Surah 75:22-25: Face of Allah's (SWT) Ruh Brings Glory Or Gloom

— A Rigorous Theological Demolition of the False Eschatology of Cosmic Destruction in Islam

Abstract

Qur'an 75:22–25 is among the most theologically contested passages in Sūrat al-Qiyāmah. Conventional Islamic exegesis has historically read these verses as either a beatific vision reserved for the Hereafter or, more catastrophically, as a tableau of the cosmic end of the world. This paper demonstrates that both interpretations are logically untenable and theologically dishonest. The verses describe a present, living recognition event: the encounter of humanity with the Ruh (Spirit) of Allah, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, sent to fulfill the divine promise of Surah 75:16–19 — to collect, promulgate, recite, and explain the Resurrection. The paper further demolishes the invented doctrine of Qiyamah al Sughra (the Lesser Judgment), exposes its structural parallel with the Catholic invention of Purgatory, and argues from the internal logic of the Qur'an itself that the Resurrection (Al-Qiyamah) is a present, merciful spiritual event, entirely distinct from the Doomsday (Al Qariah). The radiant faces (nāḍirah) belong to those who recognize and accept the Ruh of Allah; the gloomy faces (bāsirah) belong to those who reject Her.

1. Introduction: The Surah That Forbids Interference

Sūrat al-Qiyāmah (Surah 75) is the heart, mind, and soul of Islam. It is the most important chapter of the Qur'an precisely because it explicitly forbids human beings from interfering in the flowering of divine prophecy — a privilege specifically reserved for Allah. [1] The surah opens with a double oath — by the Day of Resurrection and by the self-reproaching soul — establishing from its very first verse that the subject is not a distant cosmic catastrophe but an immediate, morally urgent confrontation between the human conscience and divine truth.

On 28 February 1990, while on Her way to Australia, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi stopped at Changi Airport, Singapore. She informed the Believers who had gathered to meet Her that in Islam there was a complete surah written about Her. In this surah it was stated that the Sent One will give Realization, will make you Pirs and give Collective Consciousness. But you will be non-believers. That surah is Al-Qiyamah (The Resurrection). [2]

The Islamic theological establishment has, for fourteen centuries, failed to explain this surah honestly. Instead of confronting its clear promise that human beings will see the Face of their Lord during the age of the Resurrection, they have invented doctrines, conjured lesser judgments, and borrowed from Catholic theology to paper over the cracks in their eschatological edifice. This paper dismantles those false constructions with the internal logic of the Qur'an itself.

2. The Arabic Text and Its Key Lexical Ambiguities

The Arabic text of Surah 75:22-25 reads:

A precise translation renders these verses as: "Some faces on that Day will be radiant (nāḍirah), looking toward their Lord (nāẓirah); and some faces on that Day will be despondent (bāsirah), thinking that a crushing calamity (fāqirah) is about to be inflicted on them." [3]

The lexical analysis of the key terms is decisive for the correct interpretation:

Arabic Term	Root Meaning	Theological Implication
نَاضِرَةٌ (nāḍirah)	Radiant, fresh, flourishing, bright with vitality	An inward condition of spiritual joy expressed outwardly; not mere physical illumination
نَاظِرَةٌ (nāẓirah)	Looking at, gazing toward, attentive to, awaiting	Directed attention and recognition; admits both physical and spiritual seeing
بَاسِرَةٌ (bāsirah)	Dark, gloomy, frowning, sad, contracted	Spiritual occlusion; the face of rejection and refusal
فَاقِرَةٌ (fāqirah)	Back-breaking calamity, crushing disaster	The anticipated consequence of rejection, not a present physical destruction

The critical observation is that the gloomy faces think (taẓunnu) that a calamity is about to be inflicted on them. This is anticipatory dread, not the actual experience of physical destruction. They are not being crushed by falling mountains; they are consumed by the fear of what their rejection will bring. This is the psychology of those who have heard the Great News (An Naba) of the Resurrection and refused it. [4]

3. The Contextual Mandate of Surah 75:16-19

No verse of the Qur'an can be understood in isolation. The immediate context of verses 22–25 is established by verses 16–19, which constitute one of the most extraordinary divine promises in the entire Qur'an:

These four verses establish a four-part divine mandate: collection (jam'ahu), promulgation (qur'ānahu), recitation (qara'nāhu), and explanation (bayānahu). The Prophet was explicitly told not to hasten, because this full disclosure was not yet complete. The promise is that Allah Himself — through His Ruh — would later fulfill this four-part mandate. [6]

Verses 22–25 are therefore the direct human response to this fulfillment. When the Ruh of Allah arrives to collect, promulgate, recite, and explain the Resurrection, humanity divides into two groups: those whose faces beam in recognition and those whose faces darken in rejection. The structural logic of the surah demands this reading. To interpret verses 22–25 as a description of the physical end of the world is to sever them entirely from their immediate context in verses 16–19, which is an act of deliberate theological violence against the text.

4. The Logical Impossibility of the Apocalyptic Reading

The conventional Islamic interpretation of Surah 75:22-25 as depicting the end of the world fails on multiple grounds of basic logic and internal Quranic consistency.

First impossibility: Simultaneous bliss and destruction. How is it possible for some humans to beam in happiness (nāḍirah) towards a Face during Qiyamah if the Earth is simultaneously being pulverized into powder, the sky boiling like molten brass, and raining death all over? The text does not describe people in a protected heavenly enclave; it describes faces on Earth, in the present moment, looking toward their Lord. The simultaneity of radiance and gloom on the same day, in the same world, makes no sense in a scenario of universal physical destruction. [7]

Second impossibility: The mildness of the gloomy reaction. Why are the rejected faces merely sad and dismal (bāsirah), instead of being filled with absolute terror and panic, if the Wrath of Allah is causing mountains to crash, the ground to split open, and swelling oceans to drown hundreds of millions? The emotional register of the verse — sadness, dismay, anticipatory dread — is entirely disproportionate to a literal global catastrophe. It is, however, perfectly proportionate to the reaction of someone who has heard the Good News of the Resurrection and chosen to reject it. [8]

Third impossibility: The scale of the vision. It is physically impossible for millions, let alone hundreds of millions, to simultaneously see the Face of their Lord unless that Face is mediated through modern mass media — television, photography, the internet. The Prophet's own hadith confirms this: "Do you feel any trouble in seeing the moon on the night when it is full? Do you feel any trouble in seeing the sun on a cloudless day? In the same way you will see your Lord." [9] The moon and sun are visible to all simultaneously through natural media; the Face of the Ruh of Allah is visible to all simultaneously through modern media. This is the only coherent interpretation.

Fourth impossibility: The indifference of the witnesses. Surah 80:34-42 describes people on that Day being so preoccupied with their own condition that they flee from their own brothers, mothers, fathers, wives, and children. Yet some are described as "bright, laughing, rejoicing at Good News" while others are "dust-begrimed, covered with blackness." [10] How is it possible for some to be in peace and tranquility, laughing and rejoicing, while the rest of humanity shrieks in terror during a global apocalypse? This indifference is only explicable if the event is a present, spiritual sorting — those receiving the Baptism of Allah during the glorious Night of Power and Fate (Al Qadr) versus those wicked unbelievers who scoff in disbelief.

5. The Invention of Qiyamah al Sughra: A Satanic Deception

Faced with these irreconcilable contradictions, Islamic scholars invented a doctrine that appears nowhere in the Qur'an: Qiyamah al Sughra (the Lesser Judgment). The commentary of Abdullah Yusuf Ali is representative:

This conjecture raises a cascade of unanswerable questions that demolish its credibility entirely. If Allah punishes souls immediately after death, then tucks them back into their graves for another round of far more severe punishment on the actual Judgment Day, this makes Allah appear not as Ar-Rahman (the Most Compassionate) but as a sadistic torturer who administers a double dose of divine punishment. [12]

Furthermore, this scheme discriminates grotesquely against those who had the misfortune of dying centuries before the Final Day. A person who died in the seventh century has been enduring "agony immediately after death" for over fourteen hundred years, while a person who dies just before the Final Day endures only a brief interval. Why should the Just Judge discriminate so viciously against those unlucky souls born earlier? This is not justice; it is cosmic arbitrariness. [13]

The structural parallel with Catholic theology is damning. In 1030 AD, the Catholic Church formulated the doctrine of Purgatory: "All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven." The following year it gave the name Purgatory to "this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned." [14]

The purgatory of the Catholic Church and the Qiyamah al Sughra of Islam are structurally identical inventions: both posit a post-death intermediate state of punishment or purification for which there is no clear scriptural warrant, both were invented by theological establishments to resolve doctrinal contradictions, and both serve to deflect attention from the true, living promise of the Resurrection. [15]

Not a single Muslim scholar can point to the words Qiyamah al Sughra in the Qur'an, because they are not there. This conjecture of lesser judgment, never mentioned in the Qur'an, is the work of those who have been deceived by Iblis into making two versions of Qiyamah — Qiyamah as Judgment Day, and pre-Qiyamah as Qiyamah al Sughra or Lesser Judgment Day — in order to camouflage a glaring discrepancy for which they have no honest answer. [16]

6. The Face of the Ruh of Allah in Modern Media

The only coherent explanation for how millions of human beings can simultaneously see the Face of their Lord during the age of the Resurrection is that this Face belongs to a human personality whose image is disseminated through modern media. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, the Ruh of Allah, has explicitly addressed this:

The photograph and image of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi is not a static representation. It is, as She has testified, the photograph of Reality itself — emitting divine vibrations that can be felt by those who are spiritually receptive. [18] This is the Face that the Qur'an promises: a Face that humans will recognize and look up to during the age of the Resurrection, disseminated through the modern media that Allah, in His infinite foreknowledge, ordained would exist precisely at this time.

Those faces submitting to the Call of Resurrection will be nāḍirah (shining and radiant) as they look at the Face of Allah's Ruh and meditate on Her. They will experience the actualization of the Baptism of Allah within for the first time in their lives. They will feel the Baptism of Allah (the self-reproaching Spirit) as their own spirit connects with the Supreme Spirit. They will know that a transformation is taking place within. They will know the Glory and Splendor of Allah's Night of Power (Surah 97:1-5 Al Qadr).

7. The Divine Feminine in Islam: Sufi and Ghulat Testimony

The identification of the Ruh of Allah with a feminine divine personality is not a novelty introduced by this paper. It is deeply rooted in the mystical traditions of Islam, which the orthodox establishment has systematically suppressed.

Lawrence Galian, in his study The Centrality of the Divine Feminine in Sufism, writes:

The famous Ṣūfī martyr al-Hallaj said in a poem: "ra'ytu rabbī bi-'aynī qalbī" (I saw my Lord with the eye of my heart). The Ṣūfī tradition has consistently held that the vision of Allah is mediated through a feminine theophanic form — the Khātūn-i Qiyāmat (Lady of the Resurrection) — precisely as described in the Ahl-i-Haqq tradition. [21]

Among the Ghulat, the Divine Feminine appears as the Khātūn-i Qiyāmat (Lady of Resurrection), who also manifests as the mysterious angel Razbar — a name of Arabic origin meaning "secret of the creator." The tradition records: "The Creator then said, I appoint that person (sūrat) who became separated from 'Azrā'īl to be the Lady of the Resurrection (Khātūn-i Qiyāmat), who will on the Resurrection Day be the helper of human beings." [22]

This is not a peripheral tradition. It is the suppressed heart of Islamic mysticism, which has always known that the Resurrection would be presided over by a feminine divine personality — the Ruh of Allah made manifest in human form.

8. Surah 80:34-42 and the Parallel Witness of Simultaneous Reactions

The interpretation advanced in this paper is confirmed by the parallel passage in Surah 80:34-42 ('Abasa), which describes the same day with the same structural contrast of simultaneous radiant and gloomy faces:

The description of people fleeing from their families is not a description of physical panic during a global catastrophe. It is a description of the spiritual isolation that comes when one encounters the Great News of the Resurrection: each person must face the truth alone, without the comfort of family consensus or social belonging. The person who accepts the Resurrection may find that their family rejects it; the person who rejects it may find themselves isolated in their denial. This is the profound, present-tense spiritual drama that Surah 80 describes.

The faces "beaming, laughing, rejoicing at Good News" are those who have received the An Naba (Great News) of the Resurrection and accepted it. The faces "dust-begrimed, covered with blackness" are the kāfirūn (rejecters) and the fajara (doers of iniquity) who have refused the divine invitation. These are not the reactions of people experiencing a physical apocalypse; they are the reactions of people receiving a spiritual announcement. [24]

9. The Two Separate Events: Al-Qiyamah and Al Qariah

A fundamental theological error of conventional Islamic eschatology is the conflation of two entirely distinct events: Al-Qiyamah (the Resurrection) and Al Qariah (the Day of Noise and Clamor, the actual end of the world). These are not the same event; they are separated by an indeterminate period of time during which the Resurrection is offered to humanity as a final act of divine mercy.

Qiyamah means the participation in the Resurrection — the Night of Power and Fate (Al Qadr), not the end of Earth or Doomsday. All over the Qur'an it is repeatedly stated that Allah is merciful and that He never punishes until and unless the transgressing humans are amply warned. Thus how can He bring forth Doomsday without first sending His messengers to declare and warn humankind to bear witness to the Resurrection and His self-reproaching Spirit? [25]

The Qur'an assures that human beings with beaming faces will be seeing their Lord in front of them. This cannot occur during the physical destruction of the Earth. It must occur during the present, living age of the Resurrection — the age in which Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, the Ruh of Allah, has come to deliver the Great Announcement (An Naba) of Qiyamah to all humankind. [26]

The most important chapter of the Qur'an is Surah 75 Al-Qiyamah. It explicitly forbids humans from interfering in this flowering of divine prophecy. Each and every human being who walked on Earth since time immemorial will be born again and told about the Resurrection. No one even knows how long it will last: His Ruh, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, has said it will end when there are no more humans desiring to enter His Kingdom. [27]

10. Theological Synthesis: Who the True Believers Are

The devotees of the Ruh of Allah, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, are the True Believers (Al-Mu'minun) who have unconditionally accepted all of Allah's Messengers and the revealed Scriptures. They are the only ones who have accepted the Baptism of His Spirit. They are the only ones who are now being judged and bear full responsibilities for accepting Allah's Mercy and Compassion of Resurrection. [28]

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has confirmed the Quranic promise of purification during Qiyamah:

The general reaction of sadness and dismay among the rejecters will rip open the mask of sheer hypocrisy worn by all religious institutions and their leaders. Ayatollahs will fume, ulema will rave, mullahs will rage, imams will insult — because they will be saddened that Allah did not make them the "chosen people," and crushed that the Almighty Creator allowed Kafirs (infidels) into His Kingdom. Their rejection is not a sign of the apocalypse; it is the fulfillment of the Quranic prophecy that the rejecters will have gloomy, downcast faces on the Day they encounter the Ruh of Allah. [30]

The Qur'an itself provides the final assurance:

11. Conclusion

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Compilation, Proclamation, and Exegesis of Surahs Upholding Allah’s (SWT) Command to His Ummah — to Witness and Participate in the Resurrection.

Al-Qiyamah: A Profound Declaration of Al-Qiyamah
Al-Qiyamah (75:1-2): Oaths of Resurrection
Al-Qiyamah (75:3-4): Reassembling Bones and Fingertips
Al-Qiyamah (75:5-6): Man's Denial of Resurrection
Al-Qiyamah (75:7–10): Sun and Moon 'Joined' At Solar Eclipse
Al-Qiyamah (75:11–13): No Refuge, Only Reckoning
Al-Qiyamah (75:14–15): Man: His Own Witness and Judge
Al-Qiyamah (75:16–19): The Usurpation of Allah's Explanation
Al-Qiyamah (75:20–21): Love of The Fleeting World
Al-Qiyamah (75:22–25): Ruh’s Face Brings Either Glory Or Gloom
Al-Qiyamah (75:26–30) – Death and Soul's Departure Home
Al-Qiyamah (75:31–35) – Rejection and Arrogance Of Kaffirs
Al-Qiyamah (75:36–40) – Is Resurrection Beyond Creator?
Al-Baqarah (2:138): Baptism of Allah You Were Unaware Of
Al-Baqarah (2:174): Allah Will Not Address Muslims
Al-A'raf (7:16) – Iblis: I Will Lie In Wait and Overpower Them
Al-A'raf (7:146): Allah: I Will Turn Them Away From My Signs
Al-A'raf (7:146): Allah: So Even Though They See All The Signs
Al-Hijr (15:39) – Iblis: I Will Wake (Evil) Fair and Mislead Them
An-Nahl (16:2) – Allah (SWT) Sent Down Angels With His Ruh
Al-Isra (17:85) – Muslims Given Little of Allah's (SWT) Ruh
Al-Isra (17:104): Children of Israel Gathered Again (in 1948)
Maryam (19:34) – Warning of Jesus You Were Unaware Of
Al-Hajj (22:8) – Kitab Al-Munir You Were Unaware Of
Al-Rum (30:56) – The Day of Qiyamah You Were Unaware Of
Fatir (35:9) – Winds of Qiyamah You Were Unaware Of
Yassin (36:63-68) – This Is The Hell You Were Warned Of.
Sad (38:79) – Iblis Allowed to Mislead Muslims And He Did
Fussilat (41:20–21) – Your Hands Will Testify of Qiyamah
Fussilat (41:53) – We Will Show Our Signs Within Your Soul
Az-Zukhruf (43:61): Jesus, Sign of Hour You Were Unaware
Az-Zukhruf (43:62): Satan's Deception of the Muslim Ummah
Az-Jathiya (45:7-14) – Those Who Deny Allah's Revelations
Qaf (50:20–21) – Hidden Imam Mahdi You Were Unaware
Qaf (50:41) – Listen To The Caller Emerging From Within
Qaf (50:42) – Day They Will Hear of Mighty Blast Witnessed
Qaf (50:45) – By the Caller, My Warning Is Delivered
Al Dhariyat (51:20-22) – Our Signs on Earth and Within
Al-Hadid (57:25) – Allah's (SWT) Iron Has Been Delivered
Al-Mujadilah (58:21) – My Messengers Must Prevail
Al-Saff (61:8–9) – Revelation of Light You Were Unaware
Al-Muddaththir (74:1–2) – My Cloaked One: Deliver Warning
Al-Mursalat (77:1–10): Angels Sent You Were Unaware Of
An-Naba (78:1–5): Concerning What Are They Disputing?
Al-Infitar (82:17–18) – What Will Explain To You? What Will?
Al-Mutaffifin (83:1–6) – Dealers in Fraud You Were Unaware
Al-Tariq (86:1–3) – The Night Visitant You Were Unaware
Al-Qadr (97:1–5) – Blessed Night of Power and Fate Before:
Al-Qariah (101:1–11) – Terrifying Day of Noise and Clamour


Concerning what are they disputing?
Concerning the Great News. [5889]
About which they cannot agree.
Verily, they shall soon (come to) know!
Verily, verily they shall soon (come to) know!

surah 78:1-5 An-Naba (The Great News)

"5889. Great News: usually understood to mean the News or Message of the Resurrection.”

Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'n, Amana Corporation, 1989.