Surah Al-Anbya, Ayah 106

The Earth will be inherited by the Righteous

Allah tells us of His decree for His righteous servants who are the blessed in this world and in the Hereafter, those who will inherit the earth in this world and in the Hereafter. As Allah says:

إِنَّ الأَرْضَ للَّهِ يُورِثُهَا مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَالْعَـقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

(Verily, the earth is Allah's. He gives it as a heritage to whom He wills of His servants; and the (blessed) end is for those who have Taqwa.) 7:128

إِنَّا لَنَنصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ فِى الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الاٌّشْهَـدُ

(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

وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ‌ مِن بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ‌ أَنَّ الْأَرْ‌ضَ يَرِ‌ثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ (And We have written in Zabur (Psalms) after the Dhikr (the Torah) that the land will be inherited by My righteous slaves. - 21:105) The word لزَّبُورِ‌(zabur) is the plural of زُبُرّ (zuburr), which means book. It is also the name of the book which was revealed to Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) . Opinions differ as to the meaning of the word in the present context. According to a version attributed to Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ the word ذِکر in the verse refers to Torah, and زبور to all other books revealed after Torah i.e. Zabur (Psalms), Injil (Evangel) and Qur'an. (Ibn Jarir) The same explanation is adopted by Dahhak. However, Ibn Zaid has explained that ذِکر refers to لَوحِ مَحفُوظ (the Preserved Tablet) and زبور relates to all the books which were revealed to the prophets. Zajjaj has also adopted this explanation. (Ruh ul-Ma ani)

The expanse of the present universe was brought into existence for the purpose of creating a testing ground. Subsequently, when the time comes for creating the world of reaping results (the Hereafter), God will wind up this world, and perhaps with the same material will create another world which will fulfil result-and reward- oriented purposes. The coming into existence of one world (the present world) itself provides sufficient proof of the fact that another world can be brought into existence. In the present world, bad persons attain positions of greatness, but this is only for as long as the period of trial lasts. When the period of trial is over and God’s eternal and perfect world is created, every kind of comfort and honour will be in evidence, but only for those who had proved to be God’s true subjects in this world of trial. This has been set down in detail in the Bible, ‘And do not envy the evil people....Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday – for evil-doers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. The righteous shall inherit the earth and dwell in it forever.’ (Psalms, chapter 37, verses 1, 3, 6, 9 and 27).