Salaam and welcome to another episode of our weekly series titled “Path towards Enlightenment” which is an endeavour to make you and us familiar with an easy and fluent explanation of God’s Final Scripture to all mankind, the holy Qur’an that was revealed to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

As you know, last week we took up explanation of Surah Hadeed”, which is number 57 in the serial order of compilation of the holy Qur’an and mentions the heavy metallic element called Hadeed or “Iron” as being sent down by God to endow the earth itself with mighty force, and provide humanity with the many benefits of its structural strength, as well as all the great tests of faith that arise from this. The Surah presents several Divine Attributes, then proceeds with the grandeur of the Holy Qur’an, the state of believers and hypocrites on the Day of Resurrection, accounts of the past nations, and spending in the way of Allah for establishment of social justice. It criticizes monasticism and social seclusion, and mentions the response received from the public by the previous prophets,

We continue from where we left you last week, and here are Ayahs 10 and 11:

“Why should you not spend in the way of Allah, while to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth? Not equal are those of you who spent and fought before the victory (of Muslims in Mecca). They are greater in rank than those who have spent and fought afterwards. “Yet Allah has promised the best reward to each and Allah is well aware of what you do.

“Who is it that will lend Allah a good loan, that He may multiply it for him and [that] there will be noble reward for him.”

If you might recall, last Friday in our explanation of the previous Ayahs of this Surah, we said mere expression of faith in God has no value without practical display of what the Prophet has taught, including helping the poor and the needy, in view of the fact that the wordings of the Holy Qur’an are among the best and everlasting signs in this regard.

The Ayahs that we recited to you now, point to the fact that everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to the Almighty Creator and out of His infinite mercy people have been temporarily given worldly properties from which they ought to spend in the way of Allah to Whom is the eventual return of all. The believers are then promised Divine Rewards, saying that those who had expended in Allah's Cause before the peaceful surrender of Mecca and had defended Islam in the battles imposed by the infidel Arabs are not on a par with those who did likewise following the victory of the Muslims. It should be noted that before the victory in Mecca, the Muslims were a poor community, so those who spent in the cause of Allah in such days of distress are superior to those who spent after the removal of poverty when economic prosperity was achieved.

It is a historical fact that the wealth of the Prophet’s deceased wife, Hazrat Khadijah (peace upon her), that was the inheritance of Hazrat Fatemah Zahra (peace upon her) and her children, was spent to feed not only the displaced Muslim immigrants to Mecca but also to strengthen the defence of Medina in the face of the constant military attacks of the infidel Arabs of Mecca. As for active fighting in the way of Allah, it was the valour of the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), that won all the battles imposed by the infidel Arabs.

Ayah 11 encourages believers to provide interest-free loans to their brethren-in-faith, calling such goodly actions as “loans to Allah”, in view of the fact that interest-free loans safeguard people's prestige, removes poverty, increases love and affection, prevents usury, strengthens the economic structure of the society, controls greed and miserliness, guarantees distribution of wealth, and growth in the culture of cooperation and collective development.

1. Charity for good causes brings rewards from Allah and assures the collective development of the society.
2. Interest-free loans promotes the spirit of brotherhood, prevents exploitation, and strengthens the economic structure of the society by removing poverty Music

Now let us listen to Ayahs 12 and 13 of the same Surah:

“The day when you will see the faithful, men and women, with their light moving swiftly before them and on their right, [and greeted with the words by the angels:] ‘There is good news for you today, (with) gardens with streams running in them to remain in them forever; that is the great success.’

“The day the hypocrites, men and women, will say to the faithful, ‘Please let up on us, that we may glean something from your light!’ They will be told: ‘Go back and grope for light!’ Then there will be set up between them a wall with a gate, with mercy on its interior and punishment toward its exterior.”

These Ayahs refer to resurrection and mean to say that on the Day of Judgement the light of faith and good deeds, which will be on the right side of all true believers, whether men or women, will guide them to their destination in paradise, where they will be greeted by the angels and ushered into gardens of perpetual bliss, equipped with all sorts of Divine bounties.

On the Day of Resurrection, none shall carry the burden of another and no person can recommend others, except those who are given permission by Almighty Allah to recommend whosoever of the believers they find suitable for receiving mercy and forgiveness from Allah.

It means that on that Day, the pleas of the hypocrites and disbelievers to the true believers to rescue them will be in vain because they had died in the state of denial of truth and were immersed in sins. A wall or barrier (record of deeds) will divide the true believers from the hypocrites and the disbelievers, though communication between them will not be cut off, so that the evil doers must realize that the mercy and grace available to those who do good was within their reach as well, but due to their own rejection of monotheism and the teachings of the Prophet, instead of mercy now the wrath of Allah, envelopes them.

These Ayahs teach us that:

1. Men and women are equal in achieving moral and spiritual virtues.
2. The light of faith will guide the faithful toward paradise on Judgement Day.
3. Those who did not come out of the darkness of ignorance, polytheism, atheism, and hypocrisy will remain in darkness in the Hereafter.

In conclusion of this week’s episode, here are Ayahs 14 and 15 of surah Ḥadeed:

“They will call out to them, ‘Did we not use to be with you?’ They will say, ‘Yes! But you cast yourselves into temptation, and you awaited and were doubtful, and hopes deceived you until the edict of Allah arrived, and the Deceiver deceived you concerning Allah.

“So today no ransom will be taken from you, nor from the faithless. The Fire will be your abode: it is your refuge and an evil destination.”

These Ayahs mean to say that in response to the pleas of the hypocrites who would remind the believers of how they had lived with one another during the transient life of the mortal world, they will be told that instead of believing in God and the teachings of the Prophet, you persisted in your disbelief and life of sins, so our paths and destinations are different now. In other words, the hypocrites and the disbelievers ruined their own selves by failing to avail of the proximity with the believers during the earthly life. It also means that even if such persons claim their acquaintance and association with the Prophet, they will be told that since they did not believe him in their hearts, companionship with the Prophet will not save them from the punishment of the eternal fire.

In this world people may overcome their problems and punishment through ransom, but on the Day of Judgement, there is no questions of any ransom or rescue from their evil fate.

These Ayahs teach us the following points:

1. People are rewarded or punished according to their deeds not acquaintance.
2. A life of disbelief and sins entails the punishment of hell in the Hereafter.
3. There won’t be any ransom or rescue on Judgement Day for the disbelievers and hypocrites.

RM/AS/SS