Surah Al-Infitar – The Splitting

The Holy Messenger (upon whom be peace) said: “The one who wants that he should see the Resurrection Day as one would see it with one’s eyes, should read Surah At-Takwir, Surah Al-Infitar and Surah Al-Inshiqaq.”

At the end of Surah At-Takwir we found a challenge, a criticism from Allah SWT where you headed? Where you going? In response Allah himself gave us the answer saying that all of us our headed to the resurrection day in which certain catastrophic events are going to take place. So Surah Al-Infitar begins now describing where we are headed. It is a rhetorical response, differentiating where we think we are going and in reality where we are taking ourselves.

In the first verses of this Surah, first stage of resurrection has been described. According to it, sky will rip and open up and stars will start falling apart due to sudden jerk. They will collide with each other and a terrible earthquake will occur that will shake up the entire earth at once. Oceans will split and their water will start sinking and will come in contact with the hot lava that is constantly boiling up. Once in contact, water will dissolve and a chain reaction will start which will set all the oceans of the world ignited. This is a proposition based on the knowledge we have. Correct knowledge of course belongs to Allah SWT. And then the graves would be set open and we all will be pulled out and resurrected.

It is said that when it occurs, every person will see what he has done in the world, what good and bad deeds we did. Mankind should not forget what Allah says. In this surah, Allah threatens and reminds us of all the blessings we have been provided with on every step and how still we chose to be careless.

Allah the Mighty and Sublime says: “O Son of Adam! How can you escape Me when I created you from something similar to this (spit) Then I fashioned you and made your creation balanced so that you walked between the two outer garments. And the earth has a burial place for you. So you gathered (wealth) and withheld it until your soul reached your collarbone (i.e., death comes). Then, at that time you say, `I will give charity now.’ But how will there be time for charity” This Hadith has also been recorded by Ibn Majah.

In next verses it has been explained that we get opportunities to do good deeds as well as to do sins. If we choose to do any of these two, we are sending them forward and if we refrain ourselves to use any of the opportunity, we are leaving it behind in the world. Each and every decision of ours is being written by our guardian angels who are called Kiram-an Katibin which mean writers who are honorable and noble. They are neither dishonest nor bribable. Both good and bad people should be fully satisfied that each man’s good acts will be recorded without any omission, and no one will have an evil act written in his account that he has not done. Then the second quality about these angels is “They know whatever you do”. They accompany every person at all places under all conditions in such a way that we never know that someone is watching. They also know with what intention has somebody done a certain thing. Therefore, the record prepared by them is a complete record in which nothing has been left un-recorded. About this very thing it has been said in Surah Al-Kahf 49:

“Woe to us! What sort of a book it is, it has left nothing unrecorded of our doings, small or great. They will see before them everything, whatever they had done.”

This Surah is a reminder of future, what is in store for us at the Day of Judgment and how we should prepare ourselves. It is also a threat to make us realize what we have been doing till now, how Allah feels sad about our forgetfulness and our affection with the world. Our own existence itself is sufficient to tell us that we did not come into being by ourselves. We did not come about as a result of the elements combining together by themselves accidentally but a Wise and Powerful Allah has composed us into the perfect human shape and form. We have been made Ashraf-ul-makhlooqaat that makes us stand out in sharp contrast when compared with other animals. Reason demanded that in view of all this we should have submitted gratefully and should never have dared to commit disobedience.

At the end it has been said that on the Day of Judgment, there will be no one who will have power to save anyone suffering the consequences of their own deed. No one there will be influential, strong or a favorite with Allah that he will say “such and such a one is a close relative or associate of mine, he will have to be forgiven, no matter what evils he might have committed in the world”. At the end of the surah we have been told the destinies of righteous and the wicked which are determined by the reckoning based on the recordings of the noble angels. The end is certain. The righteous shall dwell with blissful happiness in Jannah and the evil doers shall end in hell. They cannot escape nor allowed to leave not even for a short while.

May Allah SWT make us grateful and guide us to the path of Jannah (Ameen)

“Allahumma faqihna fiddin”

O Allah! Grant us understanding of Deen. (Sahih Al-Bukhari)