Surah Ghafir, Ayah 72

The End of Those Who dispute and deny the Signs of Allah

Allah says, `do you not wonder, O Muhammad, at those who deny the signs of Allah and dispute the truth by means of falsehood, how their minds are diverted from the truth and are misguided'

الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِالْكِـتَـبِ وَبِمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا بِهِ رُسُلَنَا

(Those who deny the Book, and that with which We sent Our Messengers) means, guidance and clear proof.

فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(they will come to know.) This is a stern warning and clear threat from the Lord to these people. This is like the Ayah:

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

(Woe that Day to the deniers!) (77:15)

إِذِ الاٌّغْلَـلُ فِى أَعْنَـقِهِمْ والسَّلَـسِلُ

Commentary

In verses 71 and 72, it was said: يُسْحَبُونَ فِي الْحَمِيمِ ثُمَّ فِي النَّارِ‌ يُسْجَرُ‌ونَ (They will be dragged [ 71] into the hot water after which they will be thrown in the Fire as a fuel.). The word: الْحَمِيمِ (al-hameem) is boiling hot water. The verse seems to suggest that the people of Jahannam will first be put into the hameem, then, into the jahim, that is, the Jahannam. Again, it also seems to suggest that the hameem is somewhere outside the Jahannam. The verse: ثُمَّ إِنَّ مَرْ‌جِعَهُمْ لَإِلَى الْجَحِيمِ (Then, their return is but to the Fire - As-Saffat, 37:68) also appears to be suggesting that the hameem is located somewhere outside the Jahannam. The people of Jahannam will be brought here to drink its water, and will then be returned to Jahannam. Then there are some verses of the Qur'an that suggest that the hameem too is within the jahim or Jahannam as in: هَـٰذِهِ جَهَنَّمُ الَّتِي يُكَذِّبُ بِهَا الْمُجْرِ‌مُونَ يَطُوفُونَ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ حَمِيمٍ آنٍ (This is the Jahannam (Hell) that the guilty people deny. They

will circle around between it and between hot, boiling water - Ar-Rahmn, 55:43-44). Here too, it is explicitly said that the hameem is also within the Jahannam.

A little deliberation shows that there is no contradiction between these two things. There will be many strata or sections of Jahannam itself serving as venues of many kinds of punishment. One of these could be that of hameem which could as well be called as being outside the Jahannam because of its separate and distinct location, and since this is also a section of Jahannam itself, therefore, it could also be called the Jahannam. Ibn Kathir has said that the people of Jahannam, shackled in chains, will sometime be dragged into the hameem and at others, in Jahannam.

These verses point to the phenomena of nature which exist so that man may reflect. In other words, these phenomena exist so that man may give them deep consideration and may uncover their hidden meaning. The conversion of lifeless matter into living objects; the development of the human being in a gradual manner; man’s passing through the stages of youth to old age; death of man, sometimes in old age and sometimes at a young age are events that introduce us to the various attributes of the Creator. It is revealed by these events that the Being who brought this universe into existence is the All Powerful and Wise God. He is Supreme and Dominant. If man learns a real lesson from these facts, he will spontaneously opine that it is the one and only God who deserves to be worshipped. This picture of the Universe implicitly contradicts all the false gods set up by man instead of the real God.