[45]. Surah Al-Jathiyah [The Kneeling]: Ayat 021

২১. যারা দুস্কর্ম উপার্জন করেছে তারা কি মনে করে যে, আমি তাদেরকে সে লোকদের মত করে দেব, যারা ঈমান আনে ও সৎকর্ম করে এবং তাদের জীবন ও মুত্যু কি সমান হবে?  তাদের দাবী কত মন্দ।

Ayat 21. Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, in their present life and after their death? Worst is the judgment that they make.

Tafseer of Surah Al-Jathiyah Ayat 21. What! Do those who seek after evil ways think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous deeds, - that equal will be their life and their death? Ill is the judgment that they make. Three meanings can be deduced. (1) The evil ones are not in Allah's sight like the righteous ones; neither in life nor in death are they equal; in life the righteous are guided by Allah and receive His Grace, and after death His Mercy, while the others reject His Grace, and after death receive condemnation. (2) Neither are the two the same in this life and in the afterlife; if the wicked flourish here, they will be condemned in the Hereafter; if the good are in suffering or sorrow here, they will receive comfort and consolation in the Hereafter; (3) The real life of the righteous—for they have received spiritual life—is not like the nominal life of the wicked, which is really death; nor is the physical death of the righteous, which will bring them into eternal life, like the terrible death of the wicked which will bring them to eternal misery.

Hazrat Irbad bin Sariyah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: One day Messenger of Allah  [SAWW](PBUH) delivered us a very eloquent Khutbah on account of which eyes shed tears and hearts were full of tears. A man said: "O Prophet of Allah, this is as if it were a parting advice. So advise us". He  [SAWW](PBUH) said, "I admonish you to fear Allah, to listen and obey even if an Abyssinian slave is appointed as your leader. Because whosoever among you shall live after me, will see much discord. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the examples of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs who will come after me. Adhere to them and hold to it fast. Beware of new things (in Deen) because every Bid’ah is a misguidance". [Abu Dawud Hadith # 4607 and At-Tirmidhi Hadith # 2676].

Lesson: as mentioned above in Surah Al-Jathiyah Ayat 21. “Worst is the judgment that they make” This Hadith stresses piety, obedience to the leader, following in the footsteps of the Prophet  [SAWW](PBUH) and the first four noble caliphs. It strictly forbids innovation in Deen. This Hadith also reveals the prediction of the Prophet (PBUH) that the Muslim Ummah will become a victim of dissension. He also prescribed the right means to counteract it. The remedy that he has proposed for this problem is that Muslims should never deviate from the path laid for them by him and his righteous successors. This is the touchstone for discovering the truth from the mess of different views. All the troubles of Muslims would come to an end if they accept this as the one singular criterion of right and wrong.