21. Al-Anbya Page 331 لَا Not یَسْمَعُوْنَ they will hear حَسِیْسَهَا ۚ (the) slightest sound of it وَ هُمْ and they فِیْ in مَا what اشْتَهَتْ desire اَنْفُسُهُمْ their souls خٰلِدُوْنَۚ will abide forever لَا Not یَحْزُنُهُمُ will grieve them الْفَزَعُ the terror الْاَكْبَرُ [the] greatest وَ تَتَلَقّٰىهُمُ and will meet them الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةُ ؕ the Angels هٰذَا This یَوْمُكُمُ (is) your Day الَّذِیْ which كُنْتُمْ you were تُوْعَدُوْنَ promised یَوْمَ (The) Day نَطْوِی We will fold السَّمَآءَ the heaven كَطَیِّ like (the) folding السِّجِلِّ (of) a scroll لِلْكُتُبِ ؕ for records كَمَا As بَدَاْنَاۤ We began اَوَّلَ (the) first خَلْقٍ creation نُّعِیْدُهٗ ؕ We will repeat it وَعْدًا a promise عَلَیْنَا ؕ upon Us اِنَّا Indeed We كُنَّا We are فٰعِلِیْنَ (the) Doers وَ لَقَدْ And verily كَتَبْنَا We have written فِی in الزَّبُوْرِ the Scripture مِنْۢ after بَعْدِ after الذِّكْرِ the mention اَنَّ that الْاَرْضَ the earth یَرِثُهَا will inherit it عِبَادِیَ My slaves الصّٰلِحُوْنَ the righteous اِنَّ Indeed فِیْ in هٰذَا this لَبَلٰغًا surely is a Message لِّقَوْمٍ for a people عٰبِدِیْنَؕ worshippers وَ مَاۤ And not اَرْسَلْنٰكَ We have sent you اِلَّا but رَحْمَةً (as) a mercy لِّلْعٰلَمِیْنَ for the worlds قُلْ Say اِنَّمَا Only یُوْحٰۤی it is revealed اِلَیَّ to me اَنَّمَاۤ that اِلٰهُكُمْ your god اِلٰهٌ (is) God وَّاحِدٌ ۚ One فَهَلْ so will اَنْتُمْ you مُّسْلِمُوْنَ submit (to Him) فَاِنْ But if تَوَلَّوْا they turn away فَقُلْ then say اٰذَنْتُكُمْ I (have) announced to you عَلٰی equally سَوَآءٍ ؕ equally وَ اِنْ And not اَدْرِیْۤ I know اَقَرِیْبٌ whether is near اَمْ or بَعِیْدٌ far مَّا what تُوْعَدُوْنَ you are promised اِنَّهٗ Indeed He یَعْلَمُ knows الْجَهْرَ the declared مِنَ [of] الْقَوْلِ [the] speech وَ یَعْلَمُ and He knows مَا what تَكْتُمُوْنَ you conceal وَ اِنْ And not اَدْرِیْ I know لَعَلَّهٗ perhaps it may be فِتْنَةٌ a trial لَّكُمْ for you وَ مَتَاعٌ and an enjoyment اِلٰی for حِیْنٍ a time قٰلَ He said رَبِّ My Lord! احْكُمْ judge بِالْحَقِّ ؕ in truth وَ رَبُّنَا And our Lord الرَّحْمٰنُ (is) the Most Gracious الْمُسْتَعَانُ the One Whose help is sought عَلٰی against مَا what تَصِفُوْنَ۠ you attribute
(21:102) They shall not hear even a whisper of it, and they shall live for ever in the delights which they had desired.
(21:103) The Hour of the Great Terror shall not grieve them,98 and the angels shall receive them saying: "This is your Day which you had been promised."
(21:104) On that Day We shall roll up the heavens like a scroll for writing. Even as We originated the creation first so We shall repeat it. This is a promise binding on Us; and so We shall do.
(21:105) Surely We wrote in the Psalms, after the exhortation, that the earth shall be inherited by My righteous servants.
(21:106) Herein, surely, is a message for those devoted to worship.99
(21:107) We have sent you forth as nothing but mercy to people of the whole world.100
(21:108) Say: "It is revealed to me that your God is only One God. Will you, then, submit to Him?"
(21:109) If they turn away, say to them: "I have warned you all alike; and I cannot say whether what you have been promised101 is near or distant.
(21:110) Indeed He knows what you say loudly and what you hide.102
(21:111) I think that this [reprieve] is possibly a trial for you,103 an opportunity to enjoy yourselves until an appointed time."
(21:112) The Messenger said: "My Lord! Judge with truth. Our Compassionate Lord alone is our support against your (blasphemous) utterances."
98. When mankind appears before God for its reckoning, ordinary people will be seized by panic. As for the righteous, they will be relaxed and contented for things will proceed according to their expectations. That treasure of faith and righteous deeds which accompanied their departure from this world will stand them in good stead; it will serve as a means of solace, will remove fear and grief from their hearts and give rise to the hope that they will soon be able to see the good results of their striving.
99. This verse has been seriously misinterpreted by some people; this has led to a view that strikes at the very root of Qur’anic teachings and negates the whole world-view of Islam. At the heart of this miscomprehension is the belief that it guarantees inheritance of the earth (i.e. governance of and control over the resources of the earth) only to the righteous; that God will bestow this bounty on them alone. This generalization is then used to derive further conclusions. Some, for example, inferring that the enjoyment of political power is the criterion of righteousness; that those who enjoy it are righteous; whilst those who do not have it are unrighteous. Such people, even go a step further. They look around at those nations which have been ‘inheritors of the earth’ either in the past or currently so, and they note that unbelievers, polytheists, transgressors and sinners have all at one time or another enjoyed ‘inheritance of the earth’. Communities abounding in traits which the Qur’an.
unequivocally brands as sin and evil have enjoyed political power in the past as well as the present. From the likes of Pharaoh and Nimrod to the oppressive rulers of our own day, there have been many who have openly rejected and defied God; yet they have continued to enjoy political power. Because of this, such interpreters of the Qur’an contend that since the principle — that only the righteous will inherit the earth — cannot be wrong, the meaning so far associated with ‘righteousness’ is fallacious. They, therefore, seek a new meaning of righteousness which may indiscriminately be applied to all those who have ruled over the earth, whether they be Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) or Chengis Khan and Halaku. In this pursuit, they are helped by the Darwinian concept of evolution. They try to adapt the Qur’anic concept of salah (rectitude, righteousness) to the Darwinian concept of ‘fitness’ (survival of the fittest).
According to this new interpretation, whoever is capable of conquering land efficiently, ruling over others and successfully exploiting the earth’s material resources is a ‘righteous servant of God’, and his conduct is a model for other worshippers of God for true worship consists of worldly success. Failure to offer this special type of worship and, as a result, inability to rule over the earth will exclude whoever from the category of God’s righteous servants.
Those responsible for interpreting this verse in such a way must, however, face the question: if righteousness and worship are so signified, what, then, is meant by faith? Faith in God, in the Last Day, in the Messengers and in the Books — a faith without which, according to the Qur’an, no good deed is acceptable to God. (See, for instance, al-Kahf 18: 104-6; and in many other places in the Qur’an — Ed.) Additionally, what is meant by the Qur’anic call that one must follow the moral system and the way of life communicated to mankind on God’s behalf by His Messengers? Such interpreters also fail to answer as to why the Qur’an repeatedly states that those who do not believe in the Messenger or do not obey God’s command, are unbelievers, transgressors worthy of God’s punishment and wrath. Had these people, seriously and honestly, reflected over such questions they would have realized the error of their interpretation.
Far from admitting their mistake, however, they have had the audacity to distort the very meaning of their faith: monotheism, the Hereafter and Messenger ship; in short, of every basic Islamic concept. So as to make these conform to their own peculiar interpretation of this verse, they have had no qualms about tampering with the entire body of Qur’anic teachings. Ironically enough, they have even had the temerity to fling at those who disagree with their distortions of the Qur’an, the following sentence from one of Muhammad Iqbal’s well-known couplets: ‘Rather than change themselves, they change the Qur'an.’ All this is because of some Muslims’ obsession with material progress, a progress which has caused them to lose their poise and allowed them to brazenly, and without hesitation, distort the teachings of the Qur’an.
The basic error of this approach is that people take a single verse of the Qur’an and then subject it to an interpretation which conflicts with the totality of Qur ‘anic teachings. As a matter of principle, only that interpretation which is in consonance with the totality of Qur’anic statements and with the overall Qur’anic world-view, can be considered as sound. Anyone who is conversant with what the Qur’an calls righteousness, virtue and piety, cannot then go on to equate these with material prosperity and the capacity to rule. If salah (righteousness) is simply taken here to mean competence and effectiveness, this would run counter to the thrust of Qur’anic teachings when taken as a whole.
Another factor which accounts for their error is the way in which they interpret this verse in isolation from its context and subject it to a meaning which has no other basis except their arbitrary whims. Any interpretation of a Qur’anic verse can only be correct if it is considered in its context. Had this principle been followed, they would have seen that the context of the verse is the question itself, i.e. what is the ultimate end of unbelievers and polytheists? Furthermore, why should we imagine that they would suddenly jump from this question to consider a totally different one? The latter being: what is the principle which governs the entrusting of political power to some and not others?
If we employ the correct principles of Qur’anic exegesis, the meaning of this verse is instantly evident: All it means is that in the World to Come, the inheritors of the earth will be the righteous; the transient arrangement found on the earth today will not endure in the Next, Everlasting Life. The evil-doers and unjust who have had the opportunity to dominate this earthly world will find that the principles operating in the Hereafter are very different.
It is precisely this very point which was clearly stated in the concluding verses to Surah al-Zumar. These verses refer to the Next Life, to the blowing of the two Trumpets, to God’s Final Judgement, to the ultimate end of those who disbelieve, and finally, to the believers’ own end:
And those who feared their Lord will be led to the Garden in crowds, until behold, they arrive there; its gates will be opened and its keepers will say: ‘Peace be upon you! You have done well. Enter you herein to abide forever.’ They will say: ‘Praise be to Allah, Who has truly fulfilled His promise to us, and has given us this land in heritage. We can dwell in the Garden as we will: how excellent a reward for those who work righteousness!’ (al-Zumar 39: 73-4).
It is clear that the verses — verse 105 of the present surah and verses 73 to 74 of al-Zumar — are concerned with the same subject, the inheritance of the earth in the Life to Come.
Let us now turn to the Psalms to which the same verse also refers. It is difficult for us to say whether or not what is known as the Psalms today exists in a pure, unadulterated form. For in the present Psalms there are several exhortations to goodness, honesty and contentment.
For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land. Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look well at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall possess the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity (Psalms 37: 9-11). _. and their heritage will abide forever. The righteous shall possess the land, and dwell upon it forever (ibid., 37: 18, 29).
As for the temporary inheritance of the land in this world, Qur’anic law is set forth in Surah al-A ‘raf: ‘The earth is Allah’s. He bestows it on those of His Servants He chooses.’ (See Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. Il, al-A‘raf, 7: 128, p. 70.) In accordance with God’s will this inheritance is conferred on unbelievers as well as believers, and both the sinners and the righteous share it. It is not granted, however, as a recompense for one’s deeds, rather the bestowal of political power, as stated in the Qur’an: ‘Your Lord will soon destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the land. Then He will see how you act.’ (See Towards Understanding the Qur’ an, vol. MII, al-A‘raf 7: 129, p. 70.) As it is, this inheritance is not everlasting. It does not represent a permanent arrangement. Being a trial, conducted in accordance with God’s Law, it is served on different communities in turn. By contrast, the arrangement will be a permanent one in the Hereafter and will be in accordance with the law, as stated earlier, that the earth being God’s will be inherited only by His believing and righteous servants. Unlike this world, inheritance of the earth in the Hereafter will not be a test to those who ‘inherit’ the earth; rather it will be an everlasting recompense for the good conduct of such people in their worldly life. (For further details see al-Nur 24, n. 83.)
100. This may alternatively be rendered as the following: ‘We have sent you only as a mercy for mankind.’ Be that as it may, the verse clearly means the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be on him) advent was a result of God’s mercy towards mankind. It was Muhammad (peace be on him) who warned and cautioned man and enabled him to gain that knowledge which might help him distinguish truth from falsehood, who explained in clear terms, the way which leads towards man’s advantage and the way which leads to his perdition. The Makkan unbelievers viewed the Prophet’s advent as a curse, holding that he caused dissension among them. They are once again told that what they consider a curse is in fact God’s Blessing and Mercy.
101. The reference here is to God’s promise to punish the unbelievers for their rejection of the Prophet's call—a punishment which might be meted out in a wide variety of forms.
102. This alludes to the hostile criticisms, the conspiracies and the whisper campaigns made against Islam at the outset of this surah (see verse 3 ff.). The Prophet (peace be on him) was directed to tell the Makkans that God hears and is well aware of all that they say. The unbelievers should not remain under any illusion that their utterances had evaporated into thin air and that they will not be questioned about them.
103. The respite granted to the unbelievers had deluded them; it was intended that it would enable them to mend their ways, so that they would not be hastily brought to book. Because they had not been punished, however, the unbelievers continued to ‘entertain illusions. Rather than appreciate God for His forbearing, they fell prey to the notion that the teachings of the Prophet (peace be on him) were false. Were this not the case, they foolishly thought, they would have been taken to task long ago.