Each verse cited above denotes a certain era. The first verse speaks about the damnation of Mephistopheles in the presence of God. The Devil was bloated up with vanity and instead of turning to God in repentance and to reap its benefits he resorted to arrogance and began asking God , “Give me respite till the day they are raised.”

He did not ask for this respite so that he could repent and have his sins erased, but it was to way lay Adam and his progeny and to misguide them so that he could satisfy his anger and his cursed envy.

It is also clear like the daylight that the issue of resurrection was there right from the beginning and even the devil believed that there would be such a day.

But his appeal was not accepted as explained in verse 38 of Surah Hijr that says, “ Till the Day of the Appointed Time.”

Some have taken the term “ Appointed Time” to mean the end of the world or the day when man will have no more responsibilities. Some other commentators have taken it as the day of the return of the Mahdi (A.S.).

Then there is the far fetched interpretation of some commentators who have taken the term to mean the Day of Judgment but it is too far fetched because it is not compatible with the literal words of the verse or with the traditions quoted to explain the term.

Some objections that have been raised are mentioned hereunder:

Q: Why and how did God allow him to practice his evil schemes and misguide mankind?”

A: The long life of the Devil is like the reality of his existence, a form of trial for mankind through which the saints and the true believers attain glory and perfection and the impure people are purged from their ranks.

Q: Will this respite till the appointed time not be the cause of the Devil continuing his work and repent as soon as he realizes that his life is coming to an end?

A: The path chosen by the Devil had no point of return. His arrogance and vanity with the passing of time had become his second nature. There is no course of repentance for those that have such an inclination.

Q: Why did the devil ask for life till the Day of Judgment when a respite till the end of this world was enough for him to try for his goal?

A: Tafsir Al Mizan tells us that the devil knew about mankind’s stay in purgatory and he desired to misguide mankind in this world and the in the period till the advent of the Day of Judgment.

He also knew about the difference of time between this stage to the end of the world and then to the Day of Judgment. (1)

Q: How was the devil hopeful that this request would be granted when he was aware of being cursed?

A: The Late Tabrisi writes in Majmaul Bayan that he was sure that the beneficence of God is so great that he can be hopeful despite being cursed and turned out from Paradise. Traditions tell us that his prayer was granted because of the worship of God that he had done earlier.

The third verse is about the departure from heaven to earth of Adam and his wife Eve and about the Devil being cursed and rebuked. Adam and his wife are addressed:

“Therein shall you live and therein shall you die but from it you shall be taken out.”

The verse tells that it is certain that the humans together with the Satans and Jinns in their ranks will be raised on that Day. Some commentaries however have said that the verse speaks about the resurrection of Adam, Eve and their progeny but give no concrete proof for it.

This explanation also tells us that this earth is the origin of man and the place from where he will be raised again. (3)

The third verse speaks about the sons of Adam, Abel and Cain. When the sacrifice of Abel was accepted by God because of his sincerity and the sacrifice of Cain was rejected because of insincerity, Cain became jealous and threatened to kill his brother. Abel replied, “Though you intend to kill me but I will have no such intention because I fear God.” And he added, “Verily I intend that you bear my sins and also your own, so you will be among the companions of the Fire, for it is the recompense of the unjust.”

This verse clearly tells s us that the issue of resurrection was present among the progeny of Adam even in those days. This is why Abel warned Cain about the punishment of God in the hereafter.

According to Raghib in Mafuradat the word “Tabuuu” is derived from the word “Buaa” which means some place being leveled in comparison of “Tabuuh” which means the surface being even. So when it is said “Bawwaatu Lahu Makanan” it means that I have cleaned and leveled the place for him.

This word is often used to mean standing and compulsory and when some one wants to reside at a certain place he first levels the place and this verse has been understood in this way.

But in Misbah-ol-Meez” says that word means “to admit” and to bear a heavy burden on the shoulders while Maqayis-ol-Loghata has given two meanings for it, “The return of two things or the equality of two things.”

The book At-Tahqiq has given us two real meanings one is decrease and the other is descent and the rest of the meaning has been construed as literal ones which are collateral to the real meaning. So now this verse will mean, “I want that you return to God with my sins as well as your own.”

The second meaning is “You are preparing a place for yourself that has been created with my sins as well as yours.”

A big question arises, “What was the sin of Abel who was slain that the burden fell on his murderer Cain?” Normally this is unacceptable because God in verse 38 of Surah Najm says:

“Nobody shall bear the burden of another”

 All the famous commentators have taken the same route in which we have to separate something. According to it the word “Ithmi” (my sins) means “The sin of my murder”.

But the best meaning is that nothing should be separated from the verse and the purpose of the verse is that “If you act on your threat and kill me then the burden of my previous sins will be on your shoulders because you will have to recompense my murder on the Day of Judgment and since you do not have any righteous deeds you will have to accept the burden of my sins.”

A Hadith has been narrated from Imam Baqir (A.S.) which confirms this interpretation. The Imam says:

“If some one intentionally kills a believer than God transfers all the sins of the dead man to the killer and the deceased is free from all sins.” (4)

The same meaning is evident in the Hadith of the Last Messenger though the Hadith is not specific for this verse but it says:

“The unjust and the innocent will be presented to God on the Day of Judgment and the good deeds of the unjust will be added to the good deeds of the aggrieved to establish justice and if the unjust one has no righteous deeds then he will bear the burden of the aggrieved.” (5)

The 4th verse speaks about the time of Noah. The message of Noah has been so described in the words of the disbelievers and deniers:

“Does he (Noah) promises you that you will raised from your graves after you have become dust and bones?”

This tells us that Noah had been preaching about resurrection and physical one at that in a manner that it had reached the ears of his enemies. In their hesitance in belief which came from their base thoughts they used to tell each other: “Far fetched! Farfetched are the promises that you have been given.”

From the verses 17 and 18 of Surah Nuh we learn that he wanted to dispel their disbelief and fears.

He gave them the example of the plants when he spoke of resurrection

“And God has brought you forth from the earth and then he will return you into it and bring you forth again.”

The issue of resurrection therefore, did exist in the days of the first of the Great Apostles of God, Noah. His arguments are the same as was presented by the Last Messenger to the idolaters of Makkah.

The 5th verse discusses the belief of Abraham on the issue of the Day of Judgment Day. This verse presents a part of the prayer of Abraham when he was faced with the stiff opposition of the pagans. He prayed to God”

“And do not let me be disgraced on the day when men are raised; the day in which neither wealth nor sons will be of any help”

In the two verses before this he had said: “And make me one of the inheritors of Paradise.”

We deduce from the above prayers that Abraham was afraid of ignominy on the Day of Judgment despite being one of the elite apostles of God.

It is possible that some people may construe this for the deeds of others and the lesson for the fallible people because ignominy is impossible for the infallible ones even on the Day of Judgment. Some people have given a very subtle interpretation which is “Ordinary good deeds are not compatible to the greatness of the chosen great apostles and those who are considered to be the close ones. It will be a source of shame for them if they are given the lower tier of Paradise that is meant for the ordinary people because a special deed is expected from each one of them and they have a special elevated status.

The 6th verse speaks about the belief of the Jews and Christians on resurrection: “They say, “None shall enter Paradise unless he is a Jew or a Christian”

They were very arrogant about themselves and their elevated status and considered Paradise for themselves only and so they never considered even the true believers to be worthy of it. Qura’n says, “This is their desire” a desire that is baseless and very far from reality and they will never attain this desire.

The Book (in verse 111 of Surah Baqarah) then addresses the Last Messenger, “Tell them, “Show us the proof if you are Truthful”

 What is the criterion for this exclusiveness and what is the proof that this boon has been granted by God to you and not for others? How this claim is compatible with the justice of God and just because of your whim God will deprive the true believers from Paradise?

Let us suppose that they were claimant of their everlasting religion then how could they talk in this manner about the ancient nations when they too were the followers of their apostles and obeyed their commands? What we learn is that their claim on Paradise was a whim of theirs which was derived from their arrogance.

The word “Amani” which means desire is the plural of “Amniah” (Some commentators have clearly stated that this means the desires of men that will never be fulfilled.)

The word “Amani” in the plural sense means desires though the monopoly about Paradise was just one desire. Some have said this is because this single desire contains many desires like, the freedom from punishment, the security from the horrors of the Day of Reckoning, the ease about accounting and others.

According to the others when a desire becomes out of proportion then it is taken to be many desires.

There is this question that sinew each one of them had such a desire and each one of them created such a desire so it is mentioned in the plural form so that we may know that this was not the desire of any single person but was common to all of them.

This verse is a visible proof that the Jews and Christians believed in resurrection.

In the 7th verse we study the case of the Messiah Jesus when he spoke from his cradle about resurrection. He says: ““And peace be upon me on the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised to life again.”

The preference of the three days (the day of birth, death and the resurrection is because these three days are very important in forming the fate of the person. In other words each one of them is a new beginning for mankind in which welfare is of primary importance and this is not obtainable without the beneficence of God. Actually the Messiah has prayed for god’s beneficence in these three days.

He is also telling the people about being a normal human being and denies being godhead.

The same is mentioned in the 15th verse of this Surah for Apostle Yahya the only difference is that here he speaks for God and there the Messiah speaks about himself.

 Imam Ali Ibn Musa (A.S.) has said:

“The most terrifying days for mankind are three: the day he is born and leaves his mother’s womb and sees this world and the day he dies. He den observes the people of this world after his death and then the day he will be raised again and will see the glory and command that he did not see in this world. “

He then speaks about the Messiah Jesus and apostle Yahya in this verse (6)

We learn about how strong was the issue of resurrection among the earlier nation from this verse so much so that the Messiah Jesus talked about it from his cradle.

Up to now we have researched about the presence of the issue of resurrection in the religions of the four great apostles and if we include the various verses revealed to the Last Messenger about it then this issue will cover the five great Apostles of God.

From among the other apostle who were not regarded as the elite we have learnt the issue of Abel and Cain the sons of Adam. It will not be out of place if we hear the same thing from the other apostles.

The apostle Shuaib who was a contemporary of Moses lived in Madyan and spoke to his people:

“O my people! Worship God and believe in the Day of the Hereafter so do not spread mischief on earth.”

Here he speaks about two basic things, the creation and the resurrection in all the religions and invite them to it.

Having hope on the Day of Reckoning means to be hopeful of the beneficence and forgiveness of God or it may mean to believe in that Day.

The 9th verse speaks the words of Apostle Joseph when he was in the dungeons with other prisoners and spoke about the interpretations of dreams. Qura’n says that Joseph said:

“I have abandoned the ways of a people who do not believe in God and deny the hereafter and I follow the ways of my fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

He said this because the polytheists believed in God but did not believe in resurrection and the Day of Judgment. They believe in reincarnation and that the soul of a dead person returns to this world in the body of another person and discovers its rewards and punishments in the new life. Monotheism does not accept p0olytheism or reincarnation of souls in this world. This is why Joseph has called them the disbelievers in God and resurrection. (7)

The word “Millat” means religion but the difference between them is that religion is attributed to God and the people as we say the religion of God or the religion of Mohammad.

But the word “Millat” is generally used for the apostles of God or for the people among whom lived the Messengers or those who claimed to be

The prophets of God e.g. we say “the religion of Abraham” (8) and not the “religion of God”

Here it speaks about Joseph the apostle of God and the Minister of Egypt, his wife and companions and the people who did not have the right belief about the original creation or about the resurrection.

What is relevant is that the belief in resurrection was one of the two tenets of Joseph’s religion. It was so important that Apostle Joseph spoke about it to his companions in the prison. What is important is that immediately after saying this Joseph says, “I have followed the religion of my forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

This proves to us that the belief in the origin and the resurrection existed in all the religions of God in the earlier times.

The 10th verse is about the words the opponents of the Last Messenger expressing surprise and disdain on the invitation to believe in the origin and the resurrection. They disdainfully commented, ““It is true we were promised this, we and our forefathers before us: these are nothing but the tales of the ancient.”

This tells us that even in the very ancient times the people were invited to believe in resurrection by the apostles of God and they regarded this to be tales of the ancient.

The word “Asateer” is the plural of “Astar” which in turn in the plural of “Satar” which means the rows of trees, the string of words or something similar. The word “Asateer” is the plural of a plural word and this tells us about the teachings of the ancient times and since most of their teachings contained frivolities so the word “Asateer” here means non-sense.

Some people have opined that “Asateer” is the plural form of “Usturah, Istarah, and Isteer” and this word has an additional meaning. The actual meaning is natural lines and the additional meaning is fake lines. (9)

1. Tafsir Al Mizan vol. 8 page 28

2. Tafsir Majmaul Bayan vol.4 page 403

3. The departure of Adam and his wife from Paradise and the resurrection on the Day of Judgment has been mentioned in verse 123-124 of Surah Ta-Ha.

4. Tafsir Nurus Saqlain vol. 1 page 613 Hadith 133

5. Tafsir Qartabi vol.3 page 2134

6. Nurus Saqlain vol. 3 page 335 Hadith 75

7. Tafsir Al Mizan vol. 11 page 189

8. Mafuradat by Raghib on the word “Millat”.

9. At-Tahqiq Fi Kalimati Qura’n Alhakim.