Surah Al-Haqqah, Ayah 3

Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Warning concerning the Greatness of the Day of Judgement

Al-Haqqah is one of the names of the Day of Judgement, because during it the promise and the threat will inevitably occur. Due to this, Allah has declared the greatness of this matter. So He says,

وَمَآ أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحَاقَّةُ

(And what will make you know what Al-Haqqah is)

Mention of the Destruction of the Nations

Then Allah mentions the destruction of the nations that denied the Resurrection. He says,

فَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَأُهْلِكُواْ بِالطَّاغِيَةِ

(As for Thamud, they were destroyed by the Taghiyah!) It is the cry which will silence them, and the quake that will silence them. Qatadah said similar to this when he said, "At-Taghiyah is the shout." Mujahid said, "At-Taghiyah means the sins." This was also said by Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and bin Zayd. They said that it means transgression. After mentioning this, Ibn Zayd recited the following Ayat as proof for his statement,

Commentary

This Surah is almost wholly devoted to the subject of inevitability of the Resurrection, its horrors, the punishment of unbelievers and the reward of believers. The Day of Judgment is variously referred to in the Qur'an, and in this Surah we encounter the following three names: الْحَاقَّةُ Al-Haqqah 'Imminent Happening', الْقَارِ‌عَةِ Al-Qari'ah 'Shocking Event' and الْوَاقِعَةُ -waqi` ah 'Happening'.

The word الْحَاقَّةُ Al-haqqah means an 'established fact, or inevitable event, reality or truth'. The word Al-haqqah also means 'Something that provide evidence that something is true.' It can be applied to the Day of Judgment in both senses of the word, because in the first sense the Day of Judgment itself is an established truth, and its occurrence is a certainty. And in the other sense the Day of Judgment will prove to the believers the reality of Paradise and to the unbelievers the reality of Hell. This name of the Day of Judgment is followed by two questions regarding it. The questions have been put to make the readers realise how horrifying the experience would be - beyond normal experience or even imagination.