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Testimony of Body Parts on the Day of Resurrection

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Shi'a Beliefs
Theology
Tawhid (Monotheism)Tawhid of Essence • Tawhid in Attributes • Tawhid in Actions • Tawhid in Worship
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Infallibility • 'Ilm al-ghayb • Mu'jiza • Integrity of the Holy Qur'an
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Infallibility • Wilaya • 'Ilm al-ghayb • Occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (a) (Minor Occultation,Major Occultation) • Reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a) • Raj'a
Resurrection
End Time • Hereafter • Barzakh • Embodiment of Actions •Bodily Resurrection • Al-Sirat • Tatayur al-Kutub • Mizan • Hashr
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The Testimony of Body Parts on the Day of Resurrection is one of the stages of the Hereafter mentioned in the Qur'an. Commentators hold that this testimony is borne by all parts of the body and serves to establish proof (Itmam al-Hujja) against people. According to a narration from Imam al-Baqir (a), this testimony applies only to those for whom Divine punishment is inevitable and does not include the believers. The testimony of body parts takes place after wrongdoers deny the Book of Deeds and reject the testimony of angels.

Some commentators hold that the testimony of the skin encompasses the skin covering various parts of the body, while others restrict it to the sexual organs. Different views have been expressed regarding how body parts speak on the Day of Resurrection; some interpret their testimony as the performance of the same actions that a person committed in this world.

Scholars of ethics have linked remembering the testimony of body parts on the Day of Resurrection to remembering God and vigilance in remembering Him.

Status and Importance

The testimony of body parts on the Day of Resurrection is regarded as one of the stages of the Hereafter.[1] This testimony is considered certain, and interpreting it metaphorically is regarded as incorrect.[2] It causes shock and fear among wrongdoers[3] and prompts them to object to and reproach their own skin for testifying against them.[4]

Qur'anic exegetes have linked Qur'an 41:20, Qur'an 24:24, Qur'an 36:65, and Qur'an 17:36 to the testimony of body parts on the Day of Resurrection.[5] According to Allama Tabataba'i, a Shi'a commentator, the Qur'an identifies body parts such as the hands, feet, eyes, ears, and heart as witnesses to deeds.[6] According to a narration that al-Shaykh al-Saduq transmitted from Imam al-Sadiq (a), regularly reciting certain surahs of the Qur'an causes all parts of the body, including the flesh, blood, hair, nerves, and bones, to testify in a person's favor on the Day of Resurrection.[7]

Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, a Shi'a commentator, holds that the testimony of body parts completes the proof against people only when the body parts possess perception and awareness and can observe the deeds of their owners.[8] Citing a narration from Imam al-Baqir (a)[9] commentators have stated that this testimony is specific to those for whom Divine punishment has become inevitable. It does not include believers whose Book of Deeds is given to them in their right hands.[10]

Scholars of ethics have regarded remembering the testimony of body parts on the Day of Resurrection as a means of connecting with God and practicing vigilance in remembering Him.[11]

Testimony of Each Body Part to Its Sins

In his commentary on Qur'an 36:65, Allama Tabataba'i states that each body part testifies to the particular deeds associated with it.[12] For example, the tongue testifies to sins such as backbiting, lying, and tale-bearing, while the hands and feet testify to actions such as theft.[13] In his commentary on Qur'an 41:20, he also maintains that each body part testifies to the sins committed by other body parts.[14]

Testimony of the Skin

Citing Qur'an 41:20, commentators state that the testimony of the skin includes the skin covering different parts of the body, such as the hands and feet.[15] Some commentators interpret the skin as referring to the sexual organs.[16] Others consider this interpretation inconsistent with certain Qur'anic verses[17] and regard it as referring to a particular example rather than restricting the meaning of the verse.[18]

In his commentary on the verse, "And they will say to their skins, 'Why did you testify against us?'" (Qur'an 41:21), Allama Tabataba'i explains that wrongdoers object to their skin because it testifies only to sins in which it was directly involved, whereas the eyes and ears can also testify to actions committed by other body parts.[19] Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Tayyib, the author of Atyab al-bayan, regards the wrongdoers' objection to their skin as an example and maintains that they will also object to other body parts.[20]

Sequence of the Testimony of Body Parts

Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, a narrator and Shi'a commentator, cites a narration according to which the testimony of body parts takes place after wrongdoers deny the Book of Deeds and reject the testimony of angels. First, the tongue is sealed; then the ears, eyes, hands, feet, and sexual organs testify in turn. The tongue is then unsealed and, with surprise and protest, reproaches the skin for its testimony.[21] Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani states in Ma'ad-shinasi that a person's mouth is sealed first because of its habit of lying in this world, preventing the person from denying the testimony of the body parts.[22]

How Body Parts Speak

Different views have been expressed on how body parts speak on the Day of Resurrection. Some hold that, because of the differences between this world and the Hereafter, the manner in which body parts speak is beyond human understanding.[23] Others believe that God will grant each body part perception, awareness, and the ability to speak, similar to the faculties of the tongue and brain.[24] Another view is that human deeds do not disappear and that their effects remain on the body and in the surrounding environment. On the Day of Resurrection, these effects become manifest in the body parts, and their manifestation constitutes their testimony.[25]

Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani, a Shi'a Qur'anic scholar, interprets the hand's speaking on the Day of Resurrection as its performing the very action that it performed in this world.[26]

Notes

  1. ↑ Riḍāyī, Manāzil-i Ākhirat, p. 36.
  2. ↑ Jaʿfarī, Tafsīr-i Kawthar, vol. 10, p. 118.
  3. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 18, p. 431.
  4. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 379.
  5. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 9, p. 12; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, pp. 103, 154; Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Taḥrīr wa l-tanwīr, vol. 18, p. 153.
  6. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 103.
  7. ↑ Ṣadūq, Thawāb al-aʿmāl, p. 123.
  8. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 378.
  9. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 32.
  10. ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Maʿād dar Qurʾān, p. 419; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 18, p. 433.
  11. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Makārim al-akhlāq, p. 457.
  12. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 103.
  13. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 15, p. 94.
  14. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 378.
  15. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 20, p. 249; Subḥānī, Manshūr-i jāvīd, vol. 5, p. 497.
  16. ↑ Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 8, p. 290; Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, vol. 8, p. 516.
  17. ↑ Subḥānī, Manshūr-i jāvīd, vol. 5, p. 497.
  18. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 20, p. 249.
  19. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 379.
  20. ↑ Ṭayyib, Aṭyab al-bayān, vol. 11, p. 425.
  21. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 264.
  22. ↑ Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Maʿād-shināsī, vol. 7, p. 186.
  23. ↑ Jaʿfarī, Tafsīr-i Kawthar, vol. 10, p. 118.
  24. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 18, p. 431.
  25. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 18, p. 431.
  26. ↑ Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Maʿād-shināsī, vol. 7, pp. 187–192.

References

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