Tafseer of the verse “So on that Day no question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin” [ar-Rahmaan 55:39]

Perhaps the
questioner is referring to the verse in which Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “So on that Day no
question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin” [ar-Rahmaan 55:39]. 

This is one of
the verses in Soorat ar-Rahmaan that speak of the terrors of the Day of
Resurrection and explain that one aspect of the terror of that great Day is
that no human or jinn will be questioned about his sin. 

The scholars
have given a number of interpretations for this verse: 

1.

That humans
and jinn will not be questioned on the Day of Resurrection by way of finding
out about their sins, because Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, knows
best about them. But He will question them by way of making a statement or a
rebuke or telling off. This is more frightening and serves to emphasise the
horror of what will happen on the Day of Resurrection. 

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) says: 

“no
question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin” – why? Because
everything is known. What is meant here is that there will be no questioning
by way of finding out, because all things are known. As for the kind of
asking that is intended as a stern rebuke, that will take place. Allah, may
He be exalted, says:

“And
(remember) the Day (Allah) will call to them, and say: What answer gave you
to the Messengers?

Then the news
of a good answer will be obscured to them on that day, and they will not be
able to ask one another”

[al-Qasas
28:65]

“Except those
on the Right, (i.e. the pious true believers of Islamic Monotheism);

In Gardens
(Paradise) they will ask one another,

About
Al-Mujrimoon (polytheists, criminals, disbelievers, etc.), (And they will
say to them):

What has
caused you to enter Hell?

They will say:
We were not of those who used to offer their Salat (prayers)”

[al-Muddaththir 74:39-42]. 

And Allah, may
He be glorified and exalted, will say to the people of Hell when they are
thrown into it (interpretation of the meaning):

“Did there
not come to you, your Messengers with (clear) evidences and signs? They will
say: Yes”

[Ghaafir
40:50]. 

So they will
not be asked about their sin by way of finding out; rather they will be
asked by way of telling off and rebuking. What is mentioned about humans and
jinn being asked about their sins (“Did you do it or not?”) is questioning
that is aimed at rebuking and telling off. There is a difference between
questioning that is aimed at finding out and questioning that is aimed as a
rebuke, so there is no contradiction between the verses. The verses that
speak of them being questioned refer to questioning by way of rebuke and the
verses that say that they will not be questioned refer to questioning that
is aimed at finding out, because everything is already known and recorded.
End quote. 

Tafseer
al-Qur’aan
(from al-Hujuraat to al-Hadeed), p. 317 

2.

One of the
frightening events that will take place on that Day is that Allah will place
a seal on the hearts of the disbelievers and hypocrites, and their hands and
feet will speak of what they used to do. They will not be questioned at that
time; rather their bodies will be questioned and will bear witness against
them, speaking of their sins. 

3.

Because of the
horror of what the disbelievers encounter on the Day of Resurrection, they
will be recognised by the blackening of their faces and the bleariness of
their eyes. So there will be no need to ask them about their sins when the
signs of disgrace have already appeared on them. This is also a source of
great terror and a difficult situation on the Day of Resurrection. This does
not contradict the true questioning that will occur at another stage,
because the Day of Resurrection will be a long day, with various stages. 

Al-Haafiz Ibn
Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

The verse
(interpretation of the meaning): “So on that Day no question will be
asked of man or jinn as to his sin” [ar-Rahmaan 55:39] is similar to the
verse in which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “That will be
a Day when they shall not speak (during some part of it), And they will not
be permitted to put forth any excuse” [al-Mursalaat 77:35-36]. This is
one stage. And there will be another stage during which people will be
questioned about all their deeds. Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning): “So, by your Lord (O Muhammad SAW), We shall certainly call all
of them to account. For all that they used to do” [al-Hijr 15:92-93].
Hence Qataadah quoted the words “So on that Day no question will be asked
of man or jinn as to his sin” [ar-Rahmaan 55:39] and said: The
questioning will have occurred, then a seal will be placed over the people’s
mouths, and their hands and feet will tell of what they used to do. 

‘Ali ibn Abi
Talhah said, quoting from Ibn ‘Abbaas: He will not ask them, Did you used to
do such and such? Because He knows better than they do about that. Rather he
will say: Why did you do such and such? This is another view. 

Mujaahid said
concerning the verse: The angels will not ask about the sinners, because
they will be known by their marks (blackened faces – cf. ar-Rahmaan 55:41).
This is a third view. 

It seems that
this will come when instructions have been issued to take them to Hell. At
that time they will not be asked about their sins; rather they will be taken
to it and thrown into it, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“The Mujrimoon (polytheists, criminals, sinners, etc.) will be known by
their marks” [ar-Rahmaan 55:41], i.e., by marks that will appear on
them. 

Al-Hasan and
Qataadah said: They will recognise them by their blackened faces and the
bleariness of their eyes. I say: Similarly, the believers will be recognised
by the bright marks on their faces and limbs from the traces of wudoo’. End
quote. 

Tafseer
al-Qur’aan al-‘Azeem,
7/499 

Al-‘Allaamah
al-Ameen ash-Shanqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him) says: 

Allah, may He
be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Then surely, We shall
question those (people) to whom it (the Book) was sent…” [al-A‘raaf 7:6].
This verse indicates that Allah will question all people on the Day of
Resurrection. There are similar verses, such as the following:

“So, by
your Lord (O Muhammad ), We shall certainly call all of them to account”

[al-Hijr
15:92]

“But stop
them, verily they are to be questioned”

[as-Saaffaat37:24]

“And
(remember) the Day (Allah) will call to them, and say: What answer gave you
to the Messengers?”

[al-Qasas
28:65]. 

And there are
other verses that indicate the opposite of that, such as the following:

“So on that
Day no question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin”

[ar-Rahmaan
55:39]

“But the
Mujrimoon (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) will not be
questioned of their sins”

[al-Qasas
28:78]. 

The answer (to
this apparent contradiction) consists of the following points: 

1.

This is the
best answer because it is what is indicated by the Qur’aan, which is that
questioning is of two types: questioning by way of rebuke and telling off,
which usually starts with the word “Lima
(Why)…?”, and questioning that is aimed at finding out, which usually starts
with the word “Hal…?” (an Arabic word which signals that what follows
is a question). If the question starts with the word
Lima,
it is a question by way of rebuke; and if it starts with the word Hal,
it is a question aimed at finding out. 

We can see
from the context of the Qur’aan that all questions that will be put to them,
as stated in the Qur’aan, are questions that are intended as a rebuke, as in
the verses in which Allah says:

“But stop
them, verily they are to be questioned. ‘What is the matter with you? Why do
you not help one another (as you used to do in the world)?’”

[as-Saaffaat 37:24-35]

“Is this
magic, or do you not see?”

[at-Toor
52:14]

“Did not
the Messengers come to you from yourselves”

[az-Zumar
39:71]

“Did no
warner come to you?”

[al-Mulk
67:8]

and there are
other similar verses. 

And Allah will
ask the Messengers: What did you respond? – As a rebuke to those who
disbelieved in them. This is similar to the questioning of the girl who was
buried alive, for what sin she was killed? (cf. at-Takweer 81:9) – this is a
rebuke to the one who killed her. 

2.

On the Day of
Resurrection there will be various stages, at some of which they will be
questioned and at others they will not be questioned.

End quote. 

Daf‘ Eehaam
al-Idtiraab ‘an ‘Aayaat al-Kitaab,
p. 15 

And Allah knows best.