In 25:69, we are reminded, as in many places in the holy Quran, of God’s punishment and chastisement. And when we look back at how we have lived our lives, we might admit that this is not unfair. But why does God repeatedly say these things? Is it to humiliate us? Or is to remind us of the consequences of our ways and to encourage us to come back? This episode explores how these warnings are actually messages of God's mercy. We will see how fear of God’s punishment can lead to a better life. Come and find hope and inspiration in God's offer of redemption. |
Trailer
بسمالله الرحمن الرحیم Some of the verses of the Holy Quran, where God speaks of punishment and chastisement, are really scary, although there are some who, instead of taking a careful look at what they are doing and practicing self-restraint to keep themselves away from God’s wrath, insist on continuing their old ways and even protest to God, saying “why are You going to punish us?” In verse 69 of surat el-Furqān, God says there will be a group in the Day of Judgement whose chastisement will be more severe, and they will remain in hell, disgraced and humiliated. The previous verses state that the reason for this is that they worshipped idols and ascribed partners to God, they killed with no reason, they committed sins and did evil. When you think about it, well, if someone has done these all their life, of course this will happen. Anyone with such a past record in this world, when they are nearing their end, when they get old, they will sit and reflect on the consequences of all the things they have done. And they will see that this makes sense. But look how merciful God is. He is saying all this, not to humiliate me, but rather, to save me. He says “Look, this is the situation with your life, this is what you have done, this will be the consequence, except for someone who returns (تاب)and puts aside what they were doing, and says, “O God, I want to come back to You”, and then starts living a decent life, a virtuous life. إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا This invitation to come back, and to put things right, is definitely not something you see amongst humans everyday. But wherever you see talk of punishment and chastisement in the Quran, God actually wants to tell us to beware. “Come and put right your previous wrongs.” Then, in the remainder of verse 70, God takes things to another level. فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ. Those [are the ones] whose evil deeds Allah will change into good deeds. Let’s be honest, this is difficult to fathom. How can this be? O God, how kind and Merciful You are! Then He says, “for Allah is the Compassionate Forgiving”. God has always been like this. Insha’Allah we will be of those whose evil deeds God turns into good deeds. |