Tafsir of Ar-Rum 30:52-53

(For indeed, you cannot make the dead hear): This is an explanation for what is understood from the preceding discourse, as if it were said: Do not grieve over their failure to be guided by your reminding them, for indeed, etc. In al-Kashf, it is stated: Know that His saying—Exalted be He—("It is Allah who sends the winds") is a discourse set forth to confirm what was understood from His saying—Glorified be He—("And We have already sent messengers before you to their people"), for its indication that He—Mighty and Majestic—takes retribution from those who deny the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and grants victory to his followers. Thus, He mentioned therein such clear proofs—summarized from what was mentioned there—which indicate Power, Wisdom, and Mercy. The evidence chosen is that which combines all three, containing guidance toward establishing the two ends of faith: the beginning (origin) and the return (afterlife). He explicitly stated their ingratitude for the favor and condemned them in the three states, because that is something known to those of sound nature and practiced by them. He incorporated into it the indication of the Return with His saying—Exalted be He—("So observe the effects of the mercy of Allah"). When He finished speaking of their condemnation, He built upon this incorporation and what the context of the discourse indicated of their persistence in misguidance—despite these clear proofs, than which there are no more perfect in their indication—saying—Glorified be He—("For indeed, you cannot make the dead hear") up to His saying—Exalted be He—("And they are Muslims"). It contains the implication that they are inevitably among those from whom retribution is taken, and that you and your followers are among those who are granted victory. Allah—Exalted be He—knows best, so contemplate this alongside what we have mentioned.

Discussion regarding this sentence—devoid of the fa—has preceded in Surah al-Naml, as well as in His saying—Exalted be He—("Nor can you make the deaf hear the call when they turn away in flight" [27:80]; "And you cannot guide the blind away from their error. You will only make hear those who believe in Our verses, so they are Muslims" [27:81]). However, we shall mention here what the eminent scholars have stated regarding the hearing of the dead, fulfilling what we promised there. We say, and from Allah—Exalted be He—is success: It is transmitted from the scholar Ibn al-Humam that he said: Most of our masters are of the opinion that the dead person does not hear, deducing this from His saying—Exalted be He—("For indeed, you cannot make the dead hear") and the like, meaning from His saying—Exalted be He—("And you are not one who can make those in the graves hear" [35:22]). For this reason, they did not declare the talqin (instruction) of the grave [to be necessary]. They said: If a person swore an oath not to speak to so-and-so, and then spoke to him while he was dead, he would not be in breach of his oath. Al-Saffarini narrated in al-Buhur al-Zakhirah that Aisha went to the position of denying the hearing of the dead, and a group of scholars agreed with her on that. Judge Abu Ya'la, one of the prominent figures of our school—meaning the Hanbalis—favored this in his book al-Jami' al-Kabir, and they argued with His saying—Exalted be He—("For indeed, you cannot make the dead hear") and similar verses. Groups of scholars held the view that they hear in a general sense.

Ibn Abd al-Barr said: The majority are of that view, and it is the choice of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari; Ibn Qutaybah and others mentioned the same. They argued with what is in the two Sahihs from Anas, from Abu Talhah—may Allah be pleased with them both—who said: On the day of Badr, when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) overcame them—meaning the polytheists of Quraysh—he commanded that twenty-some men (in another narration, twenty-four) of the leaders of Quraysh be thrown into a tawa—meaning one of the wells of Badr. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) called out to them: "O Abu Jahl ibn Hisham! O Umayyah ibn Khalaf! O Utbah ibn Rabi'ah! Have you not found what your Lord promised you to be true? For I have found what my Lord promised me to be true." Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—said: "O Messenger of Allah, are you speaking to bodies that have no souls?" He replied: "By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, you are not more capable of hearing what I say than they are." Muslim added in a narration from Anas: "But they are not able to answer." And [they argued] with what Abu al-Shaykh brought forth from the mursal report of Ubayd ibn Marzuq, who said: A woman in Medina used to sweep the mosque. She died, and the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not know of it. He passed by her grave and said—peace and blessings be upon him—: "Whose grave is this?" They said: "Umm Mahjan." He asked: "The one who used to sweep the mosque?" They replied: "Yes." The people formed rows, and he prayed over her. Then he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: "Which deed did you find to be the best?" They replied: "O Messenger of Allah, do you hear?" He said: "You are not more capable of hearing than she is." He—peace and blessings be upon him—mentioned that she answered him: "Sweeping the mosque." And [they argued] with what al-Bayhaqi and al-Hakim (who authenticated it) and others narrated from Abu Hurairah, that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—stood over Mus'ab ibn Umayr and his companions when he returned from Uhud and said: "I bear witness that you are alive before Allah—Exalted be He. So visit them and greet them. By Him in whose hand is my soul, no one greets them but they return the greeting to him until the Day of Resurrection." And [they argued] with what Ibn Abd al-Barr brought forth—and Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili said its chain is authentic—from Ibn Abbas as a marfu' report: "No one passes by the grave of his believing brother whom he knew in the world and greets him, but he recognizes him and returns the greeting." And [they argued] with what Ibn Abi al-Dunya brought forth from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, who said: The soul is in the hand of an angel who walks with the funeral, saying to it: "Do you hear what is said to you?" When it reaches its hole, he buries it with it. And [they argued] with what is in the two Sahihs from his saying—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—: "When the servant is placed in his grave and his companions turn away from him, he hears the sound of their sandals." They answered regarding the verse; al-Suhayli said: It is like His saying—Exalted be He—("So can you make the deaf hear or guide the blind?" [43:40]), meaning that Allah—Exalted be He—is the One who makes hear and guides.

Some of the eminent scholars said: Its meaning is "You do not make them hear unless Allah—Exalted be He—wills," or "You do not make them hear with a hearing that benefits them." Sometimes a thing is negated because of the absence of its benefit and fruit, as in His saying—Exalted be He—("And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see..." [7:179]). This interpretation may be considered for His saying—Exalted be He—("Nor can you make the deaf hear"). The subtlety of changing [the phrasing] from "For indeed, you cannot make the dead hear, nor the deaf" to what is in the majestic system [of the Quran] is the concern to negate the causing of hearing. It is also permissible not to consider it, leaving the speech upon its literal meaning, and the subtlety of the change is to point out that "you cannot make hear" in each of the two sentences carries a [specific] meaning.

Those who hold the view that they do not hear said: The fundamental principle is not to interpret [metaphorically] and to hold to the literal meaning until something that necessitates the contrary is established. They answered many of the things the others argued with. Some of them said: What occurred in the hadith of Abu Talhah—may Allah be pleased with him—could be a miracle for him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and this is what is meant by those who said it is one of his specificities—upon him be peace and blessings—as these are things that break the natural order. The discourse is regarding its place, and that is what was negated in the verse ("For indeed, you cannot make the dead hear") and similar ones, and in his saying—upon him be peace—"You are not more capable of hearing what I say than they are"—not "than what is said"—and the like [provides] support for that. The hadith of Abu al-Shaykh is mursal, and the rule of using it as evidence is well known, while the possibility of specificity also exists in it. Furthermore, in Sahih al-Bukhari, Qatadah said: Allah—Exalted be He—brought them to life—meaning the people of the well—so that He made them hear his—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—words as a rebuke, belittlement, spite, sorrow, and regret. This is supported by what al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Nasa'i, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn Marduyah brought forth from Ibn Umar, who said: The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—stood over the pit of Badr and said: "Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true?" Then he—upon him be peace and blessings—said: "They hear now what I say," as he—upon him be peace and blessings—qualified their hearing with "now." If we say that the dead person is questioned for seven days in his grave—whether he is a believer, hypocrite, or disbeliever—and that his soul is returned to him at the time of questioning, you could say: It is possible that the addressing of the people of the pit occurred when their souls were returned to their bodies for the questioning, for as it is in the hadith brought forth by Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i, it was on the third day of their killing. It is possible that his—upon him be peace and blessings—addressing Umm Mahjan was at the time of the questioning, by that being before seven days had passed for her. In that case, their hearing would not be from the disputed matters, because when they heard, they were living, not dead. To this, it is countered that Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—said to him—upon him be peace and blessings—: "Are you speaking to bodies that have no souls?" and he—upon him be peace and blessings—did not deny this to him, but rather said to him—upon him be peace and blessings—: "You are not more capable of hearing what I say than they are." Had the matter been as Qatadah said, the literal [meaning] would have been for him—upon him be peace and blessings—to say to him—may Allah be pleased with him—: "The matter is not as you say; Allah—Mighty and Majestic—has brought them to life for me," or similar. Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—denied what occurred in the hadith that was used as evidence for the intended meaning. In Sahih al-Bukhari, from Hisham, from his father, he said: It was mentioned in the presence of Aisha that Ibn Umar attributed to the Messenger of Allah—upon him be peace and blessings—that the dead person is punished by the weeping of his family for him. She said: "May Allah forgive Ibn Umar, the Messenger of Allah—upon him be peace and blessings—only said: 'He is punished for his sin and crime, while his family is weeping over him right now.'" She said: "This is like his saying: The Messenger of Allah—upon him be peace and blessings—stood over the pit containing the dead of Badr from among the polytheists and said to them what he said: 'They hear what I say.' He only said: 'They know now that what I used to tell them is the truth.'" Then she recited: ("For indeed, you cannot make the dead hear, nor can you make those in the graves hear"). Al-Suhayli followed this up and said: Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—was not present for the words of the Prophet—upon him be peace and blessings—so others who were present are more preservative of his wording—upon him be peace and blessings. They had said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, are you addressing a people who have decayed?" He said: "You are not more capable of hearing what I say than they are." They said: If it is permissible for them to be knowing in that state—meaning as Aisha says—then it is permissible for them to be hearing. This is strong discourse, and her absence does not detract from her narration, because it is a mursal report of a Companion, and it is assumed that she heard it from someone who was present or from the Prophet—upon him be peace and blessings. If that were a detraction from her narration, it would detract from the previous narration of Ibn Umar, for he was not present either. There is no obstacle to the Prophet—upon him be peace and blessings—having said both phrases, for as it is known from the speech of al-Suhayli, there is no contradiction between them. Some said regarding what al-Bayhaqi, al-Hakim (who authenticated it), and others narrated: We do not concede its authenticity, and al-Hakim's authentication is considered invalid. Even if we concede its authenticity, we commit to the view that the dead who do not hear are those other than the martyrs. As for the martyrs, they do hear in a general sense, due to their distinction over all other dead by what was reported about them: that they are alive before Allah—Mighty and Majestic. It was said regarding the hadith of Ibn Abd al-Barr: Although Abd al-Haqq said its chain is authentic, the Hafiz Ibn Rajab criticized it and said: It is weak, nay, rejected. As for the hadith of Ibn Abi al-Dunya, even if its authenticity is conceded, it does not prove the requirement, because the addressing by the angel—upon him be peace—is to the soul in his hand, and it is not a dead person. As for the hadith of the two Sahihs regarding the servant hearing the sound of his companions' sandals when they bury him and depart from him, it is that at that moment his soul returns to him for the questioning, so he hears while he is alive. The majority are on the view of the return of the soul to the body, or a part of it, at the time of the questioning in a way that the people of the world do not perceive, except for those of them whom Allah wills. Beyond that are schools of thought: The school of Ibn Jarir and a group of the Karramiyah is that the questioning in the grave is on the body only, and that Allah—Exalted be He—creates in it perception such that it hears, knows, enjoys, and suffers. According to this school, it is possible to say what was said regarding the first. The school of Ibn Hazm and Ibn Maysarah is that it is on the soul only. The school of Abu al-Hudhail and his followers is that the dead person perceives nothing at all between the two trumpet blasts. The truth is that the dead hear in a general sense, and this is on one of two faces: First, that Allah—Mighty and Majestic—creates in some parts of the dead person a power by which he hears whenever Allah—Exalted be He—wills [him to hear] the greeting and the like of what Allah—Glorified be He—wills him to hear. It is not prevented by the fact that he is under layers of earth, or that his structure has dissolved and his ties have been severed. One who permits that a blind man in China might see a flea in Andalusia would hardly hesitate to accept this. Second, that this hearing is for the soul without the mediation of a power in the body. It is not impossible for it to hear—nay, to feel and perceive—absolutely after its separation from the body without the mediation of powers within it. Since it has, according to the correct view—the reality and nature of which is known only to Allah—Mighty and Majestic—a connection to the whole body or part of it after death, which is a connection other than the one it had before death, Allah—Glorified be He—made His custom to enable it to hear and to create it for it at the time of visiting the grave, and likewise at the carrying of the body to it, and at the washing, for example. It is not necessary, from the existence of that connection and the claim of the existence of the power of hearing and the like within it, that it hears everything audible, because hearing in an absolute sense—as well as other sensations—is nothing but a consequence of the Will. What Allah—Exalted be He—wills, occurs, and what He does not will, does not occur. Thus, it is limited to saying that it hears what the Hearing has reported it hears, such as the greeting and the like. This is the view that seems strongest to me. It does not entail being committed to the view that the souls of the dead are absolutely in the courtyards of the graves, because the pivot of hearing is the Will of Allah—Exalted be He—and the connection whose nature and reality is known only to Him—Mighty and Majestic. So let the soul be wherever He wills, or let it not be in a place, for he who holds to its immateriality sees it so.

One may derive from the speech of the gnostic Ibn Barjan in his explanation of the Beautiful Names of Allah a realization from another angle: that a person has a self (nafs) liberated from the inner reality of what the body was created from, which is the soul of the body; and a soul (ruh) brought into existence by Allah—Blessed and Exalted be He—from the inner reality of what the self was liberated from. It is to the self what the self is to the body. The self is its veil. After separation, in the believing servant, the spiritual reality is made to populate the heights, from the lowest heaven to the seventh heaven—nay, to wherever Allah—Exalted be He—wills of the heights—in joy and bliss. The psychological reality is made to populate the depths, from his grave to wherever Allah—Exalted be He—wills in the atmosphere. That is why the Messenger of Allah—upon him be peace and blessings—met Moses standing and praying in his grave, and Abraham—upon him be peace—under the tree before his—upon him be peace and blessings—ascent to heaven, and met them—upon them both be peace—after the ascent in the exalted heavens. Those are their souls, and these are their selves, while their bodies are in their graves. The same is said regarding the disbeliever, except that the spiritual reality for him does not populate the heights, so the gates of heaven are not opened for them, but it populates the house of its wretchedness—we seek refuge in Allah—Exalted be He. Between the two realities, there is a connection. By way of that, and His Will—Mighty and Majestic—whoever greets him in his grave hears the greeting. The hearing of the greeting is not restricted to the visit on the night of Friday, its day, the morning of Saturday, or the day of Friday and a day before or after it, but it occurs in the greeting during the visit absolutely. The dead person hears Allah—Exalted be He—[make] his soul [hear] the greeting from his visitor at whatever time it may be, and He—Glorified be He—ordains it. What al-Uqayli brought forth—that they hear the greeting but are unable to return it—is interpreted as negating the ability to return it in the customary way that the living hear. It is said: The returning of the greeting and the lack thereof varies according to individuals. Perhaps a person whom Allah—Exalted be He—enables to return it, yet he is not rewarded for it because of the cessation of action; and another person whom He—Mighty and Majestic—does not enable. In my view, the connection also varies in strength and weakness according to individuals—nay, and according to times as well. By that, the differing reports and traditions are reconciled.

As for the answer regarding the verse under discussion and similar ones that indicate by their literal meaning the negation of hearing, it is known from what preceded. So let it be understood, and Allah—Exalted be He—knows best.