Surah Ad-Dukhan 44:34

Refutation of Those Who deny the Resurrection

Here Allah denounces the idolators for their denial of the Resurrection and their belief that there is nothing after this life and no life or resurrection after death, which they based on the fact that their forefathers had died and had not returned. They said, If the resurrection is true,

فَأْتُواْ بِـَابَآئِنَا إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ

(Then bring back our forefathers, if you speak the truth!) This is false evidence and a specious argument, for the resurrection will happen on the Day of Judgement, not in this world; it will happen when this world has ended and ceased to be. Allah will bring all creatures back, created anew. He will make the evildoers fuel for the fire of Hell, and on that Day you will be witnesses over mankind and the Messenger will be a witness over you. Then Allah threatens them and warns them of the irresistible torment other idolators like who denied the resurrection, suffered. Such as the people of Tubba`, i.e., Saba'. Allah destroyed them, wreaked havoc upon their land and scattered them here and there throughout the land, as we have already seen in Surah Saba'. This was brought about because the idolators denied the Resurrection. Here too, the idolaters are compared to them. They Tubba` were Arab descendants of Qahtan, just as these people (Quraysh) were Arab descendants of `Adnan. Among the people of Himyar -- who are also known as Saba' -- when a man became their king, they called him Tubba`, just as the title Chosroes was given to the king of Persia, Caesar to the king of the Romans, Fir`awn to the disbelieving ruler of Egypt, Negus to the king of Ethiopia, and so on among other nations. But it so happened that one of the Tubba` left Yemen and went on a journey of conquest until he reached Samarqand, expanding his kingdom and domain. He is the one who founded Al-Hirah. It is agreed that he passed through Al-Madinah during the days of Jahiliyyah. He fought its inhabitants but they resisted him; they fought him by day and supplied him with food by night, so he felt ashamed before them and refrained from harming them. He was accompanied by two Jewish rabbis who advised him and told him that he would never prevail over this city, for it would be the place to which a Prophet would migrate towards the end of time. So he retreated and took them (the two rabbis) with him to Yemen. When he passed by Makkah, he wanted to destroy the Ka`bah, but they told him not to do that either. They told him about the significance of this House, that it had been built by Ibrahim Al-Khalil, peace be upon him, and that it would become of great importance through that Prophet who would be sent towards the end of time. So he respected it, performed Tawaf around it, and covered it with a fine cloth. Then he returned to Yemen and invited its people to follow the religion of guidance along with him. At that time, the religion of Musa, peace be upon him, was the religion followed by those who were guided, before the coming of the Messiah, peace be upon him. So the people of Yemen accepted the religion of guidance along with him. `Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَا أَدْرِي تُبَّعٌ نَبِيًّا كَانَ، أَمْ غَيْرَ نَبِي»

(I do not know whether Tubba` was a Prophet or not.) It was narrated that Tamim bin `Abdur-Rahman said: " `Ata' bin Abi Rabah said, `Do not revile Tubba`, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade reviling him."' And Allah knows best.

Allah menjelaskan bahwa orang-orang kafir Mekah tidak mempercayai adanya hari kebangkitan karena menurut keyakinan mereka mustahil orang yang sudah mati itu dapat hidup kembali. Kepercayaan yang demikian itu timbul karena pikiran mereka telah dilumuri oleh noda-noda kemusyrikan; semakin lama noda itu semakin menebal sehingga menutupi seluruh hati dan pikiran mereka. Maka timbullah rasa sombong (takabur) dalam hati mereka disertai dengan keingkaran tanpa alasan. Mereka berpendapat apa yang dipandang benar oleh nenek moyang mereka adalah benar pula menurut mereka meskipun keyakinan nenek moyang mereka itu semata-mata berdasarkan dugaan yang tidak ada dasar kebenarannya. Keadaan mereka seperti orang yang terlanjur melontarkan kata-kata, kemudian kata-kata itu dibelanya mati-matian tanpa memperhatikan apakah yang dikatakannya itu benar atau salah. Mereka tidak lagi menggunakan pikiran yang sehat dalam menilai perkataan itu akan tetapi semata-mata menuruti hawa nafsu mereka.

Sikap dan keyakinan mereka itu tercetus dalam perkataan mereka. "Kematian itu hanya sekali yaitu kematian di dunia ini saja, tidak dua kali, dan kami sekali-kali tidak akan dibangkitkan kembali."

Dengan perkataan itu, berarti mereka telah menolak keterangan wahyu yang mengatakan bahwa mati itu dua kali. Allah berfirman:

Bagaimana kamu ingkar kepada Allah, padahal kamu (tadinya) mati, lalu Dia menghidupkan kamu, kemudian Dia mematikan kamu lalu Dia menghidupkan kamu kembali. Kemudian kepada-Nyalah kamu dikembalikan. (al-Baqarah/2: 28)

Ayat ini menerangkan bahwa manusia itu sebelum hidup di dunia adalah makhluk yang mati, lalu mereka dilahirkan sebagai makhluk hidup. Setelah itu, mereka menemui ajalnya dan mengalami kematian yang kedua. Kemudian pada hari Kiamat mereka akan dibangkitkan kembali dari kubur, dan hidup untuk kedua kalinya. Dalam ayat ini, diterangkan bahwa orang-orang musyrik mengakui satu kali kehidupan dan satu kali kematian, tidak mempercayai adanya kehidupan sesudah mati. Keingkaran mereka terhadap hari kebangkitan itu tidak beralasan karena pikiran mereka tidak sampai kepada ketentuan itu. Jika Allah kuasa menciptakan semua kehidupan ini, tentu Dia kuasa pula mengembalikan kehidupan itu sesudah kematian dan menghisab semua amal perbuatan.