Quran Garden

Imagine a time when every nation will have its Messenger standing before them, and the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, will be there too, as a witness over everyone.  On which side will you be on that day?  It's a terrifying thought, indeed. 

Session 617

Chapter 4

Verse 42

On that day, those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that they were leveled with the earth.  They will not be able to block their words from God.

(Chapter 4: Verse 42)

Let's begin with the phrase "On that Day" and ask: What day is God referring to?  It is the Day of Judgment when God brings forth a witness from every community and brings you, Muhammad, as a witness over them.  At that terrifying moment, "those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that they were leveled with the earth." Why?  Because they are suddenly face-to-face with the reality they denied all their lives.  They never took faith seriously and mocked the words of God's Messengers as silly poetry, magic, or relics from the past.  So when the Day of Resurrection takes them by surprise, they will wish to be one with the dirt.  When you are very angry with a person, you say: "I will level so-and-so to the ground," meaning you will trample him down until he is lying flat and motionless.

The verse continues, "They will not be able to block their words from God." We ask: how is it that they will be forced to talk to God, yet in another verse of the Quran, God says to them,

He will say: "Remain condemned in it, and do not speak to Me." (23:108)

We answer that the dealings of the disbelievers with their Lord in the Hereafter go through stages.  At the first stage of standing before the Lord to answer for their deeds, they speak and lie as the following verses illustrate,

Then their only excuse will be to say, "By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists." (6:23)

And in another chapter, they talk about the idols they worshipped,

Those who choose other protectors besides Him, saying, "We only worship them because they bring us nearer to God." (from 39:3)

Then, in the next stage, after they finished spewing their lies, speech will pour out of the disbeliever uncontrollably, and he or she will have no power to hold it back.  To "block" means to obstruct something that naturally flows by suppressing it.  But in the Hereafter, after spewing their lies, not one of them will be able to stop the truth from pouring out.  How?  Because the power of speech will no longer be confined to the tongue, as in our worldly life.  Instead, the disbeliever will find him or herself making all kinds of admissions of their sins with their limbs!  Yes, the tongue will testify, the skin will testify, so will the hands, legs, ears, and more.  The matter is completely out of their control.  On the Day of Judgment, there is only One who is capable; Only One with the authority and absolute power:  Allah Almighty.  Everyone else is subject to His power.  He says,

The Day when they will come out and nothing about them will be concealed from God.  To whom belongs absolute Sovereignty today?  To God, the One, the Conqueror!  (40:16)

Why would your body confess and speak against you?  Let me clarify with an example.  Suppose a battalion of soldiers is engaged in battle.  Each soldier must listen to and obey the commands of the battalion's ranking officer, even if he strongly disagrees with the command.  Due to the battalion leader's poor leadership, the battle was lost.  When the unit returns to base and the soldiers meet with the General, they can now complain about the officer's poor leadership. 

You will one day stand before Allah to answer for your deeds in this world.  When the Almighty created you, He created your limbs passive to your will.  Allah directed you to obey His commands and avoid His prohibitions.  Whatever you choose for yourself, your body will follow your command.  If you choose to drink Alcohol, God forbid, your legs will walk you to the bar, your tongue will ask for the drink, and your hand will grab it and raise it to your mouth.  They bend to your will while hating you, just as the soldiers obeyed the commander during battle while resenting him.  Then, in the Hereafter, when those limbs go before their Creator, they complain to Allah and say, "O Lord, he did such-and-such with me, and I was—O Lord—overpowered by the authority You granted him." The authority you have over your body today will be taken from you on the Day of Judgment.  God says,

And the day when the enemies of God will be raised up and gathered for the Fire.  They will be driven in arrays.  Until when they reach it, their ears, their eyes, and their skins will bear witness against them as to all that they did.  They will say to their skins, 'Why did you testify against us?' and their skins will reply, 'God, who gave speech to everything, has given us speech- it was He who created you the first time, and to Him you have been returned.  (41:19-21)

It is as though the limbs carried out the will of the disobedient person while hating them.  They longed for the opportunity to stand before Allah and complain.  God says,

On that day, those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that they were leveled with the earth.  They will not be able to block their words from God.

(Chapter 4: Verse 42)

And in another chapter,

Indeed We have warned you of a punishment near at hand.  On the Day when every person will see what their own hands have sent ahead for them, when the disbeliever will say, "If only I were dust!" (78:40)

How did you use your limbs today?