Answered by: Maulana Muhammad Asadullah Anwar Adam
Question:
What is the explanation of this Ayat:
وَلَنُذِيقَنَّهُم مِّنَ الْعَذَابِ الْأَدْنَىٰ دُونَ الْعَذَابِ الْأَكْبَرِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ
“And we will surely let them taste the nearer punishment short of the greater punishment that perhaps they will repent.” Surah al-Sajadah (21
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
The explanation of this ayat is as follows.
Ibn Abbas (R.A) said: “The nearer punishment means diseases and difficulties in this world and the things that happen to His people as a test from Allah to His servants so that they will repent to Him.”
He also said in another narration that it means “The establishment of punishment upon them”
Another opinion for what it means is that the lighter punishment is the punishment of the grave. [1]
[1] Tafsir Ibn Kathir page 137, volume 5, Qadimi Kutub Khana print
Only Allah knows best
Written by Maulana Muhammad Asadullah Anwar Adam
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham