Subtleties and Allusions

1. The Meaning of Return to God

The meaning of “Indeed we belong to God, and to Him do we indeed return”(567) refers to continuous return; not that we receive grace in life and return to Him after death: “We belong to God in this world and return to Him in the hereafter.” He is our reference at every moment, just as we receive grace from Him at every moment: “To Him do I summon [all mankind] and to Him will be my return”,(568) meaning we refer to Him at every moment.

Although many verses indicate that return relates to the hereafter and resurrection, such as “And beware of a day in which you will be brought back to God”,(569) “Every soul shall taste death. Then you shall be brought back to Us”,(570) “You will be taken away by the angel of death, who has been charged with you. Then you will be brought back to your Lord”(571) and other verses, such a return is absolute, general, universal, and accompanied by final judgment and recompense.

Based on this, “Then to Him will be your return” means that God is the reference for all your affairs in this world and the hereafter; not that your return to God is only in the hereafter, because “Then” (thumma) here is for separation in expression, and if it meant after this world (resurrection), it would be inconsistent with the detail in the next two verses. There, He promises punishment for the disbelievers in this world and the hereafter, whereas if only the realm of resurrection and after the natural realm and this world were intended, it would not make sense to speak of worldly punishment.

He also said: “Whether We show you a part of what We promise them, or take you away [before that], [in any case] their return will be to Us. Then God will be witness to what they do.”(572) This means that you, as a prophet, have a mission, and We have decisions regarding the disbelievers that We will either implement during your lifetime or after your departure. In any case, We are the reference for decision-making. Indeed, on the Day of Resurrection, everyone will understand that the only reference for decision-making has been and is God: “It is a day when no soul will be of any avail to another soul and all command that day will belong to God.”(573) The Day of Resurrection is when truth becomes manifest and all means fade before Him: “When those who were followed will disown the followers, and they will sight the punishment while all their means of recourse will be cut off.”(574) In other words, in this world, for most people, means apparently have significance and effectiveness; however, in the hereafter, they will understand this was not the case.

The point is that these verses make it clear that it is not that today affairs are in others’ hands and only tomorrow they will be in God’s hands; rather, tomorrow mankind will understand that affairs have been in God’s hands. Verses such as “indeed their Lord will be best aware of them on that day”,(575) which are about God’s knowledge and awareness, do not mean that God is only aware on that day, but rather on the Day of Resurrection, humans will understand that God has been aware, because the Day of Resurrection is the realm of the manifestation of God’s attributes, not the realm of their coming into being. These types of verses also indicate the realm of manifestation, not the realm of occurrence.

The end of the verse, “Then to Me is your return”, even if it apparently relates to its beginning and refers to the story of Jesus (a.s.) and his opponents and followers, is in principle consistent with other verses and indicates universal and perpetual return in “what you do.”(576) God is the origin who takes your soul with all its companions - meaning beliefs and spiritual qualities - to Himself at night. However, this never means that God is unaware of the actions of His servants without causing death, for all aspects and conditions of human life are witnessed by God: “You do not engage in any work, neither do you recite any part of the Qur’an, nor do you perform any deed without Our being witness over you when you are engaged therein. Not an atom’s weight escapes your Lord in the earth or in the sky, nor [is there] anything smaller than that nor bigger, but it is in a manifest Book.”(577)

In the prayer at bedtime, it is also said: “In the name of God I die and live”;(578) meaning in God’s name I die and in His name I live, just as it is said in the prayer during travel and after the night prayer: “O God, I entrust my soul to You.”(579) This death and life continues until the establishment of the great resurrection, therefore the soul that we entrust to God should be such that the angels receive it with satisfaction.

2. The Disesteem of Jewish and Christian Thought until the Day of Resurrection

Jewish and Christian thought will remain until the Day of Resurrection but in a state of disesteem. Jews and Christians will always be afflicted with discord and abasement. The Qur’an says about Christians: “Also from those who say, ‘We are Christians,’ We took their pledge; but they forgot a part of what they were reminded. So We stirred up enmity and hatred among them until the Day of Resurrection, and soon God will inform them concerning what they had been doing.”(580) We took a pledge from some who said: We are Christians; but they forgot their pledge and in response to their breach of covenant, We afflicted them with internal discord and enmity with each other until the Day of Resurrection.

Regarding the Jews, it also says: “The Jews say, ‘God’s hand is tied up.’ Tied up be their hands, and cursed be they for what they say! Rather, His hands are wide open: He bestows as He wishes. Surely many of them will be increased by what has been sent to you from your Lord in rebellion and unfaith, and We have cast enmity and hatred amongst them until the Day of Resurrection. Every time they ignite the flames of war, God puts them out. They seek to cause corruption on the earth, and God does not like the agents of corruption.”(581)

The meaning of resurrection here is “ashrāṭ al-sāʿa” (“signs of the Hour”), which is the time of the appearance of Ḥujjat (a.s.), when Jews and Christians will be obligated to pay the jizya (“poll tax”). Of course, being under the global government of Mahdī (a.s.) does not contradict their internal discord; meaning enmity and hatred do not conflict with intellectual or political sovereignty. Yes, it is possible that following the central Islamic government, the scope of discord and the realm of enmity may become shorter and lesser.

The Qur’an speaks both of the fire of discord between Jews and Christians(582) and of the superiority of the followers of Jesus (a.s.), so we must search for the secret of that discord and humiliation and the reason for this superiority.(583)

It appears from the verse under discussion that neither success and superiority are exclusive to a particular person or group, nor are discord and humiliation. Rather, whether Christian, Jewish or “with their Lord, and they will have no fear, nor will they grieve”(584) is also mentioned: in this verse, after naming the Jews, Christians and Sabeans, without using a conjunction, it considers the reward and immunity from fear and grief for all three, based on divine tradition, contingent upon faith in God, belief in the resurrection and righteous deeds. Therefore, reaching the light of unity and deriving pleasure from it, as well as burning in the fire of discord and being afflicted with humiliation, each has its own separate path.