So in many ways the surah represents finality. It actually interestingly enough
by the language with which the surah begins when Allah says {إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْشَقَّتْ}
when the sky is going to crack open. انشقاق is used in the Arabic language
for physical objects that are hard. Like انشقاق is used like يشقق فيخرج منه الماء a rock that cracks open.
And then {ثُمَّ شَقَقْنَا الْأَرْضَ شَقًّا} [80:26] we tear the earth open. A mountain tearing open.
The land tearing open, a boulder tearing open, meaning cracking open.
انفطار can actually be used in the previous surah you found {إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْفَطَرَتْ} [82:01] you can use انفطار or فطر for even
the tearing of a cloth, something soft. And the thing is, when you tear something soft
like a cloth or leather you could stitch it back up. But once a rock is cracked open, what happens?
There's no putting it back together. The idea that the word انشقاق is used in the beginning here {إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْشَقَّتْ}
in and of itself kind of represents a finality. That this is bringing everything that's been talked about before to a final version.
There's so many words even used for the sky {فُتِحَتِ السَّمَاءُ} [78:19] The sky has been opened. {السَّمَاءُ فُرِجَتْ} [77:09]
Another word for torn which can be stitched again انْفَطَرَتْ there's so many words but this one is kind of irreversible.
It's the end game and so that's what we start with. But then it's one of the most powerful Ayat describing nature
and describing the reality of the sky that you find anywhere in the Quran. Allah just says {وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ}
and this is a very difficult Ayah to process. Let's go through it a little by little.
The word أذن in Arabic can mean two things أذن يأذن إذن and أذننا. إذن means permission.
And أذن means to to listen. Like أذن is the ear. So {وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ} one of its meanings is that the sky is actually going to pay
a close ear pay close attention and listen carefully to its master {وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ} implied within the meaning,
why is it different from سمعت لربها also listens to its master or أطاعت ربها obeys the master.
إذن also because it has kind of the texture of permission. It's as though just to make this easy to understand,
sometimes I give a student an instruction to do something and they don't want to do it.
But then there is a student that has been asking me "Hey, I wanted to do an extra credit project.
You promised you'll give me an assignment." and I don't give it to him and then finally I give it to them.
In other words, when I gave the instruction, they were already eager to follow.
They've been waiting to hear the permission to do what they've been asked wanting to do. You understand?
Simpler example would be children asking for recess or a break. "Can we have a break now? Can we have a break now? "
Then finally when the permission is given, they listen to the words of permission and they could do what they want.
It is as though the sky tearing open is actually what the sky is been wanting to do.
And it's been itself bought back because it didn't hear the words of permission from Allah.
Allah kept saying not yet, not yet, not and it's just desperately waiting for those words to come from Allah {وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ}
It's a very scary thing to think about. This theme in the Quran that nature as we know it is actually a wild beast
that wants to just tear things apart and the only reason it's being held back is because Allah hasn't given it permission yet.
The earth actually doesn't want to stay calm. The sky doesn't want stay intact.
It wants to tear open. What Quran will describe for example when someone says Allah has taken a son
{تَكَادُ السَّمَاوَاتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ} [19:90] the skies are about to tear open because they hear somebody
saying Allah has a son. The skies can't tolerate that kind of disobedient word to Allah. The heavens are shaking.
But they are held together because Allah won't let them tear open. Similar to all other creations of Allah.
They only tolerate obedience. And this idea why is it that it's waiting to be torn open? Why is it want to destroy itself so badly?
You have to understand something. When you experience trauma like I'm reminded of the example of مريم سلام عليها
when she gave birth and she wished that she was dead {يَا لَيْتَنِي مِتُّ قَبْلَ} [19:23]
I wish I was dead before this happened. When you experience a traumatic thing and you're going to be accused and humiliated ....etc.
You'd wish for death over that. The obedient to Allah. The skies are in تسبيح of Allah {سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ} [61:02]
all things in the skies in the earth declare Allah's perfection. When the sky watches us because the sky is a witness over us.
When it watches our evil deeds, our sins and our شرك and our كفر then it actually reacts and it wants to react.
Sometimes Allah lets the earth react just a little bit. So Allah says {ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النَّاسِ} [30:41]
that corruption came out in the land and in the sea because of some of the sins that people have earned.
Not all of them. If all of them were earned then the day of judgement would begin.
But the earth can't hold it, can't tolerate it, and it has some eruption because of the sins of people on the earth.
And just to qualify that, that doesn't mean if there is an earthquake that happen in Pakistan,
it's because of the sins of people in Pakistan. That's not what that means.
The earth reacts anywhere because of the sins that are happening anywhere.
We don't make a correlation between those things. "Oh they had a flood because they were really bad people."
We don't do that. The days of natural disasters, what we call natural disasters now being a punishment on a قوم or a nation
those days are over because that was only in the times of prophets. You cannot make that statement now
about any any disaster that happens. These are all tests from Allah. But calling them عذاب is a mistake.
That is not the same as calling them عذاب that is a mistake. Allah's book doesn't allow this.