Yā-Sīn: (65) "This Day We set a seal upon..."

(This Day We set a seal upon their mouths)—this is a metonymy for preventing them from speaking. There is no objection to the seal being physically placed upon their mouths in reality. It is also permissible for the "sealing" to be a metaphor for the meaning of "prevention," in that an effect is produced in their mouths that prevents speech, resembling a physical seal; then, the term "sealing" is borrowed for this effect, and the verb nakhtimu (we seal) is derived from it. Thus, the metaphor is dependent upon [the meaning]: "This Day, We prevent their mouths from speaking with a prevention that resembles sealing." In my view, the first interpretation is preferable.

(And their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness to what they used to earn)—that is, to what they persisted in earning in the world. It is as if the prepositional phrase bima kanu yaksibun (to what they used to earn) is contested by both "speak" and "bear witness." Perhaps the meaning—and Allah Almighty knows best—is: "Their hands will speak to Us of what they persisted in doing and for which they did not repent, informing Us of it and saying, 'They did such and such with us and through us,' and their feet will bear witness against them to that."

The attribution of "speaking" to the hands, rather than "witnessing," is due to their greater exclusivity in directly performing deeds, to the extent that actions are frequently attributed to them by way of agency—as in His saying, “The Day when a man will look at what his two hands have put forth,” and His saying, “And what their hands have done,” and His saying, “For what the hands of the people have earned,” and His saying, “For what your hands have earned,” and so on. This is not the case for the feet. Thus, "witnessing" was more appropriate for them, as deeds are not attributed to them, making them like an outsider to the act; whereas "speaking" was more appropriate for the hands due to the frequency of their direct involvement in deeds and their attribution to them, as if they are the true doers. This is in addition to the rhetorical beauty of combining "speaking" with the "sealing" of the mouths, which implies prevention while still allowing for the speaking [of the limbs].

It is as if, when He Almighty began the verse in [Sūrat] An-Nūr—namely, His saying, “The Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them”—by mentioning witness, and mentioning the limbs from the highest to the lowest, He attributed it to all of them and did not reserve "speaking" for the hands, as it occurred among other witnesses. Moreover, in reality, what issues from the limbs is also "witnessing"; for the fact that they are the "doers" is not in reality the case, as they are but tools, and the true doer is the human being. Considering it "witnessing" from the source there was more suited to the context due to the preceding story of the Ifk (slander) and matters related to it. That is why the tongues were specifically mentioned there, whereas they are not mentioned here; rather, the verse is silent about the declaration of witnessing or the lack thereof [for the tongues]. The sealing of the mouths does not negate their witnessing, for its purpose is to prevent those being judged from speaking with their own tongues, which is an affair distinct from the tongues themselves speaking and bearing witness. This is achieved by placing knowledge, will, and power of speech into the limbs, so they speak and bear witness to what they testify, while their owners have their mouths sealed and do not speak.

From this, one knows that the verse in An-Nūr does not contain a textual prohibition against sealing the mouths. Yes, the appearance there is that there is no sealing, and here [there is] no witnessing by the tongues. According to this appearance, it is permissible that the subject spoken of in both verses is the same: their mouths are sealed, and their hands and feet speak/witness first, then the seal is lifted and their tongues bear witness—either with the renewal of what occurs from the hands and feet or without it, being satisfied with what occurred before. This could be in one station of the stations of the Day of Resurrection, or in two. In neither verse is there anything indicating exclusivity or the negation of witnessing by limbs other than those mentioned; thus, there is no contradiction between them and His saying, “Until, when they reach it, their hearing, their sights, and their skins will bear witness against them as to what they used to do.” It is possible that there is witness by the hearing, sights, tongues, hands, feet, and all other limbs, as the appearance of His saying “and their skins” in Sūrat as-Sajdah suggests. However, some of that is not mentioned in some verses, either being content with its mention in others or because it points to it in a certain way. It is also possible that the subjects spoken of in each verse are different groups of people. Some have suggested that the subjects in the verse of as-Sajdah are the people of Thamūd, and [the verse] attacks the enemies of Allah by His saying after it, “And the word has come into effect against them among the nations that passed away before them of jinn and men.” It is not unlikely that the subjects in the verse of An-Nūr are the people of the Ifk among the hypocrites and those who slander chaste women.

Furthermore, the verse of as-Sajdah is apparent that the witnessing is upon arriving at the Fire, whereas the verse of An-Nūr has nothing in it that indicates that. As for this verse, some people's speech suggests that the sealing and witnessing in it occur after addressing those being spoken of with His saying, “This is Hell which you were promised. Burn therein this Day because you used to disbelieve.” Thus, that would also be upon arrival at the Fire. In Irshād al-‘Aql as-Salīm, it is stated: "His saying 'This Day We seal,' etc., is a shift to the third person (iltifāt) to signal that the mention of their ugly conditions necessitated turning away from them and narrating their heinous conditions to others, along with the intimation that this is among the requirements of the sealing, because the address [to them] was for the purpose of receiving an answer, but it has been cut off entirely." However, he said in another place that the witnessing takes place at the place of reckoning, not after the completion of the questioning and answering and their being driven to the Fire, and the reports are apparent in that.

Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated from Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī, from a ḥadīth, that the disbeliever and the hypocrite are summoned for reckoning. His Lord presents his deeds to him, and he denies them, saying, "My Lord, by Your might, I was on this status and did not do [that]." The angel says to him, "Did you not do such and such on such and such a day in such and such a place?" He says, "No, by Your might, my Lord, I did not do it." When he does that, his mouth is sealed. "I calculate that the first to speak from him will be his right thigh," then he recited: "This Day We seal upon their mouths" (the verse). In another ḥadīth narrated by Muslim, at-Tirmidhī, and al-Bayhaqī from Abū Sa‘īd and Abū Hurayrah in marfū‘ form: The servant will meet his Lord, and Allah Almighty will say to him, "Did I not honor you?"—until he [the Prophet] said: "He will say, 'I believed in You, Your Book, and Your Messenger; I prayed, fasted, and gave charity,' and he will praise Him with the best he can. Then He will say, 'Shall We not send a witness against you?' He will think to himself, 'Who will bear witness against me?' Then his mouth will be sealed, and his thigh will be told: 'Speak.' So his thigh, flesh, and bones will speak of his deeds."

In some reports, there is evidence that the servant asks for a witness from himself, whereupon his mouth is sealed. Aḥmad, Muslim, and Ibn Abī ad-Dunyā—the wording is his—narrated from Anas regarding His saying, “This Day We seal upon their mouths”: We were with the Prophet, peace be upon him, and he laughed until his molars appeared. He said, "Do you know why I laughed?" We said, "No, Messenger of Allah." He said, "At the servant's debate with his Lord. He says: 'My Lord, did You not grant me protection from injustice?' He says: 'Yes.' He says: 'I will not allow any witness against me except from myself.' He says: 'Your own self is sufficient as a witness against you, and the noble recording angels as witnesses.' So his mouth is sealed, and his limbs are told: 'Speak.' They will speak of his deeds. Then he will be allowed to speak, and he will say: 'Away with you and be gone! It was for your sake that I struggled.'"

The reconciliation [of these reports] is by committing to the opinion of multiplicity; sometimes this occurs at the reckoning, and at other times at the Fire, or by the opinion that the conditions of people vary. Regarding what was mentioned in the ḥadīth of Abū Mūsā—that the right thigh is the first to speak—al-Ḥasan asserted this. Aḥmad and a group narrated from ‘Uqbah bin ‘Āmir that he heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying: "The first bone of a human to speak on the day when mouths are sealed is his left thigh." Then, the appearance is that the speaking and witnessing are by actual speech, and that is after Allah Almighty grants the limbs life, knowledge, and power. This refutes those who claim that specific evidence is a condition for what was mentioned.

The attribution of the sealing to Him Almighty—but not what follows—is said to be so that it does not imply compulsion regarding the witnessing and speaking. It indicates that those actions occur by the choice of the mentioned limbs after Allah Almighty empowers them, as that is more indicative of disgracing those spoken of. Whether each limb witnesses only to what was done by it, or witnesses to that and what was done by another, is a matter of disagreement; the second is more profound in disgrace.

As for knowledge of what is witnessed, it is possible that its attainment is through Allah Almighty creating it in them at that time, not being present in the world. It is also possible that it occurs in the world, in that Allah Almighty created in the limbs perception, so they perceive actions just as the doer perceives them. Then, when the Day of Resurrection comes, Allah Almighty restores to them what was [previously there] and makes them recall what they did, and makes them speak a speech understood by the one being witnessed against. This is similar to what they said regarding the tasbīḥ (glorification) of all things with the tongue of speech. Allah Almighty is able to do all things, and reason does not deem this impossible; it is no further fetched than Allah Almighty creating in them knowledge, will, and power so that they speak on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever believes in that, let him believe in this; clinging to the tail of "improbability" leads to denying the Resurrection entirely—may Allah protect us. Or [it leads to] interpreting it as the Bāṭiniyyah (esotericists) interpreted it—of whom the Proof of Islam al-Ghazālī said that killing one of them is better than killing a hundred disbelievers. According to this, the verse is among the evidences for the opinion of the "glorification of speech" for inanimate objects and the like.

According to the first possibility, it supports the opinion of the permissibility of a witness's testimony if he attains knowledge of it by which he is certain, by whatever means that knowledge is attained, even if he did not witness it or attend it. The Greatest Shaykh, may his secret be sanctified, stated in his commentary titled Ījāz al-Bayān fī Tarjamat al-Qur’ān that His saying, “And thus We have made you a middle nation, that you may be witnesses over the people,” provides evidence for the permissibility of that. He mentioned therein that a witness may testify, even if he did not witness it with his [own] knowledge. It is not hidden from you what the jurists have said on this matter.

It is as if the witness, according to the second possibility, is after being called to witness, by saying to the limbs, "Did he not do such and such?" and they say, "Yes, he did." It is also possible that it is after the limbs are commanded to witness, by saying to them, "Witness what they have done," and they witness by enumerating their deeds. This is either by mentioning all their deeds, including sins and others, without distinguishing between sins and non-sins—the fact that this is witnessing against them being based on the reality of it containing their harm by mentioning what is a sin in truth—or by mentioning only the sins. This requires committing to the opinion that the limbs distinguish in the world between what was a sin among deeds and what was not, and I do not think you would say that, nor have I heard anyone claim it.

Some have taken the position that the speaking of the limbs and their witnessing is their indication of their deeds and the appearance of the effects of sins upon them, by Allah Almighty changing their forms into others from which the people of the Resurrection understand and infer what issued from them. Thus, [this] silent indication was metaphorically treated as speech. The objection to this is that one does not resort to metaphor when the literal meaning is possible, especially since what comes in Sūrat as-Sajdah from His saying, “They will say, 'Allah has caused us to speak, who has caused all things to speak,'” is very apparent in [actual] speech, and the reports are even more apparent. Yes, according to this opinion, the matter of "improbability" is lessened, but the noble scholars hardly abandon the apparent meanings for its sake.

Furthermore, the verse is like an appearance that disbelievers are charged with the branches [of religious law], for if they were not charged with them, there would be no benefit in the witnessing of the limbs to what they earned and the completion of the argument against them thereby. Specifying "what they earned" to only "disbelief" is something one can hardly lean towards, nor do I think anyone says it; rather, it might even be claimed that it is specific to things other than disbelief, based on the fact that disbelief is an action of the heart rather than the limbs that witness. However, what is preferred in my view is the generality. Their witnessing is either by their testifying to what is indicated by bodily actions and verbal statements, or by necessary knowledge that Allah Almighty creates for them on that day, or by knowledge attained for them by Allah Almighty in the world (as they learn it through the actions and statements indicating it), or by another way that Allah Almighty knows.

The verse is apparent that the Resurrection will be with the original parts of the body, not with another body that does not contain the original parts of the body that was in the world; for the limbs of that [other] body did not perform the evil deeds, so it would not be fitting to witness with them. Let this be remembered.

It was recited: yukhtamu (in the passive voice). Wa tatakallamu aydīhim (and their hands will speak) with two tas. It was also recited: wa li-tukallima aydīhim wa li-tashhada arjuluhum (that their hands may speak and their feet may witness) with the lām of command, meaning that Allah Almighty commands the limbs to speak and witness. ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān bin Muḥammad bin Ṭalḥah narrated from his father from his grandfather Ṭalḥah that he recited: wa li-tukallima aydīhim wa li-tashhada with the lām of purpose (kay) and the accusative case, meaning "for the speaking of the hands" and "for the witnessing of the feet."