Quran Garden

Session 435

Chapter 3

Verse 106

On the Day when some faces brighten, and others darken.  It will be said to those with darkened faces, "How could you reject your faith after believing?  Taste the torment for doing so." (Chapter 3: Verse 106)

In our world, black and white complexions result from different environments.  God increases the level of melanin in the skin to make it more protective against sunlight and hot weather.  The skin of a white person lacks high melanin levels, so it is poorly suited for prolonged sun exposure.  In other words, dark skin tones evolved for the benefit of the black person, and the fair skin tone of a white person is historically suited for its environment, so never think that God dislikes the black person in this world.  

Don't we do the same in modern medicine?  Serums are given to travelers to protect them against specific diseases that may be prevalent in the destination country.  Similarly, Allah blessed His creation with immunity to keep them protected in their environment.    

But, in the verse under study, Allah talks about the hereafter where blackness and whiteness are different.  The color will no longer be according to the environment but a sign of the person's deeds.  Moreover, on the Day of Resurrection, you will be amazed to see a person who was black in life radiating with the light of faith or a criminal who may have been white in life carrying a face so burdened with regret that it looks as dark as night.  God says:

As for those who did evil, each evil deed will be requited by its equal, and humiliation will cover them -no one will protect them against God- as though their faces were covered with veils cut from the darkness of the night.  These are the inmates of the Fire, and there they shall remain.  (10:27)

In worldly life, your body and skin color determine the way you look regardless if you are a good or a bad person.  Some scholars say that on the Day of Judgment, the color of your soul is what shines through regardless of your physical characteristics.  God says:

On that Day there will be radiant faces, gazing at their Lord.  (75:22-23)

When you go to a construction site and see a worker bending straight beams of steel into a curve, can you say that a straight beam is better than a curved one?  Did the worker ruin the beam by bending it?  No, he wants to shape the bar and make it suitable for a specific task.  The same applies to our physical characteristics and talents in this world.  A tall person can perform specific tasks that are difficult for a short one, and vice versa.  White skin is susceptible to cancers that black skin is protective from, and so on.  But, in the hereafter, nothing is the same.  God says:

On the Day the earth is changed to other than the earth, and the heavens likewise, and people all appear before God, the One, the Overpowering.  You will see the wicked on that day bound together in chains.  In garments of pitch, and faces covered in fire.  (14:48-50)

When the believer sees the eternal bliss God has prepared, he or she meets it with excitement, pleasure, and happiness.  As for the one who sees his or her place in fire, what kind of emotion would reflect on their face?

The verse continues with, "How could you reject your faith after believing?" Here we ask, who are those who disbelieved after faith?  Are they former Muslims who rejected Islam and died while disbelievers?  Some scholars point to the following verse and explain that every human is born into life as a believer.  God says:

When your Lord took out the offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, "Am I not your Lord?" And they replied, "Yes, we bear witness." So you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, "We were not aware of this," or lest you should say: "Our forefathers used to associate partners with God before us, and we were their offspring just following after them.  Will You, then, ruin us for what those did who rejected Your Lordship and invented that false way?" (7:172-173)

The question "How could you reject your faith after believing?" may also refer to the Jews and Christians who knew about Prophet Muhammad decades before his arrival.  God says:

When a Scripture came to them from God confirming what they already had -even though before that they were praying for victory over the disbelievers- even when there came to them something they knew to be true, they disbelieved in it: God rejects those who disbelieve.  (2:89)

The verse under study accommodates all these meanings.  It also informs us that such people are the source of corruption, divisions, and conflicts.  Had everyone followed the same path of the Lord, humanity would have lived in harmony.  God says:

Do not be like those who, after they have been given clear revelation, split into factions and fall into disputes: a terrible punishment awaits such people.  (3:105)