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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
Other BeliefsTawassul • Shafa'a • Tabarruk
Divine Justice
Bada' • Amr Bayn al-Amrayn
Prophethood
Infallibility • 'Ilm al-ghayb • Mu'jiza • Integrity of the Holy Qur'an
Imamate
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
Other Outstanding Beliefs
Ahl al-Bayt (a) • The Fourteen Infallibles • Taqiyya • Marja'iyya • Tawalli • Tabarri

The Testimony of Body Parts on the Day of Resurrection (Arabic: شهادة الجوارح) as mentioned in the Qur'an, is considered a stage of the Hereafter. Commentators view this testimony as definitive and present it as a completion of proof (Itmam al-Hujja) for servants. According to a narration from Imam al-Baqir (a), this testimony is exclusive to those destined for divine punishment and does not apply to the believers. The stage of testimony of body parts occurs after wrongdoers deny the Book of Deeds and reject the testimony of angels.

Some commentators have generalized the testimony to all bodily parts, while others have limited it only to the private parts. Regarding the speaking of body parts on the Day of Resurrection, various opinions have been expressed, and some commentators have considered it to mean performing the same actions that a person committed in this world.

Scholars of ethics have mentioned that the remembrance of the testimony of body parts on the Day of Resurrection as related to the remembrance of God and vigilance in remembering Him.

Status and Importance

The testimony of body parts on the Day of Resurrection has been presented as part of the stages of the Hereafter.[1] This testimony on the Day of Resurrection is a definitive matter, and interpreting it in a metaphorical sense is considered incorrect.[2] The testimony of body parts will cause shock and terror for wrongdoers [3] and will lead to their objection accompanied by reproach to their body parts.[4]

Shi'a and Sunni commentators have considered Qur'an 41:20, Qur'an 24:24, Qur'an 36:65, and Qur'an 17:36, to be related to the testimony of body parts on the Day of Resurrection.[5] According to Allama Tabataba'i, a Shi'a commentator, in the Qur'an, body parts such as the hands, feet, eyes, ears and heart of a human are mentioned as witnesses on the Day of Resurrection.[6] In a narration that al-Shaykh al-Saduq has quoted from Imam al-Sadiq (a), reading and acting upon some Surahs of the Qur'an will also cause the testimony of the body parts such as the flesh, blood, hair, nerves and bones to be in favor of the person on the Day of Resurrection.[7]

Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, a Shi'a commentator, believes that the testimony of body parts completes the proof for servants only when they possess understanding and awareness and can observe their own actions. If God gave a tongue and voice to parts that lack understanding and awareness to testify, the divine proof would not have been completed.[8] Commentators, citing a narration from Imam al-Baqir (a),[9] have stated that the testimony of body parts is specific to those for whom Divine Punishment is certain and does not include believers whose Book of Deeds is given to them in their right hand.[10]

Scholars of ethics have considered the remembrance of the testimony of body parts on the Day of Resurrection as a connection with God and vigilance in remembering God.[11]

Confession of Each Member to Its Sins

Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i in his commentary on the Qur'an 36:65, has stated that each bodily member testifies to the action specific to itself;[12] for example, the tongue testifies for sins such as backbiting, lying and tale-bearing and the hands and feet testify for actions such as theft.[13] According to the Qur'an 41:20, he believes that each bodily member, in addition to testifying to its own action, also testifies to the sins of other members; for example, the ear testifies that its owner avoided listening to the recitation of the Qur'an and also spoke blasphemous words with his tongue.[14]

Stages of Testimony

Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, a narrator and Shi'a commentator, citing a narration, has reported that the testimony of body parts takes place after the denial of the book of deeds and the rejection of the testimony of angels. Initially, a seal is placed on the human tongue and the body parts (in order) ears, eyes, hands, feet, and private parts speak as witnesses. After that, God removes the seal from the tongue, and with surprise and objection, the human being addresses his body parts because of its testimony.[15] Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani, the author of the book Ma'ad-shinasi, has stated that on the Day of Resurrection, the tongue is sealed first, due to its habit of lying in the world, so that the human tongue cannot deny and lie at the time of the testimony of the other body parts.[16]

Testimony of Body Skin

Commentators, citing Qur'an 41:20, have stated that the testimony of body parts in this verse is mentioned absolutely and in the plural form and includes various parts of the body such as the hands and feet.[17] According to some commentators, those who have interpreted the testimony of body parts as private parts[18] are inconsistent with other verses[19] and it is an expression of an instance.[20]

Allama Tabataba'i, in the commentary of the verse "And they will say to their body parts, 'Why did you testify against us?'" Qur'an 41:21, has stated that the reason for the objection of wrongdoers to their body parts is that the body parts testify to sins in which it was directly involved; while eyes and ears also testify to actions performed by other body parts. Therefore, wrongdoers object to their body parts and reproach them for being the means to committing sins.[21] Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Tayyib, the author of the book Atyab al-bayan, views the objection of sinners to their body parts as an example and has stated that the objection of wrongdoers will also be made to other body parts (eyes, ears, hands, and feet).[22]

Quality of Speaking

Regarding the manner in which body parts will speak, some believe that due to the differences between this world and the Hereafter, the quality of speaking remains unknown to humans.[23] Others have stated that on the Day of Resurrection, God creates the power of understanding, consciousness, and speaking in each body part just like the tongue and brain.[24] It is also said that human actions do not disappear over time and their effects remain on its body parts and the surrounding environment. On the Day of Resurrection, these effects appear on the body parts, and the appearance of these effects is tantamount to the testimony of body parts.[25]

Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani, a Shi'a Quranic scholar, has stated that the speaking of the hand on the Day of Resurrection means performing the same action that the human hand performed in this world. If the human hand is raised for treachery and sin or for supplication and divine obedience in this world, the human will perform it before his eyes with his own hands on the Day of Resurrection.[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. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 264.
  16. ↑ Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Maʿād-shināsī, vol. 7, p. 186.
  17. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 20, p. 249; Subḥānī, Manshūr-i jāvīd, vol. 5, p. 497.
  18. ↑ Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 8, p. 290; Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, vol. 8, p. 516.
  19. ↑ Subḥānī, Manshūr-i jāvīd, vol. 5, p. 497.
  20. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 20, p. 249.
  21. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 379.
  22. ↑ Ṭayyib, Aṭyab al-bayān, vol. 11, p. 425.
  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.

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