Tatayur al-Kutub: Difference between revisions

'''Taṭāyur al-kutub''' (Arabic: {{iarabic|تطایر الکتب}}) is a stage of the [[resurrection]] in which one observes the book, or record, of his or her actions. This is an Islamic belief, emphasized by [[hadith]]s.

Following some hadiths, [[Qur'an|Quranic]] [[:Category:Exegetes|exegete]]s take the term to have its root in the Qur'an, [[verse]]s 13 and 14 of [[Sura al-Isra']], and some Islamic [[jurist]]s take it obligatory to believe in Tatayur al-kutub.

Although the word "tatayur" does not appear in the Qur'an, following some hadiths from the [[Prophet (s)]] and [[Imams (a)]], Quranic exegetes take the term to be derived from the Qur'an: "every man's 'tayir' (bird or fate) we have fastened on his own neck",{{enote|Qur'an 17:13 {{iarabic| ألزمناه طائره في عنقه}}}} followed by "read your book (or records)".{{enote|Qur'an 17:14 {{iarabic|اقرأ كتابك }}}}

Quranic exegetes suggested two interpretations of the word "ta'ir" in the above Quranic verse:

* First: the word "ta'ir" (Arabic: {{iarabic|طائر}}) has its root in the word "tayr" (Arabic: {{iarabic|طیر}}) which means bird. Arabs used to fly a bird in order to know whether what they sought to do was good or bad. Later the good and bad actions themselves came to be called "ta'ir".

* Second: according to Abu 'Ubayda, by "ta'ir" Arabs meant fortune. In the verse immediately after the above verse, we read that the same "ta'ir" displays the book of people's actions to them on the [[Day of Judgment]]. According to some hadiths, this stage of the resurrection is called "tatayur al-kutub" or "tatayur al-suhuf". According to a hadith narrated from the [[Prophet (s)]] by [[Aisha]], there are three stages of the resurrection in which one does not know or remember anyone: mizan (the measurement of one's good and bad actions), tatayur al-kutub or tatayur al-suhuf, and [[sirat]] (the bridge that everyone should pass in the resurrection).

[[Theology|Theologians]] and [[faqih]]s take it obligatory for a Muslim to believe in 'tatayur al-kutub' as a stage of the resurrection, because it was mentioned in the Qur'an. Thus faqihs maintain that it is one of the doctrines that should be mentioned to a dead person at the time of [[talqin]].