Surah Maryam, Ayah 67

Man's Amazement about Life after Death and the Refutation against this Amazement

Allah, the Exalted, informs that mankind is amazed that he could be returned to life after death and he thinks that this is something farfetched. As Allah says,

وَإِن تَعْجَبْ فَعَجَبٌ قَوْلُهُمْ أَءِذَا كُنَّا تُرَابًا أَءِنَّا لَفِى خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ

(And if you wonder, then wondrous is their saying: "When we are dust, shall we indeed then be (raised) in a new creation")13:5 Allah also says,

أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الإِنسَـنُ أَنَّا خَلَقْنَـهُ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٌ مٌّبِينٌ - وَضَرَبَ لَنَا مَثَلاً وَنَسِىَ خَلْقَهُ قَالَ مَن يُحىِ الْعِظَـمَ وَهِىَ رَمِيمٌ - قُلْ يُحْيِيهَا الَّذِى أَنشَأَهَآ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ خَلْقٍ عَلِيمٌ

Commentary

وَاصْطَبِرْ‌ لِعِبَادَتِهِ ("and-persevere in His worship." - 19:65) The word اِصطِبَار ' means perseverance in the face of acute distress and hardship. The point here is that anyone who wishes to be constant and steadfast in. his prayers must be prepared to undergo pain and suffering.

هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا ("Do you know any one worthy of His name?" - 19:65). In the generally accepted sense the word applies to persons bearing the same name. The polytheists and idolaters had included many humans, angels, stones and idols along with Allah Ta` ala in their worship and designated all of them as سَمِیُّ i.e. as objects of worship but it is a strange and extraordinary coincidence that none of their false gods was ever named as Allah. This matter was preordained, and no idol or deity bore the name Allah. Thus, the literal meaning of the word would adequately explain the meaning of this verse which is that there is no object in the world bearing Allah's name.

Many commentators, among them Mujahid, Ibn Zubair, Qatadah, and Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، are of the view that in the present context the word means "a like" or "comparable" and the sense of the verse is that in the entire pantheon of false gods none is equal or comparable to Allah Ta` ala in so far as divine attributes are concerned.

When Dawah work is passing through a phase of being thwarted by opposition, it is a very difficult stage for the preacher (da‘i). Not a day passes without the preacher wanting to take some new step to alleviate the difficulties of the situation, whereas God’s will is that he should wait patiently. Once the Prophet Muhammad experienced just such situation. In view of the gravity of the case, he awaited further guidance from God. According to a tradition, forty days passed and still Gabriel did not come. When Gabriel appeared, the Prophet asked him, ‘Why did you take so long?’ He replied that he was bound by God’s will. When he received God’s command, he came down to earth, otherwise he did not. It was against this backdrop that the Prophet is given the advice about exercising patience. God is fully aware of the prevailing conditions and if, this being so, fresh guidance is not forthcoming from Him, it means that what is required is that the current conditions should be tolerated. Had the demands of wisdom been otherwise, then certainly fresh commandments would have been given. There is nobody who knows better than God, and there can be no guidance better than His. It is not correct to seek a commandment on the issue of taking a practical step when the situation warrants maintaining the status quo. Doing so would amount to an attempt to have a commandment revealed prematurely.