Some people have the idea that in the first among the quoted verses only the nature of recognizing God is mentioned then a deep reflection on the verse tells us that its topic is common and considers all religion to be natural. The tenets of belief in total and even the complete religion and the commandments are present deep in our hearts.

The Verse says:

““So set your face uprightly for religion, in natural devotion to the truth, the nature caused by God on which He has created mankind. There can be no change in God’s religion;

This is the established religion. But most people do not know.”

As you have seen the word “deen” in the verse mentioned above has been used twice and it points to the reality in religion. The point to note is that it says: “this is the creation of God” and there is no change in God’s creation and then it emphasizes a third time and says, “this law is established and firm” so in this verse the religion being natural has been stressed thrice. (1) We learn from it collective meaning that it is not just the realization of God but the Day of Judgment and the firm belief in the justice of God.

The point to note here is that in the traditions attached to this verse too this meaning is crystal clear.

Some one asked Imam Jafar Sadiq about the word “Fitrat” in this verse. The Imam answered, “This Fitrat means Islam” (2)

Tafsir Durre Manshur has recorded the following from the Holy Messenger:

“The nature on which God has created mankind is the religion of God.”(3)

A famous Hadith recorded by both Shia and Sunni scholars is that all mankind have been created on nature (Islam) but it is their parents that pull them to Zoroastrianism, Judaism or Christianity.”

Two topics have been mentioned about God’s oath in the second verse; one is the Day of Judgment and the second is the self accusing spirit.

Some believe that the word “la’ has been used in the negative sense and thus it means that “I do not swear by these two things.” And the purpose is to emphasize what it says. It is the same when we say to some one that “I do not swear by your life” for it is something greater. But most commentators say that the word “La” is extra and used only for emphasis. God has sworn on the Day of Judgment and also on the self accusing spirit.

The moral conscience of man is “Nafs Lawama” and the moment he makes a mistake he curses himself. The admonishment is as great as the mistake or sin committed so much so that when some people commit a greater sin they commit suicide to get away from the clutches of conscience and we have heard such things about murderers and those who delve with Jinns.

The Day of Judgment and the conscience are two such important issues that can be sworn by and their being mentioned together is to highlight the link between them.

The Day of Reckoning is the greatest court of justice and the conscience is also a minor court of justice or in other words how can you deny the Day of Judgment when a small example of it is instilled inside you. You have experienced many times that you feel happiness when you do a good deed this is the reward of peace and calm that your soul gives you for it. You despair when you do something wrong and flay yourself from within and you burn inside and this is the punishment that this court of conscience has awarded you.

How is that within you exists this court of God but there will be no court of Justice for such a vast universe?

The point that attracts our attention is that to prove the Day of Judgment the oath has been taken on it only. It is said, “By the Day of Judgment the Day of Judgment is the truth.”(5)

The question is if this oath is for the believers then there should be no discussion and if it is for the disbelievers then why has the oath been taken by something they do not believe.

Some commentators try to solve this issue by saying that the word “Rabb” stands for fate and the verse means “by the Lord of the Day of Judgment, the Day of Judgment will take place.” (6)

It has also been said that this oath is for those who believe wholly on the Day of Judgment but doubt about the details and the details have been mentioned in the later verses and Qura’n has sworn to prove this by the oath on the Day of Judgment.

In other words the argument has been given through their own nature. There are various statements about the conscience by the commentators. Some commentators have given 6 different interpretations. They sometimes take it to be the believer’s soul that admonishes itself for mistakes and sometime as the conscience of the disbeliever that curses it after seeing the result of his deeds on the Day of Judgment. Some say that it is common to both the believer and the disbeliever and some say that it is about the exit of Adam from Paradise.

The oath which is a sign of gentility and exists with the Day of Judgment, the best thing to say about it is that it is about the souls of those believers who have now reached their prime glory.