As-salaam wa-alaikum, brothers and sisters.
Summary
Today’s selection is the entirety of Surah 82, Al-Infitãr or the Cleaving Asunder, verses 1-19. This Surah covers three major points – a description as to what will happen on the Day of Judgment; the fact that guardian angels are assigned to each individual, recording each and every action; and finally, Allah Himself will be the Judge on that Day.
Tafseer for this Surah concerns the last 3 verses – when it is asked twice what is the Day of Judgment and then answered in the last verse regarding personal versus collective responsibility.
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Verses
Bis-millahi ar-rahman, ar-raheem.
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.When the heavens will cleft asunder;[1] when the stars will scatter;[2] when the oceans will be torn apart;[3] and when the graves will be laid open:[4] then each soul shall know what it has sent forth and what it left behind.[5] O man! What has lured you away from your gracious Lord,[6] Who created you, fashioned you, proportioned you,[7] and molded you in whatever form He pleased?[8] Nay! In fact you deny the Day of Judgment![9] You should know that guardian angels have indeed been appointed over you,[10] who are noble writers,[11] they know all that you do.[12] On that Day the righteous will surely be in bliss;[13] while the wicked will indeed go to hell,[14] they shall enter it on the Day of Judgment,[15] and they shall not be able to escape from it.[16] What will explain to you what the Day of Judgment is?[17] Again, what will explain to you what the Day of Judgment is?[18] It will be the Day when no one shall have the power to do anything for another: for, on that Day, Allah shall keep the entire command to Himself.[19] 82:[1-19]
Ameen.
Tafseer
Concerning the last two verses asking, “what is the day of judgment?” And then answered in the last verse regarding personal responsibility.
We can speak of rewards and punishments, the fruits of actions, the resurrection and the tribunal, the restoration of true values, the elimination of all wrong, and a hundred other phrases. They might serve to introduce our minds vaguely to a new world, of which they cannot possibly form any adequate conception under present conditions. The question is repeated in verses 17-18 to emphasize this difficulty, and a simple answer is suggested, as explained in the next verse.
The answer is suggested by a negative proposition: “No soul shall have power to anything for another”. This is full of meaning. Personal responsibility will be fully enforced. In this world, we all depend on one another proximately, though our ultimate dependencies are always on Allah, now and forever. But here a father helps a son forward; husband and wife influence each other’s destinies; human laws and institutions may hold large masses of mankind under their grip; falsehood and evil may seem to flourish for a time because a certain amount of limited free will has been granted to man. This period will be all over then. The good and the pure will have been separated from the evil and the rebellious. The latter will have been rendered inert, and the former will have been so perfected that their wills will be in complete consonance with Allah’s Universal Will. The Command, thenceforward, will be wholly with Allah.
This concludes today’s episode of the 17 Verses Podcast. I hope that this selection has helped increase your understanding of the holy Qur’an just a little bit.
Thank you and be well.