Surah Ibrahim, Ayah 52

Allah states that this Qur'an is a Message for mankind,

لاٌّنذِرَكُمْ بِهِ وَمَن بَلَغَ

((So) that I may therewith warn you and whomsoever it may reach.) 6:19 This Qur'an is for all mankind and the Jinns, just as Allah said in the beginning of this Surah,

الر كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَـهُ إِلَيْكَ لِتُخْرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

(Alif-Lam-Ra. (This is) a Book which We have revealed unto you in order that you might lead mankind out of darkness into light.) 14:1 Allah said next,

وَلِيُنذَرُواْ بِهِ

(in order that they may be warned thereby), or to receive and draw lessons from it,

وَلِيَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّمَا هُوَ إِلَـهٌ وَاحِدٌ

(and that they may know that He is the only One God) using its proofs and evidences that testify that there is no true deity except Allah,

وَلِيَذَّكَّرَ أُوْلُواْ الأَلْبَـبِ

(and that men of understanding may take heed.) meaning those who have good minds. aThis is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Ibrahim, and all praise is due to Allah.

In the verses which appear onwards from here (48-51), the text re-turns to the awe-inspiring happenings of the day of Qiyamah. It is said:

يَوْمَ تُبَدَّلُ الْأَرْ‌ضُ غَيْرَ‌ الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ ۖ وَبَرَ‌زُوا لِلَّـهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ‌

The day on which this earth will be turned into some other earth, and the skies as well. And they all shall appear before Allah, the One, the All-Dominant.

The statement that the earth and the sky will be turned into some other earth and sky may also mean that their distinctive characteristics and appearances will be changed. There are other verses of the Holy Qur’ an, and narrations from Hadith, which say that the whole earth will be transformed into a levelled surface having no house, tree, mountain and mound blocking the view, nor shall there remain any cave and abyss. It is this very state of change which the Qur'an refers to elsewhere in the following words: لَّا تَرَ‌ىٰ فِيهَا عِوَجًا وَلَا أَمْتًا (you will not see in it any crookedness, or curvature - 20:107). It means that things will not remain the way they are. Roads and pathways we see today wind their way past buildings and mountains negotiating all sorts of twists and turns on surfaces high and low. This will change and the whole thing would turn into flat, unobstructed ground.

A prophet bears testimony to the religion of God to the fullest possible extent. So, God gives him His perfect support. Subsequent followers of the prophet will also go on becoming entitled to the help of God to the extent that they live up to the example set by the prophet. Today, on the earth, man feels that he is the lord of land and sea; he is able to control spaces and vacuums; he has the power to use or not to use the resources available here. But, all this is possible only because God has subjected heaven and earth to man for as long as the period of testing lasts. The moment the period of testing is over, these conditions will completely change. Thereafter, the earth will be a different earth and heaven also will be a different heaven. Man will suddenly find himself in a whole different world. Where man saw himself as a ruler, now God will hold sway. Where everything was subservient to his orders, all men and all things will now disobey him. Those who had become great men in the present world, will all appear to be helpless criminals on that day. Bodily adornments will now be like tar smeared all over the body. Glorious faces will be ravaged. All this will happen to those who were not ready to live as subjects of God in the world and who ignored the declarations made on His behalf. The fact being a fact is not enough for man to accept it. For the acceptance of a fact, it is necessary for man to be willing to accept it. Only one who is serious about fact finding, who hears things with an open mind, will be successful in coming to grips with reality.