قَالَ فَإِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً يَتِيهُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ ﴿المائدة: ٢٦﴾
Traditionally the above mentioned verse refers to Moses and his nation when they declined to enter the door of another nation on the said command and thus were led astray for forty years.
Why forty years?
This verse also gives us a ruling principle. When a haram ( حرام) act is committed its penalty is forty years especially when done as a group or nation or in a collective way.
A nonbeliever because of his kufr (كفر ) does not recognize any halal (حلال ) or haram ( حرام) as given in Quran and because of this he keeps on roaming on earth for forty years before he is again ready to receive guidance. If he again misses out, another forty years lapse and then this circle passes on to next generation and it keeps on going until someone accepts the guidance. This is happening in all spheres of life be it be religious, scientific or socio- economic domain. Does this mean that earth is a place for nonbelievers to correct themselves until they become believers ? Yes. It also further imply that earth is persisting because of nonbelievers, life of earth is extended forty year for each haram ( حرام) act done by millions of nonbelievers so that they should get adequate time for self correction and they should not complain on the day of judgment.
If this is so what about believers? They already acknowledge Allah’s order and obey halal ( حلال) and haram ( حرام). Know that a true believer is a remembrance for others, he is a reminder of Allah’s order so that other can witness them. If by chance all the people of world becomes believers the earth will end. Now does this mean believers will be cause of earth end?
You should know that end is sure to come but the way and outcome will be different. By nonbelievers the end of earth is far, he keeps on living this life as a pleasure, he destroys earth in the process of modernization and advancement and ultimately makes it a hell for themselves and for those who follow them. So actually hell is a creation of nonbelievers and created for nonbelievers.
By believers the end is always near, he lives his life with fear of Allah, he tries to open the ways of Allah and makes heaven for themselves and for those who follow them. Heaven is created for them or by them.
Since most people are mixture of belief/disbelief , time on earth keeps on extending until every particle of earth is used up for correction and this is the most important purpose of life on earth and this is the salah (الصلاة ) everyone should remember.
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