Tafseer of Explained in detail · Fussilat · 41:21
And they will say to their skins, "Why have you testified against us?" They will say, "We were made to speak by Allah, who has made everything speak; and He created you the first time, and to Him you are returned.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَقَالُوا لِجُلُودِهِمْ لِمَ شَهِدْتُمْ عَلَيْنَا قَالُوا أَنْطَقَنَا اللَّهُ الَّذِي أَنْطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ خَلَقَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ (And they say to their skins: Why did you testify against us? They say: Allah has caused us to speak, He who causes all things to speak; and He created you the first time, and to Him you are returned) (41:21).
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and these who are gathered to the Fire, the enemies of Allah, the Exalted, say to their skins, when these testify against them concerning what they used to do in the worldly life: Why did you testify against us concerning what we did in the worldly life?
Then their skins answer them: أَنْطَقَنَا اللَّهُ الَّذِي أَنْطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ (Allah has caused us to speak, He who causes all things to speak), so that we spoke. And it has been mentioned that these limbs testify against their owners when Allah calls upon them as witnesses against them, when they deny the deeds they had committed in the worldly life involving that with which Allah is angered. And concerning that the report from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has been transmitted.
* Mention of the reports that have been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim al-Ghifārī related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Qādim al-Fazārī informed us, saying: Sharīk informed us, on the authority of ʿUbayd al-Muktib, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Anas, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed one day until his molars became visible, and then said: "Will you not ask me why I laughed?" They said: Why did you laugh, O Messenger of Allah? He said: "I marveled at the dispute of the servant with his Lord on the Day of Resurrection! He said: he says: O Lord, did You not promise me that You would not wrong me? He says: indeed, that is so. He says: then I do not accept against myself any witness except from myself. He says: am I not sufficient as a witness, and the noble scribing angels? He said: then his mouth is sealed, and his limbs speak about what he used to do. He said: then he says to them: away with you and perdition! For your sake I was disputing."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿUbayd al-Muktib, on the authority of Fuḍayl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Anas, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, with something similar.
ʿAbbās ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bakr related to us, on the authority of Shibl, who said: I heard Abā Qazaʿa narrate to ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of Ḥakīm ibn Muʿāwiya, on the authority of his father, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he said — and he pointed with his hand toward Sham (Syria) — he said: "Hither, from hither, you will be gathered, on horseback and on foot upon your faces on the Day of Resurrection; upon your mouths will be the muzzle (fidām). You will complete seventy communities, of which you are the last and the most honored before Allah. And indeed, the first thing of any one of you that will speak is his thigh."
Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: al-Jurayrī informed us, on the authority of Ḥakīm ibn Muʿāwiya, on the authority of his father, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said: "And you will come on the Day of Resurrection with the muzzle (fidām) upon your mouths, and indeed, the first thing of man that will speak is his thigh and his palm."
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Bahz ibn Ḥakīm, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "What is it with me that I hold you back from the Fire by your belts? Indeed, my Lord calls me, and He will ask me: did you convey the message to My servants? And I will say: O Lord, I conveyed the message to them. So let the witness among you convey it to the absent among you. Then you will be brought to account, your mouths muzzled with the muzzle (fidām). Then indeed the first thing of any one of you that will speak clearly is his thigh and his palm."
Muḥammad ibn Khalaf related to me, saying: al-Haytham ibn Khārija related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh, on the authority of Ḍamḍam ibn Zurʿa, on the authority of Shurayḥ ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of ʿUqba, that he heard the Prophet ﷺ say: "Indeed, the first bone of man that will speak on the day when the mouths are sealed is his thigh of the left leg."
And His saying: وَهُوَ خَلَقَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ (and He created you the first time) the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and Allah created you the first creation when you were nothing. He says: and to Him is your return after your death.
