Understanding the Concept of the Lofty Barrier (Araf) and the men of the Lofty Barrier (Arafs) in Expository Narratives

Authors

Abstract

One of the Quranic concepts concerning the Hereafter is the Lofty Barrier (Araf) and their men regarding which the Words of Revelation of 46-49 in Araf Surah in the Holy Quran have pointed this concept. There are different viewpoints among commentators concerning what and where the Lofty Barrier is, and also who the men of the Lofty Barrier are. Regarding this, different viewpoints have been taken into consideration among which there are two viewpoints asserting that the men of the Lofty Barrier are considered as intercessors (who are greatly respectable and esteemed), or sinners whose righteous deeds are not superior to other sinners. By investigating such expository narratives, it is concluded that by relying upon manifest and accurate expository narratives which are available and seem to be different from each other regarding the concept of the Lofty Barrier, and also by combining the two aforementioned viewpoints with each other, we can assert that the men of the Lofty Barrier are believers who commit sins and are highly respectable and esteemed, and they must be considered as saviors and intercessors. Therefore, there remains no difference between the available expository narratives concerning the men of the Lofty Barrier, and the Words of Revelations in Araf Surah corroborate the correspondence of the Words of the Revelation and expository narratives concerning the concept of the Lofty Barrier.

Keywords