Surah Saba 34:3

The Hour will come so that each Person will be rewarded or punished in accordance with His Deeds

This is one of three Ayat -- there is no fourth -- where Allah commands His Messenger to swear by His Almighty Lord that the resurrection will surely come, because the stubborn followers of disbelief denied that it would happen. One of these Ayat is in Surah Yunus, where Allah says:

(And they ask you to inform them (saying): "Is it true" Say: "Yes! By my Lord! It is the very truth! and you cannot escape it!") (10:53). The second of these Ayat is this one:

(Those who disbelieve say: "The Hour will not come to us." Say: "Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you..."). And the third of them appears in Surat At-Taghabun, where Allah says:

(The disbelievers pretend that they will never be resurrected (for reckoning). Say: "Yes! By my Lord, you will certainly be resurrected, then you will be informed of what you did; and that is easy for Allah") (64:7). And Allah says here:

(Say: "Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you...") Then Allah is described in a manner that affirms that:

(the All-Knower of the Unseen, not even the weight of a speck of dust or less than that or greater escapes His knowledge in the heavens or in the earth but it is in a Clear Book.) Mujahid and Qatadah said, "Nothing is hidden or concealed from Him." In other words, everything is encompassed by His knowledge, and nothing is hidden from Him. Even though bones may be scattered and disintegrate, He knows where they have gone and where they have dispersed, then He will bring them back just as He created them in the first place, because He has knowledge of all things. Then Allah tells us of His wisdom in re-creating bodies and bringing about the Hour, as He says:

(That He may recompense those who believe and do righteous good deeds. Those, theirs is forgiveness and generous provision. But those who strive against Our Ayat to frustrate them) meaning, those who try to turn others away from the path of Allah and who disbelieve His Messengers,

(those, for them will be a severe painful torment.) This means, He will bestow His favor upon the blessed, who are the believers, and will punish the doomed, who are the disbelievers. This is like the Ayah:

(Not equal are the dwellers of the Fire and the dwellers of the Paradise. It is the dwellers of Paradise that will be successful.) (59:20)

(Shall We treat those who believe and do righteous good deeds like those who cause mischief on the earth Or shall We treat those who have Taqwa as the evildoers) (38:28)

(And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth,) This is another kind of wisdom, following on from the one before, which is that when those who believed in what was revealed to the Messengers see the onset of the Hour and how the righteous and the wicked will be rewarded and punished respectively, which they knew of beforehand in this world from the Books of Allah and which they are now seeing with their own eyes, they will say:

(Indeed, the Messengers of our Lord did come with the truth) (7:43). And it will be said:

(This is what the Most Gracious had promised, and the Messengers spoke truth!) 36:52

(Indeed you have stayed according to the decree of Allah, until the Day of Resurrection; so this is the Day of Resurrection) (30:56),

(And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and that it guides to the path of the Exalted in might, Owner of all praise.) The Exalted in might is the One Who is All-Powerful, Whom none can overwhelm or resist, but He subjugates and controls all things. The Owner of All praise is the One Who, in all His words, deeds, laws and decrees, is deserving of praise, may He be glorified and exalted.

Pada ayat ini, Allah menerangkan bagaimana kesesatan orang-orang kafir yang mengingkari hari Kiamat dan mengatakan bahwa hidup ini hanya sebatas di dunia saja. Mereka mengatakan bahwa kehidupan akhirat yang diberitakan Muhammad saw adalah omong kosong belaka, sesuatu yang tidak mungkin terjadi karena tubuh manusia setelah masuk kubur akan hancur luluh tidak berbekas apalagi setelah melalui masa yang panjang.

Allah memerintahkan kepada Nabi Muhammad supaya menolak dengan keras anggapan orang-orang kafir yang sesat itu. Allah memerintahkan supaya Nabi bersumpah dengan menyebut nama Allah bahwa hari Kiamat itu pasti datang. Ayat ini adalah salah satu dari tiga ayat yang menyuruh Nabi Muhammad supaya bersumpah dengan menyebut nama Allah sebagai bantahan terhadap keingkaran orang-orang kafir, seperti ditegaskan Allah dalam firman-Nya:

Dan mereka menanyakan kepadamu (Muhammad), "Benarkah (azab yang dijanjikan) itu?" Katakanlah, "Ya, demi Tuhanku, sesungguhnya (azab) itu pasti benar dan kamu sekali-kali tidak dapat menghindar." (Yunus/10: 53)

Yang kedua dalam Surah at-Tagabun:

Orang-orang yang kafir mengira, bahwa mereka tidak akan dibangkitkan. Katakanlah (Muhammad), "Tidak demikian, demi Tuhanku, kamu pasti dibangkitkan, kemudian diberitakan semua yang telah kamu kerjakan." Dan yang demikian itu mudah bagi Allah. (at-Tagabun/64: 7)

Demikian kerasnya bantahan yang harus diucapkan oleh Nabi Muhammad terhadap keingkaran orang kafir tentang hari kebangkitan, karena hal itu adalah suatu hikmah dan kebijaksanaan Allah terhadap hamba-hamba-Nya. Suatu hikmah dan kebijaksanaan yang tidak dipahami oleh orang-orang kafir atau mereka tidak mau memahaminya. Hikmah dan kebijaksanaan itu ialah Allah tidak akan membenarkan hamba-hamba-Nya untuk berbuat sekehendak hatinya. Allah telah menjelaskan dengan perantaraan para rasul-Nya bahwa barang siapa yang berbuat kejahatan atau kezaliman akan dibalas dengan balasan yang setimpal baik di dunia maupun di akhirat. Kalau seorang hamba belum mendapat balasan di dunia atas kejahatannya karena kedudukan atau kepintarannya menyembunyikan kejahatan itu, maka balasannya pasti akan diterimanya di akhirat nanti.

Demikian pula halnya hamba-hamba Allah yang berbuat kebaikan. Ini adalah hikmat dan kebijaksanaan Allah Yang Mahaadil, Maha Mengetahui segala perbuatan hamba-Nya. Pada hari kebangkitan semua perbuatan manusia mendapat balasan yang wajar walaupun di dunia sudah mendapat siksaan, apalagi bagi hamba Allah yang belum menerima balasannya. Mengingkari hari Kiamat dan hari pembalasan berarti mengingkari hikmah kebijaksanaan Allah Yang Mahaadil dan Mahakuasa.

Kemudian Allah menerangkan bahwa Dia mengetahui semua yang ada dan yang terjadi di langit dan di bumi, tidak ada suatu pun yang tersembunyi bagi-Nya, sekalipun sebesar zarrah (atom) karena semua itu telah termaktub dalam Lauh Mahfudh. Janganlah seorang hamba mengira bahwa perbuatannya yang sangat kecil atau yang telah ditutupi rapat dan disembunyikan luput dari pengetahuan Allah. Dia pasti mengetahuinya dan akan membalas perbuatan itu, baik di dunia maupun akhirat, sesuai dengan hikmah kebijaksanaan dan keadilan-Nya.