Al-Muddaththir: (8) So when the Trumpet is sounded...

Know that when the Almighty finished what concerned the guidance of the Prophet (PBUH), He turned to explaining the warning for the wretched, which is this verse. Herein lie several issues:

The First Issue:

The Fa' (ف) in His saying, {So when the Trumpet is sounded} (Fa'idhā nuqira), is for causation. It is as if He said: {Be patient with their harm} (referring to the preceding context), and before them is a difficult Day when they will face the consequence of their harm, while you will receive the consequence of your patience with it.

The Second Issue:

They differed on whether the time when the Trumpet (nāqūr) is sounded is the first blast or the second blast.

The First Opinion: It is the first blast. Al-Halimi said in his book Al-Minhaj: Allah (SWT) named the Trumpet with two names: one is al-Sūr (the Trumpet) and the other is al-Nāqūr (the sounding instrument). The commentators agree that al-Nāqūr is al-Sūr. Furthermore, there is no doubt that although al-Sūr is the instrument into which both blasts are blown, the blast of stunning/death (iṣ'āq) differs from the blast of resurrection (iḥyā').

Reports indicate that the Trumpet has holes equal to the number of all souls. In the second blast, the souls are gathered into those holes, and when blown, a soul exits from each hole to the body from which it was taken, and the body returns to life by the permission of Allah (SWT).

It is plausible that the Trumpet contains two mechanisms: one for sounding/striking (naqr) and one for blowing (nafkh). When blown for stunning, both striking and blowing are combined so that the cry is more terrifying and greater. When blown for resurrection, it is not struck, and only blowing occurs, as the goal is sending the souls from the Trumpet's holes to their bodies, not striking them out of their bodies. The first blast is for striking (al-tanqīr), which is analogous to the sound of thunder; if it intensifies, its listener might die. Similarly, a severe shout directed at a child can frighten him to death. This concludes Al-Halimi's statement, may Allah have mercy on him.

However, this presents a problem: this implies that the striking (al-naqr) only occurs during the cry of stunning. But that Day is not severe for the disbelievers, as they die at that moment. The truly severe Day for the disbelievers is at the blast of resurrection, which is why they will say: "Oh, would that it had been the finality [i.e., that we had remained dead]," meaning, "Oh, would that we had remained in the first death."

The Second Opinion: It is the second blast. This is because al-Nāqūr is that which is struck into (yunqar fīhi), meaning it is tapped or pierced. It is possible that when the second blowing is intended, it is first struck/tapped, hence it is named Nāqūr for this reason.

I would add a linguistic point regarding this word: al-Nāqūr is on the pattern fā'ūl derived from the root naqara (to strike/tap), like al-hāḍūm (that which digests) or al-ḥāṭūm (that which shatters). Therefore, al-Nāqūr should logically be the instrument used for striking, not the thing into which striking occurs.

The Third Issue:

The operative element governing {So when the Trumpet is sounded} (Fa'idhā nuqira) is the meaning indicated by His saying: {a difficult Day} (Al-Muddaththir: 9). The implied meaning is: When the Trumpet is sounded, the matter becomes difficult and arduous.

{So that Day will be a difficult Day * for the disbelievers, not easy.}