Surah At-Takwir, Ayah 7

Which was revealed in Makkah

What has been narrated about This Surah

Imam Ahmad recorded from Ibn `Umar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«مَنْ سَرَّهُ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ إِلى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ كَأَنَّهُ رَأْيُ عَيْنٍ فَلْيَقْرَأْ:

إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ

و

إِذَا السَّمَآءُ انفَطَرَتْ

و

إِذَا السَّمَآءُ انشَقَّتْ »

(Whoever wishes to look at the Day of Judgement as if he is seeing it with his own eyes, then let him read, (When the sun is wound round.) (81:1) (and; (When the heaven is cleft asunder.) (82:1) (and; (When the heaven is split asunder.) (84:1)) Likewise, At-Tirmidhi has also recorded this Hadith.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

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

وَإِذَا النُّفُوسُ زُوِّجَتْ (and when the people will be arranged in categories...81:7). It means that the people on the Plain of Gathering will be grouped, like with like, in terms of belief and deeds. Disbelievers will be grouped together and believers will be grouped together. There are differences between the deeds and habits of believers and there are differences between the deeds and habits of disbelievers. The non-believers will be regrouped according to their essential characteristics and the Muslims too will be regrouped according to their essential characteristics as is reported in Baihaqi on the authority of Sayyidna Nu` man Ibn Bashir ؓ that Sayyidna ` Umar Ibn Khattab ؓ said that the people doing similar deeds, good or bad, will be joined together. For example, the knowledgeable persons from among the Muslims who were serving Islamic studies will be made into one group; the people who devoted themselves for worship will be made into another group; the people performing jihad will be together, and the people whose main characteristic was to spend in charities will be gathered in one place. On the other hand, those who were involved in wicked activities like thieves, robbers, adulterers will also be assembled in their respective groups. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ based this statement on the verse of the Holy Qur'an in which Allah says in Surah [ and you will be (divided into) three categories. (56:7) It is mentioned further in that Surah that out of the three categories, two will attain salvation who are named as the 'foremost' and 'people of the right' while another group, namely the 'people of the left' will be comprised of the infidels.