Surah Al-Hajj, Ayah 51

The Recompense of the Righteous and the Unrighteous

Allah said to His Prophet , when the disbelievers asked him to hasten on the punishment for them:

قُلْ يأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّمَآ أَنَاْ لَكُمْ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ

(Say: "O mankind! I am (sent) to you only as a plain warner.") meaning, `Allah has sent me to you to warn you ahead of the terrible punishment, but I have nothing to do with your reckoning. Your case rests with Allah: if He wills, He will hasten on the punishment for you; and if He wills, He will delay it for you. If He wills he will accept the repentance of those who repent to Him; and if He wills, He will send astray those who are decreed to be doomed. He is the One Who does whatsoever He wills and wants and chooses.

How the Day of Resurrection will be equal to one thousand years by our reckoning

In this verseإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِندَ رَ‌بِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ (22:47) means that one day with your Lord is like one thousand years of what you count. This verse can be interpreted in two ways. The first meaning is that the verse refers to the Day of Resurrection and the events which will take place on that day will be so horrifying and of such extreme severity that the day will appear never to end, as if it was equal to one thousand years according to our reckoning. Many commentators have interpreted this verse accordingly.

The real matter is that man is going to enter a world where it is only believers and pious people who will have eternal comfort and not those who arrogantly ignore the Truth. The real purpose of the Islamic call is to warn people of this coming Day. The sole duty of the giver of the call is to warn people. All other matters relate to God alone, for it is He alone who is at the helm of affairs.