Tafsir

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.)

Commentaryوَتَرَ‌ىٰ كُلَّ أُمَّةٍ جَاثِيَةً ("And you will see every community kneeling down...45:28" ). The word jathiyah is derived from جُثُو juthuww. It means ` to sit with knees upon the ground'. Sayyidna Sufyan ؓ says that the word means ` to sit in such a way that only the knees and the toes of the feet rest on the ground'. The latter type of sitting will be on account of awe, horror and fear. The words, كُلُّ أُمَّةٍ "every community" means that horrors of Resurrection will be felt by all on the plain - believers, non-believers, and righteous and unrighteous, all of them. There are other verses and traditions that exclude the Prophets and the righteous from experiencing the horrors of the Plains of Resurrection. The present verse is not in conflict with them. It is possible that the Prophets (علیہم السلام) and the righteous will experience the horrors of the Plains of Resurrection for a short period of time - the period of time will be so short as if it never existed.

It is also possible that the word hull is not used in the sense of "every" but in the sense of ` most' - as is used occasionally. From this point of view, the phrase would mean not all the people on the Plain of Resurrection but ` most people' will experience horror, thus the prophets and the righteous are excluded. Some of the scholars take the position that the word jathiyah means ` to sit like the sitting posture in salah'. If this be taken for granted, the difficulty automatically disappears because such a sitting is not out of fear or horror. It is out of respect and honour.كُلُّ أُمَّةٍ تُدْعَىٰ إِلَىٰ كِتَابِهَا ...

Every community will be called to its book (of record)...45:28". The word kitab, according to most commentators, refers to ` book of record' which the angels have been writing in the world. The record-books will be thrown on the Plains of Resurrection and each one will receive his respective record-book and it will be said to him: "Read your book. This day you yourself are enough to take your own account. (17:14) " The phrase ` Calling towards the record-books' purports to say that they will have to render an account of their deeds before Allah in the next life.

Alhamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah Aljathiyah

Ends here