Surah Yaseen (36) — Ayah 65

(Ayah 65) ➊ The reason for sealing the mouths will be that some criminals will refuse to confess their crimes on the Day of Resurrection and will say that they did not commit any crime at all. They will deny the witnesses and will not accept the record of deeds as correct, rather, they will swear oaths of their innocence, as He said: « ثُمَّ لَمْ تَكُنْ فِتْنَتُهُمْ اِلَّاۤ اَنْ قَالُوْا وَ اللّٰهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِكِيْنَ» [ الأنعام : ۲۳ ] "Then their deception will be nothing except that they will say, 'By Allah, our Lord, we were not those who associated partners (with You).'" And they will swear oaths, thinking in their hearts that just as lies worked in the world, they will work now as well. He said: « يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللّٰهُ جَمِيْعًا فَيَحْلِفُوْنَ لَهٗ كَمَا يَحْلِفُوْنَ لَكُمْ وَ يَحْسَبُوْنَ اَنَّهُمْ عَلٰى شَيْءٍ اَلَاۤ اِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْكٰذِبُوْنَ» [ المجادلۃ : ۱۸ ] "The Day Allah will resurrect them all, they will swear to Him as they swear to you, and think that they are (standing) on something. Behold! Surely, they are the real liars." At that time, this will happen to them which is mentioned in this verse. Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that once we were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he suddenly laughed and said: "Do you know what I laughed at?" We said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ مِنْ مُخَاطَبَةِ الْعَبْدِ رَبَّهُ يَقُوْلُ يَا رَبِّ! أَلَمْ تُجِرْنِيْ مِنَ الظُّلْمِ؟ قَالَ يَقُوْلُ بَلٰی، قَالَ فَيَقُوْلُ فَإِنِّيْ لَا أُجِيْزُ عَلٰی نَفْسِيْ إِلَّا شَاهِدًا مِنِّيْ، قَالَ فَيَقُوْلُ كَفٰی بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ شَهِيْدًا وَبِالْكِرَامِ الْكَاتِبِيْنَ شُهُوْدًا قَالَ فَيُخْتَمُ عَلٰی فِيْهِ فَيُقَالُ لِأَرْكَانِهِ انْطِقِيْ قَالَ فَتَنْطِقُ بِأَعْمَالِهِ قَالَ ثُمَّ يُخَلّٰی بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْكَلَامِ قَالَ فَيَقُوْلُ بُعْدًا لَكُنَّ وَسُحْقًا فَعَنْكُنَّ كُنْتُ أُنَاضِلُ ] [مسلم، الزھد والرقائق، باب الدنیا سجن للمؤمن و جنۃ للکافر : ۲۹۶۹ ] "I laughed at the servant's conversation with his Lord (which he will have on the Day of Resurrection). He will say: 'O my Lord! Did You not grant me protection from injustice?' He will say: 'Why not?' He will say: 'I will not accept any witness against me except myself (my body is my own, all others are my enemies).' Allah, the Exalted, will say: 'Today, your own self is sufficient as a witness against you, and the noble scribes are sufficient as witnesses.' Thus, his mouth will be sealed and it will be said to his body parts: 'Speak!' So they will speak and inform of all his deeds. Then he will be allowed to speak, and he will say to his body parts: 'May you perish and be far from me! I was only defending you.'"

➋ In this verse, the speaking and testifying of the hands and feet is mentioned, while in other places, the speaking of other body parts is also mentioned. Thus, He said: « حَتّٰۤى اِذَا مَا جَآءُوْهَا شَهِدَ عَلَيْهِمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَ اَبْصَارُهُمْ وَ جُلُوْدُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوْا يَعْمَلُوْنَ » [ حٰمٓ السجدۃ : ۲۰ ] "Until, when they reach it (the Fire), their ears, their eyes, and their skins will testify against them for what they used to do." And He said: « يَوْمَ تَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِمْ اَلْسِنَتُهُمْ وَ اَيْدِيْهِمْ وَ اَرْجُلُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوْا يَعْمَلُوْنَ» [ النور : ۲۴ ] "The Day their tongues, their hands, and their feet will testify against them for what they used to do." There is a question about this verse: how will the tongues testify despite the sealing of the mouths? The answer is that sealing means that his control over his tongue will be taken away, and the tongue will have the ability to speak the truth by its own will.

65. 1 This sealing will be necessary because, initially, the polytheists will also lie on the Day of Resurrection and will say (وَاللّٰهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِكِيْنَ) 6. Al-An'am:23) "By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists." Therefore, Allah Almighty will seal their mouths, due to which they themselves will be deprived of the ability to speak, but Allah Almighty will grant the human limbs the power of speech; the hands will speak, saying that he did such and such deeds with us, and the feet will testify against him. In this way, both the stages of confession and testimony will be completed. Moreover, for something non-speaking to speak and testify against the speaker is more eloquent in argument and reasoning, as it possesses a miraculous aspect. (Fath al-Qadeer) This subject has also been mentioned in the hadiths. (See Sahih Muslim, Book of Zuhd.)

65. Today We will seal their mouths [58], and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness to what they used to do.

[58] When the hardened criminals are presented before Allah, instead of confessing their crimes, they will, as per their habit, begin to lie even there and deny their sins. Then testimonies will be established against them, but they will also deny those testimonies and witnesses, for this is what they had learned in this world. Now Allah will deal with them in such a way that their tongues will be deprived of the power of speech, and their hands and feet will be granted the ability to speak. Thus, these limbs, with which they committed sinful acts, will bear witness against them. And according to verse 20 of Surah Ha Meem As-Sajdah, their ears, their eyes, and their skins will also bear witness against them. When, according to the testimonies of their own limbs, their crimes are proven, they will address these testifying limbs and say, "O oppressors! It was to save you that we lied. Then what injustice have you done to us?" The limbs will reply, "It is Allah Who granted us the power of speech, the One Who has granted speech to everything" [41: 21] so how could we not bear true testimony?

How Will the Limbs and Organs Bear Witness?

It should be clear that Allah will not forcibly take testimony against the criminals from their limbs. Although Allah is capable of this as well, it is against His attribute of justice that if He wanted forced testimony against them, He could have taken it from them and their tongues as well. Rather, the real truth is that the words, actions, and deeds that proceed from a person leave their effects (which in Surah Yaseen is referred to as ﴿اٰثَارَهُم﴾) imprinted in the atmosphere and also on the person’s own limbs. According to modern research, the words and voices of all human beings born from the time of Adam until today still exist in the atmosphere. However, they are mixed and mingled together, and mankind has not yet been able to separate and listen to all the words of a particular person, for example, all the sayings of a prophet. However, man has now become capable of conducting a microscopic study of a criminal’s limbs within three or four hours to determine whether that person actually committed the crime or not. And Allah is Himself the Creator of everything and knows the nature and reality of everything better than anyone. Therefore, when the limbs of the criminal people are granted the power of speech, they will state only that reality which was imprinted upon them during the commission of the sin. They will openly declare that this person committed such and such sin with us, and at such and such time.