Quran in Depth: Al An'am pt. 1

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

The piece of Quran I would like to talk about today is a couple of ayaat from the surah Al An'am, The Cattle. When I thoroughly read this surah I found a couple of pieces that needed some further explanation. One of these parts is ayah 25 to 32. Before I start giving more information about those ayaat, I would like to give some background information about the entire surah first. 

The surah is believed to be revealed during the last year of the Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) life in Makkah. There are several topics that are discussed in this surah: 

• Falsification of shirk, 
• Enunciation of the life after death, 
• Falsification of widespread superstitions, 
• Enunciation of islamic moral principles, 
• Answers to the disapproval of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his mission, 
• Encouragement to the Prophet and his followers, 
• Warning and threats to the disbelievers. 

The ayaat I want to discuss today are connected with the enunciation of life after death. This is a very important subject in islam seeing that the life after death is what believers are hoping and working for. I am using the Muhsin Khan translation to explain this part further, unless otherwise stated. 

6:25  And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they see every one of the Ayat  they will not believe therein; to the point that when they come to you to argue with you, the disbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the men of old."   

Here is said that the lack of ability to understand, to hear, and to see is because of the will of Allah (swt). This is why they don't understand, hear and see the Truth. When a stubborn person doesn't change his attitude and become a righteous person, all the doors to his heart shall be locked for every truth that goes against his desires. This is a law of nature because of the will of Allah (swt). It doesn't mean that a stubborn person is being punished by Allah (swt), Allah (swt) simply says that a stubborn person generally is blinded and can not see the truth because of his own stubbornness. The message is seen as stories and legends from former nations. The stories aren't new, and in their eyes they are automatically false, because they have heard the stories before. 

6:26 And they prevent others from him and they themselves keep away from him, and they destroy not but their ownselves, yet they perceive not.   

The 'him' mentioned in this ayah is, of course, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The disbelievers prevent themselves and others from listening to the Prophet and his message. The damage they are causing this way is only done to themselves and not to the believers. 

6:27  If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say: "Would that we were but sent back! Then we would not deny the Ayat of our Lord, and we would be of the believers!"   

6:28  Nay, it has become manifest to them what they had been concealing before. But if they were returned, they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars.   

In these two ayaat is mentioned that the disbelievers will say, on the Day of Judgement, that if they were to be sent back to this world they would become believers. However, they are only saying this because they have seen the Truth. If they were to be sent back to this world, they would forget about the truth and become disbelievers once again.

6:29  And they said: "There is no but our life of this world, and never shall we be resurrected."   

6:30  If you could but see when they will be held in front of their Lord! He will say: "Is not this the truth?" They will say: "Yes, by our Lord!" He will then say: "So taste you the torment because you used not to believe."   

6:31 They indeed are losers who denied their Meeting with Allah, until all of a sudden, the Hour is on them, and they say: "Alas for us that we gave no thought to it," while they will bear their burdens on their backs; and evil indeed are the burdens that they will bear!   

6:32  And the life of this world is nothing but play and amusement. But far better is the house in the Hereafter for those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious). Will you not then understand?

The life of this world is nothing but play and amusement, this doesn't mean that life is not real. It means that in comparison with life after death, life in this world is simply a distraction from your obligations. Life ends abruptly by death after which everyone goes to the Hereafter, where everything is clear. 

I hope I have explained it well enough, and if I didn't please feel free to leave questions in the comments or email me when you want more information.

May peace, mercy and blessings from Allah be upon you