Theme of Juz Twenty Nine –The Afterlife

The 29th Juz comprises eleven Makkan Surahs with a common focus on the Afterlife. It begins with Surah Al-Mulk which describes the purpose of this life, the fate of the disbelievers in the Afterlife and points out the signs of Allah’s existence all around us. It is followed by Surah Al-Qalam which is a short reminder of the tests we face in this world and their consequences in the Afterlife.

Surah Al-Haaqah is next and it describes the Last Day, and the handing over of the book of deeds on that day, and people’s reactions when they see their results. This is the most important day in the existence of humanity and our entire lives are supposed to revolve around preparing for it.

This is followed by Surah Al-Ma’aarij which summarizes the formula for success on that Day, and focuses on the importance of belief, Salah, charity, trustworthiness and chastity as the key components of the religion.

The next Surah is Surah Nuh and it is a brief reminder of the story  Prophet Nuh    focusing on his Dawah, the effort and time he put into it, his concern for his people, his patience and finally after nine hundred and fifty years, his Dua against them which led to the great flood. Prophet Nuh    is a great role model of patience in Dawah, even when you don’t seem to be getting any results.

After Surah Nuh is Surah Al-Jinn, a reminder of the unseen and that there exist creation that we cannot see. The Jinn are invisible beings made of smokeless fire that generally live in a parallel world and have free will. This Surah highlights how some of them are believers, and these generally do not interact with humans, while the disbelievers among them try to trick people into Shirk and Kufr.

The next Surah is Surah Al-Muzammil which was the third Surah to be revealed, according to many scholars, and focuses on the importance of Salah, especially the Qiyam Al-Layl (late night prayer). Salah being revealed this early shows us its importance in the life of the believer. It is our link to Allah and without it, we are unable to fulfil our purpose in life.

This is followed by Surah Al-Mudath’thir which was revealed around the same time and includes the command to do Dawah. Dawah and Salah make up two of the fundamental components of the life of the believer, practicing the message and sharing it with others. The bulk of the Surah focuses on warning the disbelievers with a focus on Waleed Ibn Mugheirah, an Arab chief who knew the Qur’an was Divine yet rejected it in order to stay in good favour with the other tribal leaders.

At the end of this Surah is a description of the people of Paradise asking the people of Hellfire why they ended up in Hellfire, and their very first reply is “They said, we were not of those who prayed Salah,” (74:43) once again emphasizing the importance of Salah.

The last three Surahs in this Juz complement each other, Surah Al-Qiyaamah describes the Last Day in vivid details and warns people who think that life doesn’t have any consequences. Surah Ad-Dahr, or Surah Al-Insaan, is a beautiful and detailed description of Paradise followed by a short reminder on how to attain it, and Surah Al-Mursalaat is a detailed description of Hellfire and the fate of the disbelievers in the Afterlife.

These three Surahs form one theme and remind us that when we die, we will have to face the Day of Judgment, and on that day our final destination, Paradise or Hell, will be decided, so we must live our lives in a way that we are constantly preparing for that day.


Source: Themes of the Qur'an by Abu Muawiyah Ismail Kamdar