Tafsir of Ar-Rahman 55:39

Ar-Rahman (The Most Merciful): Verse 39

"Fayawma'idhin lā yus'alu..." (Then, on that Day, no one will be asked...)

There are two main interpretations regarding this statement:

First View: No one will be asked about their sin. It will not be said to an individual: "Are you the sinner, or is someone else?" Nor will it be asked: "Who among you is the sinner?" Rather, they will be recognized by the blackness of their faces and other signs.

• In this case, the pronoun in dhanbihi (his sin) refers back to an implied antecedent, meaning: "No human nor jinn will be asked about his sin."

Second View: This meaning is close to the verse: {And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another} (Al-An'am: 164). It is as if it means: No sinner—human or jinn—will be asked about his sin.

• Linguistic Difficulty: If the pronoun in dhanbihi refers to something preceding it, the meaning stated above becomes impossible or fundamentally flawed. If you say, "No one responsible will be asked about his sin (e.g., a human)," then adding "nor a jinn" implies an action connected to two agents, which is contradictory.
• Resolution (Two Ways):
  1. The pronoun is not treated as referring back (to an antecedent) but is taken as an explicit noun substitute. It is as if the statement means: "No sinner will be asked about a sin."
  2. The More Precise View (and more worthy of acceptance): The antecedent to which the pronoun refers is placed before the verb. The structure is understood as: "Then, on that Day, the sinner—human or jinn—will not be asked about his sin."

First Linguistic Issue: The Function of the Conjunction Fa' (Then)

The Fa' (ف) carries several possibilities:

1. Temporal: It implies that when the sky splits open, punishment occurs, and on the day that punishment occurs, they will not be asked. There is a brief temporal gap between the events.
2. Causal/Logical: It implies that punishment occurs immediately, and the delay for questioning them about their sins is not even long enough to constitute a pause.
3. Rhetorical Ordering: It implies a sequence of address: "You flee by exiting the regions of the heavens, and I say you will not be spared when the sky splits, so I say you will not be given respite even for the time it takes to be asked."

Second Linguistic Issue: The Meaning of "Being Asked" (al-Su'āl)

The common interpretation is that they will not be asked, "Who is the sinner among you?" In this context, the questioning is for eliciting information (Istīlām).

Another possibility is that it is a question of reproach (Tabwīkh): "Why did the sinner sin?"

A third possibility is that it is a question seeking bestowal or intercession (Mawhibah or Shafā'ah), as one might say, "I ask you concerning the sin of so-and-so," meaning, "I request Your forgiveness for so-and-so."

• Objection to the Third View (Intercession):
  1. When the verb sa'ala (to ask) is followed by 'an (about), it usually means eliciting information or reproach. When it means seeking a gift, it is typically followed by two direct objects (e.g., Sa'altuka al-'afwa wal-'āfiyah - I asked You for pardon and well-being).
  2. The structure does not easily accommodate an implied object for intercession. If we assume the meaning is "No one will be asked about another's sin," the meaning becomes: "No one will be asked about his own sin," which contradicts the context.
  3. The following verse, {The criminals will be recognized by their marks} (Ar-Rahman: 41), does not fit well with the idea that they are being asked for intercession.

• Response to Objections:
  1. Regarding the first objection: While sa'ala often takes two objects, when used for eliciting information, the second object (the information sought) is often omitted and implied by the prepositional phrase ('an). "I asked him about X" implies "I asked him to inform me about X."
  2. Regarding the second objection: The implied structure is: "No human will be asked about another human's sin, nor a jinn about another jinn's sin." The pronoun refers back to the antecedent linguistically but not semantically in the way one might kill oneself. Just as in "They killed themselves" (where the pronoun refers to the subject grammatically, but the meaning is that each killed someone else), here, "No human will be asked about his sin" means no human will be asked about the sin of another human. The meaning is: "No one will be told, 'Forgive so-and-so,' because at that time, no one among humans or jinn is in a position to be asked [for intercession]; rather, Allah alone is the One who is asked."

Second Conceptual Issue: Reconciling this Verse with Others

How can we reconcile this verse with: {By your Lord, We will surely question them all} (Al-Hijr: 92) and {And stop them, for they are to be questioned} (As-Saffat: 24)?

• Response (Based on the Popular View):
  1. The Hereafter has different Stations (Mawāṭin). They are not questioned in one station but are questioned in another.
  2. The Better Response: They will not be asked, "What did you do?" (question of information), but they will be asked, "Why did you do it?" (question of reproach).

• Response (Based on the Second View): If the meaning is that they are not asked about whose sin it is, then the contradiction does not arise, and no reconciliation is needed.

Third Conceptual Issue: The Benefit of Stating Non-Questioning

What is the wisdom in stating that they will not be asked?

• Based on the Popular View (Information/Reproach): The benefit is reproach, similar to the verses describing their faces covered in dust and gloom (Abasa: 40-41).
• Based on the Second View (No Ransom): The benefit is clarifying that no ransom (fidyah) will be accepted. This creates a better sequence of verses:
  1. No escape: {If you are able to penetrate...} (Ar-Rahman: 33).
  2. No helper: {then you will not be helped} (Ar-Rahman: 35).
  3. No ransom: "No one will be asked" (implying no one can pay for another).
• Another Benefit (Based on the Second View): It clarifies that they will have no intercessor or merciful helper.
• Another Benefit: Since Allah stated that punishment in the world is delayed ({We shall soon attend to you} - Ar-Rahman: 31), He clarifies that in the Hereafter, the delay will not even be as long as the time required for questioning.
• Another Benefit: After establishing that they cannot escape ({you will not penetrate}) and have no helper ({you will not be helped}), Allah addresses another potential thought: "Perhaps I can survive by remaining obscure or having my situation confused." Allah refutes this by stating that no sinner will be hidden, unlike in the world, where a small group might escape general punishment due to obscurity.

{Ya'rifu al-mu'rimūna bi-sīmāhum fa-yu'khadhu bi-l- nawāṣī wa-l-aqdām * Fa-bi-ayyi āla'i Rabbikumā tukadhdhibān }

(The criminals will be recognized by their marks, and they will be seized by their forelocks and their feet. Then which of the favors of your Lord will you both deny?)