Surah Muhammad (47) — Ayah 18

(Ayah 18) ➊ { فَهَلْ يَنْظُرُوْنَ اِلَّا السَّاعَةَ اَنْ تَاْتِيَهُمْ بَغْتَةً:} That is, what admonition and what warning is there that has not been conveyed to them, and what argument is there that has not been presented before them? But they are so wretched that unless they see the Resurrection with their own eyes, they are not ready to believe. Therefore, it is as if they are waiting for it to suddenly come upon them, so that they can neither believe in it based on prior knowledge, nor can they prepare for it.

➋ { فَقَدْ جَآءَ اَشْرَاطُهَا:} That is, the Resurrection they are waiting for—what delay is left in its coming? Its signs have already appeared, so what doubt remains about its arrival? Shah Abdul Qadir writes: "The greatest sign of the Resurrection is the birth of our Prophet (peace be upon him). All the prophets were awaiting the Seal of the Prophets; when he has come, only the Resurrection remains to come." (Muwaddih) Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ بُعِثْتُ أَنَا وَالسَّاعَةُ كَهَاتَيْنِ ] [ بخاري، الرقاق، باب قول النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : ’’ بعثت أنا والساعۃ کھاتین… ‘‘ : ۶۵۰۵ ] "I and the Resurrection have been sent like these two fingers." That is, just as the index finger and the middle finger are joined together, so too is the Resurrection coming immediately after me. Among the major signs of the Resurrection, the sign of the splitting of the moon also appeared during the life of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), as He said: « اِقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَ انْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ» [ القمر : ۱ ] "The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has split." Al-Alusi said: "Apparently, by these signs are meant those signs which had already appeared at the time of the revelation of this verse."

➌ {فَاَنّٰى لَهُمْ اِذَا جَآءَتْهُمْ ذِكْرٰىهُمْ: ’’ ذِكْرٰىهُمْ ‘‘} is the subject, and {’’ فَاَنّٰى لَهُمْ ‘‘} is the interrogative predicate brought forward. {’’ فَاَنّٰى لَهُمْ اِذَا جَآءَتْهُمْ ذِكْرٰىهُمْ ‘‘} (Then when it comes upon them, how will their admonition be possible for them), in {’’ اِذَا جَآءَتْهُمْ ‘‘}, the doer of {’’جَاءَتْ‘‘} is the pronoun of {’’ السَّاعَةَ ‘‘}. (Al-Tashil) That is, when the Resurrection comes upon them, there will be no benefit in accepting or believing in the admonition. The same point is mentioned in this verse: « يَوْمَىِٕذٍ يَّتَذَكَّرُ الْاِنْسَانُ وَ اَنّٰى لَهُ الذِّكْرٰى» [ الفجر : ۲۳] "On that Day, man will take heed, but how will the admonition benefit him then?" See also Surah Saba (51, 52) and Surah Mumin (84, 85).

18. 1. That is, the very advent of the Prophet ﷺ is itself a sign of the nearness of the Hour, as he ﷺ also said: بعثت انا والساعۃ کھاتین. Sahih Bukhari. "My advent and the Hour are like these two fingers." He ﷺ indicated and clarified that just as these two fingers are joined together, similarly the Hour is right after me.

18. 2. That is, when the Hour suddenly comes, how will the disbelievers be able to take admonition? The meaning is that even if they repent at that time, it will not be accepted. Therefore, if one wants to repent, now is the time; otherwise, a time may come when even their repentance will be of no benefit.

Are they, then, just waiting for the Hour to come upon them suddenly? Its signs [21] have already come. So when it does arrive, what good will their reminder be to them then?

[21]
Signs of the Day of Judgment:

The greatest sign of the Day of Judgment is the advent of the Prophet ﷺ himself, because he is the Seal of the Prophets. In addition, his ﷺ statement also indicates the nearness of the Day of Judgment. Pointing towards his index and middle fingers, the Prophet ﷺ said: “My advent and the Hour are like these two.” [بخاري۔ كتاب الرقاق۔ عنوان باب]
This hadith has two meanings: one is that just as there is no third finger or anything between these two fingers, likewise, there will be no prophet between me and the Day of Judgment. And this meaning is clearly indicated by the word “my advent.” The second meaning is that just as the middle finger extends beyond the index finger, so much of the world’s age remains; then the Day of Judgment will come. Furthermore, among the signs of the Day of Judgment is the splitting of the moon, which occurred during the Prophetic era. Also, in many of his statements, the Prophet ﷺ described the signs of the Day of Judgment, some of which are mentioned in the following ahadith:
Sayyiduna Hudhaifah bin Asid says that once we were discussing among ourselves when the Prophet ﷺ looked towards us and asked: “What are you discussing?” We said: “The Day of Judgment.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “It will not be established until you see ten signs before it: the smoke, the Dajjal, the beast of the earth, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of ‘Isa son of Maryam, Gog and Magog, and three (places) where the earth will sink: in the east, in the west, and in the Arabian Peninsula. And the last sign will be a fire that will emerge from Yemen and drive people to their gathering place.” [مسلم۔ کتاب الفتن۔ باب فی الآیات تکون قبل الساعۃ]
Sayyiduna Anas ؓ says that I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: “Some of the signs of the Day of Judgment are: knowledge will decrease, ignorance will spread, wine will be drunk in abundance, adultery will become widespread, women will increase and men will decrease, to the extent that one man will be responsible for fifty women.” [بخاري۔ كتاب العلم۔ باب رفع العلم وظهور الجهل]
Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Religious knowledge will be taken away, ignorance and tribulations will spread, and ‘harj’ will become abundant.” The Companions ؓ asked: “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, what is ‘harj’?” The Prophet ﷺ gestured by moving his hand sideways to indicate killing. [بخاری۔ کتاب العلم۔ باب الفتیا باشارۃ الید والراس]
And it is also established from the clear statements of the Quran that when the time of death comes, or when such a clear sign appears which is a precursor to the Day of Judgment, such as the rising of the sun from the west, or if someone believes at the coming of the Day of Judgment, it will not benefit him.