Surah Al-Zalzalah: Earth to Testify on Resurrection Day to What People Have Done
On that day, everyone will see what he has done in his life and the earth will bear witness to the activities of people, according to Surah Al-Zalzalah.
Al-Zalzalah is the 99th chapter of the Quran that has 8 verses and is in the 30th Juz.
There are different opinions about whether it is Makki or Madani, but most interpreters believe it was revealed in Medina.
It is the 93rd chapter of the Quran revealed to the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
The Surah talks about a major earthquake and a scene of chaos on the earth at the beginning of the Resurrection Day.
The word Zilzal in the first verse means earthquake.
The Surah discusses the signs of the Resurrection Day and stresses that everyone will see the outcome of what he has done on earth, both his good deeds and bad ones.
Overall, the Surah has three main themes: 1- Signs of beginning of the Day of Judgment, 2- The fact that the earth “will declare all (the activities of the human being) which have taken place on it” (Verse 4), and 3- That people will be divided into two groups of good-doers and evil-doers and their deeds will be judged by God fairly and justly.
Based on Verse 2, one of the signs of the Resurrection Day is that with major earthquakes, the earth will “bring forth its burdens”. Interpreters believe that burdens here refer to the dead who have been buried in the earth.
The last three verses point out that what everyone has done in his life will appear to him in a physical form on the Resurrection Day and either make him happy or make him suffer.
Verses 7 and 8 say: “Whosoever has done an atom's weight of good shall see it, and whosoever has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it.”
According to Quran interpreters, “it” in the phrase “shall see it” could refer to the deed itself, the outcome of the deed or the Book of Deeds.
