ب س م الل ه الر ح ن الر ح يم In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Surah al-qiyamah An Overview Period of Revelation: Makkan Theme and Subject Matter: When the revelation of the Qur an began, the Arabs who were known for their poetry and articulacy could not beat the eloquence of the Qur anic ayaat. Feeling defeated, they intensified their criticism and opposition. Therefore, we see that the Surahs revealed during the Makkan period are stern and repetitively warn about the tremors of the Final Day. In this Surah, addressing the deniers of the Hereafter, replies have been given to each of their doubts and objections, strong arguments have been given to prove the possibility, occurrence and necessity of the Resurrection and Hereafter. It has been clearly pointed out that the actual reason of the people s denying the Hereafter is not that they regard it as impossible but because their selfish motives do not allow them to affirm it. At the same time, the people have been warned, as if to say: The event, the occurrence of which you deny, will inevitably come: all your deeds will be brought and placed before you. As a matter of fact, even before any of you sees his record, you will be fully aware of what you have done in the world, for no man is unaware of himself, no matter what excuses and pretenses he may offer to deceive the world and deceive himself in respect of his misdeeds. ب ل ا ل نس ان ع ل ى ن ف س ه ب ص ري ة Nay! Man will be a witness against himself, (75:14).
Tafseer Surah al-qiyamah Ayaat 1-15 Man is a Witness against Himself When a Surah begins with the word La [ [ل meaning nay it indicates there is refutation about something. As we study the ayaat that follow we note that there was an argument about Resurrection and life after death which the people of Makkah denied and mocked at. Allah subhanahu wa ta ala affirms its occurrence by swearing an oath. In the Qur an three kinds of human self have been mentioned: ammarah, lawwamah and mutma inah. Nafs ammara is the self that urges man to evil; Nafs lawwamah is the self that feels repentant at doing or thinking wrong and reproaches man for this. This is the conscience; and Nafs mutma inah is the self that feels full satisfaction at following the right path and abandoning the wrong path.
Allah subhanahu wa ta ala swears by nafs lawwamah. A question may arise: why Allah subhanahu wa ta ala swears by nafs lawwamah? Hasan Basri commented, Verily, by Allah, we think that every believer blames himself. He says (questioning himself), What did I intend by my statement? Why did I intend by my eating? What did I intend in what I said to myself? However, the sinner proceeds ahead and he does not blame himself. This indicates that man is not merely an animal but a moral being. He naturally can distinguish right from wrong and holds himself accountable for his choices. He criticizes himself for the wrong he committed and is pleased when he suppresses his nafs s calling to evil. Mujahid commented, He is sorry for what he missed (of good deeds) and he blames himself for it. Such is the soul of a person whose conscience is still alive and believes in Resurrection. Then there is another category of a person who does not believe in Resurrection. He is a disbeliever and mocks at the idea of gathering bones and life after death. Allah subhanahu wa ta ala replied, We are Able to put together in perfect order the tips of his fingers, (75: 4) meaning that His power is sufficient to gather and recreate the bones, and if He wished He could surely resurrect mankind with more than what they originally had. At present, our finger tips are of different length but if Allah subhanahu wa ta ala wills He can resurrect us with all the tips of equal lengths. Nay! He desires to continue committing sins, (75: 5) this is the real cause of man s denial. Acceptance of the Hereafter imposes certain moral restrictions on him which he detests. Man desires that he should continue roaming in the world with complete freedom to commit whatever he wills. He asks, When will be this Day of Resurrection? (75: 6) meaning his question is only a question of denying its occurrence, and rejecting its existence. Allah subhanahu wa ta ala then describes the horrors of that Day. It will not be a tough Day in terms of accountability only but everything that exists on earth today will be presenting a horrifying sight. Moon s light will go away. And the sun and moon will be rolled up. People will be looking this way and that way finding a place to flee. Their gaze will not rest upon anything due to the severity of the terror. The eyes will be dazzled, humbled, diminished, and humiliated. But there will be no escape or shelter. The place of return and the final destination is to the Lord Allah subhanahu wa ta ala. The deeds of man will be placed before Him to judge. On that Day, man will be informed of all his deeds, the old of them and the recent of them, the first of them and the last of them, the small of them and the large of them. He will be a witness against himself, knowing full well what he did, even though he will try to make excuses and deny it. According to Ibn Abbas radhiallahu anhu man s hearing, his sight, his two hands, his two legs and his limbs will be a witness against him. A liar can deceive the whole world but he himself knows that he lies. A thief can devise a thousand devices to conceal his crime but he himself is aware that he is a thief. An unjust and corrupt person can suppress the voice of his own conscience by inventing excuses to stop it from reproaching him but he is fully aware of what wrong he has committed. Therefore, at the time when one appears in the Court of the Hereafter, every disbeliever, every hypocrite, every wicked person and culprit will himself be knowing what he has done in the world and for what crime he stands before his Creator. Though he may put forth his excuses, (75: 15) meaning man will try to make false excuses on that Day but they will not profit him. He will be willing to offer anything and everything on that Day but nothing will be accepted of him.
Ayaat 16-19 Allah subhanahu wa ta ala teaches the Qur an In these ayaat Allah subhanahu wa ta ala is addressing the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and the message is for all of us. He says, This was the initial stage of Qur an revelation and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was still unfamiliar with receiving it. He would hasten to memorize everything that Jibreel alayhi salaam taught him. He was afraid that if he does not grasp it quickly he won t be able to retain the correct way of recital. In these ayaat, Allah subhanahu wa ta ala interrupts the process of revelation and guides the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam as to how to receive the revelation from the angel. Allah subhanahu wa ta ala commanded him to listen first then it was upon Allah to ensure collecting it in his chest, and making it easy for him to recite in the same way as it was revealed to him. Allah subhanahu wa ta ala would explain it, interpret it and clarify it for him. So the first phase was gathering it in his chest, the second phase was recitation and the third phase was its explanation and clarification of its meaning. Why does Allah subhanahu wa ta ala say, And when We have recited it to you, then follow you its recital, (75:18)? It is because Jibreel alayhi salaam would first be taught by Allah subhanahu wa ta ala as to how to recite the Qur an, and then he would teach it to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Here we too get a Qur an recital tip: At first listen attentively to how the Qur an is being recited. Make du a to Allah subhanahu wa ta ala to open up the knots on your tongue to recite it with ease, and increase you in knowledge. When you recite the Qur an emulate the reciter. Then it is for Us to make it clear to you, (75:19) meaning after memorizing and reciting the Qur an, Allah subhanahu wa ta ala will explain the ayaat to him, clarify them and inspire him with their meaning as to what Allah subhanahu wa ta ala intended and legislated. Here we learn two things. First, Allah subhanahu wa ta ala putting this ayah in the Qur an clarifies that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam never spoke out of his own desire. Whatever he taught us is what Allah subhanahu wa ta ala inspired him to say.
Second, the explanation of the meaning and intention of the Qur an and of its commandments was given by Allah subhanahu wa ta ala to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam so that he should make the people understand the Qur an and teach them to act on its commands. We find the reference for this in Surah an-nahl ayah 44, And We have also sent down unto you (O Muhammad) the reminder and the advice (the Qur an), that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought. At four places (2:129, 2:151, 3:164, 62:2) in the Qur an, Allah subhanahu wa ta ala has stated that the Prophet s task was not only to recite the ayaat of the Book of Allah but also to teach the Book. Let s look at Surah al-jumu ah ayah 2 as an example, He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His ayaat, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and al-hikmah (As-Sunnah). And verily, they had been before in manifest error. This tells us there are four main purposes of reciting the Qur an: 1. Tilawah (recitation); 2. Tazkiyah (purification); 3. Understanding the meaning; and 4. Tafseer (in-depth study of the Qur an as explained by the Prophet) Ayaat 20-25 But You Love the Present Life The theme of the Surah resumes. Allah subhanahu wa ta ala narrates the real cause of neglectful behavior towards the Day of Resurrection. He says, The only thing that has caused them to reject the Day of Judgment and oppose the true revelation and the Mighty Qur an is that their only concern is the present worldly life. They are preoccupied and distracted from the Hereafter. For them only those results are important which are immediate and apparent, and they cannot wait for or care about what will happen in the Hereafter. They think they should expend all their labor and effort in attaining whatever benefits, pleasures or joys they can attain here, for if one attained this, one attained everything, no matter what evil end this might lead to in the Hereafter.
Then Allah subhanahu wa ta ala describes the two categories of people and their condition in the Hereafter. Some faces that Day shall be Nadirah, (75:22), the word nadirah comes from the root noon-daad-ra and it means splendid, radiant, glowing, delighted with goodness. These people will be joyful for they believed in the Hereafter, and worked accordingly. For the sake of the delights of Hereafter, they gave up the unlawful pleasures of the world and suffered worldly losses for eternal gains. They were satisfied with their trade and now it was time for them to enjoy their rewards; the first reward being looking at their Lord with their own eyes. This is confirmed by a prophetic narration. In the two Saheehs it is recorded from Jabir that he said, The Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) looked at the moon on a night when it was full, and he said, إ ن ك م ت ر و ن ر ب ك م ك م ا ت ر و ن ه ذ ا ال ق م ر ف إ ن اس ت ط ع ت م أ ن ل ت غ ل ب وا ع ل ى ص ل ة ق ب ل ط ل وع الش م س و ل ق ب ل غ ر و ب ا ف اف ع ل وا Verily, you will see your Lord just as you see this moon. So if you are able to avoid missing a prayer before the rising of the sun (Fajr) or before its setting ( Asr) then do so. Among the ahadeeth, which Muslim was alone in recording, is a narration from Suhayb that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, إ ذ ا د خ ل أ ه ل ا ل ن ة ا ل ن ة ق ال ي ق ول اهلل ت ع اىل: ت ر يد ون ش ي ئ ا أ ز يد ك م ف ي ق ول ون : أ ل ت ب ي ض و ج وه ن ا أ ل ت د خ ل ن ا ا ل ن ة و ت ن ج ن ا م ن الن ار ق ال : ف ي ك ش ف ا ل ج اب ف م ا أ ع ط وا ش ي ئ ا أ ح ب إ ل ي ه م م ن الن ظ ر إ ىل ر ب م و ه ي الز ي اد ة When the people of Paradise enter the Paradise, Allah will say, Do you want me to give you anything extra. They will say, Haven t you whitened our faces? Haven t you entered us into Paradise and saved us from the Fire? Then He will remove the veil and they will not be given anything more beloved to them than looking at their Lord, and that will be the extra (Ziyadah). Then he recited this Ayah, ل ل ذ ين أ ح س ن وا ا ل س ن و ز ي اد ة For those who have done good is the best and extra (ziyadah), (10:26). And some faces, that Day, will be Basirah, thinking that some calamity was about to fall on them, (75:24). These will be the faces of the sinners and deniers of the Hereafter. Basirah is from the root ba-seen-ra and it means frown, contract one s face, looking morosely/sternly, or scowl. Some faces that Day will be dark and gloomy. They will be certain that they are about to be struck by a disaster. They will think that they are going to enter into the Hellfire. We have explained their details in Surah Abasa ayaat 38-42 and Surah Ghashiyah ayaat 2-4.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta ala to choose us from those whose faces on that Day will be Nadirah, and who will enjoy the pleasure of seeing Him with their own eyes, aameen. Ayaat 26-35 Man will realize the Reality at the Time of Death If we make the word Kalla negative, then this ayah means, O son of Adam! You are not able to deny that which I informed you of at that time (death). This will become something witnessed by you with your own eyes. If we consider the word Kalla to be a word of affirmation, then this would be the most obvious meaning. In this case it would mean that it is certainly true when the soul reaches the collarbones - meaning, your soul will be pulled out of your body and it will reach your collarbones. And it will be said, Who can cure him and save him? (75:27). The word raqin [ may be derived from ruqayyah which means resort to enchanting, and also from raqi [ر اق which means ascending. If we take the first meaning then it would mean: this is time when the patient s attendants are disappointed with every remedy and cure, they will say, Let s at least call in an enchanter, who may save him. If we take the second meaning then it would mean: when it is time for the soul to depart the angels will talk among themselves that which group should collect his soul. Should it be the angels of punishment or the angels of mercy? The time of death has approached and his one leg will be joined with another as is done in shroud. This is the last day of the days of this world and the first day of the days of the Hereafter. So there will be hardships that will meet (more) hardships, except for he whom Allah subhanahu wa ta ala has mercy upon. That day man will return to his Lord to his place of return and destination. He neither believed in the Qur an nor the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Rather he was the one who denied them both. This is the disbeliever who used to deny the truth in his heart, and
he used to turn away from acting according to its way. Thus, there is no good in him, internally or externally. Then he walked in full pride to his family admiring himself, (75:33) meaning he was stubborn, cruel, obstinate, wanton, having no concern and doing no deeds. Ibn Abbas radhiallahu anhu narrates from the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam that these ayaat were about Abu Jahl since he knew the truth in his heart yet denied it openly and was arrogant and cruel. Therefore, Allah subhanahu wa ta ala says, Woe to you! And then (again) woe to you! Again, woe to you! And then (again) woe to you! (75: 34-35). This is a definite warning and threat from Allah subhanahu wa ta ala to those who disbelieve in Him and strut about when walking. This means such a man deserves to strut like this while he disbelieved in his Creator and Maker. Concerning this ayah, it has been said that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam grabbed the clothes of the enemy of Allah, Abu Jahl and said to him, Woe to you! And then (again) woe to you! Again woe to you! And then (again) woe to you! At this Abu Jahl, said, Are you threatening me, O Muhammad? By Allah! Neither you nor your Lord are able to do anything, and verily, I am the mightiest person walking between its (Makkah s) two mountains. Ayaat 36-40 Man will not be Left Neglected The word suda [ س د ى ] when used with regard to a camel implies a camel who is wandering aimlessly, grazing at will, without there being anybody to look after him. Thus, the ayah means, Does man think that he has been left to himself to wander at will as if his Creator had laid no responsibility on him, imposed no restrictions and that at no time in future he would be required to account for his deeds? The same theme has been expressed in the Qur an at other places. Allah subhanahu wa ta ala questions, Does man think We have created you without any purpose? Man is certainly better than an animal and has a purpose in life to serve. An animal does not have a choice while man has both choice and intellect. And he will be held accountable and answerable for his choices.
Man will not be left neglected in this worldly life without being commanded and prohibited. He will also not be left neglected in his grave unattended to without being resurrected. Rather, he will be commanded and prohibited in this life, and gathered back to Allah subhanahu wa ta ala in the abode of the Hereafter. The intent here is to affirm the existence of the abode of the final return and to refute whoever rejects it from the people of deviance, ignorance and stubbornness. Thus, Allah subhanahu wa ta ala talks about the beginning of creation as a proof for the repetition of the creation, Was he not a Nutfah poured forth? (75:37). Has man forgotten that once he was a weak drop of sperm from a despised fluid. Allah subhanahu wa ta ala then transformed it into alaqa (a clot), then a lump of flesh, then he was formed and the soul was blown into him. He then became a perfect creation with healthy limbs, as either a male or a female by the permission and decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta ala. So He Who created man perfectly the first time, Is not He, Able to give life to the dead? (75:40) This is an argument for the possibility of life-after-death. As for the people who believe that the whole act of creation, starting from the emission of a sperm-drop till its development into a perfect man, is only a manifestation of the power and wisdom of Allah subhanahu wa ta ala, they cannot in fact refute this argument in any way. Their intellect cannot refuse to admit that the God Who brings about man in the world, also has the power to bring the same man into being once again. Abu Da woud recorded from Musa bin Abi A ishah that he said, "A man used to pray on top of his house and whenever he recited, أ ل ي س ذ ل ك ب ق د ر ع ل ى أ ن ي ي ال م و ت ى Is not He, Able to give life to the dead? he would say, Glory to You, of course. So the people asked him about that and he said, I heard it from the Messenger of Allah. There are several ahadeeth that quote whenever the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam recited such ayaat, he would sometimes respond with bala (why not). Sometimes with Subhanaka Allahumma fa-bala (Glorified are You, O Allah, why not) and sometimes with Subhanaka fa-bala or Subhanaka wa-bala. (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Abu Da'ud). Abu Da woud contains a hadeeth from Abu Huraira radhiallahu anhu saying that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, When in Surah At-Teen, you read the ayah; Alais- Allahu bi-ahkam-il-hakimeen (Is not Allah the greatest Ruler of all?), you should respond to it, saying: Bala wa ana ala dhalika min-ash-shahideen (Why not? I am of those who bear witness to this). Traditions on this subject have been related also by Imam Ahmad Tirmidhi, lbn al-mundhir, lbn Marduyah, Baihaqi and Hakim. This is the end of Surah al-qiyamah, may Allah subhanahu wa ta ala allow us to live by Qur an, aameen. ================================= Join us for a study of Qur an at Facebook or our blog. We are following the tafseer of Ibn Katheer.