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EXCERPTS FROM SURAH

AL-HAJ (Surah 22) 

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ

يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّا أَرْضَعَتْ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَى وَمَا هُم بِسُكَارَى وَلَكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّبِعُ كُلَّ شَيْطَانٍ مَّرِيدٍ

كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ مَن تَولاّهُ فَأَنَّهُ يُضِلُّهُ وَيَهْدِيهِ إِلَى عَذَابِ السَّعِيرِ

O Mankind!  Heed thy Lord!  Verily the convulsion of the Hour

(of Judgment) is a grave thing!

The Day you shall behold it, every nursing mother shall

forsake her baby, and every pregnant woman shall miscarry.

You shall see the people as if drunken,

yet they will not be drunken,

but because so dreadful is the Work of Allah!

Yet, of mankind some will dispute about Allah without

knowledge and follow every rebellious devil.

whom it is decreed that he who befriends Satan

then Satan will lead him astray.

and lead him to the doom of Hell-Fire

AYAH:  1-4

 

 

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ     go to top of page

O Mankind!  Heed thy Lord!  Verily the convulsion of the Hour (of Judgment) is a grave thing!

 

    This Quranic selection is from Surah Al-Haj.  It was revealed in Mecca when the disbelievers were dealing the cruelest treatment to the Muslims.  The disbelievers were cruel and often made vulgar remarks about Islam and Islamic teachings.  These Ayahs describe the events preceding the Day of Judgment, with scary and strong language.

    This Ayah calls on people to be aware of Allah and conscious of Him.  It commands people to fear Allah and heed Him, and to observe their duty to Him.

Then the Ayah describes the events that precede the Day of Judgment, in which fearful natural phenomena take place:

    ·    The earth convulses violently,

    ·    Volcanoes erupt all over at the same time, and

    ·    Terror and confusion seizes everyone.

How long will this last is unknown except to Allah, but even if it is for a short while it is most frightening.

 

يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّا أَرْضَعَتْ     go to top of page

وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا

The Day you shall behold it, every nursing mother shall forsake her baby, and every pregnant woman shall miscarry.

 

    How terrifying it will be when the earth shakes violently intimidating everyone.  So violently seized with the fright of the moment, even nursing mothers will leave their babies.  People will be very disoriented and very frightened, not knowing how to save themselves.  Everyone will be affected, young and old, male and female.  The terror is such that pregnant women will miscarry their unborn baby.

    The events will be so alarming and their intensity such that a person gazes but with absent mind, wandering aimlessly.

 

وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَى وَمَا هُم بِسُكَارَى وَلَكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ     go to top of page

You shall see the people as if drunken, yet they will not be drunken, but because so dreadful is the Work of Allah!

 

    This Ayah goes on to say that people will be unsteady as if drunk, unable to stabilize themselves.  The fright, the emotions, and the disorder of the moment will make any man look and act like a drunkard although he had no strong drinks.

 

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّبِعُ كُلَّ شَيْطَانٍ مَّرِيدٍ     go to top of page

Yet, of mankind some will dispute about Allah without knowledge and follow every rebellious devil.

 

    Through time immemorial there have been, and still are people who dispute about Allah, despite the abounding evidence.  The knowledge in His Holy Book, the Quran, is enough proof.  Man ought to be convinced.

    But unfortunately this is not the case for many people.

    With all the body of knowledge and evidence presented about Allah (swt) there ought to be no disputes about Him, about His existence, His Oneness, or His Power, nor about any of His great attributes.  To even dispute any of these points after having had sufficient knowledge of Him is sacrilegious or blasphemous.

    The dispute comes from ignorance and from lack of sufficient and proper knowledge.  Therefore, such persons should be called ignorant persons no matter how educated they claim to be.  Their purpose is to show off.  They are a "lost" people who follow Satan.

 

كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ مَن تَوَلاّهُ فَأَنَّهُ يُضِلُّهُ وَيَهْدِيهِ إِلَى عَذَابِ السَّعِيرِ     go to top of page

Against whom it is decreed that he who befriends Satan then Satan will lead him astray. and lead him to the doom of Hell-Fire

 

    It was decreed when humanity came into  existence that he who befriends the evil one (Satan) will lose.  He will be in the wrong.

    Satan will led him to untold miseries, to the bad and wicked, and to whatever Allah forbade.  Satan and those in his camp are legion, and they lead to the path of doom.

    Following Satan not only leads to suffering within the self, but will earn a bad "gift".  The "gift" is that Satan leads his followers and friends in a subtle manner to the eternal doom of Hell.

 

 

This selection in brief:     go to top of page

  1. People are to heed the Lord through loving Him and fearing Him.

  2. When the Hour preceding the Day of Judgment is due, it will be a period of profound events.

  3. The events will be such that:

    1. even a nursing mother will be so seized with fright that she will lose track of her baby,

    2. every pregnant woman will miscarry her baby,

    3. people will be so seized with fright that when they walk, they appear drunk.

  4. Despite all this, still there are people who doubt and dispute about Allah.  Such people often follow in the footsteps of Satan.

  5. Satan will lead his followers astray, to the doom of Hell-Fire.


 MEANING OF WORDS    go to top of page

O' Mankind

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ 

heed

اتَّقُوا

thy Lord 

رَبَّكُمْ

verily

إِنَّ

the convulsion

زَلْزَلَةَ

 

of the hour

السَّاعَةِ

thing 

شَيْءٌ

grave 

عَظِيمٌ

 

the Day 

يَوْمَ

you shall behold it 

تَرَوْنَهَا

forsake

تَذْهَلُ

 

every

كُلُّ

nursing mother

مُرْضِعَةٍ

of 

عَمَّا

 

her baby

أَرْضَعَتْ

and miscarry 

وَتَضَعُ

every

كُلُّ

 

pregnant 

ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ

her baby 

حَمْلَهَا

and you see 

وَتَرَى

 

people

النَّاسَ

drunken

سُكَارَى

yet they will not  

وَمَا هُم

 

drunken  

بِسُكَارَى

but because 

وَلَكِنَّ

work of (wrath) 

عَذَابَ

 

Allah

اللَّهِ

so dreadful  

شَدِيدٌ

yet of mankind 

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ

 

some 

مَن

dispute 

يُجَادِلُ

about Allah

فِي اللَّهِ

 

without

بِغَيْرِ

knowledge

عِلْمٍ

and they follow 

وَيَتَّبِعُ

 

every

كُلَّ

devil 

شَيْطَانٍ

rebellious

مَّرِيدٍ

 

it is decreed

كُتِبَ

that   

عَلَيْهِ

he who 

أَنَّهُ مَن

 

befriends Satan 

تَوَلاّهُ

he will

فَأَنَّهُ

lead him astray 

يُضِلُّهُ

 

and lead him

وَيَهْدِيهِ

to

إِلَى

doom 

عَذَابِ

 

Hell-Fire 

السَّعِيرِ