- Interpretation Of Quran / The long version
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- (006) Al Anaam
Dear brothers, this is lesson No. 8 of interpreting Surat Al-An'am.
Language sometimes fails in describing reality:
I will start with interpreting the Ayah No. 27. Allah says:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say: "Would that we were but sent back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, revelations, etc.) of our Lord, and we would be of the believers!"﴿
Dear brothers, the Arabic word "Lau (if)" is a conditional article used to express the third form of the conditional sentence. Thus, it indicates that the second part of the conditional sentence could not be fulfilled since if-clause could not occur. For instance, if you had come to me, I would have honored you", which means that what prevented me from honoring you is your absence. Whereas the Arabic word "Lawla" is another article used in the conditional sentences indicating the meaning of the first from of the conditional sentence in English (the zero form). For example, if there is no rain, crops will be destroyed. In other words, the corps will not be ruined due to the rainfall. These rules are basic in Arabic grammar. In the following Ayah, however, the if-clause is not followed by the other part of it unlike other conditional sentences such as, "If you had come, I would have honored you", "If you had done so and so, I would have rewarded you", or "if you avoided that, you would have survived the agony". Allah says:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire!﴿
Where is the second part of the conditional sentence? In fact omitting the second part of conditional sentence refers to a very delicate indication here, which is that the language sometimes lacks the ability to describe the reality. Though the Arabic language is rich in grammar, vocabulary and structure, it is sometimes incapable of describing reality. This explains why someone says to you, "I have seen an indescribable thing" or, "I am speechless".
Can language describe the humiliation of disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection?
As if the Almighty Allay is saying to us: The torment of those oppressors and criminals, who tyrannized, oppressed, looked down on people and exalted themselves to a Divine Status, is indescribable. Did Fir'aun (Pharaoh) not say?
﴾Saying: "I am your lord, most high",﴿
Did he not say?
﴾"O chiefs! I know not that you have an ilah (a god) other than me﴿
Allah is addressing His Prophet PBUH by saying: If you could see, on the Day of Resurrection, the horrible situation of those powerful people, who disdained people's life and dignity, and if you could see the oppressor, who killed half of his populations, how he will be treated on the Day of Resurrection; how he will be cuffed in disgrace. Imagine his shame, his sentiments, his humiliation, his ugliness and his giving in.
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire!﴿
When a criminal, who stole houses, taking the money he found there and terrifying people, is apprehended by the police, you will see how humiliated he is to such a point that he cannot look you in the eye and his head is down out of shame. The Ayah is very delicate and it means that the end (on The Day of Resurrection) of the one, who oppresses people, who is arrogant, who is haughty and who exalts himself to a Divine Status, will be very humiliating and ugly. His end will be like the end of Fir'aun who said:
﴾Saying: "I am your lord, most high",﴿
He also said:
﴾"O chiefs! I know not that you have an ilah (a god) other than me﴿
And 'Ad when they said:
﴾"Who is mightier than us in strength?" ﴿
These sayings are similar to what oppressors nowadays say, brag about, repeat or threaten others with. Every era has its Fir'aun. The end of those oppressors is so ugly and Allah says to His Prophet PBUH:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire!﴿
If you could see their humiliation, their disgrace, their fear, their surrender, their shame and their shivering knees. As if the Arabic language, despite its vocabulary, cannot express their situation. When one of our era's oppressors (Saddam) was ambushed and captured by his enemies (Americans), all of us watched on TV how they were testing his DNA and examining his teeth while he was showing off. It was the ugliest humiliation.
The eloquence of the following Ayah lies in omitting its second half:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire!﴿
Dear brothers, this Ayah is very eloquent, and its eloquence is derived from omitting the second part of the conditional sentence. You might say, "I saw something incredible" or, "I saw an indescribable thing" or you might say when you cannot express yourself , "I am speechless". We studied in the philosophy of Arabic language that one of the negative traits of the language is its incapability of describing reality.
According to "NLP", it is a fact that the written texts convey only 6 % of the meaning, and by adding a sound, 35% will be conveyed, but by adding a video, 100% will be conveyed. In an Arab country that is located in the South, the civil war lasted for 40 years, but no written text could describe what happened, and even the audio and the videos have been unable to convey more than 10% of the reality that I witnessed. Thus, the language sometimes cannot express the real image of things. Furthermore, the language has a lot of vocabulary to describe its own incapability of describing things. As I have just said, the eloquence of this Ayah lies in omitting the second part of the conditional sentence. The followings are some Ayat of the same nature:
﴾Have you (O Muhammad PBUH) seen him (i.e. Abu Jahl) who prevents* A slave (Muhammad PBUH) when he prays?﴿
Where is the second of part of the conditional sentence? Had you seen the ugly end of the one who prevents a slave when he prays, who does not fulfill his pledges and who is materialistic, despicable, lustful, deceptive, hypocrite, lair and self-centered? He is full of defects, and he is so bad to such a point that Allah omitted all adjectives which describe his despicability, and He says only:
﴾Have you (O Muhammad PBUH) seen him (i.e. Abu Jahl) who prevents* A slave (Muhammad PBUH) when he prays?﴿
Omitting style is positive in some cases:
This style in language has its positive side. When the Prophet PBUH reached Sudrat Al Muntaha (lote-tree) all the Divine Inspirations he got brought to his heart happiness, light, knowledge, closeness (to Allah), wide gate to the universe and unlimited perfection. Allah says:
﴾When that covered the lote-tree which did cover it!﴿
The Ayah manifests another example of omitting descriptions, in which the subject of description is so exalted to be described in words:
﴾When that covered the lote-tree which did cover it!﴿
Allah does not mention any details. It is like when someone says to you, "O, I was afflicted with what afflicted me" to which you might say, "What are you afflicted with?" His words give you the impression that he must have been afflicted with an intractable disease, humiliating poverty, prison or domestic misery.
﴾When that covered the lote-tree which did cover it!﴿
Allah says:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire!﴿
It means: If you (Muhammad PBUH) could see their condition, humiliation, shivering, remorse, regret and loss. As if the language is short of describing the situation of the one who lost eternity.
By Allah dear brothers, by Allah the only Deity, if man in the worldly life is afflicted with all sorts of adversities without any exception, but lies in the grave with flying colors, he will be the most successful person. It is narrated in the relic:
((By My Greatness and Exaltedness, I will not take my believing servant's soul (embracing him in my mercy), before afflicting him against every sin he committed in his life, either by illness in his body, shortage in his sustenance, or adversity in his wealth and kids, till I cover all his sins, and if there is any sin left, I will afflict him with agony before death, till he meets me as pure as he was on the day he was born))
Every good believer will be Divinely tested:
Dear brothers, do not get sad about what you have missed, because when the facts are unfolded to you, you will realize how Wise Allah is in giving you the things you got. Every living soul will be Divinely tested, and every good believer will be tested, but as for the heedless who turns away from Allah, he will be included in the following Ayah:
﴾So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded, We opened to them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given, all of a sudden, We took them to punishment, and lo! They were plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrows.﴿
Accordingly, when you realize that Allah is watching your deeds, disciplining you, reproaching you, afflicting you, making things tight for you, cornering you and reckoning you for even the thoughts, then you should have glad tidings, for you have goodness in you, otherwise Allah will abandoned you, and He will not discipline or punished you. Instead, you will find your path (which is far from Allah) so easy and smooth till it leads you to your doom. Hence, it is better a thousand times to be included in the Divine Providence than to be excluded from it.
Consider the example of a university student, who studies hard and prepares himself for a very high position, hefty income and high social class. You will find him complaining about being behind with his study, about the so many assignments, about the hardworking, about the strict teachers, about the long studying hours and the homework which he barely find time for. On the other hand, the illiterate person will not have these complains, he sleeps till the noon, he stretches his leg, he eats, he goes to the movies and he comes back to play cards with his friends till midnight. The second person does not care about anything. Thus, the one who says that he has no problems to complain about should know that he himself is the problem. Unless you feel that you are Divinely assigned to know, to obey and to please Allah, you are not even noticed by Him.
Ahadeeth about the temporality of misery and prosperity in worldly life:
Dear brothers, there is a crucial indication in omitting the second part of the conditional clause in the following Ayah:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire!﴿
It means if you could but see their ugly situation, humiliation, remorse, regret, disgrace, fear and falling short. It is narrated in the following Hadith:
((Verily, man will face shame in the Day of Judgement to such an extent that he will implore to God to send him to Hell as a better alternative, although he is aware of the severity of the infernal chastisement.))
Dear brothers, when the heedless leaves the worldly life, his regret is indescribable. It was narrated that when the heedless person sees his seat in Hellfire upon dying, he will cry out loudly, and had people on earth heard his cry, it would have caused their death. The Prophet PBUH said:
((When the believer sees his seat in Paradise when he is dying he will say: " I have never been in hardship"))
He will forget all the hardships, whereas the heedless one who lived in prosperity, in a high social class, in the most luxurious houses and drove the most exquisite cars will cry very loudly upon dying and upon seeing his seat in Hellfire, and he will say, "As if I have not seen prosperity at all". One of the most delicate Khutab of the Prophet PBUH is the following:
((O people, this worldly life is a place of grief and is not a place of joy. It is a place of crookedness and is not a place of straightforwardness. Whoever recognizes this will not feel joy at [the achievement of] some hope or feel grief at wretchedness. Allah has meant for the worldly life to be a place of trial, and has meant for the Hereafter to be a place of ramification. Hence, He has made the adversity of the worldly life a reason for the reward in the Hereafter, and. He has made the reward of the Hereafter a compensation for the adversity of the worldly life. Almighty Allah takes to give and afflicts to reward.))
Prosperity and misery in the worldly life are temporary.
Every creature shall die, but Allah, the Glorified and Mighty
***
No matter how long the night is, the dawn shall certainly come.
No matter how long man lives, he must die and be buried.
***
Every man, no matter how long he has been safe,
shall be carried to his grave.
If you carry a deceased man to his tomb
know that one day you will be carried.
Regret upon the Hereafter is indescribable:
Believe me dear brothers, the wisest person is the one who prepares himself for the hour of death. After one of us pays respects to the family of a deceased man whom was buried in front of him, he will realize the big difference between the dead man's beautiful house and his narrow grave. All of us with no exception will be buried in a grave. In all the obituaries the following phrase is mentioned, "…and he will be seen off to his final abode", so what does this mean? It means his house is a temporary abode.
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire!﴿
Their remorse is indescribable. The merchant sometimes closes a bargain from which he makes no profits, despite all the efforts he pays for years to market and sell it. He gets no profits, and so he will shout out saying, "I wish I never bought this commodity". He regrets that bargain because it did not bring him any profits, so what if he lost his money for many years because of this commodity? His regret will be indescribable. This is the kind of regret I am talking about. It is indescribable regret.
Man in the worldly life tastes the deep sorrow upon losing a house, or losing the right woman he longed for due to his hesitation (so she got engaged to someone else). This kind of sorrow fills the heart for years. Man might lose a position or perhaps at a moment of foolishness he might divorce his wife though she is a very good one, and so his sorrow will be indescribable. Regret upon the worldly matters is very deep, but how about it when it is upon the losing the eternity and the Hereafter altogether:
﴾And (remember) the Day when the Zalim (wrong-doer, oppressor, polytheist, etc.) will bite at his hands, he will say: "Oh! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger (Muhammad PBUH).﴿
The following Ayat tell us about the situation of the people of Hellfire:
Dear brothers:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say: "Would that we were but sent back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, revelations, etc.) of our Lord, and we would be of the believers!"﴿
We are alive while we are reading these words. Therefore, our options are still open, so you can repent, you can ask Allah for forgiveness, you can recite the Quran, you can offer deeds, you can spend your money (in the Cause of Allah), you can call people to Allah, you can seek Islamic knowledge, you can be dutiful to your parents and you can raise your children according to Islamic teachings. Doing all these deeds is possible as far as you are alive. In the following Ayah Allah describes to us the condition of the people of Hellfire:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say: "Would that we were but sent back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, revelations, etc.) of our Lord, and we would be of the believers!"﴿
As long as we are alive, options are open for us, and the opportunities to repent, to offer a good deed, to attend a religious session and to seek Islamic knowledge are open to us.
﴾Nay, it has become manifest to them what they had been concealing before. But if they were returned (to the world), they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars.﴿
Allah the Almighty (and the All-Knowing) is telling us that if they were returned to the worldly life, they would certainly revert to their sins and errors, simply because they did not know Allah Al-Wahid (the One) and Ad-Dayyan (Allah the Judge). Had they known Him, they would have obeyed Him, but they did not get acquainted with Him in the worldly life. Therefore, upon returning them (hypothetically) to the worldly life, they would be taken again by its vanity, and they would be overcome by their lusts.
﴾They will say: "Our Lord! Our wretchedness overcame us﴿
Real stories about people whom were Divinely warned but in vain:
Allah says:
﴾ And indeed they are liars.﴿
Man will say the truth under torturing, but upon survival, he will go back to his Kufr. An example of such a fact is the sinners who were in a ship, and suddenly they found themselves amid violent crashing waves. Thus, their ship turned into a feather played with by water, and they were about to be overtaken by drowning. Accordingly, they start saying, "O Lord, O Lord, save us". Another example of this fact is the story I was told by a man who swore to me that he was on a flight when the plane entered an electric field region, and it started to swing and shake till it was about to crash. On that flight there were atheist experts, but they went back to their Fitrah- as my friend told me- and they asked Allah to save them. Yet, after the plane landed, they went back to their atheism.
﴾But if they were returned (to the world), they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars.﴿
A man in Damascus was driving his car on an ascending road, and upon stopping on the red light, he leaned over the steering wheel because of stroke. Fortunately, his wife was next to him on the passenger seat and his friend was just behind him in his car, so they took him to the hospital and he was put in the ICU. After he came to, he felt that he was about to die, so he asked for a recorder and a tape. This man was the oldest among his brothers, and he unlawfully took all the inheritance of his deceased father and left his brothers with nothing. He recorded on the tape that the store was for the heirs, and that building was for them and he mentioned all the liquid money and the assets that he took from his brothers. Two days later, he became much better, and he was fine again, so he asked for the tape and he ruined it. However, 8 months later another stroke took his life. He was given an earlier warning by Allah (through his first stroke) but he did not make use of it. Hence, man should pay heed and follow the straight path of Allah the Almighty.
﴾But if they were returned (to the world), they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars.﴿
Disbelievers seek the worldly life only:
Their point of view is as follows:
﴾And they said: "There is no (other life) but our (present) life of this world, and never shall we be resurrected (on the Day of Resurrection)."﴿
They stick to their present moment, when they have good health, high income, cars, beautiful women and immoral parties where men mingle with women, and there are songs and all sorts of sins. Those people live the present, and they are heedless to future, so who is the prudent? He is the one who lives the future. Who is the foolish? He is the one who lives his present moment only. Who is the most foolish man? He is the one who sings the praises of the past and always says, "I used to be this and I used to be that". Unfortunately, the majority of Muslims sing the praises of the past of this Ummah. They should move on, strive, and participate in supporting this great religion.
Accordingly, the most crucial event in man's life is death, and it is inevitable, so what do you prepare for it? A small clot which might block the coronary artery is enough to put an end to man's activities, position and power, and he will leave everything behind him like his office, cars, assets and money. Not to mention, he will become a piece of news on an obituary, "The deceased such and such". Before becoming the deceased and a piece of news hanged on walls he was a human being. Allah says:
﴾And We made them as Ahadith (the true stories for mankind to learn a lesson from them)﴿
All your hegemony, power, money, financial status, assets and dominance depend on your blood liquidity, and once you have a clot in one of your blood arteries, your life will be over. The death might caused by heart failure, stroke, cirrhosis or kidney failure, given causes may vary, but they all lead to death is the same.
﴾And they said: "There is no (other life) but our (present) life of this world, and never shall we be resurrected (on the Day of Resurrection)."﴿
The disbeliever lives the worldly life only, but when will he melt out of remorse? He will do so when the facts (which he did not believe in) will be unfolded after his death, and the proof is in the following Ayah:
﴾(It will be said to the sinners): "Indeed you were heedless of this, now We have removed your covering, and sharp is your sight this Day!"﴿
Let me assure you that the fiercest disbeliever on earth will certainly believe in all what the Noble Prophets conveyed when the angel of death comes to him, but his belief will be overdue.
All matters are in the Hand of Allah but they are hidden from the heedless:
The Almighty says:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held (brought and made to stand) in front of their Lord! He will say: "Is not this (Resurrection and the taking of the accounts) the truth?" They will say: "Yes, by our Lord!" He will then say: "So taste you the torment because you used not to believe."﴿
Dear brothers, there is a delicate indication in the previous Ayah:
﴾Nay, it has become manifest to them what they had been concealing before.﴿
Man by nature believes that all affairs are in the Hand of Allah, simply because calamities come as a Divine Punishment, but in quest of unreal comfort, he pretends the otherwise, and he conceals his belief and shows people his disbelief. Also, he tries to convince himself that matters are in the hand of this or that person.Some Muslims claim that we have difficult circumstances and some hardships because of the international Zionism. . Therefore, this kind of people refer their faults and foolishness to claimed parties, but when the angel of death comes to one of them, the belief he concealed in his life would stand before his eyes. Allah says:
﴾Verily, all the matters at the end go to Allah (for decision).﴿
In Whose Hand they were? They were and will be in the Hand of Allah, but in the worldly life, the heedless people believe that matters are in the hand of this powerful party or that powerful country or in the hands of the unicorn (George W Bush) who is bombing cities and imposing an economic siege (on Islamic countries like Iraq).
﴾And there will become apparent to them from Allah, what they had not been reckoning.﴿
It will become clear to them that all matters are in the Hand of Allah, but the heedless man has not realized this fact, whereas it is crystal clear in the eyes of the believer who sees that matters are in the Hand of Allah. On the Day of Resurrection, all the facts, which the heedless doubted, will be crystal clear to all of them:
﴾Nay, it has become manifest to them what they had been concealing before.﴿
Allah gave the disbelievers all the means to guide them to Him, but they did not believe:
The second fact: Allah gave them all the means to guide them to His path, only they did not believe:
﴾Nay, it has become manifest to them what they had been concealing before. But if they were returned (to the world), they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars* And they said: "There is no (other life) but our (present) life of this world, and never shall we be resurrected (on the Day of Resurrection)."* If you could but see﴿
Their situation will be as follows:
﴾When they will be held (brought and made to stand) in front of their Lord!﴿
They suffer grave humiliation.
﴾And truly you have come unto Us alone (without wealth, companions or anything else) as We created you the first time. ﴿
All the oppressors have the authority on earth to attack others using their navy fleets, their hundreds of jet fighters and even their nuclear weapons, and they have the upper hand above all people in the worldly life, but on the Day of Resurrection:
﴾And truly you have come unto Us alone (without wealth, companions or anything else) as We created you the first time. ﴿
The satisfying Aqidah to the corrupted person is to believe that there is no Hereafter:
Allah says:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held (brought and made to stand) in front of their Lord! He will say: "Is not this (Resurrection and the taking of the accounts) the truth?"﴿
Is Islam not the true religion? Is the Quran not Allah's Book? Is Zina (fornication) not forbidden? The powerful countries declined adding an Islamic country to the common market unless this country declares that Zina is not a crime, but it is a normal behavior like drinking a glass of water, but is Zina not Haram (forbidden)? Is Riba (usury) not Haram? Everything Divinely forbidden and everything Divinely reported to us will become witnessed facts by every living soul upon death:
﴾(It will be said to the sinners): "Indeed you were heedless of this, now We have removed your covering, and sharp is your sight this Day!"﴿
These facts will be seen again on the Day of Resurrection:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held (brought and made to stand) in front of their Lord! He will say: "Is not this (Resurrection and the taking of the accounts) the truth?" They will say: "Yes, by our Lord!"﴿
They will not only confess but also swear by Allah while confessing:
﴾He will then say: "So taste you the torment because you used not to believe."﴿
The Arabic letter "Ba'" in this Ayah (which is translated into the word "because") indicates the reason behind their torment; because they disbelieved in this religion, in the acts of worship and in Shari'ah (Islamic laws), they will taste the torment:
﴾He will then say: "So taste you the torment because you used not to believe."* They indeed are losers who denied their Meeting with Allah , until all of a sudden, the Hour (signs of death) is on them, and they say: "Alas for us that we gave no thought to it," while they will bear their burdens on their backs; and evil indeed are the burdens that they will bear!﴿
The Arabic word "Qad" (which is translated into the word "indeed") indicates confirmation, and in the Ayah it confirms the fact that the loss (in the Hereafter) is inevitable for those who disbelieved in meeting with Allah, who denied meeting with Him and who did so in order to do whatever they wish in the worldly life. Since the disbelievers' lust controlled them, denying the Hereafter pleased them. This is the way of all sinners, for they believe that all we have is the worldly life, and they try to prove it by saying, "Who has got back from his death and told us what happened after death?" Denying the Hereafter brings comfort to them.
Intact reasoning never believes that life ends with no reckoning:
The lazy student promptly believes a hoax, such as, "Due to the bad circumstances, the exams will be delayed a month, or they will be delayed for an entire study year", without verifying it because believing it brings comfort to him. In fact man holds on to any idea which relieves him from remorse or self-compunction. Pay attention to the following Hadith:
((My intercession is assured for the sinners of my Ummah(Islamic nation).))
The heedless man will be so delighted upon reading it, because according to his misunderstanding of the Hadith, he can commit major sins and he will be included in the Prophet's intercession on the Day of Resurrection. Such a person will go with anything (even if it is not true) that brings comfort to him. Consider this other example, if someone has just bought a new car, and he was told that according to a new act the government will decrease the customs duties by 100%, this man will disbelieve this piece of news, but do you know why? Because it bothers him (he already paid the customs duties of his car in full), whereas the one who has not bought a car yet will believe the news. Hence, people follow what brings psychological comfort to them. Allah says:
﴾ They indeed are losers who denied their Meeting with Allah﴿
The losers are those who disbelieve in meeting with Allah.
Dear brothers, first of all listen to the following: It is rather thousand times impossible that the worldly life where there are the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the healthy and the sick or the oppressor and the oppressed, will end just like that without any other life. There must be a day when all accounts will be settled. It is impossible to believe that people like the one who wrecked 70.000 houses on the heads of their owners, another who bombed people with burning bombs, a third who killed 10.000 people in a matter of seconds and a fourth who threw an atomic bomb on Japan killing 300.000 people in three seconds, will go unpunished and then life will be over. This thought contradicts the universe which speaks out the Greatness of its Creator, and Justice is part of Allah's Perfection. Concerning this point, a scholar disagreed with other scholars believing that the evidence of the existence of the Hereafter is not only mentioned in the Divine Reporting (in Quran), but also it is proved by reasoning. In other words, the sound reasoning will never accept that the worldly life will end without reckoning. Allah says that in the Quran:
﴾"Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose), and that you would not be brought back to Us?"﴿
Allah will call us to account for all our deeds:
A country tested a new medicine on another weak nation, and her experts were sent there to know the results, so if the medicine causes cancer, they will not allow it in their country, but if it does not, they will allow it. They treated the people in that country as lab monkeys. Is it rational that those who made the experiments will go unpunished? No, it is not. Another country claimed that they were sending food to the needy on a ship, but the food was one fourth of the cargo while the rest was nuclear wastes which were planned to be thrown on the shores of a backward country, which would increase the cancer statistics tenfold, and then those people will die, so can the owner of this ship escape Allah's Punishment in the Hereafter? 700.000 simple minded young woman are forced to work as prostitutes in the west, and the customers are charged 20 times more than the young women get. Do you believe that the one who forces them to be prostitutes will escape punishment? It is impossible. When man believes that he will die without being called to account in another life (the Hereafter), he is actually proving his stupidity.
﴾"Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose), and that you would not be brought back to Us?"* So Exalted be Allah, the True King﴿
Exalted is Allah above the thought that He created mankind in play. Allah also says:
﴾Does man think that he will be left Suda [neglected without being punished or rewarded for the obligatory duties enjoined by his Lord (Allah) on him]?﴿
Some thieves were apprehended in a matter of hours after breaking in houses and stealing money, and the money was given back to its owners, but sometimes powerful figures might steal millions without being caught or reckoned, and this might happen according to earth's laws, but will they go unpunished according to the Law of the Sovereign and the Just (i.e. Allah)? No, they will not.
Torturing any creature will be reckoned severely:
Dear brothers, you should count to million before you hurt even an ant or before you step on it, because the Grip (Punishment) of the King of all kings (i.e. Allah) is sever. Two large plates of the earth crust crashed and caused an earthquake which was as strong as one million atomic bombs, and it was so scary to such an extent that cities where perished off the surface of the earth, islands disappeared and nuclear bases were drowned (that earthquake was a Divine Punishment). Therefore, count to million before you disobey Allah and before you hurt any living soul.
((A woman was punished in Hell because of a cat which she had confined until it died. She did not give it to eat or to drink when it was confined, nor did she free it so that it might eat the vermin of the earth))
What about hurting a living soul larger than a cat? Whoever hurts a cat will be punished. A very rich man in an Arab country passed away, his sons were worried about him upon being told that the first night in the grave was the most terrifying one. Therefore, they hired a miserable poor man and paid him 10 pounds to spend the first night in their father's grave, and he was willing to do that.
When he lay in the grave, the two angles of account came, but they found two persons in the grave, which is totally unexpected for them. The poor man was frightened so he moved which made them start with him. The very poor man was wearing a jute sack with a top hole for his head and two side holes for his arms, and he tied a rope around his waist. The angles started asking him about the rope, "Where did you get this rope from?" He answered, "I got it from the garden." Then, they asked, "How did you enter the garden?" He did not know what to say, so they started beating him severely even before they finished their questions about the rope and the sack. In the morning, he got out of the grave and told the rich man's sons, "May Allah help your father."
﴾So, by your Lord (O Muhammad PBUH), We shall certainly call all of them to account* For all that they used to do.﴿
I never depend on dreams as evidence of any concept, but I just would like to tell you the following story as a reminder of the subject we are discussing. I have a relative who has an aunt, and he used to love her very much. After her death, he kept seeing her in his dreams for eight years in a very bad situation; he saw her burning in fire. After eight years he saw her in a good condition, dressed in white and smiling, so he asked her, "What happened to you?" To which she answered, "It was the milk dear." He investigated about the subject as she used to be a stepmother to her husband's children. He knew that whenever she intended to give the children a glass of milk, she used to give her children a full glass of milk while she gave her husbands' children a glass of milk mixed with water 50/50. Hence, count to million before you disobey Allah, but count even to billion before you oppress a creature.
﴾So, by your Lord (O Muhammad PBUH), We shall certainly call all of them to account* For all that they used to do.﴿
Allah will show us the tape of the deeds we did in the worldly life:
Allah says:
﴾If you could but see when they will be held (brought and made to stand) in front of their Lord! He will say: "Is not this (Resurrection and the taking of the accounts) the truth?" They will say: "Yes, by our Lord!" He will then say: "So taste you the torment because you used not to believe."* They indeed are losers who denied their Meeting with Allah , until all of a sudden, the Hour (signs of death) is on them, and they say: "Alas for us that we gave no thought to it," while they will bear their burdens on their backs; and evil indeed are the burdens that they will bear!﴿
A man who used to live in an eastern European county told me once that he violated the law, and upon interrogating him, the police showed him a video of his violation and they rested their case promptly (for he was speechless).
﴾(It will be said to him): "Read your book. You yourself are sufficient as a reckoner against you this Day."﴿
Your life's tape will be displayed to you by Allah with all the deeds you did, and it will even be in colors, starting with your birth and ending with your death. This tape is an irrefutable evidence of all your deeds in the worldly life. Hence:
﴾They indeed are losers who denied their Meeting with Allah , until all of a sudden, the Hour (signs of death) is on them, and they say: "Alas for us that we gave no thought to it," while they will bear their burdens on their backs; and evil indeed are the burdens that they will bear!﴿
Their doom lies in these burdens among which are lies, hypocrisy, deception, defrauding, earning unlawful money and helping the oppressors in their oppression, and they will pay for all these sins.
﴾And the life of this world is nothing but play and amusement. But far better is the house in the Hereafter for those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V.2:2). Will you not then understand?﴿
Next lecture we will start with interpreting this Ayah insha' Allah.
