Al-Mu'minun 23:101

Commentary

فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ‌ فَلَا أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ

Thereafter, 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)