Surah Al-Isra (The Night Journey ) 17 : 97

Overview (Verses 97 - 99)

Devoid of all faculties
 
He whom God guides is indeed rightly guided; whereas for those whom He leaves to go astray you cannot find anyone to protect them from Him. On the Day of Resurrection We shall gather them together, prone upon their faces, blind, dumb and deaf. Hell shall be their abode. Every time it abates We will increase for them its blazing flame. That is their reward for having disbelieved in Our revelations and said, ‘When we are bones and dust, shall we be raised to life again as a new creation?’ Do they not see that God, who has created the heavens and the earth, has power to create their like? He has beyond any doubt set a term for their resurrection. But the evildoers refuse to accept anything other than unbelief (Verses 97-99)
 
God has operated certain laws concerning His guidance and people’s choice of error in preference to that guidance. He has allowed people to conduct their lives as they wish, but they remain subject to these laws and they will have to face the outcome. One of these laws is that human beings either follow God’s guidance or turn away from it into error. The choice is made by man himself. Whoever deserves, on the basis of his efforts and actions, to receive God’s guidance will definitely be guided aright. He is the one who will be truly guided as a result of his choice.
 
In the other camp we find those who deserve to be left in error because they turn away from God’s revelations and blind themselves to all signs pointing the way to His guidance. Such people will have no one to protect them against God’s punishment: “You cannot find anyone to protect them from Him.” (Verse 97) On the Day of Judgement they shall suffer humiliation and will be resurrected in a terrible situation, ‘prone upon their faces’, lost as they will be ‘blind, dumb and deaf’ (Verse 97) They are thus deprived of their senses by which they might have been able to find their way through the great multitude. It is a fitting result, because it was they who chose not to use their senses in life to follow the signs of divine guidance. The final outcome is that “Hell shall be their abode.” It will be made to continue to burn fiercely: “Every time it abates We will increase for them its blazing fire.” (Verse 97)
 
It is certainly a horrifying end, but they have earned it through their disbelief in God’s signs and revelations, and also through their denial of resurrection, the reckoning and reward: “That is their reward, for having disbelieved in Our revelations and said, When we are bones and dust, shall we be raised to life again as a new creation?” (Verse 98)
 
The sūrah portrays the scene as though it is taking place now. It shows this life as having already come to an end and become a distant past. This follows the usual Qur’ānic method of portraying scenes of the hereafter as if they were taking place now in order to enhance their effect, so that people may take heed.
 
This is followed by a new argument based on what they see in real life but tend to ignore: “Do they not see that God, who has created the heavens and the earth, has power to create their like?” (Verse 99) Why should the concept of resurrection be difficult to accept when simple logic confirms that God who has created this majestic universe is able to create a similar one? If He is thus able to create, He is also able to bring creatures back to life after they have died. “He has beyond any doubt seta term for their resurrection.” (Verse 99) He has allowed them a term of life and set a time for their resurrection. However, “The evildoers refuse to accept anything other than disbelief” (Verse 99) Hence their punishment will be fair, as they have had all signs, pointers and evidence to show them the path of guidance, but they refused to follow anything except error and unbelief.