Section 3
The Disbelievers Punished
The disbelievers threaten the Messengers against banishment from their land if they do not return to their creed - The punishment in store for disbelievers.
(13) وَ قالَ الَّذينَ كَفَرُوا لِرُسُلِهِمْ لَنُخْرِجَنَّكُمْ مِنْ أَرْضِنا أَوْ لَتَعُودُنَّ في مِلَّتِنا فَأَوْحى إِلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ لَنُهْلِكَنَّ الظَّالِمينَ
13. " And those who disbelieved told their messengers: 'We will certainly expel you from our land, or else you return to our creed. ' Then their Lord revealed to them: 'Certainly We will perish the unjust'. "
Commentary:
Question: Were the prophets pagan before the onset of their mission when they were requested by the pagans to return to the previous beliefs of pagans.
Answer: Firstly, perhaps the objective in mind of the disbelievers was the return of the prophets to be under to their own control. That is, they used to suggest supposedly you are believers, but you must not stand up against us and you, as well as your companions, deviate from our path.
Secondly, the Arabic word/ 'aud/ when is followed with/ 'ila/ it means return to the prior condition. However, now that it is followed by/ fi/, it denotes change and not returning to the previous condition, which implies change of ideas into their creed.
Thirdly, the idea of returning to paganism probably implies the return of the prophets' companions and not of the prophets themselves.
Anyway, as is usually the case with the way of life of the illogical people, that they quit the course of reasoning when they become aware of their weaknesses in ideas and in words, abandoning reasoning, they rely on forces and powers. Here, we notice when the prophets demonstrated their sound and explicit way of reasoning, which were discussed in the former verses, the obstinate and pretending pagans told their prophets that they would swear to drive them out of their lands unless they return to pagans' way of life which was the worshipping of the idols. The verse says:
" And those who disbelieved told their messengers: 'We will certainly expel you from our land, or else you return to our creed. ' ..."
These unaware and arrogant people perhaps considered all of the lands as their own lands and they did not have any regards for their prophets, even they did not consider them as a compatriot, thus they used to say 'our land' while Allah has created the land and all its blessings for the sake of the righteous people.
Then the Qur'an implies that while at the same time, Allah expressed His compassion to the prophets and reassured them, revealing to them that the tyrants would be perished and, therefore, they should not be scared of such threats and no weakness must appear in the strength of their will. The verse says:
"... Then their Lord revealed to them: 'Certainly We will perish the unjust'. "
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(14) وَ لَنُسْكِنَنَّكُمُ الْأَرْضَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ ذلِكَ لِمَنْ خافَ مَقامي وَ خافَ وَعيدِ
14. " And, certainly, We shall settle you in the land after them. This is for him who fears My Majesty and fears My threat. "
Commentary:
Allah, the Almighty, has promised that the oppressors will be perished and His saints would replace them, and since this promise has not been realized to the fullest possible way, it will be actualized at the time of the reappearance of Imam- i- Zaman (the Expected Mahdi) ('aj.) .
The blissful Qur'an has repeatedly promised that the saint of Allah (s.w.t.) will be ruling the earth and their enemies will be annihilated. The Qur'an says:
" And, certainly, We shall settle you in the land after them. This is for him who fears My Majesty and fears My threat. "
We mention here only three cases regarding the verses concerning this Divine promise:
A- "And verily Our host will definitely prevail. "(1)
B- "And Our word has already gone forth in respect of Our servants, the messengers; " "Most surely they shall be the assisted ones. "(2)
C- " (as for) the land, My righteous servants shall inherit it. "(3)
(1) Sura As- Saffat, No. 37, verse 178
(2) Ibid verses 171- 172
(3) Sura Al- 'Anbiya, No. 21, verse 105
Anyway, prevalence of the truth over the untruth and the formation of the Divine government by the saints of Allah are among the decisive and repeated promises of the Qur'an.
The Divine Essence is the source of all good and the blessings, and is lovely. " but for those who have faith, their love of Allah is more intensive. "(1) What is to be feared is Allah's position. Of course, if your friend is a judge and your case is taken to the court to him to be judged, you will he in awe of him about his court of justice and his position at the court, though he is your friend.
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(1) Sura Al- Baqarah, No. 2, verse 165
(15) وَ اسْتَفْتَحُوا وَ خابَ كُلُّ جَبَّارٍ عَنيدٍ
15. " And they (the prophets as well as the believers) sought victory, but every obstinate oppressor remained deprived.
Commentary:
Once all the prophets performed all their duties with regard to their nations, those who were supposed to become believers accepted the faith and the rest insisted on their paganism, and threatened frequently the prophets. It was at this time that they asked Allah for victory over the pagans. The verse says:
" And they (the prophets as well as the believers) sought victory, ..."
Allah also accepted the prayer call of these true warriors for holy causes who were genuinely beseeching. And, eventually every deviant stiff- necked person became desperate and perished. The verse says:
"... but every obstinate oppressor remained deprived.
All the prophets were expecting victory. Noah called upon his Lord: " Verily I am overcome, so give help'. "(1)
Other prophets also sought victory from Allah. They used to say: " Our Lord! Decide between us and our people with truth, and You are the best of deciders. "(2) Thus the Qur'an, the blissful, through many verses deals with the victory of the prophets and the annihilation of the pagans as well as their punishment, declaring to the pagans decisively that the day of conquest will soon come and every spiteful oppressor will be punished by his own retribution.
(1) Sura Al- Qamar, No. 54, verse 10
(2) Sura Al- A'raf, No. 7, verse 89
(16) مِنْ وَرائِهِ جَهَنَّمُ وَ يُسْقى مِنْ ماءٍ صَديدٍ
16. " Hell is before him, and he will be given to drink of festering fluid. "
Commentary:
The Arabic term/ wara'/ means the ultimate and the end of a course, as it is said in Persian, the end- result of this meal is becoming ill.
There are three kinds of drink in Hell 1- A drink that consists of pussy fluid and blood, which comes out of a wound and is called 'S adid'. 2- Something which flows out of the skin of the hell- dwelling people and is called 'Qassaq'. 3- The third drink is 'melted copper' which is called 'Hamim'.
The drinks of the hell- dwelling people is burning and not quenching one's thirst. A few Qur'anic verses in this regard are:
A: " who are made to drink boiling water so it rends their bowels a sunder. "(1)
B: " They will be succoured with water like molten copper that shall scold the faces; "(2)
Of course, those who burned the hearts of the faithful and who slapped them on their faces, making blood- bath flow by their destructive weapons and chemical bombs, must not have any punishment other than what was said. The verse says:
" Hell is before him, and he will be given to drink of festering fluid. "
(1) Sura Muhammad, No. 47, verse 15
(2) Sura Al- Kahf, No. 18, verse 29
However, the Paradise- dwelling people will live by the side of delicious tasting water of the streams, feeding themselves on delicious tasting milk and honey provided with them by Allah, and will enjoy themselves from all the Divine blessings. " and their Lord will give them to drink of a Drink Pure and Holy. "
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(17) يَتَجَرَّعُهُ وَ لا يَكادُ يُسيغُهُ وَ يَأْتيهِ الْمَوْتُ مِنْ كُلِّ مَكانٍ وَ ما هُوَ بِمَيِّتٍ وَ مِنْ وَرائِهِ عَذابٌ غَليظٌ
17. " He will drink it little by little which he can hardly swallow agreeably, and death will come to him from every side, while he will not be about to die, and there will be a vehement chastisement before him. "
Commentary:
The punishment of the hell- dwelling people is depicted well in the profile in this verse. A- The chastisement of such people is bit by bit, little by little and gradual so as to be tortured to the utmost. The verse says:
" He will drink it little by little which he can hardly swallow agreeably, ..."
B- The different kinds of punishments take the dwellers of Hell as to the brink of their death- beds, though they will not die despite all these. The verse continues saying:
"... and death will come to him from every side, while he will not be about to die, ..."
C- The chastisements are followed by graver consequences, which will be ever increasing as well. The verse says:
".. and there will be a vehement chastisement before him. "
The Qur'an contains several qualities for the chastisement of the Hereafter Day: 'painful, 'severe', 'great', 'vehement' all of which mean and make allusions to the intensity and the magnitude of the type of chastisement.
The Arabic word/ 'isaqah/ denotes drinking water with one's own will. The sentence mentioned in the verse signifies that one will never drink that water willingly. (Tafsir Tibyan) .
The blissful Prophet (p.b.u.h.) remarked: "Whoever drinks wine, his prayers will not be answered for forty days and it is appropriate for him that Allah makes him drink the stinking and infectious water of Hell. " The Arabic term/ s adid/ means the festering fluid which comes out of a wound. And/ tajarru'/: signifies sipping gradually and continuously. The Arabic term/ 'isaqah/ means making the drink flow through one's throat, and/ 'i tidad/ means acceleration with all of one's power. The Qur'anic word/ 'asif/ means a strong wind which blows during day- time, or it may mean the day in which blows a strong wind.
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(18) مَثَلُ الَّذينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ أَعْمالُهُمْ كَرَمادٍ اشْتَدَّتْ بِهِ الرِّيحُ في يَوْمٍ عاصِفٍ لا يَقْدِرُونَ مِمَّا كَسَبُوا عَلى شَيْ ءٍ ذلِكَ هُوَ الضَّلالُ الْبَعيدُ
18. " The parable of those who disbelieve in their Lord, their deeds are like ashes on which the wind blows severely on a stormy day; they will have no power over any thing out of what they have earned; that is the very straying, far (and deep) . "
