Sūrat al-Aʿrāf
Section 7 of 25 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
The People of Paradise Call to the People of the Fire
In the next part of Sūrat al-Aʿrāf, Allah (swt) passes to Paradise and the Hereafter. Allāhu akbar. Those who do wrong shall not enter Paradise. And then comes the whole discussion of the two parties, the believers and the disbelievers; and Allah (swt) sets out a discourse of what will happen on the Day of Judgement, once the decisions are made. Allah (swt) says that those who enter Paradise will hold converse with the people of the Fire:
وَنَادَىٰٓ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلنَّارِ أَن قَدْ وَجَدْنَا مَا وَعَدَنَا رَبُّنَا حَقًّا فَهَلْ وَجَدتُّم مَّا وَعَدَ رَبُّكُمْ حَقًّا ۖ قَالُوا۟ نَعَمْ ۚ فَأَذَّنَ مُؤَذِّنٌۢ بَيْنَهُمْ أَن لَّعْنَةُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
“The inmates of Paradise will call out to the inmates of the Fire: “We have found true what our Lord had promised to us. Have you, too, found true what your Lord had promised?” They will say, “Yes.” Then, an announcer between them will call out, “The curse of Allah is on the wrongdoers” (7:44)
Wa-nādā aṣḥābu al-jannati aṣḥāba al-nāri an qad wajadnā mā waʿadanā rabbunā ḥaqqā. Allāhu akbar — may we be able to say it one day. The people of Jannah will call to the people of the Fire and say: whatever our Lord promised us, we have found it true, al-ḥamdu li-llāh. As with all those things the teacher said would come in the examination, and on entering the hall, al-ḥamdu li-llāh, there they were. Imagine the supplication in one's heart at such a moment: al-ḥamdu li-llāh — which is simply: thank You, God. Fa-hal wajadtum mā waʿada rabbukum ḥaqqā: and what your Lord promised you — have you found that true?
وَبَيْنَهُمَا حِجَابٌ ۚ وَعَلَى ٱلْأَعْرَافِ رِجَالٌ يَعْرِفُونَ كُلًّۢا بِسِيمَىٰهُمْ ۚ وَنَادَوْا۟ أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلْجَنَّةِ أَن سَلَـٰمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ لَمْ يَدْخُلُوهَا وَهُمْ يَطْمَعُونَ
“Between the two groups there will be a barrier. And on A‘rāf (the Heights) there shall be people who will recognize each group through their signs, and they will call out to the people of Paradise, “Peace on you.” They will not have entered it, yet they will hope to.” (7:46)
But wa-baynahumā ḥijāb: thereafter there will be certain people… There is Paradise and there is Hell, and then there is the Aʿrāf, after which this sūrah is named. What is this Aʿrāf? The Aʿrāf is a kind of intermediate realm between Paradise and Hell — a midway place, a café between the two; no very good service station, but it lies between — and there will be people upon it. Who are they? They are believers, for had they been disbelievers, that is the Fire. If a man is a believer but — Allah protect us — his evil deeds outweigh his good, and yet no judgement has been passed to send him to the Fire, then he is upon the Aʿrāf. It is a kind of waiting. It will be hard enough, though some may think it at least better than being in the Fire. Whether anyone will make such comparisons upon that day is another matter: seen from here it appears so, but upon the day the thought will simply be: not in Paradise.