Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

77. “Until, when We open against them a gate of severe chastisement, behold! They will get into despair at it.”

The Arabic word /mublis/ is derived from the word /iblas/, which means the grief and sorrow that overcomes man after a severely traumatic and bitter event that usually makes him silent, astonished and full of despair. Of course, the gates of Divine chastisement are closed to us, but our obstinacy and stubbornness towards the Truth cause Allah to open these gates to us.

The following principles are observed in all the stages of education to which Allah subjects man:

1. He behaves kindly and gracefully with him.

2. He punishes him in order to admonish him.

3. He often inflicts ultimate punishment upon him causing misery and helplessness

(“...a severe chastisement...”)

That is why the Qur’an in this verse indicates that Allah continues giving them these favours, blessings and awakening chastisements when they continue their disobedience and their obstinacy.

Until when, as the verse says:

“Until, when We open against them a gate of severe chastisement, behold! They will get into despair at it.”

In fact, Allah inflicts two kinds of punishment:

A) Punishments that teach

B) Punishments that obliterate and cause despair Punishments that teach put man into troubles so that he can experience his weakness and incapability and stop being conceited.

Punishments that obliterate are inflicted upon incorrigible people to root them out, for they have no right to live in this system. They are thorns in the path of human perfection and must be eliminated.

With regard to the objective of the Qur’anic phrase,

“...a gate of severe chastisement...”

there are different views among the commentators:

Some say that it is death and the punishment of the Day of Resurrection respectively.

Some others say that it refers to the severe famine that had afflicted the unbelievers for some years due to the Prophet’s (S) curse. Staple items of food became very scarce and the people had to eat things that none like to consume them in normal case.

Some say that it refers to the painful punishment particular to the incorrigible ones that the Muslim fighters inflicted upon the unbelievers in War of Badr.

Another possibility is that it does not refer to any special group, but is a general rule governing Divine punishments that start with mercy and are then followed by punishments that educate people and, finally, ending up with punishments that obliterate.