Surat At-Taghābun - The Mutual Disillusion
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يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُكُمْ لِيَوْمِ الْجَمْعِ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ يَوْمُ التَّغَابُنِ ۗ وَمَن يُؤْمِن بِاللَّهِ وَيَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا يُكَفِّرْ عَنْهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِ وَيُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
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Yawma yajmaAAukum liyawmi aljamAAi thalikayawmu attaghabuni waman yu/min billahiwayaAAmal salihan yukaffir AAanhu sayyi-atihiwayudkhilhu jannatin tajree min tahtihaal-anharu khalideena feeha abadan thalikaalfawzu alAAatheem
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The Day He will assemble you for the Day of Assembly - that is the Day of Deprivation. And whoever believes in Allah and does righteousness - He will remove from him his misdeeds and admit him to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.
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"The Day of Gathering": the Resurrection, when all human beings horn in the world from the beginning of creation till the Last Day will be gathered together simultaneously. This theme has been fully explained in the Qur'an at several places; e.g. in Surah Hud it has been said: "That will be the Day when all the people shall gather together and will witness everything that will happen there." (v 103) And in Surah Al-Waqi'ah: "Say to them; Surely, the former and the latter, all shall be gathered together one day, the hour of which has already been appointed." (v. 50).
The word yaum-ut-taghabun as used in the original is too vast in meaning to be explained in a word, or even a sentence, of any other language. Of all the names of the Resurrection that occur in the Qur'an, this name probably i5 the most meaningful Therefore, a little explanation is necessary to understand its meaning.
Taghabun is from ghabn, which can be pronounced both as ghabn and as ghaban. Ghabn is mostly used concerning commercial and business transactions and ghaban concerning opinion. Lexically, it has other meanings also, e.g. heedlessness, forgetfulness, a person's being deprived of his share, a man's harming another inadvertently in business or mutual dealing, etc.
The derivative taghabun implies the occurrence of ghabn between two or more persons. Thus, taghabun al-qaum means some people's treating others fraudulently. or a person's harming another person and the other's being harmed and damaged by him, or one's taking away the share of another and the other's being deprived of his share, or a person's incurring loss in business and another's gaining a profit, or some people's proving heedless or weak-minded in comparison to others.
Now consider that in this verse it has been said about the Resurrection: 'That will be a Day of taghabun (mutual loss and gain) among the people." These words automatically givc the meaning that in the world taghabun is a common thing, but this taghabun is superficial and deceptive, not the real and factual taghabun the real taghabun will take place on the Day of Resurrection. There it will become manifest as to who actually incurred the loss and who actually earned the profits, who actually was deceived and who proved to be prudent and sensible. who actually had invested all his life capital in a wrong bargain and become bankrupt and who had invested all his energies and abilities. wealth and time, in a good bargain and earned all the benefits and gains. which the former also could have earned had he not been deceived in understanding the truth about the world.
The commentators while explaining the meaning of Yawn-ut-taghabun have given several meanings of it, which are all correct, and throw light on different aspects of its meaning. Some commentators have explained that on that Day the dwellers of Paradise will take away that share of the dwellers of Hell which they would have had in Paradise had they done good deeds in the world as did the dwellers of Paradise and the dwellers of Hell will take away that share of the people of Paradise, which they would have had in Hell had they done evil deeds is the world. This is supported by a Hadith, which Bukhari has rdated in kitab ar-Riqaq. on the authority of Hadrat Abu Hurairah, saying that the Holy Prophet said: 'Whoever goes to Paradise will be shown the place which he would have had in Hell had he done evil deeds in the world so that he may give more and more thanks to God; and whoever goes to Hell will be shown the place which he would have had in Paradise had he done good deeds in the world so that he may feel more and more remorseful."
Some other commentators say that on that Day the wronged one will take away so many of the good deeds done by the wrongdoer as may be a suitable compensation for the wrong suffered, or the wrongdoer will be equal in weight with his usurped rights. For on the Day of Resurrection man will not possess any wealth which he they give to make up for the wrong done, there the only commodity worth exchange will be one's conduct. Therefore, whoever had wronged another in the world, will have to make up for the wrong done by surrendering some of his own good deeds in his favor, or by taking some of his sins on himself and suffering the punishment for them. This theme also has been reported from the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) in Ahadith. In Bukhari (Kitab ar-Riqaq) a tradition has been related from Hadrat Abu Hurairah, saying that the Holy Prophet said: "Whoever bears a burden of a wrong done to his brothel, should compensate him for it here, for in the Hereafter no one will have any wealth or money for compensation. There, some of his good deeds will he taken from him and given away to the wronged person, or if he did not have enough good deeds, some of the sins of the wronged person will be transferred to him." Likewise, in Musnad Ahmad there is a tradition from Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah bin Unais. sag that the Holy Prophet said: "No dweller of Paradise will enter Paradise and no dweller of Hell will enter Hell until he will have compensated the other person for the wrong done to him so much so that one will have to compensate even for a slap given to another person. We asked; How will this compensation be made when on Resurrection we shall be naked and penniless? The Holy Prophet replied:Compensation will he made by means of the good deeds and the evil deeds." In Muslim and Musnad Ahmad there is a tradition from Hadrat Abu Hurairah, saying that the Holy Prophet upon whom by Allah's peace) once asked the people sitting in his assembly; "Do you know who is poor? The people replied: He who has nothing to possess The Holy Prophet said: In my Ummah the poor is he who appeared before his God on the Day of Resurrection with his acts of the Prayer and the Fast and the payment of the zakat the while he had abused some one, usurped the property of another, and shed blood or hit still another. Then his good deeds were taken away and given over to each of the wronged and when nothing was left of his good deeds to make compensation. sonic of the sins of each wronged one were transferred to him and he was east into Hell." In another Hadith which Muslim and Abu Da'ud have related on the authority of Hadrat. Buraidah, the Holy Prophet said:"If in the absence from home of a soldier for the cause of Allah, a person treats his wife and the people of his house treacherously. the person would be made to stand before the soldier on the Day of Resurrection, and the latter would be asked to take away whatever he liked from his good deeds. Saying this the Holy Prophet turned to us and said Then what do you say? That is, what do you think he would leave with him?"
Some other commentators say that tile word taghabun is mostly used concerning commerce and business, and in the Holy Qur'an at several places the attitude that the believer and the unbeliever adopt in their worldly lives has been compared to trade and commerce. If the believer giving up disobedience adopts obedience and invests his life and wealth and effort for the cause of God. he is giving up a bad bargain and investing his capital in a business which will fetch him much gain and profit in the end. On the contrary, if an unbeliever abandons the way of obedience and invests his entire capital in the way of disobedience to God, he in fact, is a trader who has purchased deviation for guidance, and will incur loss in the end. The gain and the loss of to both will become manifest on the Day of Resurrection. It may well so happen in the world that the believer appears to be the loser and the disbeliever the gainer But in the Hereafter they will see who actually had made the right bargain and who the wrong bargain This theme has occurred at many places in the Qur'an,e.g. in AI-Baqarah 16, 175, 207 Al- Imran 77,177 An-Nisa' 74; At-Taubah 111 An-Nahl95, Fatir 29, As-Saff 10.
Yet another from of taghabun is that in the world the people go on cooperating with one another in unbelief and sin, injustice and wickedness, with full peace of mind with the confidence that they are enjoying full mutual love and friendship. The mutual intrigues and comradeship of the members of wicked Families immoral guides and their followers, gangs of thieves and robbers alliances of corrupt and unjust officers and officials, groups of dishonest traders, industrialists and land owners, groups established to spread deviation, error and mischief, and nations and governments which support and uphold injustice and wickedness in the world, is based on the same confidence. The individuals belonging to each of these groups harbor the impression that they are good companions of one another and their mutual cooperation is proving very successful But when these people reach the Hereafter, they will suddenly wake up to the realization that they had been grievously mistaken and deceived. Each one of them would feel that the one whom he considered his best father brother wife husband child, friend, companion, leader, guide disciple or supporter and helper, had been, in fact, his worst enemy. Every kind of relationship and friendship and bond of love and reverence will change into enmity. They will all abuse and curse each other and each one will desire that maximum responsibility of his crimes be laid an the other and will strive to get him severely punished. This theme also has occurred at many places in the Qur'an, e.g. in AI-Baqrah: 167, AI-A'raf: 37 to 39, Ibrahim 21-22; AI-Mu'minum: 101, Al-'Ankabut: 12,13. 25; Luqman: 33, AI-Ahzab: 67,68; Saba: 31 to 33; Fatir 18: As-Saaffat: 27 to 3: Suad: 59 to 61: Ha Mim: As-Sajdah: 29; Az-Zukhruf; 67; Ad-Dukhan; 41; AI-Ma'arij; 10 to 14: 'Abasa 34 to 3.
Believing in Allah does not merely imply believing that Allah exists but believing in Him in the way Allah Himself has taught through His Messenger and His Book. This belief by itself includes belief in Apostleship and belief in the Book. Likewise a good act also does not imply every such act as man may himself have adopted considering it a good act. or following a man-made criterion of morality, but it implies the righteous act that is in accordance with the Law sent down by God. Therefore no one should have the misunderstanding that believing in Allah and doing good deeds, without the medium of the Messenger and the Book will lead to the results being mentioned below. Whoever studies the Qur'an carefully cannot remain unaware that according to it no such belief is genuine belief in Allah and no such act is righteous at all.
- filter_vintageThe Day of At-TaghabunAllah said,﴿يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُكُمْ لِيَوْمِ الْجَمْعِ﴾(The Day when He will gather you on the Day of Gathering,) meaning the Day of Resurrection. This is the Day when the earlier and later generations will all be gathered in one area, a caller would be heard by them all, and one's vision would easily see them all. Allah said,﴿ذلِكَ يَوْمٌ مَّجْمُوعٌ لَّهُ النَّاسُ وَذَلِكَ يَوْمٌ مَّشْهُودٌ﴾(That is the Day whereon mankind will be gathered together, that is a Day when all will be present.) (11:103), and,﴿قُلْ إِنَّ الاٌّوَّلِينَ وَالاٌّخِرِينَ - لَمَجْمُوعُونَ إِلَى مِيقَـتِ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ ﴾(Say: "(Yes) verily, those of old, and those of later times. All will surely be gathered together for appointed meeting of a known Day.'') (56:49-50) Allah's statement,﴿ذَلِكَ يَوْمُ التَّغَابُنِ﴾(that will be the Day of At-Taghabun) Ibn `Abbas said, "It is one of the names of the Day of Judgement, and that is because the people of Paradise will have gained over the people of the Fire.'' Qatadah and Mujahid said similarly. Muqatil bin Hayyan said, "There is no mutual loss and gain greater than these entering Paradise and those being taken to the Fire.''