Surah Ar-Rahman Part 10

In the Name of God, Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

Part 10

فإذا انشقت السماء فكانت وردة كالدهان

فياى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

فيومءذ لا يسءل عن ذنبه انس و لا جان

فياى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

يعرف المجرمون بسيماهم فيؤخذ يالنواصىو الأقدام

فياى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

هذه جهنم التى يكذب بها المجرمون

يطوفون بينها و بين حميم ان

فياى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

So when the sky is rent asunder and it become red like (burning) oil.

Then which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny?

Then neither man nor jinn will be asked about his sins

Then which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny?

The sinners (criminals) will be known by their marks and seized by the forelock and the feet

Then which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny?

This is Hell that the sinners (criminals) denied

They will go around between it and the burning water.

Then which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny?

This is a very graphic scene about the Day of Judgement and Hell painted by Ar-Rahman.  Questions some would ask:
1.  Why did God describe such a horrible picture and still describe Himself as Ar-Rahman and also calls it a favour?
2.  Why would God create Hell in the first place if He is so merciful?

Let's tackle the second question first - this was my question when I was young and adults (other than my parents) would always threaten me with Hell when I was naughty.  So, in my childhood, I never really connected God with Mercy or Grace.  Today, there are many childhood me out there, I am sure - some are even adults.  

I think I had the wrong concept of mercy/love at the time.  I thought that a God that love would/could not punish.  But that would violate another important aspect of God, that of justice.  Let's not even go on to the topic of God - let's just look at the dynamics of a parent and a child.  No one can ever say that a (normal) mother never love her child - she would literally give up her life for her child.  But when the child misbehave, does she not punish to administer discipline?  All for the benefit of the child - basically, if the child has no discipline, he will be spoilt.  Thus on this Earth too, do we find that God teaches us discipline through various tests and hardships.

But there will always be those who refuse to learn and continue to violate the laws of God.  I am reminded of this old Malay film "Anakku Sazali" where a man spoilt his child so much that the child grew up to be a criminal and the law caught up with him.  When a criminal breaks the law, we expect justice to be served but quite often, criminals escape justice here on earth and quite often the wrong people get punished.  In order to maintain balance (mizan) and establish justice (qist) when we failed to do so, the Day of Judgement is established.  Did we and the Jinns think we were going to escape (in the previous post) God's justice and accounting?  

Unfortunately for the criminals (those who wronged themselves and others), there is no escape from the balance of God's justice.  The Hour comes when the sky is rent asunder.  In that Hour, even before the accounting starts, we already know what each of us has sent forth.  And that is why God said there will be no questions to be asked of our sins - guilt will be evident on our faces.

Nouman Ali Khan said that the line about seized by the forelock and the feet was to remind the people at the time of how they used to roast animals - tying the head and the feet to a pole which is turned over the fire pit.  It is definitely graphic but that, I believe, is exactly why it is able to convey the message effectively.  The message that if we continue to deny God's favours and therefore are ungrateful and turn away from Him, and are not willing to establish the balance and justice, then this is going to our fate.  

He then reinforces the message by describing Hell - "This" emphasise the nearness of it and its reality - a reality which criminals deny, not wanting to face the fact that there is no escape from the divine justice.  But not only is the criminal threatened with Hell but that he will move from the fire of Hell to the boiling hot water and back - running back and forth trying to escape from one to the other as these are their only two choices.  

Hell, to some scholars, is not a permanent place because of some verses in the Qur'an seem to indicate that.  But it is still a reality.  Because as much as God's mercy, God's justice has to be established as who else can stand up for those whose voices cannot be heard and whose very souls would otherwise go unacknowledged.  Without justice, mercy has no meaning.

That comes back to the first question of why did God describe such graphic scenes and call it a favour?  Precisely because of its shock factor, most of us will recoil and step back to ponder whether we really want to continue in our denials and persist in our wrongdoings.  It helps deter those of us who are willing to accept its message from going down the path to destruction.

May we be amongst those who stop in their tracks and turn back towards God.