Surah Hud

Chapter 11 · Verse 16 · Revealed in Makkah

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ فِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ إِلَّا ٱلنَّارُ ۖ وَحَبِطَ مَا صَنَعُوا۟ فِيهَا وَبَٰطِلٌۭ مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ

Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the Fire. And lost is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to do.

Translation: Saheeh International

Listen to recitation

Mishary Rashid Alafasy

Reflection — Ibn Kathir

Whoever wants the Worldly Life, then He will have no Share of the Hereafter

Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas said concerning this verse, "Verily those who show off, will be given their reward for their good deeds in this life. This will be so that they are not wronged, even the amount equivalent to the size of the speck on a date-stone." Ibn `Abbas continued saying, "Therefore, whoever does a good deed seeking to acquire worldly gain - like fasting, prayer, or standing for prayer at night - and he does so in order to acquire worldly benefit, then Allah says, `Give him the reward of that which he sought in the worldly life,' and his deed that he did is wasted because he was only seeking the life of this world. In the Hereafter he will be of the losers." A similar narration has been reported from Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak and many others. Anas bin Malik and Al-Hasan both said, "This verse was revealed concerning the Jews and the Christians." Mujahid and others said, "This verse was revealed concerning the people who perform deeds to be seen." Qatadah said, "Whoever's concern, intention and goal is this worldly life, then Allah will reward him for his good deeds in this life. Then, when reaches the next life, he will not have any good deeds that will be rewarded. However, concerning the believer, he will be rewarded for his good deeds in this life and in the Hereafter as well." Allah, the Exalted, says,

مَّن كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعَـجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَآءُ لِمَن نُّرِيدُ ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا لَهُ جَهَنَّمَ يَصْلَـهَا مَذْمُومًا مَّدْحُورًا - وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الاٌّخِرَةَ وَسَعَى لَهَا سَعْيَهَا وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَـئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُم مَّشْكُورًا - كُلاًّ نُّمِدُّ هَـؤُلاءِ وَهَـؤُلاءِ مِنْ عَطَآءِ رَبِّكَ وَمَا كَانَ عَطَآءُ رَبِّكَ مَحْظُورًا - انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَلَلاٌّخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَـتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلاً

Reflection — Maarif ul Quran

The second verse (17) presents the high ground the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the purely sincere believers with him occupy. This is in sharp contrast to those the sum total of whose knowledge and the end of whose quest is restricted to worldly life only - so that the whole world could see that these two groups could not be equal. After having focused on this phenomena, it has been stated that the mission and message of the Holy Prophet ﷺ as a prophet and messenger of Allah is open to mankind right through the Last Day of Qiyamah. Then, it has been stressed that anyone who does not believe in him will be considered, irrespective of what one does, astray and Hell-bound.

In the first sentence, it was asked: Can a denier of the Qur'an be equal to the one who adheres to the Qur'an that has come from his Lord? And along with it there is a witness present within it, while a witness earlier to this is the Book of Musa A.L that was sent to be followed and to be mercy for people?

What does this verse bring up for you today?

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