كَـظِمِينَ

(Kazimin) means silent, for no one will speak without His permission:

يَوْمَ يَقُومُ الرُّوحُ وَالْمَلَـئِكَةُ صَفّاً لاَّ يَتَكَلَّمُونَ إِلاَّ مَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ الرَّحْمَـنُ وَقَالَ صَوَاباً

(The Day that Ar-Ruh (Jibril) and the angels will stand forth in rows, they will not speak except him whom the Most Gracious allows, and he will speak what is right.) (78:38). Ibn Jurayj said:

كَـظِمِينَ

(Kazimin) "It means weeping."

مَا لِلظَّـلِمِينَ مِنْ حَمِيمٍ وَلاَ شَفِيعٍ يُطَاعُ

(There will be no friend, nor an intercessor for the wrongdoers, who could be given heed to.) means, those who wronged themselves by associating others in worship with Allah, will have no relative to help them and no intercessor who can plead on their behalf; all means of good will be cut off from them.

يَعْلَمُ خَآئِنَةَ الاٌّعْيُنِ وَمَا تُخْفِى الصُّدُورُ

(Allah knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal.) Allah tells us about His complete knowledge which encompasses all things, great and small, major and minor, so that people will take note that He knows about them and they will have the proper sense of shyness before Allah. They will pay attention to the fact that He can see them, for He knows the fraud of the eyes, even if the eyes look innocent, and He knows what the hearts conceal. Ad-Dahhak said:

خَآئِنَةَ الاٌّعْيُنِ

(the fraud of the eyes,) "A wink and a man saying that he has seen something when he has not seen it, or saying that he has not seen it when he did see it." Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Allah knows when the eye looks at something, whether it wants to commit an act of betrayal or not." This was also the view of Mujahid and Qatadah. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, commented on the Ayah:

وَمَا تُخْفِى الصُّدُورُ

(and all that the breasts conceal.)"He knows, if you were able to, whether you would commit Zina with a woman or not." As-Suddi said:

وَمَا تُخْفِى الصُّدُورُ

(and all that the breasts conceal.) meaning, of insinuating whispers.

وَاللَّهُ يَقْضِى بِالْحَقِّ

(And Allah judges with truth, ) means, He judges with justice. Al-A`mash narrated from Sa`id bin Jubayr from Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that this Ayah means: "He is able to reward those who do good with good and those who do evil with evil."

إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ

(Certainly, Allah! He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.) This is how it was interpreted by Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him. This is like the Ayah:

لِيَجْزِىَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُواْ بِمَا عَمِلُواْ وَيِجْزِى الَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُواْ بِالْحُسْنَى

(that He may requite those who do evil with that which they have done, and reward those who do good, with what is best) (53:31).

وَالَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ

(while those to whom they invoke besides Him,) means, the idols and false gods,

لاَ يَقْضُونَ بِشَىْءٍ

(cannot judge anything.) means, they do not possess anything and they cannot judge anything.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ

(Certainly, Allah! He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.) means, He hears all that His creatures say and He knows all about them, so He guides whomsoever He wills and sends astray whomsoever He wills. And He judges with perfect justice in all of that.

The word: بَارِ‌زُونَ (barizun) in verse 16: يَوْمَ هُم بَارِ‌زُونَ ۖ لَا يَخْفَىٰ عَلَى اللَّـهِ مِنْهُمْ (the day they will come in open view) refers to what would happen on the day of Resurrection when its land surface will be turned into a single level without any mountains, caves, trees or buildings that could obstruct the view. Therefore, everyone will be in an open expanse, open to view.

In the concluding sentence of the same verse, it was said: لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ (To whom belongs the kingdom today?). This statement has appeared in this verse after يَوْمَ التَّلَاقِ (a day of encounter) and يَوْمَ هُم بَارِ‌زُونَ (the day they will come in open view) and it is obvious that 'the day of encounter' and 'the day of gathering together' will materialize after the second Horn has been blown. Similarly, the event of 'the day they will come in open view' will also materialize after the second Horn has been blown, and a new venue in the form of a level surface will be' put in place, a place with no natural or man-made object obstructing the view. After that, now that this statement: لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ (To whom belongs the kingdom today?) has been introduced, it only shows that this statement of Allah Ta’ ala will be made after everyone has been raised again by virtue of the blowing of the second Horn. Al-Qurtubi has presented a Hadith in support with reference to Nahhas. This Hadith has been reported by Abu Wa'il from Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ . According to this Hadith, all human beings will be assembled together on a clear surface, a surface on which no sin would have been committed by anyone. At that time, a herald will be commanded to herald: لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ (To whom belongs the kingdom today?). Thereupon, the entire creation, believer or disbeliever, will respond saying: لِلَّـهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ‌ (To Allah alone, the One, the All-Dominant.). As for the believers, they will be more than pleased to say so, for this would be part of their belief. As for the disbelievers, they will confess to it sadly and helplessly.

But, some other narrations show that this statement will be made by Allah Ta’ ala Himself when the entire creation will lie annihilated after the blowing of the first Horn, and when even specially close ones, the angels - Jibra'il, Mika'il, Israfil and the angel of death - will also meet death, and no one except the One Being of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ ala will remain, that will be the time He will say: لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ (To whom belongs the kingdom today?). Since there will be no one to answer at that time, He will Himself answer: لِلَّـهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّار (To Allah alone, the One, the All-Dominant.). Sage Hasan al-Basri (رح) has said: In this situation, the entity asking the question and the entity responding to it is no other but the entity of one and only Allah. Muhammad Ibn Ka'b al-Qurai also says this. It is supported by the Hadith of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah and Ibn ` Umar ؓ in which it is said, 'On the Day of Judgment, Allah Ta’ ala will - with all earth surfaces rolled up in His left hand and all heavens rolled up in His right hand - say: اناالملک این الجبارون این المتکبرون (I am the owner of the kingdom. Where are the tyrants? Where are the arrogants?). In Tafsir Ad-Durr-ul- Manthur where, after reporting both narrations of this nature, it has been said that it is possible that this statement is made twice, the first being at the time of the annihilation of the existing universe following the first blowing of the Horn, and the second at the time the entire creation has been brought back to life following the second blowing of the Horn. Maulana Ashraf Thanavi (رح) has said in Bayan-ul-Qur'an that the Tafsir of the noble Qur'an does not hinge on declaring it as made twice only, instead, it is also possible that the cited verse is mentioning the event that will come to pass after the first blowing of the Horn, but it has been referred to here (while mentioning the events after the second blowing) as a reminder of what happened before. Allah knows best.

The present world is full of opportunities, which make it possible for man to do whatever he likes. This leads him into a grave misunderstanding. He considers his temporary freedom to be a permanent condition. The fact is that whatever opportunities man has been given here are by way of trial and not on the basis of his deserving them. As soon as the period of testing is over, all the present opportunities will be snatched away from him. At that time, man will come to know that, except for his helplessness, he possesses nothing which will be a support to him. Man wants to live an unrestricted life. On account of this, he associates beings other than God with the godhead, so that in their names he may be able to justify his misguided actions. But on the Day of Judgement, when reality reveals itself in an unveiled form, he will realize that there was nobody but God who had any powers.