75:4 Al-Qiyaama (The Resurrection)

فرد عليه بقوله: { بَلَى قَادِرِينَ عَلَى أَنْ نُسَوِّيَ بَنَانَهُ } أي: أطراف أصابعه وعظامه، المستلزم ذلك لخلق جميع أجزاء البدن، لأنها إذا وجدت الأنامل والبنان، فقد تمت خلقة الجسد، وليس إنكاره لقدرة الله تعالى قصورا بالدليل الدال على ذلك، وإنما [وقع] ذلك منه أن قصده وإرادته أن يكذب بما أمامه من البعث. والفجور: الكذب مع التعمد.

قال سعيد بن جبير والعوفي عن ابن عباس أن نجعله خفا أو حافرا وكذا قال مجاهد وعكرمة والحسن وقتادة والضحاك وابن جرير ووجهه ابن جرير بأنه تعالى لو شاء لجعل ذلك في الدنيا والظاهر من الآية أن قوله تعالى "قادرين" حال من قوله تعالى "نجمع" أي أيظن الإنسان أنا لا نجمع عظامه؟ بلى سنجمعها قادرين على أن نسوي بنانه أي قدرتنا صالحة لجمعها ولو شئنا لبعثناه أزيد مما كان فتجعل بنانه وهي أطراف أصابعه مستوية وهذا معنى قول ابن قتيبة والزجاج.

Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Oath about the Final Return on the Day of Resurrection and the Refutation against the Plots

It has been mentioned previously on more than one occasion that if the thing that is being sworn about is something that is being negated, then it is permissible to use the word "La" (Nay) before the oath to emphasize the negation. Here, what is being sworn about is the affirmation of the final abode and the refutation against the claim of the ignorant that the resurrection of bodies will not occur. This is why Allah says,

لاَ أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ - وَلاَ أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ

(Nay! I swear by the Day of Resurrection. And nay! I swear by An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah.) Qatadah said, "This means, I swear by both of these things." This has also been reported from Ibn `Abbas and Sa`id bin Jubayr. Concerning the Day of Judgement, it is well known what it is. In reference to An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah, Qurrah bin Khalid reported from Al-Hasan Al-Basri that he said about this Ayah, "Verily, by Allah, we think that every believer blames himself. He says (questioning himself), `What did I intend by my statement What did I intend by my eating What did I intend in what I said to myself' However, the sinner proceeds ahead and he does not blame himself." Ibn Jarir recorded from Sa`id bin Jubayr that he said concerning Allah's statement,

وَلاَ أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ

(And nay! I swear by An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah) "He criticizes himself in good and bad." Similar has been reported from `Ikrimah. Ibn Abi Najih reported from Mujahid: "He is sorry for what he missed (of good deeds) and he blames himself for it." Allah said;

أَيَحْسَبُ الإِنسَـنُ أَلَّن نَّجْمَعَ عِظَامَهُ

(Does man think that We shall not assemble his bones) meaning, `on the Day of Judgement does he think that We are not able to return his bones and gather them from their various places'

بَلَى قَـدِرِينَ عَلَى أَن نُّسَوِّىَ بَنَانَهُ

(Yes, We are able to put together in perfect order the tips of his fingers.) meaning, `does man think that We will not gather his bones Surely, We will gather them and We are quite able to put together his fingertips. This means Our power is suitable to gather (and recreate) them, and if We wished We could surely resurrect him with more than what he originally had. We could make his Banan, which are the tips of his fingers, all equal (in length).' Concerning Allah's statement,

بَلْ يُرِيدُ الإِنسَـنُ لِيَفْجُرَ أَمَامَهُ

(Nay! Man desires to break out ahead of himself.) Sa`id reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "This means to proceed forward." Mujahid said about,

لِيَفْجُرَ أَمَامَهُ

(to break out ahead of himself.) "This means that he wants to proceed ahead following his own whims." `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "This refers to the disbeliever who denies the Day of Reckoning." Ibn Zayd said the same thing. Thus, Allah says after this,

يَسْـَلُ أَيَّانَ يَوْمُ الْقِيَـمَةِ

(He asks: "When will be this Day of Resurrection") meaning, he says when will the Day of Judgement be His question is only a question of denying its occurrence, and rejecting its existence. This is as Allah says,

وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هَـذَا الْوَعْدُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ قُل لَّكُم مِّيعَادُ يَوْمٍ لاَّ تَسْتَـَخِرُونَ عَنْهُ سَاعَةً وَلاَ تَسْتَقْدِمُونَ

(And they say: "When is this promise if you are truthful" Say: "The appointment to you is for a Day, which you cannot put back for an hour nor put forward.") (34:29-30) Here Allah says,

فَإِذَا بَرِقَ الْبَصَرُ

(So, when Bariqa the sight.) Abu `Amr bin Al-`Ala' recited this Ayah as Bariqa with a Kasrah under the letter Ra, which means to be diminished. That which he (Abu `Amr) has said resembles the statement of Allah,

لاَ يَرْتَدُّ إِلَيْهِمْ طَرْفُهُمْ

(Their gaze returning not towards them.) (14:43) meaning, they will be looking this way and that way in horror. Their gaze will not be able to rest upon anything due to the severity of the terror on that Day. Others recited it as Baraqa with a Fathah over the letter Ra, and its meaning is close to the first recitation (Bariqa). The intent here is that the eyes will be dazzled, humbled, diminished, and humiliated on the Day of Judgement due to the severity of the horrors and the greatness of the matters that they will witness on that Day. Concerning Allah's statement,

وَخَسَفَ الْقَمَرُ

(And the moon will be eclipsed.) meaning, its light will go away.

وَجُمِعَ الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ

(And the sun and moon will be joined together.) Mujahid said, "They will be rolled up." In explaining this Ayah, Ibn Zayd recited the following Ayat,

إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ - وَإِذَا النُّجُومُ انكَدَرَتْ

(When the sun is wound round and its light is lost and is overthrown, and when the stars fall.) (81:1,2) It has been reported from Ibn Mas`ud that he recited the Ayah as, (وَجُمِعَ بَيْنَ الشَّمْسِ وَالْقَمَرِ) (and the sun and the moon will be joined between each other.) Allah said,

يَقُولُ الإِنسَـنُ يَوْمَئِذٍ أَيْنَ الْمَفَرُّ

(On that Day man will say:"Where (is the refuge) to flee") meaning, the human will see these horrors on the Day of Judgement and he will want to flee. He will say, "Where (is the place) to flee to" This means, where is the escape or refuge Allah then says,

كَلاَّ لاَ وَزَرَ - إِلَى رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْمُسْتَقَرُّ

(No! There is no refuge! Unto your Lord will be the place of rest that Day.) Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Sa`id bin Jubayr and several others of the Salaf said, "There will be no salvation." This Ayah is similar to Allah's statement,

مَا لَكُمْ مِّن مَّلْجَأٍ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِّن نَّكِيرٍ

(You will have no refuge on that Day nor there will be for you any denying.) (42:47) meaning, `there will be no place for you to hide.' This is like what Allah says here,

لاَ وَزَرَ

(There is no refuge.) meaning, `there will be no place for you to seek shelter.' Thus, Allah says,

إِلَى رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْمُسْتَقَرُّ

(Unto your Lord will be the place of rest that Day.) meaning, the place of return and the final destination. The Deeds of Man will be placed before Him on the Day of Judgement Then Allah says,

يُنَبَّأُ الإِنسَـنُ يَوْمَئِذِ بِمَا قَدَّمَ وَأَخَّرَ

(On that Day man will be informed of what he sent forward, and what he left behind.) meaning, he will be informed of all of his deeds, the old of them and the recent of them, the first of them and the last of them, the small of them and the large of them. This is as Allah says,

وَوَجَدُواْ مَا عَمِلُواْ حَاضِرًا وَلاَ يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا

(And they will find all that they did, placed before them, and your Lord treats no one with injustice.) (18:49) Likewise, Allah says here,

بَلِ الإِنسَـنُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ - وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ

(Nay! Man will be well informed about himself, though he may put forth his excuses.) meaning, he will be a witness against himself, knowing full well what he did, even though he will try to make excuses and deny it. This is as Allah says,

اقْرَأْ كَتَـبَكَ كَفَى بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا

((It will be said to him): "Read your book. You are sufficient as a reckoner against yourself this Day.") `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said,

بَلِ الإِنسَـنُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ

(Nay! Man will be well informed about himself.) "His hearing, his sight, his two hands, his two legs and his limbs." Qatadah said, "This means he is a witness against himself." In another narration from Qatadah he said, "By Allah! If you wish to see him, you would see him as someone who sees the shortcomings of the people and their sins, yet he is heedless of his own sins." It used to be said, "Verily, it is written in the Injil: `O Son of Adam, do you see the small splinters in the eye of your brother and disregard the tree stump that is in your eye, so you do not see it"' Mujahid said,

وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ

(Though he may put forth his excuses.) "This means, even though he argues in defense of it, he is a witness against it." Qatadah said,

وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ

(Though he may put forth his excuses.) "Even though he will try to make false excuses on that Day, they will not be accepted from him." As-Suddi said,

وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ

(Though he may put forth his excuses.) "This means his argument." This is as Allah says,

ثُمَّ لَمْ تَكُنْ فِتْنَتُهُمْ إِلاَّ أَن قَالُواْ وَاللَّهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِكِينَ

(There will then be no Fitnah for them but to say: "By Allah, our Lord, we were not those who joined others in worship with Allah.") (6:23) Allah also says,

يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً فَيَحْلِفُونَ لَهُ كَمَا يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ عَلَى شَىْءٍ أَلاَ إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْكَـذِبُونَ

(On the Day when Allah will resurrect them all together; then they will swear to Him as they swear to you (O Muslims). And they think that they have something. Verily, they are liars!) (58:18) Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas:

وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ

(Though he may put forth his excuses.) "This is apologizing. Haven't you heard that Allah said,

لاَ يَنفَعُ الظَّـلِمِينَ مَعْذِرَتُهُمْ

(The Day when their excuses will be of no profit to wrongdoers.) (40:52) and He says,

وَأَلْقَوْاْ إِلَى اللَّهِ يَوْمَئِذٍ السَّلَمَ

(And they will offer submision to Allah on that Day.) (16:87) and He says,

فَأَلْقَوُاْ السَّلَمَ مَا كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ مِن سُوءٍ

(Then they will (falsely) submit: "We used not to do any evil.") (16:28) and their statement,

وَاللَّهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِكِينَ

(By Allah, our Lord, we were not those who joined others in worship with Allah.) (6:23)"

Yes indeed! We shall assemble them. We are able in addition to assembling them to reshape even his fingers that is to say to restore their bones just as they had been despite their smallness so how much more so are We able to restore the larger ones!

Then an oft-repeated objection of the disbelievers is mentioned, that is, when they are dead and reduced to bones and dust, how will they be raised again to life. The following verse rebuts this objection, thus:

بَلٰى قٰدِرِيْنَ عَلٰٓي اَنْ نُّسَوِّيَ بَنَانَهٗ (Yes! We are able to reset [ even ] his fingertips perfectly... 75:4). Man is amazed and surprised and thinks that Allah is unable to gather his tiny particles that have been scattered and reassemble his decomposed bones and give him a new life. The verse effectively rebuts this objection by saying that this has happened once before. Every man who grows and develops in the world, his body is composed of particles and elements gathered from different parts of the world. Allah has infinite power to do anything. He will gather the disintegrated bones and the scattered particles of man from different parts of the world and give them life again, as he did the first time. It is not impossible for Him to breathe soul into his structure the second time, as it was not impossible the first time. Why should it be surprising?

Divine Wonders in the Resurrection of Bodies

Allah is able not only to raise man's dead body again, but also to reconstruct every part of his body perfectly up to the minute detail of the very delicate fingertips and individual fingerprints. Man will be given the same body as he had in his worldly life without the slightest difference. Since the inception of time until the end of the world, zillions of human beings of different shapes and sizes come and die. Even if anyone remembers them, it is an impossible task to recompose them precisely. But Allah says in the verse under comment that He is quite able to recreate not only the large limbs, members and organs of the dead, but He is also able to put together his fingertips. The word Banan 'fingertips' is specially mentioned here because they are among the smallest parts of the body. If Allah is able to recreate such small parts [ with such precision ], it would not be impossible for Him to recreate the larger limbs of the body, such as

arms or hands or legs or feet.

Another reason why banan 'fingertips' finds a special mention is that Allah has characterized every human body with some identification marks through which one person could be distinctly recognized and distinguished from the other. For instance, the human face is no more than a few square centimeters; yet it has such distinctive characteristics that no two faces look exactly alike. Despite man's tongue and throat being alike, the sounds and voices of young and old, and of men and women are easily distinguishable. Even more amazing than this, are the fingertips and fingerprints. No two thumbprints or fingerprints are alike. Fingertips look alike, but the fingerprints are different. There are zillions of human beings, but the patterns of lines on the skins of the fingers is distinctly recognizable. Thumbprints have played a decisive role in court decisions and judgments. Technical analysis reveals that the patterns of lines are not only on the skin of the thumbs, but also on the skins of all the fingers - distinguishable and recognizable.

In sum, man is amazed as to how Allah will reassemble his bones and give him a new life again, but he should think further than this. He will be raised with the same face, shape and size, and with the same distinctive features, so much so that his fingertips and fingerprints will be reshaped as they were in the first instance of his creation. Fa-tabarak Allahu Ahsanul khaliqin - 'Glorious is Allah, the Best of Creators!'