16:28 An-Nahl (The Bee)

{ الَّذِينَ تَتَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ ظَالِمِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ ْ} أي: تتوفاهم في هذه الحال التي كثر فيها ظلمهم وغيهم وقد علم ما يلقى الظلمة في ذلك المقام من أنواع العذاب والخزي والإهانة. { فَأَلْقَوُا السَّلَمَ ْ} أي: استسلموا وأنكروا ما كانوا يعبدونهم من دون الله وقالوا: { مَا كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ مِنْ سُوءٍ ْ} فيقال لهم: { بَلَى ْ} كنتم تعملون السوء فـ { إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ْ} فلا يفيدكم الجحود شيئا، وهذا في بعض مواقف القيامة ينكرون ما كانوا عليه في الدنيا ظنا أنه ينفعهم، فإذا شهدت عليهم جوارحهم وتبين ما كانوا عليه أقروا واعترفوا، ولهذا لا يدخلون النار حتى يعترفوا بذنوبهم.

يخبر تعالى عن حال المشركين الظالمي أنفسهم عند احتضارهم ومجيء الملائكة إليهم لقبض أرواحهم الخبيثة "فألقوا السلم" أي أظهروا السمع والطاعة والانقياد قائلين "ما كنا نعمل من سوء" كما يقولون يوم المعاد "والله ربنا ما كنا مشركين"" يوم يبعثهم الله جميعا فيحلفون له كما يحلفون لكم "قال الله مكذبا لهم في قيلهم ذلك "بلى إن الله عليم بما كنتم تعملون فادخلوا أبواب جهنم خالدين فيها فلبئس مثوى المتكبرين".

The Condition of the Disbeliever during and after Death

Allah informs us of the state of the idolators who are doing wrong to themselves when death approaches and the angels come to seize their evil souls.

فَأَلْقَوُاْ السَّلَمَ

(Then, they will (falsely) submit) meaning, they will make it appear as if they used to listen and obey by saying,

مَا كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ مِن سُوءٍ

(We did not do any evil.) Similarly, on the Day of Resurrection, they will say,

وَاللَّهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِكِينَ

(By Allah, our Lord, we were not idolators.) 6:23

يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً فَيَحْلِفُونَ لَهُ كَمَا يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ

(On the Day when Allah will resurrect them all together; then they will swear to Him as they swear to you.) 58:18 Allah says, rejecting what they say,

الَّذِينَ تَتَوَفَّـهُمُ الْمَلَـئِكَةُ ظَالِمِى أَنفُسِهِمْ فَأَلْقَوُاْ السَّلَمَ مَا كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ مِن سُوءٍ بَلَى إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ - فَادْخُلُواْ أَبْوَابَ جَهَنَّمَ خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَا فَلَبِئْسَ مَثْوَى الْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ

("Yes! Truly, Allah is Most Knowing of what you did. So enter the gates of Hell, to abide therein, and indeed, what an evil abode there is for the arrogant.") (16:28-29), meaning, a miserable position in the abode of humiliation for those who were too arrogant to pay atten- tion to the signs of Allah and follow His Messengers. They will enter Hell from the day they die with their souls, and their bodies will feel the heat and hot winds of their graves. When the Day of Resurrec- tion comes, their souls will be reunited with their bodies, to abide forever in the fire of Hell, and

لاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْهِمْ فَيَمُوتُواْ وَلاَ يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمْ مِّنْ عَذَابِهَا

(It will not be complete enough to kill them nor shall its torment be lightened for them.) (35:36) As Allah says,

النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوّاً وَعَشِيّاً وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُواْ ءَالَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ

(The Fire, they are exposed to it morning and afternoon. And on the Day when the Hour will be established (it will be said to the angels): "Cause Fir'awn's people to enter the severest torment!") (40:46).

those whom the angels take in death read feminine person tatawaffāhum or masculine yatawaffāhum while they are wronging themselves’ through disbelief. Then they will offer submission becoming compliant and submitting themselves to belief in God upon death saying ‘We were not doing any evil’ any associating others with God whereat the angels say ‘Nay! Surely God is Knower of what you used to do’ and will requite you for it.

Commentary

It will be recalled that, after describing the blessings of Allah and proving that He was unique in the creation of the universe, the text made a pointed reference to how the polytheists chose to stick to their own ways of error. In the present verses, the text describes how they, not content with their own straying, tried that others should also go astray like them. The punishment they would get for doing that has also been stated here. Earlier to that (24), there is a question about the Qur’ an, and the addressees of the question, at this place, are the polytheists. It is their haughty and ignorant answer which has been mentioned here along with a warning of consequences for this attitude. Then, after five verses (30), the same question has been addressed to believers who fear Allah which is followed by their answer, and where a promise of reward for it has been mentioned.

The Holy Qur'an does not explicitly say as to who asked the question. Therefore, commentators have expressed different views in this matter. Some say that the question was asked by disbelievers. Others say that it was asked by Muslims. Still others take one question to have been asked by the polytheists while the other by Muslims. But, the Holy Qur’ an has kept it ambiguous. This is to indicate that there is no need to are as to where the question came from. What has to be seen is the answer and, more importantly, its ultimate consequence - which, the Qur’ an has it-self chosen to describe.

The essence of the answer given by the polytheists is that they simply refused to acknowledge that there was any word of Allah really revealed from Him. In fact, they dismissed the Qur'an as nothing but tales of people from early ages. Thereupon, the Qur’ an admonished those unjust people for disinforming people about the Qur'an by telling them that it was nothing but the tales of the ancient whereby they make others too go astray like them. As for the consequences, these they shall have to face. It means that the total curse of their sins has to fall on them anyway on the Day of Judgment, but part of the curse of the evil consequences of their role in misguiding others will also fall on them. Then it was said that the burden of sins which these people are piling up on their shoulders is a terribly evil burden.