These verses begin the last passage in the surah, which showed us first a number of God’s universal laws that testify to the oneness of the Creator. It then showed us God’s law in sending messengers to advocate a message testifying to the unity of the community of believers and their single faith. Now the surah gives us a scene of the Last Hour and its signs. We see here the destiny of those who associate partners with God as well as the destiny of those alleged partners. God is seen as the Lord of all who conducts the affairs of the entire universe. Following that, we have two statements: the first establishes the rule that governs who inherits the earth, while the second shows God’s grace bestowed on all worlds in the form of sending God’s final messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him).
At this point, the Prophet is ordered to leave the unbelievers alone to face their destiny which will be determined by God. The Prophet seeks God’s help to face their opposition and ridicule, as well as their indulgence in idle pleasures when the day of reckoning is so near.
The followers of all God’s messengers belong to one community, sharing the same faith and the same beliefs. The basis on which this community is built is the belief in God’s oneness, which is testified by universal laws. It is the central, unchanged belief advocated by all messengers, right from the very beginning to the last and final message. As new messages were given, certain details were added to the code of living that should be established on the basis of this central belief. These additions suited the abilities and development of each community and each new generation. They respond to the increased richness of human experience which makes new generations able to fulfill new types of legislation, meeting their increased needs and responding to their social and material advancement.
Despite the fact that the followers of all messengers constitute a single community, and despite the fact that all divine messages share the same basis, those followers have divided themselves into factions. Each group of them took a portion and went away, allowing controversy to stir between them, leading to division and hostility. Indeed this happened among the followers of single messengers, with some eager to kill others in the name of the faith, which they all share.
They have divided themselves into factions in this life, but they will all return to God in the life to come: “Yet to Us shall they all return.” The end is with Him, when they will face the reckoning and He requites them for what they do in this present life.
“Whoever does righteous deeds and is a believer withal, his endeavor shall not be lost: We shall record it in his favor.” This is the law of action and reward. No one shall suffer any loss of any good deed based on faith. All such deeds are recorded with God who never loses sight of anything.
It is essential that good action should be based on true faith in order to have its true value and to flourish. Moreover, good action is necessary so that faith may yield its fruits and prove its existence.
Faith is the central basis of life, because it provides true and real contact between man and the universe. Indeed faith is the bond that ties the universe and all living creatures to their only Creator. It outlines the single law that operates in the universe by God’s will. No structure can be raised without a basis or a foundation. When we say that good action is the edifice, it has to have its foundation, which is faith. Otherwise, it collapses.
Good action is the fruit of faith which proves its active presence in man’s conscience. Islam in particular is an active faith: once it establishes its roots in man’s conscience, it manifests itself in good action. It is like a ripe fruit pointing to the roots stretching below the surface.
Hence, the Qur’an always associates faith with good deeds, whenever it mentions deeds and their reward. There is no reward for a belief that remains idle, motivating no good action. Nor is there any reward for action that is cut off its roots of faith. A good action that is not based on faith is a mere coincidence, because it is not related to a well defined system or a consistent law. It is merely a whim that does not come out of the right motivation. The right motivation is a faith in God who is pleased with good action, because it is the means of building a sound structure in this universe and the means to achieve the excellence that God wants for this present life. Thus, good action is seen to be a movement toward an objective that is linked to the ultimate goal of life. It is never a fleeting whim or an aimless coincidence.
Reward for good action is given in the life to come, even though parts of it may be advanced in this present life. Those cities which suffered total destruction will inevitably return to receive their ultimate requital. It is not possible that they should not be returned: “It is forbidden that any community We have ever destroyed should not return (to Us).”
The surah mentions these cities in particular, after the statement, “Yet to Us shall they all return,” because it may occur to us that their destruction in this life was their final reckoning and punishment. Hence the surah emphatically asserts that they will return. This assertion is given in a form that makes non-return a prohibited eventuality that could not happen. It is a rather peculiar mode of expression. Hence, some commentators and translators have interpreted it as a negation of a return of those communities to this present life after they had been destroyed, or a negation of their turning back from their erring ways. Neither interpretation is necessary. It is better to take the text as it is, because its meaning is quite clear.
