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Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
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Translators: Ahmed Ali ● Amatul Rahman Omar ● Daryabadi ● Faridul Haque ● Hamid S. Aziz ● Maulana Mohammad Ali ● Pickthall ● Sarwar ● Shakir ● Yusuf Ali
Recitation by Mishary Al-Alfasy
Qariah literally means the striking one. Qar is to strike one thing upon
another so severely as to produce a noise. In view of this literal meaning, the
word qariah is used for a dreadful disaster and a great calamity. At another
place in the Quran this word has been used for a great affliction befalling a
nation. In Surah Ar-Raad, Ayat 31, it has been said: As for the disbelievers,
because of their misdeeds, one affliction or the other does not cease to visit
them every now and then.
But, here the word al-Qariah has been for the
Resurrection and in Surah Al-Haaqqah too the Resurrection has been described by
this very epithet (verse 4). One should remember that here the whole Hereafter,
from the first stage of Resurrection to the last stage of judgment and meting
out of rewards and punishments is being depicted together.
This will be
the first stage of Resurrection, when in consequence of the great disaster the
whole of the present order of the world will be overthrown; the people will then
be running about in confusion and bewilderment like so many scattered moths
around a light; and the mountains will be flying about like carded wool of
different colors. The mountains have been compared to wool of different colors
because of the existence of a variety of colors in them
From here begins
description of the second stage of Resurrection when after having been
resurrected men will appear in the court of God.
The word mawazin in the
original can be plural of mauzun as well as, of mizan. In the first case,
mawazin would imply the deeds which might have some weight in the sight of Allah
and be, thus, worthy of appreciation. In the second case, mawazin would imply
scales of a balance. In the first case, the meaning of the mawazin’s being
heavier or lighter is that the good deeds will be heavy or light as against the
evil deeds, for in the sight of Allah only good deeds have any weight and worth.
In the second case. the meaning of the mawazin’s being heavy is that the scale
of the good deeds will be heavier than the scale of evil deeds, in Allah
Almighty’s Balance of Justice, and their being light means that the scale of
good deeds will be lighter than the scale of evil deeds. Besides, in Arabic
idiom the word mizan is also used for weight (wazan); accordingly, the weight's
being heavy or light implies the good deeds being heavy or light. In any case,
whether mawazin is taken in the meaning of mauzun or of mizan, or of wazan, the
intention remains the same, which is that the basis of judgment in the divine
court will be whether the provision of the deeds that a man has brought is
weighty or weightless, or whether his good deeds are heavier than his evil deeds
or lighter. This theme has occurred at several places in the Quran which
explains the full meaning.
In Surah Al-Aaraf it has been said: On that
Day the weight will be identical with the truth: accordingly, those whose
scales, will be heavy will alone come out successful; and those whose scales are
light will be the ones who will have incurred loss upon themselves. (verses
8-9).
In Surah Al-Kahf, it was said: O Prophet, say to them: Should we
tell you who are the most un-successful people and miserable failures in regard
to their deeds? They are those whose all endeavors in the worldly life had gone
astray from the right way, but they were under the delusion that everything they
were doing, was rightly directed. These are the people who rejected the
revelations of their Lord and did not believe that they would ever go before
Him. Therefore, all their deeds were lost, for We will assign no weight to them
on the Day of Resurrection. (verses 103-105).
In Surah Al-Anbiya: On the
Day of Resurrection, We will set up just and accurate balances so that no one
will be wronged in the least in any way; even if it be an act equal in weight to
a grain of mustard seed, We will bring it forth (to be weighed) and We suffice
for reckoning. (verse 47). These verses show that kufr and denial of the truth
is in itself such a stupendous evil that it will certainly lower the scale of
evils, and there will be no good act of the disbelievers, which may have any
weight in the scale of good deeds so that its scale of goodness may become
heavy. However, in the scales of the believer there will be the weight of faith
as well as the weight of the good deeds which he performed in the world. On the
other hand, every evil done by him will be placed in the scale of evil deeds and
then it will be seen whether his scale of the good deeds is heavier or his scale
of the evil deeds.
The words in the original are: ummu hu hawiyah: his
mother will be hawiyah. Hawiyah is from hawa, which means to fall from a height
to a depth, and hawiyah is the deep pit into which something falls. Hell has
been called Hawiyah because it will be very deep and the culprits will be thrown
into it from the height. As for the words, his mother will be Hawiyah, they
mean: Just as the mother’s lap is the child’s abode, so Hell will be the
culprits’ only abode in the Hereafter.
That is, it will not merely be a
deep pit but will also be full of raging fire.