Transliteration:( 'Alaaa an nubaddila amsaalakum wa nunshi'akum fee maa laa ta'lamoon )
56. We cause you to perish and in your place establish other nations.
57. That We can metamorphose you into a monkey, a donkey, etc. as was done to people. before you. This tells us that even today punishment of this nature can still be sent. In fact, prior to the Day of Judgement they will be sent. After the advent of the Holy Prophet these types of punishments ceased to come. Thus, there is no contradiction between the Qur'aan and the Hadith.
The tafsir of Surah Waqiah verse 61 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Waqiah ayat 57 which provides the complete commentary from verse 57 through 62.
(56:61) Had We so wished, nothing could have hindered Us from replacing you by others like yourselves, or transforming you into beings you know nothing about.[26]
26. That is, just as We were not powerless to create you in your present form and appearance, so We are also not powerless to change the method of your creation and bring you into being in another form and shape with another set of qualities and characteristics. Today the method We have adopted for your creation is that conception takes place by the sperm then you are gradually formed and developed in your mother’s womb, and then you are brought out as a child. This method of creation also has been devised by Us. But this is not the only method We know. On the Day of Resurrection, We can create you in the form of the man of the same age at which you died. Today We have set one particular measure for your sight and hearing and other faculties. But this is not the only measure that We have for man, which We may not have the power to change. On the Day of Resurrection, We shall change it so much so that you will be able to see and hear things which you cannot see or hear today. Today your skin and your limbs and your eyes do not possess the power of speech. But, it is We Who have given the tongue the power of speech; so We are not powerless to cause your every limb and every part of the skin of your body to speak by Our command on the Day of Resurrection. Today you live up to a certain age and then die. Your, this living and dying also is controlled by a law ordained by Us. Tomorrow We can make another law to control your life under which you may never die. Today you can endure punishment only to a certain extent: you cannot survive if the punishment is increased beyond it. This rule has also been made by Us. Tomorrow We can make another rule for you under which you will be able to suffer much severer punishments endlessly, and death would not come to you even if you were given the severest torment. Today you cannot imagine that an old man could return to youth, that he could never become ill, that a young man could never be old and that he could stay young for ever and ever. But youth here changes into old age according to the biological laws made by Us. Tomorrow We can make some other laws for your life under which every old man may become young as soon as he entered Paradise and stay young and healthy eternally.
[1614]- An alternative meaning has also been given: "...in that We will replace the likes of you [with others upon the earth] and create you [in the Hereafter] in that which you do not know."
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