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Characteristics of Righteous People: Commentary of the Quran (Chapter 2:4, Part-2) – By: Mohammad Sobhanie

Shafaqna (International Shia News Agency)

Commentary of the Quran (Chapter 2:4, Part-2)

By: Mohammad Sobhanie

Characteristics of Righteous People

Strong Faith in the Hereafter

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَبِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ ﴿٤

Translation: And (the righteous people are those) who believe in that (Quran and traditions) which has been revealed to you (Mohammad) and that (scriptures) which was revealed (to messengers) before you and they are sure of the hereafter.

Commentary: Death does not infer a cessation of existence but a transformation of life into another form.1 In the present life we are given choices2 to perform either good deeds, and be rewarded in eternity to live in a noble state of existence in Heaven, or commit sins and be placed at a low level of existence in Hell3 Therefore, the righteous people love Allah more than worldly possession4, worship and obey only Him and stand for noble values such as giving charity to poor and needy, establishing endowments for serving humanity.

Those who do not believe in God and claim that there is no life after death5 pursue only their own comfort and happiness in life. Selfishness, greed and cruelty towards poor and needy are mentioned as characteristics of such people in the Chpater al-Maaun:6

Have you seen the one who calls the judgment day a lie? It is he who turns down the orphans. And never encourages the feeding of the destitute.

The Day of Judgment and the Hereafter has been mentioned approximately 2,000 times in the Quran. This shows crucial role of belief in the Hereafter on human life.

Remembrance of agony of death7, terror of grave, horror of blazing hell fire in the Hereafter awakens ones conscience and destroys the desire to sin. A person who strongly believes that he will give account of himself to Allah never defrauds and abandons honesty8.  Unfortunately, people weak in faith take sin lightly.

Imam Ali regarding terror of grave said, “O servants of Allah! The state in the grave of a person whose sins are not forgiven is more horrifying than death itself. Fear its (the grave’s) narrowness, its squeezing, its imprisonment and its loneliness. Verily the grave calls out daily: ‘I am the house of loneliness, the house of terror and worms.’ The grave is like a garden of Paradise for a good-doer, while it is like a dungeon of hell for the evil-doer. Allah tells His enemies He will send ninety nine serpents in their graves that will tear their flesh and smash their bones, and this punishment will continue till the Day of Judgment. If one such serpent exhales towards this earth, all the plants and trees will be destroyed. O servants of Allah! Your souls are tender, and your bodies delicate; you cannot confront any ordinary serpent of this world, how then will you face them?”9

A Common Question: After death, our body will be decomposed eventually to dust. One day, a man brought a handful of crumbled bone to the Prophet and said “who would be able to bring these bones back to life?10 The verse was revealed that the same God who created them in the first time; He will bring them back to life even with the same very tips of fingers11.

Prior to our existence on this earth, Allah created us.  After our existence on this earth ceases, why should there be any doubt that he cannot bring us back?

References:

1-       The Quran [67:1]

2-       [67:2]

3-       [95:6-7]

4-       [9:24][58:22]

5-       [45:24],[23:37]

6-       [107:1-3]

7-       [50:19]

8-       [83:1-6]

9-       Behur al- Anvar. vol 4 page 218-9

10-    [36:78-79]

11-    [75:1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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