Tafsir of Surah Al-Jathiya - Verse 27

Some of the Conditions of the Day of Resurrection and its Horrors

Allah mentions that He is the King and Owner of the heavens and earth, and the Only Ruler over them in this life and the Hereafter. Allah's statement,

وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ

(And on the Day that the Hour will be established) on the Day of Resurrection,

يَخْسَرُ الْمُبْطِلُونَ

(the followers of falsehood shall lose.) those who disbelieve in Allah and reject the clear proofs and unequivocal evidences that He has sent down to His Messengers. Allah said,

وَتَرَى كُلَّ أُمَّةٍ جَاثِيَةً

(And you will see each nation humbled to their knees (Jathiyah),) kneeling, fearful of the tremendous calamity and events. It was said that this will occur when Hellfire will be brought forth, for she will exhale once, and everyone will fall to their knees, including Ibrahim, the Khalil. He will proclaim, "Myself, myself, myself! Today, I will not ask You (O Allah) but about myself." And even `Isa, will proclaim, "Today, I will only argue before You on my own behalf, I will not ask You about Maryam, who gave birth to me." Allah said next,

كُلُّ أمَّةٍ تُدْعَى إِلَى كِتَـبِهَا

(each nation will be called to its Record. ) meaning, Record of deeds. Allah said in a similar Ayah,

وَوُضِعَ الْكِتَـبُ وَجِـىءَ بِالنَّبِيِّيْنَ وَالشُّهَدَآءِ

(And the Book will be presented; and the Prophets and the witnesses will be brought forward) (39:69). This is why Allah said here,

الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

(This Day you shall be recompensed for what you used to do.) `you will be judged according to your deeds, good and evil.' Allah said in similar Ayat;

يُنَبَّأُ الإِنسَـنُ يَوْمَئِذِ بِمَا قَدَّمَ وَأَخَّرَ - بَلِ الإِنسَـنُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ - وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ

(On that Day man will be informed of what he sent forward, and what he left behind. Nay! Man will be a witness against himself, though he may put forth his excuses.) (75:13-15) Allah said,

هَـذَا كِتَـبُنَا يَنطِقُ عَلَيْكُم بِالْحَقِّ

(This, Our Record speaks about you with truth.) It contains the record of all your actions, without addition or deletion. Allah also said:

وَوُضِعَ الْكِتَـبُ فَتَرَى الْمُجْرِمِينَ مُشْفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يوَيْلَتَنَا مَا لِهَـذَا الْكِتَـبِ لاَ يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةً وَلاَ كَبِيرَةً إِلاَّ أَحْصَاهَا وَوَجَدُواْ مَا عَمِلُواْ حَاضِرًا وَلاَ يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا

(And the Book will be presented, and you will see the criminals, fearful of that which is therein. They will say:"Woe to us! What sort of Book is this that leaves neither a small thing nor a big thing, but has recorded it with numbers!" And they will find all that they did, placed before them, and your Lord treats no one with injustice.) (18:49) Allah's statement,

إِنَّا كُنَّا نَسْتَنسِخُ مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

(Verily, We were recording what you used to do.) means, `We ordered Our scribe angels to record your deeds.' Ibn `Abbas and others commented, "The angels record the deeds of the servants and then ascend to heaven with them. There, they meet the angels entrusted with the Records of deeds sent down from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz on each Night of Al-Qadr, containing what Allah has written will occur from the servants, long before He created them. They will compare their records and find out that not a single letter was added or deleted." He then recited this Ayah,

إِنَّا كُنَّا نَسْتَنسِخُ مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

(Verily, We were recording what you used to do.)

وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ‌ "...and nothing destroys us except time...(45:24) " The word dahr means ` time from the beginning of the world to its end'. It also refers to ` a very long period of time'. The atheists alleged that their life and death have nothing to do with Divine will and command. They happen under natural causes. Death is a process which they say they experience when their human limbs, organs and abilities diminish on account of constant use and, with the passage of time, the matter becomes dissolved and is destroyed; and that this is the be-all and end-all of human existence, there being no life hereafter. Likewise, life has nothing to do with Divine will and command. Life too, like death, happens under movement of material causes.

Reviling Time Is Inappropriate

Atheists believed that ` Time' is the cause of life, death, vicissitudes of conditions and adversities, and also the cause of the revolution of the entire universe. Every happening used to be attributed to ` Time' by them as indicated in this verse, whereas the fact is that everything happens with the Divine will and volition. Therefore, authentic Traditions prohibit reviling of time. The power which the unbelievers describe as ` time' is in fact the Divine power. When people curse or revile time for their adversities, they are in fact directing their reproach to Allah. The Messenger of Allah said: "Do not revile time because time actually is Allah." The ignorant who claim that a particular work was done by time is actually the work of Divine power - time is nothing. It does not necessarily follow from this proposition that ad-dahr is one of the names of Allah. Here Allah is referred to as ad-dahr metaphorically or figuratively.

Those who, in this world, rise with the Message of God, do so, in fact, on the basis of Truth; and those who stand up on any other basis, do so, in fact, on the basis of falsehood. In the Hereafter, the latter will have no footing; because whatever they had considered to be a solid foundation was nothing of the sort. It was a mere deceit or illusion which vanished on the appearance of reality.