Ar-Room 30:55

The Ignorance of the Disbelievers in this World and in the Hereafter

Here Allah tells us of the ignorance of the disbelievers in this world and in the Hereafter. In this world they worship idols, and in the Hereafter they will also display great ignorance. They will swear by Allah that they did not even stay for one hour in this world. They will mean that there was not enough time given to establish proof against them which would leave them with no excuse. Allah says:

كَذَلِكَ كَانُواْ يُؤْفَكُونَوَقَالَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْعِلْمَ وَالإِيمَـنَ لَقَدْ لَبِثْتُمْ فِى كِتَـبِ اللَّهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْبَعْثِ

(thus were they ever deluded. And those who have been bestowed with knowledge and Faith will say: "Indeed you have stayed according to the decree of Allah, until the Day of Resurrection...") The believers who have knowledge of the Hereafter will respond to them, just as they established the proof of Allah against them in this world. When they swear that they did not stay even one hour in this world, they will say to them:

لَقَدْ لَبِثْتُمْ فِى كِتَـبِ اللَّهِ

(Indeed you have stayed according to the decree of Allah,) meaning, the Book of deeds,

إِلَى يَوْمِ الْبَعْثِ

(until the Day of Resurrection;) means, `from the day when you were created until the day you were resurrected. '

وَلَـكِنَّكُمْ كُنتمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

(but you knew not.) Allah says:

فَيَوْمَئِذٍ

(So, on that Day) meaning, the Day of Resurrection,

لاَّ ينفَعُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ مَعْذِرَتُهُمْ

(no excuse of theirs will avail those who did wrong,) means, their excuses for what they did.

وَلاَ هُمْ يُسْتَعْتَبُونَ

(nor will they be allowed (then) to return to seek (Allah's) pleasure.) means, they will not be allowed to return to this world. This is like the Ayah,

وَإِن يَسْتَعْتِبُواْ فَمَا هُم مِّنَ الْمُعْتَبِينَ

(and if they seek to please (Allah), yet they are not of those who will ever be allowed to please (Allah)) (41:24).

After this, the falsehood and ignorance of the deniers of the Dooms Day is mentioned وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ يُقْسِمُ الْمُجْرِ‌مُونَ مَا لَبِثُوا غَيْرَ‌ سَاعَةٍ that is, ‘When the Dooms Day will come, these deniers of the Dooms Day will start swearing by losing senses after looking at the horrid scenes, that their stay was not more than one hour'. It is probable that the stay referred to here is the stay in this world, because they spent the time in this world in comfort and ease. And when they will encounter troubles in the Hereafter, they, by way of a natural habit of man to regard the comfortable period of his life very short, will swear that they lived in the world hardly for one hour.

The other probability is that this 'stay' is their stay in graves and barzakh. In that case, the meaning would be that they had thought that their stay in graves, that is barzakh, would be very long and the Dooms Day would come after a long period, but it would seem to them that they stayed in barzakh for a very short time, and the Day of Judgment dawned too early. The reason for this feeling is that they will not find any comfort for themselves in the Hereafter, rather it will bring nothing but problems for them. And it is human nature that when he is taken over by problems, he considers the time previously spent in comfort being very short-lived. Although the barzakh is also a place of punishment for the infidels, yet it is much lighter as compared to what they will come across in Qiyamah. Hence they will regard the period of barzakh as very short and swear that their stay in it was brief.

Would anyone be able to lie before Allah on the Day of Resurrection?

It is revealed in this verse that the infidels will lie on the Day of Resurrection in their swearing that they did not stay in the world or barzakh for more than an hour. It is also revealed in another verse that the disbelievers will say on oath that they were not disbelievers وَاللَّـهِ رَ‌بِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِ‌كِينَ (By Allah, our Lord, we ascribed no partners to Allah - 6:23). What needs to be understood here is that it will be Allah's court on the Day of Resurrection, and He will allow all and sundry to say whatever one wishes to say, whether one lies or speaks the truth. Allah is All-Knowledgeable and is not dependent on any one to find out what is false and what is true. When any one will speak a lie, his mouth will be sealed, and his skin, hair and limbs will be asked to give evidence. They will relate the truth in full detail, after which the liar will be left with no excuse. The verse الْيَوْمَ نَخْتِمُ عَلَىٰ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَتُكَلِّمُنَا أَيْدِيهِمْ (Today We set a seal on their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us. - 36:65) means the same. Some other Qur'anic verses reveal that there will be different occasions for the appearance of human beings before Allah Ta’ ala on the Day of Resurrection. On one such occasion, no one will have the right to speak without permission from Allah Ta’ ala, and he will have to speak nothing but truth. It will not be possible for him to speak a lie, as stated in the verse لَّا يَتَكَلَّمُونَ إِلَّا مَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنُ وَقَالَ صَوَابًا (They shall speak not, save him to whom the All-Merciful has given leave, and who speaks aright - 78:38).

No one will be able to speak a lie in the grave

As against this, it is related in some authentic ahadith in regard to questions and answers in the grave that when it will be asked from the infidels ` who is your Lord?' and ` who is Muhammad?' they will answer ھَاہ ھَاہ لَا اَدرِی That is ` Alas! I do not know anything'. If it were possible to speak a lie, he would have said ` Allah is my Lord' and ` Muhammad is His Prophet ﷺ .' It looks rather strange that infidels are capable of speaking lies before Allah Ta’ ala, but not before the angels. But when it is looked at deeply, the explanation is simple, that is the angels neither have the knowledge of the unknown nor can they seek evidence from the limbs to confute the liar. If they had the capability of speaking lies before the angels, then all infidels and sinners would have been carefree about the torment of the grave. On the other hand, Allah Ta’ ala knows even the secrets of hearts, and also has the power to elicit evidence from the limbs and organs for exposing the liars. Therefore, allowing this freedom on the Day of Resurrection will not interfere with the rule of justice. وَاللہُ اَعلَم

Surah Ar-Rum was completed by grace of Allah on 28th of Dhulqa'dah, 1391 Hijrah.

Al-Hamdulillah

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Surah Ar-Rum

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Tafsīr · classical commentary

The Ignorance of the Disbelievers in this World and in the Hereafter