Welcome to our weekly programme "Path towards Enlightenment" in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the Ayahs of God’s Last and Final Revelation to all humanity, the holy Qur’an.

We continue from where we left you last week, and here is Ayah 44 of Surah Shura:

“Whomever Allah leaves astray has no guardian apart from Him. You will see the wrongdoers, when they sight the punishment, saying, ‘Is there any way for a retreat?’”

If you might recall in our explanation of the preceding Ayah last Friday we said that since Islam is the most comprehensive set of beliefs, Almighty God advises us to be patient and to forgive those who repent, while specifying the right to punish the obstinate wrongdoer – as per the circumstances.

The Ayah that we recited to you now means to say that those who immerse themselves in sins, including transgression of the rights of others without any sense of guilt or use of commonsense to seek the truth, despite the fact that God the All-Merciful has given them ample opportunities to repent and reform, deprive themselves of Divine Guidance. As a result they fall into the abyss of error, perplexity, and self-destruction. Such wretched persons who deliberately denied the truth will have no guardians or protectors against Divine wrath, when it finally approaches them and at whose sight they now wish, ‘if only there was a way of escape from God’s punishment.’

Thus, on the Day of Judgement, the intransigent disbelievers and unrepentant sinners will realize their error and express regret, and wish if they would be allowed to return to the world to rectify their wrongs, but this will not bring them any relief, since the fires of hell are actually the result of one’s own misdeeds, after the long period of mercy shown to them during worldly life by Almighty God.

This Ayah teaches us the following points:

1. God never misguides anyone, and it is the disbelievers and sinners themselves who scoff at realities and deliberately turn away from the gates of guidance.
2. The oppressors and the deviants ought to realize that nobody can counter the Will of God, and there is no escape from Divine punishment.
3. Regret and remorse on the Day of Judgement shall be of no use, and should have been done during the transient life of the mortal world, where God had given plenty of time and opportunities for repentance and reform.

Now let us listen to Ayahs 45 and 46 of the same Surah:

“You will see them being exposed to it (the fire), humbled by abasement, looking askance secretly; and the faithful will say, ‘Indeed the losers are those who have ruined themselves and their followers on the Day of Resurrection. Look! The wrongdoers are indeed in lasting punishment.

“They have no guardians to help them besides Allah; whomever Allah leaves astray has no way out.”

These Ayahs show the height of horror of the polytheists, the atheists, the deviationists, and all other disbelievers, including the unrepentant sinners, on being exposed to the fires of hell. The oppressors who used to bully and scare people will be in a frightening state on that day. Those who were arrogant in the world shall be in disgrace on the Day of Resurrection. They will be so desperate, humbled, and humiliated that they will be afraid of even taking a glance at hellfire, but will look at it stealthily in a horrified manner. It is their misdeeds that have made them and their followers the eventual losers who failed to be guided while alive. They thus made themselves deserving of Divine punishment, and would be rebuked by the true believers, who would say: ‘You used to be proud of your power and wealth, but now you are so abject that not only you, but also your followers, i.e., the people you misled, are losers. This is the result of abandoning the path of the prophets of God.’

Ayah 46 means to say that that the polytheists who used to worship idols and thought that these wooden or stone objects would be effective in warding off torment, will have a rude awakening on the Day of Resurrection and realize there is no guardian or protector to save them from hellfire. In other words, it was their own intransigence that deprived them of Divine guidance, although God had provided ample time and opportunities for repentance and reform.

From these Ayahs we learn that:

1. Real dignity and humility will become manifest on the Day of Judgement, when many of those who thought of themselves as dignified because of the power and wealth they possessed in the world, will be in perpetual humility and disgrace, while the true believers who had been belittled by them, will be the dignified ones.
2. The greatest loss is to waste the time and lose the opportunities that God the All-Merciful has provided in life for attaining salvation on the Day of Resurrection.
3. Only faith is the source of real dignity and success in this world and the Hereafter.

Now we listen to Ayah 47 as the concluding Ayah of this week’s episode:

“Answer your Lord before there comes a day for which there is no revoking from Allah. On that day you will have no refuge, neither will you have [any chance for] denial.”

This Ayah addresses all mankind, and means to say: ‘Respond to the Divine Call, and lest you miss the opportunities in life for salvation on the Day of Resurrection, acknowledge and act upon the teachings of the prophets, especially the Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). When Resurrection takes place, there shall not be any return for anyone, and consequently no refuge from Divine punishment or chance of denial of facts and realities, since all arguments have been decisively sealed. In other words, this Ayah tells the disbelievers and sinners to repent, reform, and turn to God, before death overtakes them and seals their fate.

We learn the following points from this Ayah:

1. The safeguard against eternal loss and the keys to faith in life and salvation in afterlife is to abstain from all evil and obey the Divine commandments.
2. We should contemplate on the end of mortal life in this transient world, before it is too late.

RM/AS/ME