Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 84 Al-Inshiqaq, Ayat 7-13

فَاَمَّا مَنۡ اُوۡتِىَ كِتٰبَهٗ بِيَمِيۡنِهٖۙ‏ ﴿84:7﴾ فَسَوۡفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَّسِيۡرًا ۙ‏ ﴿84:8﴾ وَّيَنۡقَلِبُ اِلٰٓى اَهۡلِهٖ مَسۡرُوۡرًا ؕ‏ ﴿84:9﴾ وَاَمَّا مَنۡ اُوۡتِىَ كِتٰبَهٗ وَرَآءَ ظَهۡرِهٖۙ‏ ﴿84:10﴾ فَسَوۡفَ يَدۡعُوۡا ثُبُوۡرًا ۙ‏ ﴿84:11﴾ وَّيَصۡلٰى سَعِيۡرًا ؕ‏ ﴿84:12﴾ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ فِىۡۤ اَهۡلِهٖ مَسۡرُوۡرًا ؕ‏ ﴿84:13﴾

(84:7) Whoever is given the Record in his right hand (84:8) shall be called to an easy accounting,6 (84:9) and shall return to his people joyfully.7 (84:10) But he who is given the Record behind his back,8 (84:11) shall cry for “perdition,” (84:12) and will enter the Blazing Fire. (84:13) He used to live joyfully among his people,9


Notes

6. That is, his reckoning will be less severe. He will not be asked why he had done such and such a thing and what excuses he had to offer for it. Though his evil deeds will also be there along with his good deeds in his records, his errors will be overlooked and pardoned in view of his outweighing good deeds. In the Quran, for the severe reckoning of the wicked people the words su-al-hisab (heavy reckoning) have been used (Surah Ar-Raad, Ayat 181), and concerning the righteous it has been said: From such people, We accept the best of their deeds and overlook their evils. (Surah Al- Ahqaf, Ayat 16). The explanation of it given by the Prophet (peace be upon him) has been related in different words by lmam Ahmad Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Abu Daud, Hakim, Ibn Jarir, Abd bin Humaid, and Ibn Marduyah on the authority of Aishah. According to one of these traditions the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Doomed will be he who is called to account for his deeds. Aishah said: O Messenger of Allah, has not Allah said: He whose record is given in his right hand shall have an easy reckoning? The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: That is only about the presentation of the deeds, but the one who is questioned would be doomed. In another tradition Aishah has related: I once heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) supplicate during the prayer, thus: O God, call me to a light reckoning. When he brought his Prayer to conclusion, I asked what he meant by that supplication. He replied: Light reckoning means that one’s conduct book will be seen and one’s errors will be overlooked. O Aishah, the one who is called to account for his deeds on that Day, would be doomed.

7. His kinsfolk: his family and relatives and companions who will have been pardoned even like himself.

8. In( Surah Al-Haaqqah, Ayat 25), it was said that his record will be given to him in his left hand but here behind his back. This will probably be for the reason that he would already have lost all hopes that he would be given his record in his right hand, for he would be well aware of his misdeeds and sure to receive his record in his left hand. However, in order to avoid the humiliation of receiving it in the left hand, in front of all mankind, he will withdraw his hand behind and so would receive it behind his back.

9. That is, his way of life was different from that of God’s righteous men, about whom in(Surah At-Toor, Ayat 26), it has been said that they lived among their kinsfolk in fear and dread of God, i.e. they fear lest they should ruin their own Hereafter on account of their absorption in the love of children and endeavors for the sake of their well-being and prosperity in the world. On the contrary, this man lived a life free from every care and worry and also helped his children and kinsfolk to enjoy life fully, no matter what wicked and immoral methods he had to use to procure the means of enjoyment, how he had to usurp the rights of others and transgress the bounds set by Allah for the sake of the worldly pleasures.