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Tuesday 25 April 2023

Rules of the Divine Court: A Day when Man's scroll (book of Deeds) will be produced for him

Man is the most foolish of the species that the Lord of the worlds has ever been made. Although he is very intelligent in his worldly life, he is utterly foolish and naive when it comes to preparing himself for the Divine Court which will be established on the Day of Resurrection. He thinks that he is intelligent enough and will be able to tackle the affairs of the Divine Court and may even hoodwink the rules of the Divine Court or will be able to take shield from his worldly intercessors and get away from his bad deeds.

For such people, here comes a Divine Warning which cautions the man that every action of his being recorded by the two angel guardians and being inscribed in the scroll which will be compiled and produced for him to show him his dossier and asked" "Read your scroll; this Day you suffice to take account of yourself."

This caution is contained in the 13th verse of Surah 17 Al Israa (The Ascend - The Night Journey) given herein under

وَكُلَّ اِنۡسَانٍ اَلۡزَمۡنٰهُ طٰۤـئِرَهٗ فِىۡ عُنُقِهٖ​ؕ وَنُخۡرِجُ لَهٗ يَوۡمَ الۡقِيٰمَةِ كِتٰبًا يَّلۡقٰٮهُ مَنۡشُوۡرًا‏
(17:13) We have fastened every man's omen to his neck. On the Day of Resurrection, We shall produce for him his scroll in the shape of a wide-open book, (saying):

اِقۡرَاۡ كِتٰبَك َؕ كَفٰى بِنَفۡسِكَ الۡيَوۡمَ عَلَيۡكَ حَسِيۡبًا ؕ‏ 
(17:14) "Read your scroll; this Day you suffice to take account of yourself."

"We have fastened the augury of every man to his own neck": therefore, one does not need to take omens from a bird. : This is to remove the superstition of the disbelievers who used to take omens from birds etc., as if to say, "The causes and consequences of good fortune or bad fate exist in man's own person. He merits good fortune because of his own good conduct and good judgment, and likewise, suffers the consequences of evil fate by the lack of these". This was necessitated because foolish people always try to attribute their misfortunes to external causes, when in fact our fate depends on our own deeds, good or bad. If they probe into the causes, they will find that their fate was decided by their own good or bad qualities and judgments.

Tafsir Ibn-Kathir: 
(And We have fastened every man's Ta'irah (deeds) to his neck,) The word Ta'irah (lit. something that flies) refers to man's deeds which fly from him, as Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and others said. It includes both good deeds and bad deeds, he will be forced to acknowledge them and will be rewarded or punished accordingly.

In this regard, Allah says elsewhere in Qur'an:
(So, whosoever does good equal to the weight of a speck of dust shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of a speck of dust shall see it.) (99:7-8). 
((Remember) that the two receivers (recording angels) receive (each human being), one sitting on the right and one on the left (to note his or her actions). Not a word does he (or she) utter but there is a watcher by him ready (to record it).) (50:17-18)
(But verily, over you (are appointed angels in charge of mankind) to watch you, Kiraman (Honorable) Katibin - writing down (your deeds), they know all that you do.) (82:10-12)
(You are only being requited for what you used to do.) (52:16)
(Whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof.) (4:123)
The meaning is that the deeds of the sons of Adam are preserved, whether they are great or small, and they are recorded night and day, morning and evening.

(وَنُخْرِجُ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ كِتَابًا يَلْقَـهُ مَنْشُوراً and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall bring out for him a Book which he will find wide open.) meaning, `We will collect all of his deeds for him in a Book which will be given to him on the Day of Resurrection, either in his right hand, if he is one of the blessed, or in his left hand if he is one of the wretched.'

(مَنْشُوراً wide open) means, it will be open for him and others to read all of his deeds, from the beginning of his life until the end.

(On that Day man will be informed of what (deeds) he sent forward, and what (deeds) he left behind. Nay! Man will be a witness against himself, though he may put forth his excuses.) (75:13-15) 

Allah then says: ((It will be said to him): اقْرَأْ كَتَـبَكَ كَفَى بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا  "Read your Book. You yourself are sufficient as a reckoner against you this Day.') meaning, you have not been treated unjustly and nothing has been recorded against you except what you have done, because you remember everything that you have done, and no one will forget anything that he did. Everyone will be able to read his Book, whether he is literate or illiterate.

(And We have fastened every man's Ta'irah (deeds) to his neck,) The neck is mentioned because it is a part of the body that has no counterpart, and when one is restrained by it, he has no escape. Ma`mar narrated from Qatadah, "His deeds,

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
The word ta'ir literally signifies a "bird" or, more properly, a "flying creature". Since the pre-Islamic Arabs often endeavoured to establish a good or bad omen and, in general, to foretell the future from the manner and direction in which birds would fly, the term ta'ir came to be tropically used in the sense of "fortune", both good and evil, or "destiny". (See in this connection surah {3}, verse [49], and surah {7}, verse [131].) It should, however, be borne in mind that the Qur'anic concept of "destiny" relates not so much to the external circumstances of and events in man's life as, rather, to the direction which this life takes in result of one's moral choices: in other words, it relates to man's spiritual fate - and this, in its turn, depends - as the Qur'an so often points out - on a person's inclinations, attitudes and conscious actions (including self-restraint from morally bad actions or, alternatively, a deliberate omission of good actions). Hence, man's spiritual fate depends on himself and is inseparably linked with the whole tenor of his personality; and since it is God who has made man responsible for his behaviour on earth, He speaks of Himself as having "tied every human being's destiny to his neck".

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Tair, literally a bird, hence an omen, an evil omen, fate. Cf. xxxvi. 19. The Arabs, like the ancient Romans, sought to read the mysteries of human fate from the flight of birds. And many of us in our own day seek to read our future fortunes by similar superstitions. We read in the previous verse that there are Signs of Allah, but they are not meant to subserve the vulgar purpose of disclosing our future destiny in a worldly sense. 
(17:12) We have made night and day as two signs. We made the sign of the night devoid of light, and made the sign of the day radiant that you may seek the bounty of your Lord and know the computation of years and numbers. Thus, We have expounded everything in detail to keep everything distinct from the other.
They are meant for quite a lot of other purposes, as we have explained. Our real fate does not depend upon birds or omens or stars. It depends on our deeds; good or evil, and they hang round our necks.

 These deeds, good or evil, will be embodied in a scroll which will be quite open to us in the light of the Day of Judgment, however much we may affect to be ignorant of it now or waste our energies in prying into mysteries that do not concern us.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
This expression means that whatever is going to befall a person will be a consequence of his deeds. Hence it is tied to his neck in this world. He reaches the presence of God after acquiring his Hell or Paradise in this very world. Nothing is going to happen to him in the Hereafter of which the seeds he does not sow in this world. Hence, instead of making haste in demanding punishment, he should reflect on the arrangement he has made to secure himself from it.

Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
The Arabic phraseology of this verse provides a highly graphic description which uses the word, ‘bird’, in place of ‘action’, as used in the translated text. Thus, we have here a metaphor referring to what flies of a person’s actions and becomes tied around his neck, so that it never parts from him. Thus does the Qur’ān in graphically describing things in order to emphasize its point. A person’s actions do not leave him, and he cannot disown them. The same applies to the wide-open record of all his actions. Thus, whatever he has done in life is laid bare. He cannot hide, ignore or disown it. Both descriptions, of the bird denoting action and the record thrown open, produce a very strong effect that adds to the fears experienced on that very difficult day when nothing remains hidden. Everyone is told to read their own records because, “Sufficient it is for you today that your own soul should make out your account.” (Verse 14)

Let us then be prepared to face our scroll one day. and time is still now that our scroll is written well as is desired by our Lord, and not what the Evil tells us to do, for on Day of Resurrection the Evil will clearly absolve him of his part in derailing man in his worldly life and blame him for listening to him and following his tricks.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى‎) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door. 
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ‏ 
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.

Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.

May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.

Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Rules of the Divine Court on day of Judgement and Selected Verses from the Qur'anYou may also refer to our Reference Pages and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
Photo | Tafsir References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

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 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, additional input has been interjected from the following sources: 
  • Tafsir Ibn Khatir
  • Muhammad Asad Translation
  • Yusuf Ali Translation
  • Translation Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
  • Qur'an Wiki
  • Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
  • Towards Understanding the Quran
In addition, 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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