The Destiny of Humanity

The second chapter of the Holy Qur’an is the longest, it consists of 286 verses and is named after a very interesting story about a cow (Baqarah) found in verse 67. Verses 25 to 29 and been titled ‘The Destiny of Humanity’ which can be viewed on Islamic Courses Online. These five verses consist of 5 different topics, each one unique yet connected to the verse before it and after.

The rewards of the righteous believers

When looking at verse 25 Allah describes the rewards of the righteous believers. After mentioning the punishment that Allah has prepared for his opponents who disbelieve in Allah and His messenger, He mentions the status of the victorious, loyal believers who follow Him and the messenger, adhere to the faith and do righteous good deeds. This is actually a Qur’anic principle, wherever Allah makes mention of the disbeliever there will be a mention of believers, wherever there is a mention of punishment there is a mention of reward, this is called Mathānī.

The similarity between the Fruits of Paradise

Ibn Abi Hatim reports that Yahya bin Abi Kathir said, “The grass of Paradise is made of saffron, its hills from musk and the boys of everlasting youth will serve the believers with fruits, which they will eat. They will then be brought similar fruits, and the people of Paradise will comment, “This is the same as what you have just brought to us”. The boys will say to them, ‘Eat, for the colour is the same, but the taste is different.”1

The Wives of the People of Paradise

In Paradise Allah promises man he will have all that which he desires. This will include women of his preference, and in these set of verses we get to read about the description of these beautiful women. Allah describes them as ‘pure’, purified from filth and impurity2. The believer will enjoy and find ultimate happiness, which will be everlasting delight, safe from death and disturbance of one’s bliss.

A parable about the life of this world

Very interestingly, one of the teaching techniques found in the Qur’an, is Allah’s usage of parables. We read about stories, direct instructions and now in these set of verses a parable about the life of this world compared to the life of a mosquito. As the mosquito lives as long as it needs food, but when it gets fat, it dies. This is compared to people, who throughout their life just gather worldly possessions, and then suddenly Allah takes it all away. What’s profound in this example is that Allah used the mosquito which is the tiniest of creatures, reflecting the insignificant nature of this worldly life. In other chapters Allah uses the examples of spiders, flies and even trees. A believer’s faith is increased through reflection of these verses and the hypocrite moves further away from God.

They break the covenant

In verse 27 Allah informs us about a covenant that the disbelievers and the hypocrites broke. The covenant that they broke is the pledge that Allah took from in the Tawrah to follow Muhammad when he is sent as a prophet, and to believe in him, and what he was sent with. They broke their covenant by rejecting and fighting against the Prophet Muhammad after clear evidence had come to them.

They are the great losers!

The losers are all those who restrict themselves from the abundant mercy of Allah. Allah promises great reward but those who remove their share of goodness and choose to deny and reject then they are the ultimate losers.

You were dead, then given life, then caused to die, then given life again

Allah testifies to the fact that He exists and that He is the creator and the sustainer who has full authority over His servants. Allah is the first and the last, there was a time we were non-existent then Allah through his mercy gave us life. We lived on this earth, enjoyed our lives, did whatever we wanted, and then Allah sent to us the Angel of death and took our souls. But that is not it, Allah tells us then after period of death, Allah again will give us life but this time in a different realm, in the next life which will begin with our accountability and depending on the results of our test we will either enjoy eternal bless or suffer everlasting painful torment. Allah is teaching us this worldly life is short and it will determine our everlasting life in the hereafter, so prioritise your activates and fear him.

The Beginning of Creation

This set of verses concludes with verse 29 which draws the reader back to first principles, basic information to think about, the creation of the heavens and the earth. So, after understanding the concept of life and death and creation Allah draws our attention to proofs that we can see with our own eyes that he and only is the creator, of the heavens and the earth.

Allah created for us everything, for every one of us. He then rose above towards the sky. He made the seven skies and earth. Allah is not part of creation rather he is above all that which is created. On one occasion a Bedouin kept asking people: “How did Allah create the heavens and the earth?” not out of denial but out of inquisitiveness, so the people sent him to Umar Ibn Al-Khattab. Upon asking Umar, the leader of the believers, Umar struck him on his head and then asked: “do you understand now how he created everything?” the Bedioun responded affirmatively “Yes, indeed, all is understood.” The man never asked just questions again. We don’t delve into the ‘how’ question, as this is only understood by Allah himself.

According to Tabari, these verses also indicate that the earth was created prior to the heavens, from the creation of earth a smoke burst out of it. The heavens we created one above the other, while the ‘seven earths’ means, one below the other. 3

This ayat testifies to the fact that the earth was created before the heaven, as Allah has indicated in Surah As-Sajdah 41:11. Take part in the detailed course titled ‘The Destiny of Humanity’ on Islamic Courses Online to gain a deeper understanding of these verses.