Surah Ghafir, Ayah 46

The Conclusion of the Believer's Words, and the ultimate Destiny of both Parties

That believer said: `Why do I call you to salvation, which is the worship of Allah alone with no partner or associate, and belief in His Messenger, whom He has sent,'

وَتَدْعُونَنِى إِلَى النَّارِتَدْعُونَنِى لاّكْـفُرَ بِاللَّهِ وَأُشْرِكَ بِهِ مَا لَيْسَ لِى بِهِ عِلْمٌ

(while you call me to the Fire! You invite me to disbelieve in Allah, and to join partners in worship with Him of which I have no knowledge;) means, on the basis of ignorance, with no proof or evidence.

وَأَنَاْ أَدْعُوكُمْ إِلَى الْعَزِيزِ الْغَفَّارِ

(and I invite you to the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving!) means, with all His might and pride, He still forgives the sin of the one who repents to Him.

In the last verse cited here, it was said: النَّارُ‌ يُعْرَ‌ضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ۖ وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْ‌عَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ. (It is the Fire before which they are presented morning and evening. And on the day when the Hour (of final judgment) will take place, (the order will be released): "Admit the family of the Pharaoh into the most severe punishment."- 46). Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ explained this verse by saying, "Spirits of people from the House of Pharaoh are presented before the Jahannam in the form of black birds, twice every day, morning and evening, and by pointing out to the Jahannam, it is said to them: This is your abode." (Reported by Abd-ur-Razzaq and Ibn Abi Haim - Mazhari)

And according to a narration of Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Umar ؓ appearing in the two Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, (the meaning of which is): "When one of you dies (and is in the universe of barzakh, the post-death - pre-resurrection state) he is shown, morning and evening, the place he is to reach after the reckoning of the Day of Judgment. And this place is shown to him every day, and he is told that he has to reach there finally. If this person is from among the people of Jannah, then, Jannah will be shown to him as his place. And if he is from among the people of Jahannam, then, Jahannam will be shown to him as his place."

Punishment in graves

This verse is a proof of punishment in graves. Uninterrupted reports of ahadith and the consensus (ijma) of the Muslim Ummah confirm it. This humble writer has put together all such material, along with relevant verses from the Qur'an, in a regular treatise entitled: السبر بعذاب القبر As-sabr bi'adhabi-l-qabr. This treatise has been published in Arabic as part of Ahkam-ul-Qur'an.

The true believer of Pharaoh’s court was not a prophet. But, in spite of his being alone, God saved him from the tyrannical plans of Pharaoh. This shows that even non-prophets—when they support the mission of truth—receive the same divine succour as was always promised by God to the prophets. Though the final decision about the fate of human beings will be taken on the Day of Judgement, when a man enters the other world after death, it is immediately clear to him as to what he had done in the previous world and what fate he is ordained to face. In this way, at a conscious level, he becomes involved in his final fate immediately after death and, while at a physical level, he will face it on the Day of Judgement, when God’s court is established.