Surah At-Taghabun, Ayah 9

Life after Death is True

Allah the Exalted informs about the disbelievers, idolators and the atheists that they claim that they will not be resurrected,

قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّى لَتُبْعَثُنَّ ثُمَّ لَتُنَبَّؤُنَّ بِمَا عَمِلْتُمْ

(Say: "Yes! By my Lord, you will certainly be resurrected, then you will be informed of what you did...") meaning, `you will be informed of all of your actions, whether major or minor, big or small,'

وَذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

(and that is easy for Allah.) `resurrecting and recompensing you is easy for Allah.' This is the third Ayah in which Allah orders His Messenger to swear by His Lord, the Exalted and Most Honored, that Resurrection occurs. The first is in Surah Yunus,

يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُكُمْ لِيَوْمِ الْجَمْعِ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ يَوْمُ التَّغَابُنِ ([ Be mindful of ] the day when He will gather you for the Day of Gathering. That will be the Day of loss and gain…64:9) ‘The Day of Gathering’ and ‘the Day of Loss and gain’ are both the names of the Day of Judgment. The reason why that day is called ‘The Day of Gathering’ is quite obvious. On that day all creations, the earlier generation as well as the later generations, will be brought together to give account of their deeds and for reward and punishment. The reason for calling the day a ‘The Day of Loss and Gain’ is because the word taghabun is derived from ghabn which means ‘loss’. Financial loss as well as mental deficiency is referred to as ghabn. Imam Raghib Isfahani in his Mufrada-ul-Qur’ an says that when the word refers to financial loss, it is expressed in the passive voice thus ghubina fulanun ‘so-and-so suffered financial loss’. When one wants to say that ‘he was or became deficient in his opinion or judgment’, one would express it thus ghabina from the tri-literal verb form, the second radical being vowelled with kasrah [-i-] on the measure of sami’ a. the word taghabun is a two-way process and signifies ‘mutuality of actions’, where two parties mutually cause loss of each other, or they make manifest each other’ s loss. In the context of this verse, however, it is one-sided or one-way process of making manifest of non-believer’ s loss. The latter sense is also its recognized use. ‘The Day of Loss and Gain’ is so called because, according to authentic Traditions, Allah has created two abodes for everyone in the Hereafter_one in Hell and another in Paradise. Before admitting the righteous believers to Paradise, they will be shown the abode in Hell, which they would have received if they failed to believe and act righteously, so that they may appreciate their abode in Paradise more highly and thank Allah more profoundly. On the other hand, the non-believers will be shown their abode in Paradise, which they would have received had they believed and acted righteously, so that they may regret more bitterly and be more remorseful. These narratives also tell us that the abodes in Paradise that were prepared for the non-believers will be given to the believers in Paradise, and the abodes in Hell that were prepared for the believers will be given to the non-believers in Hell. These Traditions are elaborately recorded in the two Sahihs and other collections of Traditions. When the inmates of Paradise will attain the places originally prepared for the disbelievers, the latter will realize what they have lost what they have gained.

Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi and others record on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked the noble Companions: “ Do you know who is a pauper?” They replied: “ One who has no possessions.” The Messenger ﷺ said that a pauper in my community is one who will come on the Day of Judgment with a heap of righteous deeds, such as prayers, fasting, alms-giving and so on, but he might have reviled someone in the world, or he might have slandered another person, or he might have killed or murdered some other person, and he might have taken away someone’ s property unlawfully. All these people will gather around him and demand their rights. One will take away his prayers, another will snatch away his fasts, someone will take away his alms and a third person will carry away his other good deeds. When all his good deeds would be exhausted, the sins of the oppressed will be loaded on the oppressor, and in this way the score will be settled. Consequently, he will be purshed into the Fire of Hell. [ Mazhari ]

It is recorded in the Sahih of Bukahri that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said, “ Whoever has an obligation towards someone should discharge it or ask his obligor to forgive it here in this world. Otherwise, he will have no dirhams or dinars (money) there in the Hereafter to set off his liabilities. The obligors will be given the good deeds of the debtor in lieu of their unfulfilled rights. When his good deeds will be exhausted, the sins of the oppressed will be added to the account of the oppressor.”

Sayyidna Ibn ‘Abbas ؓ and other leading authorities on Tafsir have given the foregoing reason for naming the Day of Judgment as ‘The Day of Loss and Gain’. Other authorities express the view that the grief of loss will not only be felt by the miserable non-believers, but also by the righteous believers. The latter will feel a sense of loss in that they will bitterly regret that they wasted much of their time in life and failed to carry out more good deeds, so as to attain more blessings and favours in Paradise, as is stated in a Prophetic Tradition.

مَن جَلَسَ مَجلِسًا لَّم یَذکُرِ اللہَ فِیہِ کَانَ عَلَیہِ تِرَۃً یَومَ القِیامَۃِ

(He who sits in an assembly and does not remember Allah in the entire session, this assembly will be a source of bitter regret for him.)

Qurtubi writes that on that Day every believer will feel a sense of loss on account of shortcomings in the fulfillment of his duties and obligations in life. Naming the Judgment Day as the ‘Day of Loss and Gain’ is like its being named as ‘The Day of (Bitter) Regret’ in Surah Maryam, thus وَأَنذِرْ‌هُمْ يَوْمَ الْحَسْرَ‌ةِ إِذْ قُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ‌ ‘And warn them of the Day of (Bitter) Regret when the affair will be resolved…19:39). Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani interprets this verse as implying that on that day the unjust and unrighteous people will bitterly regret their shortcomings, and the righteous believers will regret their shortcomings in the performance of their righteous deeds. In this way, everyone on the Day of Judgment will regret and have a feeling of loss as his shortcomings. Therefore, this day is named as the ‘Day of Loss and Gain’.

People take the world to be a place of winning or losing (taghabun). One who is successful here becomes very happy, but one who meets with failure is looked upon with contempt. In this world, however, success is as valueless as failure is. The place of true success or failure is the Hereafter. One is a failure if he fails in the Hereafter and successful if he is successful in the Hereafter, and the criterion of success or failure there is entirely different from that of this world, where it is based on outward materialism: success or failure in the Hereafter will be on the basis of Divine moral values. At that time, people will be surprised to see that the whole complexion of things has completely changed. Gaining, which was considered as such will actually turn out to be losing, while what was considered as losing will turn out to be gaining in the real sense. Failure on that Day is real failure and success on that Day will be real success.