Mankind has been repeatedly reminded by Allah in the Qur'an that this life will soon end along with its all worldly pleasures and wealth. And that a day would come soon thereafter when everyone will be resurrected, all alone and all but himself and empty handed. And made accountable for what he did and will be rewarded or punished for what he did in his worldly life. And that none shall be wronged on that day. Such reminders are repeated many a time in the Qur'an so that man should carryout a thorough self analysis and prepare for a better award rather than a torment.
وَاتَّقُوۡا يَوۡمًا تُرۡجَعُوۡنَ فِيۡهِ اِلَى اللّٰهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفّٰى كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتۡ وَهُمۡ لَا يُظۡلَمُوۡنَ
And have fear of the Day when you shall return to Allah, and every human being shall be fully repaid for whatever (good or evil) he has done, and none shall be wronged. (Surah 2 Al Baqarah: 281)
The word tuwaffa [تُوَفَّىٰ] is from the root letters wau-fa-ya and it means “to reach the end, keep one’s promise, fulfill one’s engagement.” And a person will be fully compensated for his deeds without any injustice. It means be careful about the decisions you take in your life. What kinds of loans are you taking? How did you acquire your money? How did you spend it? These are the questions that everyone has to answer.
“…and they will not be treated unjustly,” means that if you gave someone a loan, no matter how small it was, and despite your reminders this person doesn’t return your money, they joke around, you will be compensated for what you gave. The debtor would not be forgiven unless you forgive them. And if you forgive, this will be recorded as charity from your side. [2]
Another explanation of this verse (by Quran Wiki [3]) is that on the fearful Day of Judgement people shall stand defenseless before God to account for their actions. These words cannot fail to move a thoughtful and conscientious person to write off any money he might be owed by some helpless borrower and ask for forgiveness from someone he has wronged or hurt. The day to be feared is awesome indeed. Believers’ hearts dread the events of that day when all will be made to stand in front of God to face the reckoning of their deeds. This verse serves as a fitting comment on a passage devoted to the liquidation of past unfair dealings.
This fear is the powerful ‘voice within’ which Islam kindles in the deepest recesses of people’s minds and hearts to act as a potent guiding force in life. Thus Islam proves yet again how vigorous, well-integrated, practical and merciful it is, and demonstrates that its overriding aim and objective is the happiness and well-being of man as an individual, and of human society as a whole.
An-Nasa'i recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "The last Ayah to be revealed from the Qur'an was, وَاتَّقُواْ يَوْمًا تُرْجَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُونَ "And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly." (2:281). Thus it can be assume beyond any doubt the sensitivity and graveness of this promise made by Allah about the day when every human who ever lived will return to Allah and will be fully repaid for his deeds in his worldly life and that none shall be treated unjustly.
May Allah help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. And ready ourselves to face the strict but just accountability on the Day of Resurrection, praying for forgiveness of our misdeeds so that we could be forgiven. Aameen.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
- The plain translation has been taken from the Qur'ān officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- The exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources:
- Towards Understanding the Quran
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
- Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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