Understanding the Quran (Summarized commentary of Surah Waqiah [56])

Bismillahi-Rahman-Roheem.

All Praises are for Allah; we adore Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We have Faith and Trust in Him. We seek Allah’s refuge against evil tendencies of our Selves and our bad deeds.

He whom Allah guides no one can lead him astray. And he whom Allah lets go astray there is none to guide him. I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah, the One and without any Partner; and I also bear witness that Muhammad (SAW) is His servant and Messenger. Allah had sent him with Truth, to give good tidings and to warn before the Doomsday.

Whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will be successful and well guided.
And whosoever disobeys either of them has gone astray. Such a person harms none save himself; he does no harm to Allah. The best Word is the Book of Allah. And the best Guidance is that given by Muhammad (SAW). Good things are the firm (original) ones, and Bad things are those introduced later on. And everything introduced later (in religion) is innovation, and every innovation is in Hell Fire.

After that, I seek Allah’s refuge against Shaitan the outcast and I start in the name of Allah, the entirely Merciful, the especially Merciful.

This is the seventh and last Surah of the series devoted to Revelation and hereafter, as explained in the introduction to Surah 50. It belongs to early Makkan period, with the possible exception of one or two verses.

The theme is the certainty of the day of Judgement and its adjustment of true Values (56:1-56); Allah's Power, Goodness and Glory (56:57-74); and the truth of Revelation (56:75-96).

When the Day of Judgement comes, the world as we know it will be shaken to its foundation, and men shall be sorted out into three sorts; those nearest to Allah, in exalted misery (56:1-56).

Surely the power and Goodness of Allah, of which Revelation is a Sign, should lead man to accept the Message and glorify Him (56:57-96).

Similarly we were told by the scholars that the event inevitable is the Day Of Judgement, the world as we know it will be shaken to its depths, and its place will be taken by a world made new, where Good will be sorted out from Evil.

In Dignity and Bliss will the Good find Fulfillment; both those Nearest to the Throne of Allah, and those who earned, by faith and good life, the title, Companions of the Right Hand. Who can tell of the misery in which the Companions of the Left Hand will live?

They will be as it were in a fierce blast of Fire; their drink but boiling water; their shade that of black Smoke that chokes their lungs-ever burning with hunger and thirst, of the Life in Death to which Evil leads.

The Event Inevitable is the Hour of Judgment. People may doubt now whether it will come. But when it comes, as it will come, suddenly upon them, it will come with such tremendous reality that it will be burnt deep into the experience of every soul. No one can then be deceived or entertain false notions about it.

There will be a sorting out of Good and Evil. Or rather, there will be three main classes.

·         Among the Good there will be the specially exalted class, those nearest to Allah

(muqarrabun, 56:11-26)

·         And the righteous people generally, called the Companions of the Right Hand (Ashab-ulmaimana, 56:27-40).

·         And there will be those in agony, the Companions of the Left Hand (Ashab-ul-mash-ama, 56:41-56).

Many who were high and mighty in this life will be brought low for their sins, and many who were lowly but virtuous will be exalted to various ranks and degrees. The old landmarks will be lost in the inner world, as they will be in the outer world.

         “And those Foremost (in Faith) will be Foremost (in the Hereafter).”  (56:10)

Foremost (in Faith)":  there are two meanings, and both are implied.

·         Those who have reached the highest degree in spiritual understanding, such as the great prophets and teachers of mankind, will also take precedence in the Hereafter.

·         Those who are the first in time-the quickest and readiest-to accept Allah's Message-will have the first place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Verses 8, 9 and 10 mention the three main categories or classifications after Judgment. In the subsequent verses their happiness or misery are described. This category, Foremost in Faith, is nearest to Allah.

Just as Allah has created this life that we see, so He has decreed that Death should be the common lot of all of us. Surely, if He can thus give life and death, as we see it, why should we refuse to believe that He can give us other forms when this life is over? The Future Life, though indicated by what we know now, is to be on a wholly different plane.

Man is synchronized to forget his Creator, and even the fact that he, man, is a created being. The seed of his body, out of which his physical life starts, is not created by man, but by Allah in the process of the enfoldment of the world. Why will not man recognize and bear witness of this fact by a life of obedience to Allah's Law?

Having appealed to our own nature within us, He appeals now to the external nature around us, which should be evidence to us:  of His loving care for us and of its being due to causes other than those which we produce and control.

Three examples are given:

·         The seed which we sow in the soil; it is Allah's processes in nature, which make it grow;

·         The water which we drink; it is Allah's processes in nature, that send it down from the clouds as rain, and distribute it through springs and rivers;

·         The fire which we strike; it is again a proof of Allah's Plan and Wisdom in nature.

The Lesson here is to be a witness to the Truth in our lives, our own creation and growth, the seeds that you sow in the ground, the Circuit of Water through streams, rivers, and seas, to vapour, Clouds, and rain that feeds the streams, the Fire that stands as an emblem of Life and Light-all point to your Lord Supreme.

His Revelation conveys the same Message to the pure in heart. Its better you receive it and live, assured of the truth of the Hereafter? Glory and Praise to Allah the Beneficent, Supreme to Justice, Mercy, and Truth!

The setting of the Stars (56:75) ; a number of mystic meanings are attached. Here are three:

·         The setting of a glorious star is a symbol of humility before the power, beauty, and goodness of Allah.

·         It may refer to the extinction of the stars at the Day of Judgement, betokening the establishment of Allah's Justice and the Truth of His Revelation.

·         What is bright or beautiful to our senses may disappear from our ken within a few hours, even though its own existence may continue. All light is relative except the Light of Allah.

(56:83-84), Allah throws a challenge to us, to bring back the soul to the body of our love ones.

     “Then why do ye not (intervene) when (the soul of the dying man) reaches the throat; And ye the while (sit) looking on”

There is a hiatus after "why do ye not?" and two parenthetical clauses, -after which the clause "why do ye not?" is resumed again in verse 86 below, with its complement in verse 87. It is permissible to the translator to add some such word as "intervene" here, to make the translation run smoothly.

The dying man's friends, relatives, and companions may be sitting round him and quite close to him in his last moments, but Allah is nearer still at all times for He is nearer than the man's own jugular vein (50:16), and one of Allah's own titles is "Ever Near" (34:50).

Finally:

The assurance of the Hereafter is one of the strongest features of Faith. For without it the apparent inequalities and injustices of this Life cannot be satisfactorily explained. That was the conclusion of the argument about the future from the examples of Allah's goodness in nature. Now we have the conclusion of the same argument from Allah's revelation through His inspired Messengers.

“Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded". (6:90). May Allah bless us to serve him in all aspects of our lives.

Oh Allah forgives all our dead love ones, our parents living and dead. Oh Allah preserve our teachers those that dead and those that are living make them a great guide for us to Aljannah and not a distractor. Oh Allah me and the Muslim Ummah. Amin

Alahumma infa`ni bima `allamtani wa `allamni ma yanfa`uni! (OH ALLAH! Make useful for me what You taught me and teach me knowledge that will be useful to me!)

Allahu Mustahan