But in His saying, the Exalted: {Indeed, you do not hear the dead}, are the intended dead those who have departed this worldly life, or those who did not benefit from the message?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : But in His saying, the Exalted [An-Naml 27:80] are the intended dead those who have departed this worldly life, or those who did not benefit from the message?
The Shaykh : There is a possibility that the intended meaning of "the dead" is that He likened the state of those who do not respond.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : To the dead, and that they are dead in their hearts.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And there is a possibility that the intended meaning of "the dead" is the dead in reality.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Those who died in reality. And I referred to it because it was used as evidence.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : By those who say that the dead do not hear the speech of the living in any way. And they also said regarding the man's saying when he passes by the cemetery, "Peace be upon you, abode of a people of believers," that this address is for them, even though they do not hear, because one may address someone who does not hear, and address them with the second-person pronoun even though they do not hear.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And it is not possessed of a soul. They said: And that which indicates this is the saying of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) to the Black Stone: "I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits, and were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing it, I would not have kissed it." But our answer to this is that it can be said: The fact that the stone does not hear and does not understand is a clear matter, because the soul has not animated it before, and it has not possessed understanding or intellect before. Unlike the dead person, for the soul of the dead person returns to him after his death, even if that return is not equal to or similar to its presence in his body during his life.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Also, Nasir Duwara from the Syrian Arab Republic has another question.
Indeed, you will not make the dead hear
إنك لا تسمع الموتىThe Shaykh : There is a possibility that the intended meaning of "the dead" is that He likened the state of those who do not respond.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : To the dead, and that they are dead in their hearts.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And there is a possibility that the intended meaning of "the dead" is the dead in reality.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Those who died in reality. And I referred to it because it was used as evidence.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : By those who say that the dead do not hear the speech of the living in any way. And they also said regarding the man's saying when he passes by the cemetery, "Peace be upon you, abode of a people of believers," that this address is for them, even though they do not hear, because one may address someone who does not hear, and address them with the second-person pronoun even though they do not hear.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And it is not possessed of a soul. They said: And that which indicates this is the saying of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) to the Black Stone: "I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits, and were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing it, I would not have kissed it." But our answer to this is that it can be said: The fact that the stone does not hear and does not understand is a clear matter, because the soul has not animated it before, and it has not possessed understanding or intellect before. Unlike the dead person, for the soul of the dead person returns to him after his death, even if that return is not equal to or similar to its presence in his body during his life.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Also, Nasir Duwara from the Syrian Arab Republic has another question.