Surah Al-Furqan, Ayah 24

The Stubbornness of the Disbelievers

Allah describes how stubborn the disbelievers were in their disbelief when they said:

لِقَآءَنَا لَوْلاَ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا

(Why are not the angels sent down to us,) meaning, `so that we may see them with our own eyes and they may tell us that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah.' This is like when they said:

أَوْ تَأْتِىَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْمَلَـئِكَةِ قَبِيلاً

(or you bring Allah and the angels before (us) face to face) (17:92). Hence they also said:

الْمَلَـئِكَةُ أَوْ نَرَى

(or why do we not see our Lord) Allah said:

رَبَّنَا لَقَدِ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ فِى أَنفُسِهِمْ وَعَتَوْا عُتُوّاً

(Indeed they think too highly of themselves, and are scornful with great pride.) And Allah says:

Commentary

خَيْرٌ‌ مُّسْتَقَرًّ‌ا وَأَحْسَنُ مَقِيلًا (The best in (terms of their) abode and best in (terms of their) resting-place - 25:24). Permanent residence is called مُّسْتَقَرًّ while مَقِيلً is derived from قَیلُولہ which means siesta. Hence مَقِيلً means the place for having siesta. Probably مَقِيلً is specifically mentioned here because it is referred in one of the traditions that on the Dooms day Allah Ta’ ala will complete reckoning of the entire creation by noon and the people of paradise will reach Paradise at the time of siesta and so will the condemned in the Hell. (Qurtubi)

Those who demand, as a precondition, the physical appearance of God and His angels, before they accept a missionary’s message, are not really sincere about it. Frivolous in their attitude, they do not know the implication or meaning of the appearance of God and His angels. The fact is that it is only when the Truth is revealed through a preacher of truth that they will have an opportunity to accept it. The moment Truth shows itself by the appearance of God and His angels, it will be the time for reckoning and judgement, and not the time for acceptance. Many people labour under the misapprehension that on Judgement Day, when God asks them about their deeds, they will escape His verdict by showing off some good deed of theirs and by saying that they have the patronage of some saint or the other. But, on Judgement Day, all this wishful thinking will vanish into thin air, as if a drop of water had fallen on a red hot iron sheet and disappeared. On that Day, only righteous deeds will be of avail, and not false hopes.