Surah Adh-Dhaariyat (51) — Ayah 8

(Ayah 8){ اِنَّكُمْ لَفِيْ قَوْلٍ مُّخْتَلِفٍ:} That is, this sky which is extremely strong and stable and exceedingly beautiful, in which there are paths of stars and which is adorned with waves of clouds, bears witness that you are involved in a matter in which there is much disagreement among you. Here, the question is: how does the sky bear witness to this, and what is achieved by saying that you are involved in a matter in which there is much disagreement? The answer is that such a strong, stable, lofty, beautiful, and adorned sky is a witness that for its Creator, establishing the Resurrection and bringing you back to life is not at all difficult, as He said: « ءَاَنْتُمْ اَشَدُّ خَلْقًا اَمِ السَّمَآءُ بَنٰىهَا » [ النازعات : ۲۷ ] "Are you more difficult to create or the sky? He constructed it." As for the question of what is the connection between the oath of {’’ اِنَّكُمْ لَفِيْ قَوْلٍ مُّخْتَلِفٍ ‘‘} and the answer to the oath, the answer is that in fact, the matter has been stated briefly here; the detail is that Allah Almighty has sworn by His strong and stable sky and said: O group of disbelievers! By this sky, the statement of Allah regarding the Resurrection is true and your statement is false, because you are involved in a statement that is mutually different and contradictory, whereas there is no disagreement in the truth, as He said: « وَ لَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللّٰهِ لَوَجَدُوْا فِيْهِ اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيْرًا» [ النساء : ۸۲ ] "And if it had been from other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction." Thus, among you, some say that this world has just continued like this, some people die and others are born, no one has ever come back, nor is there any return to life. Some believe in reincarnation and say that reward and punishment for good and bad deeds is necessary, but there is no appointed day for it; rather, a person is repeatedly born in the world in the form of good or bad creatures. Some accept the Hereafter but hold the belief about certain beings that they are so powerful that with their intercession, they will forcibly rescue their followers on that day. This disagreement is proof that your statement regarding the Resurrection is false. The mention of the disbelievers' disagreement regarding the Resurrection is also stated at the beginning of Surah An-Naba: «عَمَّ يَتَسَآءَلُوْنَ (1) عَنِ النَّبَاِ الْعَظِيْمِ (2) الَّذِيْ هُمْ فِيْهِ مُخْتَلِفُوْنَ » [ النبا : ا تا ۳ ] "About what are they asking one another? About the great news? That over which they are in disagreement."

8. 1. That is, O people of Makkah! You have no agreement among yourselves in any matter. Some of you call our Prophet a magician, some a poet, some a soothsayer, and some a liar. Similarly, some completely deny the Resurrection, while others express doubt. Moreover, on one hand, you acknowledge Allah as the Creator and Sustainer, and on the other hand, you have also made others your deities.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).