Al-Mu’minūn 23:101

The issue

In Arabic, the verse states that on the Day of Judgment people will not question each other. (The closest English translation is found in Arberry: “For when the Trumpet is blown, that day there shall be no kinship any more between them, neither will they question one another.”) Yet in two other verses the Qur’ān states that they will question each other. In Q 37.27 the Qur’ān states, “and some shall draw near to others, to question each other,” and in Q 52.25 it states, “And they shall accost each other and ask questions.”

Regarding this contradiction between Q 23.101 and the aforementioned verses, Muhammad al-Rāzī comments that the Day of Resurrection of the dead is fifty thousand years. During this period of time, there will be different circumstances; in some instances they will question and in other instances they will not make an utterance.

Another interpretation offered by al-Ţabarī states that people will not ask questions at the first blow of the trumpet. (Muslim scholars disagree regarding the number of blows. Some state there will be two blows, while others say three.) The statement in Q 37.27 (“some shall draw near to others, to question each other”) implies that after entering al-Janna, people would come to question each other.

The verses do not support these opinions as there is no connection among all these verses in the Qur’ān, and they are not served by their surrounding contexts. The statements of the Muslim exegetes are merely defenses to nullify the existing contradiction among these Qur’ānic verses.