Overview (Verses 4 - 6)

Why a Judgement Day?

The inevitable arrival of the Last Hour and God’s knowledge that does not exclude anything small or large have a definite purpose: “so that He may reward those who believe and do righteous deeds. It is they who shall have forgiveness and generous provisions. As for those who strive against Our revelations, seeking to defeat their purpose, these shall have a most painful suffering.” (Verses 4-5) Everything is based on God’s wisdom who has created everything according to a set measure so as to administer the right reward or punishment for the believers or those who exert all efforts to turn people away from the truth. Those who give credence to their faith by good actions earn God’s forgiveness of any errors they make or sins they commit. They also have ‘generous provisions’ We note that the sūrah frequently mentions the provisions and sustenance God grants. Hence, it is fitting that the happiness they are assured to have in the life to come is described here as ‘provisions’, which in fact it is. The others, who strive hard to turn people away from God and His message will receive some of the worst type of punishment which fits their wicked efforts. Thus is God’s purpose fulfilled.

Within the overall context of God’s knowledge and His purpose the next statement makes clear that those endowed with knowledge realize that what the Prophet Muĥammad receives from God is the truth, providing sound guidance: “Those who are endowed with knowledge are well aware that what has been revealed to you by your Lord is indeed the truth, and that it guides to the way that leads to the Almighty, to whom all praise is due.” (Verse 6)

Some reports suggest that the phrase, those who are endowed with knowledge, refers to the people of earlier revelations who are told in their scriptures about the Qur’ān and its provision of true guidance. However, the Qur’ānic verse has a wider scope. All those endowed with proper knowledge, at all times and wherever they happen to be, will realize this on the basis of their knowledge, if it is truly sound. The Qur’ān is open for all people throughout all generations. It includes enough truth to reveal itself to everyone who has sound knowledge. It also states the truth inherent in the very existence of the universe.

Moreover, the Qur’ān “guides to the way that leads to the Almighty, to whom all praise is due.” (Verse 6) The way leading to the Almighty is the system He has placed in the universe and chosen for mankind so that their lives may be in harmony with the universe they live in. It is the law that applies to absolutely everything that takes place in the universe.

The Qur’ān provides such guidance through the concept it gives believers of the universe: its values, relations, man’s place and role in it, the cooperation of all its parts in the fulfilment of God’s will and purpose and the harmony common to them. It also provides a sound basis for human thinking so as to make it consistent with the interaction between human nature and the universe. This enables man to understand the nature of the universe and its laws so as to use these in a positive way. The Qur’ān also lays down a system of education for humanity, empowering the individual to interact harmoniously with the rest of mankind, and empowering mankind to do the same with the rest of God’s creation in the universe, comfortably benefiting by its nature. The legislation it lays down is consistent with man’s circumstances as well as with the universal laws that apply to all creation. Thus, man does not become the odd one out among the countless communities of creatures in the universe. It is the Qur’ān that leads to that way: it is the guide provided by the Creator of man and the system that suits him. Consider the traveller who is guided on his journey by the engineer who built the road he is travelling on: how fortunate he would feel for having such expertise! How, then, about a guide provided by the One who originated the way and the person travelling on it?