Surah Hud Ayat 103 (11:103 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(11:103) Surely in that is a sign for him who fears the chastisement of the Hereafter.^[105] That will be a Day when all men shall be mustered together; that will be a Day when whatever happens shall be witnessed by all.

105. That is, in these historical events there is a sign which will show conclusively to the one who considers this deeply that the torment of the Hereafter is inevitable, as warned by the Messengers. One can also judge from this how terrible it will be. This knowledge will fill one with such fear that will keep him on the straight way.

Now let us consider the question: How are these historical events a sign of the Hereafter and the chastisement therein. Everyone who makes a critical study of history with this consideration that it is not merely a collection of events, but also a means of drawing logical conclusions, will find that the rise and fall of communities and nations has been taking place in a regular succession. Moreover, one will find that this rise and fall takes place in accordance with some moral laws in an extraordinary way. This is a clear proof that man is subordinate to the Sovereign, Who is ruling over the universe in accordance with some rational moral laws. Accordingly, He raises up those who keep the moral limits above a certain minimum standard set for this purpose and degrades those who fall below it. Then He gives respite to the latter to mend their ways, but if they do not avail of it and continue their downward march and fall below the limit set for their complete degradation, He annihilates them in a way as to serve as a lesson for others. The fact that these events always take place in a regular cycle leaves no shadow of doubt that rewards and punishments are permanent parts of the law of His kingdom.

A further consideration of the chastisements that were inflicted on different communities shows that, though these punishments fulfilled the demands of justice to some extent, there was still need of more to fulfill all the demands of justice, for these criminals were punished only for those sins which they themselves committed but not for those committed by the succeeding communities, which followed the bad example left by them as their predecessors. It is obvious from the study of history that the law of retribution must take its course and justice demands that they should be punished for the evil legacy they left for others to follow after them. Common sense and justice demand that life in this world should be reproduced in its entirety in order to fulfill all the demands of the law of retribution. The just Sovereign will, therefore, bring into existence all those people for this purpose and award them due punishments. Please see also (Surah Yunus, ayat 10) note 10.

Ibn-Kathir

103. Indeed in that (there) is a sure lesson for those who fear the torment of the Hereafter. That is a Day whereon mankind will be gathered together, and that is a Day when all will be present. 104. And We delay it only for a term (already) fixed. 105. On the Day when it comes, no person shall speak except by His (Allah’s) leave. Some among them will be wretched and (others) blessed.

Allah, the Exalted, is saying that in the destruction of the disbelievers and the salvation of the believers by us is,

(a sure lesson). This means an admonition and lesson concerning the truthfulness of that which We are promised in the Hereafter.

.(Verily, We will indeed make victorious Our Messengers and those who believe in this world’s life and on the Day when the witnesses will stand forth.)﴿40:51﴾ Allah, the Exalted, also says,

(So their Lord revealed to them: “Truly, We shall destroy the wrongdoers.) ﴿14:13﴾ Concerning Allah’s statement,

(That is a Day whereon mankind will be gathered together,) This means the first of them and the last of them. This is similar to Allah’s statement,

(And We shall gather them all together so as to leave not one of them behind.) ﴿18: 47﴾

(and that is a Day when all will be present.) This means a day that is great. The angels will be present, the Messengers will gather and all of the creation will be gathered with their families. The humans, Jinns, birds, wild beasts and domesticated riding animals will all be gathered. Then the Most Just, Who does not wrong anyone even an atom’s weight, will judge between them and He will increase their good deeds in reward. Concerning the statement,

(And We delay it only for a term (already) fixed.) This means for a fixed period of time than cannot be increased or decreased. Then He says,

(On the Day when it comes, no person shall speak except by His (Allah’s) leave.) This means that on the Day of Judgement no one will speak except with the permission of Allah. This is similar to another verse, which says,

(they will not speak except him whom the Most Gracious (Allah) allows, and he will speak what is right.) ﴿78:38﴾ Allah also says,

(And all the voices will be humbled for the Most Gracious (Allah). ) ﴿20:108﴾ In the Hadith about the intercession, which is recorded in the Two Sahihs, the Messenger of Allah said,

(No one will speak on that day except the Messengers, and the call of the Messengers will be, “O Allah, save us, save us.”) Concerning Allah’s statement,

(Some among them will be wretched and (others) blessed.) This means that from the people of the gathering (on Judgement Day), some will be miserable and some will be happy. This is as Allah said,

(When a party will be in Paradise and a party in the blazing Fire) ﴿42:7﴾ Al-Hafiz Abu Ya`la recorded in his Musnad on the authority of Ibn `Umar that `Umar said, “When this verse was revealed,

(Some among them will be wretched and (others) blessed.) I asked the Prophet , `O Messenger of Allah, will there be a sign for us to know (which party we are from) Will it be because of something that a person did, or something that he did not do’ He said,

(O `Umar, it will be due to something that he did and the pens wrote it down. But every easy deed was created for its purpose (to be carried out).) Then Allah explains the situation of the wretched people and the happy people. He, the Exalted, says,