“Muster the wrongdoers and their mates and what they used to worship besides Allah; and show them the way to hell!”

Last week we said that the unbelievers, and the unrepentant sinners, upon seeing the fire of hell, realize their folly of having denied truth and now begin to regret their wayward life. They blame themselves and say Woe to us that we used to deny the Day of Judgment.

The ayahs that we recited to you now mean to say that on the Day of Resurrection God commands the angels of the hell to muster and gather the wrongdoers and what they used to worship and show them the way to hell. These are called mates because of the affection that the polytheists had for these lifeless objects and imaginary gods.

Oppression is of several types. In the holy Qur’an, the word oppression, in addition to the oppression of others, is used for oppression of one’s own self. It means the oppressor who mistreats others is actually oppressing himself/herself, and being exposed to the wrath of God.

Along with the disbelievers and polytheists their objects of worship will also fall in the fire of hell to show the helplessness of these supposed deities whom the idolaters had worshipped instead of the One and Only God.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. On the Day of Resurrection, everyone will be raised in the company of the objects of their affection, and in the case of the polytheists, the wooden or stone idols they used to worship.
2. On the Day of Resurrection, no one can save the disbelievers, the polytheists and the atheists from the fire of hell.

Now we listen to ayahs 24 to 26 of Surah Saffat:

 

“[But first] stop them! For they must be questioned.”

“Why is it that you do not support one another [today]?”

“Rather today they are [meek and] submissive!”

In these ayahs God orders the angels to stop the unbelievers and sinners for questioning before they enter the fire of hell. Although the answers they will give are clear to God the All-Knowing, from Whom nothing is hidden, the point here is to extract self-confession as justification for their punishment.

Those bound for hell will be questioned about monotheism and why they denied it to worship gods of their imagination. They will be questioned of why they committed sins and did not seek repentance. They will be questioned of why they ignored the bounties of God, such as youth, health, wealth, and the like, and why these benefits were used in the wrong way. They will be questioned of why they distorted the teachings of the Prophets of the past and of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). They will be questioned why they denied the principle of Wilaya or the divinely-designated authority of the Prophet’s Successor, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).

It will become obvious on that Day that they are totally helpless, neither the powerful nor the rich of the world, can help them.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. On the Day of Judgment, mankind will be questioned of their deeds and why they squandered the blessings of God Almighty.
2. Everyone will be helpless on that Day, and unlike the world, their accomplices, that is, the rich and influential will not be able to help them.