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Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Al-Mu'minun 23:101

Word by word

فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَلَآ أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَلَا يَتَسَآءَلُونَ

So when the Horn is blown, no relationship will there be among them that Day, nor will they ask about one another.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The sounding of the Trumpet and the weighing of Deeds in the Scales.

Allah says that when the Trumpet is blown for the Resurrection, and the people rise from their graves,فَلاَ أَنسَـبَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَلاَ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ(there will be no kinship among them that Day, nor will they ask of one another.) meaning that lineage will be of no avail on that Day, and a father will not ask about his son or care about him. Allah says:وَلاَ يَسْـَلُ حَمِيمٌ حَمِيماً يُبَصَّرُونَهُمْ(And no friend will ask a friend (about his condition), though they shall be made to see one another) 70:10-11. meaning, no relative will ask about another relative, even if he can see him and even if he is carrying a heavy burden. Even if he was the dearest of people to him in this world, he will not care about him or take even the slightest part of his burden from him. Allah says:يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ الْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ - وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ - وَصَـحِبَتِهُ وَبَنِيهِ (That Day shall a man flee from his brother. And from his mother and his father.

And from his wife and his children.) 80:34-36 Ibn Mas`ud said, "On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will gather the first and the last, then a voice will call out, `Whoever is owed something by another, let him come forth and take it.' And a man will rejoice if he is owed something or had been mistreated by his father or child or wife, even if it is little. " This is confirmed in the Book of Allah, where Allah says:فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِى الصُّورِ فَلاَ أَنسَـبَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَلاَ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ (Then, when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no kinship among them that Day, nor will they ask of one another.) This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim.فَمَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَزِينُهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ (Then, those whose Scales are heavy, these! they are the successful.) means, the one whose good deeds outweigh his bad deeds, even by one. This was the view of Ibn `Abbas.فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ(they are the successful.) means, those who have attained victory and been saved from Hell and admitted to Paradise.

Ibn `Abbas said, "These are the ones who have attained what they wanted and been saved from an evil from which there is no escape."وَمَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَزِينُهُ(And those whose Scales are light,) means, their evil deeds outweigh their good deeds.فَأُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ خَسِرُواْ أَنفُسَهُم(they are those who lose themselves,) means, they are doomed and have ended up with the worst deal. Allah says:فِى جَهَنَّمَ خَـلِدُونَ(in Hell will they abide. ) meaning, they will stay there forever and will never leave.تَلْفَحُ وُجُوهَهُمُ النَّارُ(The Fire will burn their faces,) This is like the Ayah:وَتَغْشَى وُجُوهَهُمْ النَّارُ(and fire will cover their faces) 14:50. and:لَوْ يَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ حِينَ لاَ يَكُفُّونَ عَن وُجُوهِهِمُ النَّارَ وَلاَ عَن ظُهُورِهِمْ(If only those who disbelieved knew (the time) when they will not be able to ward off the Fire from their faces, nor from their backs) 21:39.وَهُمْ فِيهَا كَـلِحُونَ(and therein they will grin, with displaced lips.) `Ali bin Abi Talhah narrated from Ibn `Abbas, "Frowning."

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

Commentaryفَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ‌ فَلَا أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْThereafter, when the Sur (the trumpet) is blown, there are no ties of kinship between them, - 23:101.

On the Day of Judgment the صُور (trumpet) will be sounded twice. The result of the first sound will be that everything - the earth, the skies and every living thing in between will perish and when the second sound is given, every dead thing will come back to life. This is clearly mentioned in the Qur'an in the verse ثُمَّ نُفِخَ فِيهِ أُخْرَ‌ىٰ فَإِذَا هُمْ قِيَامٌ يَنظُرُ‌ونَ (Then it shall be blown again, and lo! They shall stand beholding - 39:68). There is difference of opinion whether in the present verse the reference is to the first call or to the second call. According to Ibn Jubair, Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ thought that it refers to the first call. On the other hand Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما says that reference here is to second call and, according to ` Ata (رح) as Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ also supports this view and which has also been adopted in Tafsir Mazhari.

Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ says that on the Day of Judgment every man and woman will be assembled in the gathering place (مَحشَر) where a herald appointed by Allah will identify each person by his name and his father's name and invite any one from amongst those present who has a claim against him to come forward and receive it. This proclamation will please everyone - a father having a claim against his son, a wife having a claim against her husband, a sister having a claim against her brother (and vice versa) - and they will all come forward to receive their dues. The present verse describes this situation: فَلَا أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ (There are no ties of kinship between them - 23:101). The same situation has been described in the verse يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ‌ الْمَرْ‌ءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ وَصَاحِبَتِهِ وَبَنِيهِ (Upon the day when a man shall flee from his brother, his mother, his father, his consort, his sons, - 80:34).

Difference between the condition of believers and infidels in mahshar (gathering place on the Day of Judgment)The condition described above will apply to the unbelievers only who in their selfishness will abandon their dear and near relatives. As for the believers, Allah has said أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّ‌يَّتَهُمْ (We shall join their seed with them. - 52:21) which means that the children of good Muslims, if they themselves are believers also, will be united with their parents. According to a hadith the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "On the Day of Judgment when everybody will be dry with thirst, Muslim children who had died as minors will come out carrying water from Paradise, and when people will ask them for it, they will reply that water is for their parents only whom they are searching". The gist of this discussion is that whereas in the case of infidels no one will be of any help to each other nor will anyone recognize the dear ones in mahshar, the case of Muslim will be exactly the opposite. The believers will help each other and will also intercede for other Muslims.

There is also a hadith which Ibn ` Asakir has related on the authority of Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "On the Day of Judgment all relationships arising out of a common ancestry or from marriage ties will be severed except in my own case." Scholars have interpreted this verse to mean that all the Muslims of the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ are part of his family, because he is the father of the Ummah and his wives are the mothers.وَلَا يَتَسَاءَلُونَ (nor will they question one another - 23:101). However their is another verse وَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ (And advance one upon another, asking each other question - 37:27). Discussing this latter verse Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ says that in mahshar there will be different stations, and the conditions in each station will be different. There will be a time when nobody will speak to anybody, but in another station when the terror which earlier overwhelmed the gathering abates, people will converse with one another. (Mazhari)

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

فإذا كان يوم القيامة، ونفخ المَلَك المكلَّف في «القرن» ، وبُعِثَ الناس من قبورهم، فلا تَفاخُرَ بالأنساب حينئذ كما كانوا يفتخرون بها في الدنيا، ولا يسأل أحد أحدًا.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

يخبر تعالى أنه إذا نفخ في الصور نفخة النشور ، وقام الناس من القبور ، ( فلا أنساب بينهم ) أي : لا تنفع الأنساب يومئذ ، ولا يرثي والد لولده ، ولا يلوي عليه ، قال الله تعالى : ( ولا يسأل حميم حميما . يبصرونهم ) [ المعارج : 10 ، 11 ] أي : لا يسأل القريب قريبه وهو يبصره ، ولو كان عليه من الأوزار ما قد أثقل ظهره ، وهو كان أعز الناس عليه كان في الدنيا ، ما التفت إليه ولا حمل عنه وزن جناح بعوضة ، قال الله تعالى : ( يوم يفر المرء من أخيه . وأمه وأبيه . وصاحبته وبنيه .

لكل امرئ منهم يومئذ شأن يغنيه ) [ عبس : 34 37 ] .وقال ابن مسعود : إذا كان يوم القيامة جمع الله الأولين والآخرين ثم نادى مناد : ألا من كان له مظلمة فليجئ فليأخذ حقه : قال : فيفرح المرء أن يكون له الحق على والده أو ولده أو زوجته وإن كان صغيرا; ومصداق ذلك في كتاب الله : ( فإذا نفخ في الصور فلا أنساب بينهم يومئذ ولا يتساءلون ) رواه ابن أبي حاتم .وقال الإمام أحمد : حدثنا أبو سعيد مولى بني هاشم حدثنا عبد الله بن جعفر ، حدثتنا أم بكر بنت المسور بن مخرمة ، عن عبيد الله بن أبي رافع ، عن المسور هو ابن مخرمة رضي الله عنه قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : فاطمة بضعة مني ، يقبضني ما يقبضها ، ويبسطني ما يبسطها وإن الأنساب تنقطع يوم القيامة غير نسبي وسببي وصهري " .هذا الحديث له أصل في الصحيحين عن المسور أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : " فاطمة بضعة مني ، يريبني ما رابها ، ويؤذيني ما آذاها " .وقال الإمام أحمد : حدثنا أبو عامر ، حدثنا زهير ، عن عبد الله بن محمد ، عن حمزة بن أبي سعيد الخدري ، عن أبيه قال : سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول على هذا المنبر : " ما بال رجال يقولون : إن رحم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لا تنفع قومه؟

بلى ، والله إن رحمي موصولة في الدنيا والآخرة ، وإني أيها الناس فرط لكم ، إذا جئتم " قال رجل : يا رسول الله ، أنا فلان بن فلان ، [ وقال أخوه : أنا فلان ابن فلان ] فأقول لهم : " أما النسب فقد عرفت ، ولكنكم أحدثتم بعدي وارتددتم القهقرى " .وقد ذكرنا في مسند أمير المؤمنين عمر بن الخطاب من طرق متعددة عنه ، رضي الله عنه : أنه لما تزوج أم كلثوم بنت علي بن أبي طالب ، رضي الله عنهما ، قال : أما والله ما بي إلا أني سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول : " كل سبب ونسب فإنه منقطع يوم القيامة ، إلا سببي ونسبي " .رواه الطبراني ، والبزار والهيثم بن كليب ، والبيهقي ، والحافظ الضياء في " المختارة " وذكرنا أنه أصدقها أربعين ألفا; إعظاما وإكراما ، رضي الله عنه; فقد روى الحافظ ابن عساكر في ترجمة أبي العاص بن الربيع زوج زينب بنت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من طريق أبي القاسم البغوي : حدثنا سليمان بن عمر بن الأقطع ، حدثنا إبراهيم بن عبد السلام ، عن إبراهيم بن يزيد ، عن محمد بن عباد بن جعفر ، سمعت ابن عمر يقول : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : " كل نسب وصهر ينقطع يوم القيامة إلا نسبي وصهري " .

وروي فيها من طريق عمار بن سيف ، عن هشام بن عروة ، عن أبيه ، عن عبد الله بن عمرو مرفوعا : " سألت ربي عز وجل ألا أتزوج إلى أحد من أمتي ، ولا يتزوج إلي أحد منهم ، إلا كان معي في الجنة ، فأعطاني ذلك " . ومن حديث عمار بن سيف ، عن إسماعيل ، عن عبد الله بن عمرو .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.