Hud (Hud)

18. “And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah? (On the Day of Resurrection) these will be presented before their Lord and the witnesses (the prophets and angels) will say: ‘These are those who lied against their Lord!’ Beware! the curse of Allah is on the unjust.”

The Court of the Resurrection contains many witnesses:

A) The Lord who is a witness to all of our conduct:

“Verily, Allah is a witness for everything.”¹

B) The Blessed Prophet (S):

“How will it be then when We bring from every People a witness, and We bring you a witness over those witnesses?²

C) The Immaculate Imams (as)

“And thus have We made you an Ummah of middling stand that you may be witnesses over mankind…”³

According to some Islamic traditions, what is meant by Ummah (nation) here are the Immaculate Imams, for other individuals in the nation are not eligible for serving as witnesses on that Day owing to their lack of knowledge and their not being infallible.

D) The Angels,

“And every soul shall come forth, with each will be a driver, and a witness.”⁴

On the Day of Resurrection every person will be accompanied with two angels; one of them drives him and the other is a witness over him.

E) The Earth:

“On that Day, she (the earth) will recount (all) her news.”⁵

F) Conscience:

“Read your book; your own self is sufficient as a reckoner against you this Day.”⁶

G) One’s Bodily Organs:

“On the Day (of Resurrection), their tongue, and their hands, and their feet shall bear witness against them as to what they used to do.”⁷

H) Time: Imam Sajjad (as) states in the sixth prayer of the Sahifa that:

“Today (on the Day of Resurrection) is a new day which will testify as to the kind of conduct we have had.”

I) Performance:

“…and what they had done they shall find present (there)…”⁸

Question: The Qur’an has employed the word /’azlamu/ when referring to many sins while the utmost oppression must be one and not more than one. Why is it so?

Answer: This inference is used in cases, all of which are concerned with spiritual mental deviations irrespective of polytheism, false accusations, covering up the truth and withholding it, and obstruction of the way and of the remembrance of Allah. Therefore, the most important of the oppressions is intellectual, cultural, and ideological.

The Qur’an in this verse, as well as in a few verses which come later, explains the situation, profile, and the fate of those who falsely accuse Allah as follows:

The most oppressive individual is he who is deprived of Divine favors, denies the Day of Resurrection, distorts facts, obstructs the way of Allah and is neither able to escape Allah’s domination in this world nor to seek assistance on the Day of Resurrection.

He is the one whose punishment is multi-fold, his life has gone with the wind, his endeavors have become null and void, and his life and soul have become lost.

Therefore, false accusations against Allah are the greatest of the unjust. Writers and preachers of religion must be on guard against wrong words and their writings and keep in mind the fact that there are many witnesses who will testify as to what they have said and written on the Day of Resurrection.

The verse says:

“And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah? (On the Day of Resurrection) these will be presented before their Lord and the witnesses (the prophets and angels) will say: ‘These are those who lied against their Lord!’ Beware! the curse of Allah is on the unjust.”