Tafsir of Surah Al-An'am - Verse 132

ذَلِكَ أَن لَّمْ يَكُنْ رَّبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ الْقُرَى بِظُلْمٍ وَأَهْلُهَا غَـفِلُونَ

(This is because your Lord would not destroy the (populations of) towns for their wrongdoing while their people were unaware. ) meaning: `We sent the Messengers and revealed the Books to the Jinns and mankind, so that no one has an excuse that he is being punished for his wrongs although he did not receive Allah's Message. Therefore, We did not punish any of the nations, except after sending Messengers to them, so that they have no excuse.' Allah said in other Ayat,

وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلاَّ خَلاَ فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ

(And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them.) 35:24, and

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الْطَّـغُوتَ

(And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allah, and stay away from At-Taghut (all false deities).") 16:36, and

وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولاً

(And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger.) 17:15, and,

كُلَّمَا أُلْقِىَ فِيهَا فَوْجٌ سَأَلَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَآ أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ نَذِيرٌقَالُواْ بَلَى قَدْ جَآءَنَا نَذِيرٌ فَكَذَّبْنَا

(Every time a group is cast therein, its keeper will ask: "Did no warner come to you" They will say: "Yes, indeed a warner did come to us, but we belied him.") 67:8-9 There are many other Ayat on this subject. At-Tabari said, "Allah's statement,

وَلِكُلٍّ دَرَجَـتٌ مِّمَّا عَمِلُواْ

(For all there will be degrees according to what they did.) means, every person who obeys Allah or behaves disobediently, has grades and ranks according to their works, which Allah gives them as recompense, good for good and evil for evil." I say, it is possible that Allah's statement,

وَلِكُلٍّ دَرَجَـتٌ مِّمَّا عَمِلُواْ

(For all there will be degrees according to what they did.) refers to the disbelievers of the Jinns and mankind who will earn a place in the Fire according to their evil deeds. Allah said,

قَالَ لِكُلٍّ ضِعْفٌ

(He will say: "For each one there is double (torment).")7:38, and,

الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَصَدُّواْ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ زِدْنَـهُمْ عَذَابًا فَوْقَ الْعَذَابِ بِمَا كَانُواْ يُفْسِدُونَ

(Those who disbelieved and hinder (others) from the path of Allah, for them We will add torment to the torment because they used to spread corruption.) 16:88 Allah said next,

وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَـفِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ

(And your Lord is not unaware of what they do.) Ibn Jarir commented, "All these deeds that they did, O Muhammad, they did while your Lord is aware of them, and He collects and records these deeds with Him, so that He recompenses them when they meet Him and return to Him.

The sense of the fourth verse (132) is fairly clear. It says that with Allah there are ranks for classes of people among human beings and the Jinn. These ranks have been assigned in terms of their deeds. When rewarded or punished, the measure used shall be that of their deeds.

In the life of this world we see that there is a difference between the status of one man and another. This difference is exactly in proportion to the efforts made and the struggle engaged in by each of them. A man’s wisdom, his diligence and accommodation of interests will determine the degree of his success in this life. The same state of affairs exists in the case of the Hereafter. In the Hereafter also, the award of status will relate exactly to the deeds performed by human beings in the world. A man has to spend time and money on the Hereafter also, just as he spends time and money on the world. In the matter of the Hereafter, too, he has to behave wisely, as he has been behaving in the world; he has to look after his interests and take care of delicate situations, just as he had been doing in the world. God, in whose hands lies the power of taking decisions in the Hereafter, is fully aware of the condition of each and every individual. It will not be difficult for Him to give everyone whatever he is entitled to. Through this world of trial which God has created, He has opened the door to immense and valuable possibilities for man, who by performing good deeds in the short temporary life of this world, can earn superlative rewards in the eternal life of the Hereafter. There is no benefit to God in this system. If the present generation does not accept God’s creation plan. He can raise in their place others who will accept His creation plan and enlist themselves in its support. Even the sands of the desert and the leaves of the trees can be raised by Him as His faithful subjects. In a world based entirely on Truth and Justice, the fact that freedom is enjoyed by tyrants and arrogant people as well as virtuous people, in itself proves that this freedom is not by way of reward but by way of trial. One who refuses to accept the Truth and still does not apparently lose anything, should not brag about his apparent good fortune, for this condition is purely temporary. Very soon the time will come when everything on the strength of which he behaved with arrogance, will be taken away from him. And he will be pushed towards eternal destruction, from which he will never be able to emerge, and where he will have the opportunity neither to perform good deeds nor to save himself from the final result of his misdeeds.