We start from where we left you last Friday and here are ayahs 27 to 30 of Surah Saffaat:

7. وأقْبل بعْضهمْ على بعْضٍ یتساءلون
8. قالوا إنّکمْ کنتمْ تأْتوننا عن الْیمین
9. قالوا بل لّمْ تکونوا مؤْمنین
10. وما کان لنا علیْکم مّن سلْطانٍ بلْ کنتمْ قوْمًا طاغین

 

 “Some of them will turn to others, questioning each other.”

“They will say, ‘Indeed you used to accost us peremptorily.”

“They will answer, ‘Rather you [yourselves] had no faith.”

“We had no authority over you. Rather you [yourselves] were a rebellious lot.”

If you remember last week we said that on the Day of Resurrection God orders the angels to stop the unbelievers and sinners for questioning before they are cast into hell. They 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.

The ayahs that we recited to you now indicate that they will blame each other, saying if not for your deception we would have avoided the fire of hell.  The answer given by the leaders to their deceived followers is that you yourselves denied the prophets and the scriptures, and came to us. We did not force you; your own rebellious nature made you deny the truth.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. On the Day of Resurrection the blame game of the unbelievers and those that had misled them will be of no avail.
2. External and environmental factors do not force a person to commit sin or deny God and His commandments, and whatever the unbelievers and the sinners did was because of their own intransigence and denial of manifest truth. 

Now we listen to and read ayahs 31 to 33 of Surah Saffaat:

7. فحقّ علیْنا قوْل ربّنا إنّا لذائقون
8. فأغْویْناکمْ إنّا کنّا غاوین
9. فإنّهمْ یوْمئذٍ فی الْعذاب مشْترکون

 

 “So our Lord’s word became due against us that we shall indeed taste [the punishment].”

“So we perverted you, for we were perverse [ourselves].”

“So that day they will share in the punishment.”

Here the dialogue between the unbelievers and their leaders who had misled them is illustrated and means to serve as a warning to mankind against being deceived in the transient life of the mortal world by neglecting to use their God-given intellect and contemplating upon the message of the Prophets. On that Day, when everybody would try to acquit himself/herself from another, and even try to put his/her own sin on the other one’s shoulder, it will be of no avail, since neither can prove their innocence. Therefore, this ayah implies that on that Day, everyone irrespective of being follower or leader, are sharers in the punishment of Allah.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. On the Day of Resurrection, the unbelievers and the sinners will confess to their wrongdoing and acknowledge that the Prophets had warned them of the consequences of this, but this confession is useless.
2. One should avoid association with the wicked, the sinners, and the unbelievers, because such association will lead to hell.
3. Corrupt and immoral persons should never be accepted as leaders of the society, since they will lead their followers to punishment of hell.

Now we listen to and read  ayahs 34 and 35 of Surah Saffaat:

7. إنّا کذلک نفْعل بالْمجْرمین
8. إنّهمْ کانوا إذا قیل لهمْ لا إله إلاّ اللّه یسْتکْبرون

“Indeed that is how We deal with the guilty.”

“Indeed it was they who, when they were told, ‘There is no god except Allah,’ used to be disdainful,”

The first ayah indicates that Allah implicitly says that He will deal with the guilty seriously by His punishment. This is the everlasting way of treatment of Allah; a way of treatment that has originated from the law of justice. The root of all their deviations was mostly pride, self-admiration and assumption, refusing the clear right, having obstinacy and often insisting on the wrong customs and false imitations, and looking at everything contemptuously.

The opposite point of pride is humbleness and submission to the Truth, and the true Islam is only this. That pride is the cause of wretchedness, and this humbleness and submission is the source of happiness.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The All-Merciful God, after showing immense mercy, punishes the guilty who rejected manifest truth.
2. The root cause of sin, crime and deviation is arrogance and contemptuous attitude towards God, His commandments, His Prophets, and moral virtues.

Now we listen to and read ayahs 36 to 38 of Surah Saffaat:

7. ویقولون أئنّا لتارکوا آلهتنا لشاعرٍ مّجْنونٍ
8. بلْ جاء بالْحقّ وصدّق الْمرْسلین
9. إنّکمْ لذائقوا الْعذاب الألیم

 “And [they would] say, ‘Shall we abandon our gods for a crazy poet?”

“Rather he has brought [them] the truth, and confirmed the [earlier] prophets.”

“Indeed you will taste the painful punishment,”

This ayah implies that for this great sin of theirs the polytheists brought a clumsy excuse, and always they murmured: Shall we give up our gods for the sake of a crazy poet?”

They called Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) a poet because his statements deeply influenced the hearts of those seeking truth and his highly eloquent speech was no match for them. They called him crazy, because he did not follow the current custom of his environment, and he stood against the superstitious beliefs of the pagan Arabs.

Since they rejected manifest truth of the Prophets whose message was for their own benefit, they will taste the everlasting punishment.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Prejudice and misleading thoughts are obstacles to acceptance of truth.
2. The unbelievers resort to slander and humiliation in a bid to prevent spread of the Prophets’ invitation.
3. The teachings of all the prophets are in the same direction. They all invite people to monotheism and worship of the One and Only God.