Will People Speak to One Another on the Day of Judgement?
Brief description of the dubiety
In verse 101 of Surah al-Mominoon, it is mentioned that on the Day of Judgement, people will not be able to ask questions from one another and it is clear that they will not speak to each other; but in verse 27 of Surah al-Saffat and verse 25 of Surah al-Toor, it mentions that people will ask questions from one another. There appears to be a contradiction between these verses and whether or not people will be able to communicate with each other.
Detailed description of the dubiety
Contradictory Verses
Verse which mentions that people will not be able to ask questions from one another
In verse 101 of Surah al-Mominoon, it is mentioned that: “When the trumpet is blown, there will be no ties between them on that day, nor will they ask [about] each other.” This verse states that on the Day of Judgement, people will not be able to speak to one another.
Verses which mention that people will ask questions from one another
Verse 27 of Surah al-Saffat states, “Some of them will turn to others, questioning each other.” When they witness this great event, the people will turn to one another on the Day of Judgement and communicate.
In Surah al-Toor, verse 25 mentions: “They will turn to one another, questioning each other.” As well, in Surah al-Saffat, verse 50 we read: “Some of them will turn to others, questioning each other.”
Summary
The verse in Surah al-Mominoon refers to the fact that when the trumpet will be blown, and everyone will be resurrected from the graves, people will not be able to ask questions to one another or speak to anyone. Whereas in other verses of the Quran it says that people will ask questions from one another on the Day of Judgement, and this can only be done by communication.
A summarized response
Verse 101 of Surah al-Mominoon which mentions that people will not be able to speak to one another on the Day of Judgement, refers to the preliminary stages of that day following the second blowing of the trumpet. However, verse 27 of Surah al-Saffat mentions the discourse that will take place of the people of hell before entering it. Also, verses 25 of Surah al-Toor and 50 of Surah al-Saffat mention the discussion of the people of paradise. Entering hell or paradise will be one of the last stages on the Day of Judgement. Therefore, there is no contradiction between these verses because one is talking about people not speaking in the preliminary stages on the Day of Judgement, while the other verses mention their conversations during the final stages on that day.
A detailed response
Preliminaries
One of the conditions for a contradiction is that the statements must be made at the same time in the same place
In order for two statements to be contradictory, they must share several criteria. Among the criteria which are required in order for a contradiction to take place is that they must be made at the same time in the same place. For example, at an initial glance the two sentences: ‘Ali came’ and ‘Ali did not come’ appear to be contradictory; but if the first sentence is talking about how Ali came on Sunday, and the second sentence is talking about him not coming on Monday, then there is no longer any contradiction. Similarly, if the first sentence is talking about Ali coming to school, and the second sentence is talking about him not coming to the masjid, then once again there is no contradiction. Therefore, in order for a discrepancy to arise, both sentences must be about an informant of an occurrence at one specific time and place.
The Day of Judgement will be a long day and will have several stages
According to the Quranic verses, the Day of Judgement will be a very long day. It is mentioned in verse 4 of Surah al-Maarij that: “The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose span is fifty thousand years.” Naturally, over the stages of this long day, there will be different conditions and stages, and each stage will have its own circumstances. It is narrated from Imam al-Sadiq who said that: “On the Day of Judgement, there will be fifty stations.” [1] [2]
The first and second blowing of the Trumpet on the Day of Judgement
Before people will be judged on the Day of Judgement, the trumpet will be blown twice. When it is blown the first time, everything will die; and with the second blowing of the trumpet, everyone will come to their senses and proceed towards the place where they will be judged by Allah. This event has been mentioned in several verses and we will refer to one of these shortly.
In 68 verse of Surah al-Zumar it says: “And the trumpet will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens will swoon and whoever is on the earth, except whomsoever Allah wishes. Then it will be blown a second time, and behold they will rise up, looking on!” In some verses of the Quran, only one blowing of the trumpet has been mentioned and through the context we can understand whether it is talking about the first or second blowing of the trumpet.
Verse 101 of Surah al-Mominoon is regarding the second blowing of the trumpet
It is clear from the explanation regarding the two times that the trumpets will be blown on the Day of Judgement that verse 101 of Surah al-Mominoon refers to the state of the people following the second blowing of the trumpet, and that it is in regards to the preliminary stages of the Day of Judgement. The verse reads: “When the trumpet is blown, there will be no ties between them on that day, nor will they ask [about] each other.” The phrase ‘when the trumpet is blown’ clearly shows that this verse is explaining the state of the people after the second blowing of the trumpet. This verse cannot be regarding the first blowing of the trumpet because after that one, everyone will die and there will be no creature alive to ask any questions or speak. The reason people will not ask questions after the second blowing is due to the shock and fear which will overtake everyone, and no one will be thinking about speaking to anyone else.
The Holy Quran has mentioned the shock and fear of the people on the Day of Judgement in the second verse of Surah al-Hajj in the following manner: “The day that you will see it, every suckling female will be unmindful what she suckled, and every pregnant female will deliver her burden, and you will see the people drunk, yet they will not be drunken, but Allah’s punishment is severe.” Therefore, that final day will be so frightful and terrifying that people will be negligent of one another and will not have the ability or state of mind to speak to each other.
Verse 27 of Surah al-Saffat mentions the conversation of the people who are about to enter the hellfire
As mentioned in the preliminaries, the Day of Judgement will be a very long day at the end of which the believers will enter paradise, and the disbelievers will be thrown into the hellfire. Verse 27 of Surah al-Saffat mentions what the sinners will say while entering hell. In order to confirm this claim, one must assess the previous verses and take context from them. It is stated in verses 22 to 27 of this Surah that: “‘Muster the wrongdoers and their mates and what they used to worship besides Allah and show them the way to hell! [But first] stop them! For they must be questioned.’ ‘Why is it that you do not support one another today?’ ‘Indeed, they are meek and submissive today!’ Some of them will turn to others, questioning each other.”
With due attention to verse 22, it becomes clear that these verses are describing the events leading to the sinners being thrown into hell. The last thing to happen on the Day of Judgement will be that the sinners will be thrown into hell and the believers will enter paradise. Therefore, these verses describe the final stages of that day and as verse 27 of Surah al-Saffat follows these verses, it is clear that it is talking about the conversations of the people of hell before they enter it. The conversation of the sinners while entering the hellfire has been mentioned in the subsequent verses - 28 to 32 of this Surah in which those who were deceived will blame their deviated leaders, and the leaders will acknowledge the faults in the deviated people. “They will say, ‘Indeed you used to accost us peremptorily.’ They will answer, ‘No, you yourselves had no faith. We had no authority over you. No, you yourselves were a rebellious lot. So our Lord’s word became due against us that we shall indeed taste [the punishment]. So, we perverted you, for we were perverse ourselves.’”
Verses 25 of Surah al-Toor and 50 of Surah al-Saffat mention the conversation of the pious people after they enter paradise
With due attention to verses 17 to 24 of Surah al-Toor, it is understood that these verses are regarding the pious ones and describe how they were, and the blessings that they are now bestowed; and in verse 25, it mentions the conversation of the pious people with one another in paradise. Then in the following verses, it explains this conversation and refers to that which these God conscious ones will say to each other in paradise. Therefore, verse 25 of Surah al-Toor only refers to the conversation between the pious ones in paradise. Let us look at what the Quran says from verses 17 to 28 of Surah al-Toor: “Indeed the pious will be amid gardens and bliss, rejoicing because of what their Lord has given them, and that their Lord has saved them from the punishment of hell. They will be told: ‘Enjoy your food and drink, as a reward for what you used to do.’ They will be reclining on arrayed couches, and We will wed them to big-eyed houris. The faithful and their descendants who followed them in faith - We will make their descendants join them, and We will not stint anything from [the reward of] their deeds. Every person is hostage to what he has earned. We will provide them with fruits and meat, such as they desire. There they will pass from hand to hand a cup wherein there will be neither any vain talk nor sinful speech. They will be waited upon by their youths as if they were guarded pearls. They will turn to one another, questioning each other. They will say, ‘Indeed, a foretime, we used to be apprehensive about our families. But Allah showed us favour and He saved us from the punishment of the [infernal] miasma. We used to supplicate Him a foretime. Indeed, He is the All-Benign, the All-Merciful.’”
Just like verse 25 of Surah al-Toor, verse 50 of Surah al-Saffat is regarding the conversation of the believers in paradise. To prevent this article from becoming too long, the verses before and after verse 50 of Surah al-Saffat will not be mentioned. The readers are encouraged to read these verses and confirm this claim.
Conclusion
The Day of Judgement will be a very long and difficult day, and there will be certain conditions in each stage of it. As mentioned, the people not being able to talk to one another is in regards to the beginning of that dreadful day and after the second blowing of the trumpet. Also, after assessing the verses regarding the conversations on the Day of Judgement, one verse mentions the discussions of the people of hell before they are thrown into it, and another mentions the dialogue of the believers in paradise. Therefore, the verses under scrutiny are not regarding a single stage on the Day of Judgement, and with due attention to the first preliminary, there is no contradiction between these passages.
Common example
A student is talking about a hard day of exams and says: “On exam day, everyone was studying, and no one was speaking to one another.” He says elsewhere, “After the exams ended on the last day, I talked to my friends and we decided to go to the park.” These two sentences are not contradictory. The first sentence is regarding the students on exam day before they started their examinations and mentions how they did not speak to each other; while the second sentence is in regards to them talking and deciding to go to the park after their exams finished. Therefore, since these sentences were delivered at different times, there is no contradiction between them.
In the same manner, there is no contradiction between the verses mentioned above because one verse is describing the preliminary stages of the Day of Judgement, while the other ones are regarding the final stages of that day.