Surah Ar-Rum, Ayah 52

The Disbelievers are like the Dead, Deaf and Blind

Allah says, `just as you are not able to make the dead hear in their graves, or to make your words reach the deaf who cannot hear and who still turn away from you, so too you cannot guide the blind to the truth and bring them back from their misguidance.' That is a matter which rests with Allah, for by His power He can make the dead hear the voices of the living if He wills. He guides whom He wills and sends astray whom He wills, and no one but He has the power to do this. Allah says:

إِن تُسْمِعُ إِلاَّ مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِـَايَـتِنَا فَهُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

(you can make to hear only those who believe in Our Ayat, and have submitted (to Allah in Islam).) means, those who are humble and who respond and obey. These are the ones who will listen to the truth and follow it; this is the state of the believers; the former (being deaf and blind) is the state of the disbelievers, as Allah says:

إِنَّمَا يَسْتَجِيبُ الَّذِينَ يَسْمَعُونَ وَالْمَوْتَى يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ

(It is only those who listen will respond, but as for the dead, Allah will raise them up, then to Him they will be returned.) (6:36) `A'ishah, the Mother of the faithful, may Allah be pleased with her, used this Ayah --

إِنَّكَ لاَ تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتَى

(So verily, you cannot make the dead to hear) as evidence against `Abdullah bin `Umar when he reported that the Prophet had addressed the slain disbelievers who had been thrown into a dry well three days after the battle of Badr, rebuking and reprimanding them, until `Umar said, "O Messenger of Allah, are you addressing people who are dead bodies" He said:

«وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ مَا أَنْتُمْ بِأَسْمَعَ لِمَا أَقُولُ مِنْهُمْ، وَلَكِنْ لَا يُجِيبُون»

(By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, you do not hear what I say any better than they do, but they cannot respond.) s`A'ishah interpreted this event to mean that the Prophet was making the point that now they would know that what he had been telling them was true. Qatadah said: "Allah brought them back to life for him so that they could hear what he said by way of rebuke and vengeance."

فَإِنَّكَ لَا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتَىٰ (So you cannot make the dead to hear 30:52). As for the issue whether the dead have the ability to hear or not, and if they have this ability, whether it is exclusive to some, or all can hear, this subject has been dealt with briefly in the commentary of Sarah An-Naml in this volume, and a detailed discussion can be seen in my book تکمیل الحبور بسماع اھل القبور .

The blowing of a cool breeze before the start of the rains announces the fact that the God of this world is the most Kind and Merciful. Sailing across the seas is very important for the promotion of civilization. But, this is possible only when the winds blow within certain limits. Similarly, in the present age, the possibility of air-travel is dependent upon the fact that God has arranged to maintain a layer of air on the surface of the earth and given human beings the knowledge of aerodynamics needed to design air worthy plans. All these arrangements have been made with a view to ensuring that man lives in the world as a grateful subject of God. The prophets of God appeared in the world in order to draw the attention of the people to these facts. But, while some accepted them others rejected them. Then, God helped those who accepted them and destroyed the deniers. The same fate on a larger scale awaits these two categories of human beings in the life Hereafter.