Surah al-Qiyamah (The Resurrection ) 75 : 4

بَلَىٰ قَٰدِرِينَ عَلَىٰٓ أَن نُّسَوِّىَ بَنَانَهُۥ

Translations

 
 Muhsin Khan
 Pickthall
 Yusuf Ali
Quran Project
Yes. [We are] Able [even] to proportion his fingertips.

1. Lessons/Guidance/Reflections/Gems

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The Uniqueness of Fingertips 

The pagans of Makkah had denied that mankind would be raised on the Day of Resurrection. They wondered, ‘How is it possible for God to assemble the bones of the dead?’ God said that not only is He capable of assembling the bones of the dead but is also able to perfectly put together the tips of the fingers.

The question is why did God choose to use the body part ‘fingertips’ as an example of His ability in resurrecting. A human being making the same point may have opted to say ‘propor-tion his face’ – for that would apparently seem to be of a greater difficulty and more visible differentiation – fingertips not being something you would traditionally associate with difficulty or uniqueness. God knows the uniqueness He has placed in each human being.  The verse stresses that every detail of man shall be brought back to life even to the extent of the infor-mation that exists on a fingertip. Only the Creator would have said these words in this way.

• In 1823 -  Jan Purkinje, a Czech physiologist and professor of anatomy at the University of Breslau, published a thesis discussing nine fingerprint patterns.
• In 1858 – William Herschel, alluded to the fact that fingerprints are different from one person to another. This makes the fingerprint an exclusive characteristic of each person. 
• Juan Vucetich, an Argentine chief police officer, created the first method of recording the fingerprints of individuals on file, associating these fingerprints to the anthropometric system of Alphonse Bertillon, who had created, in 1879, a system to identify individuals by anthropometric photographs and associated quantitative descriptions.

 

Explanatory Note

This verse reasserts this process of putting bones back together by stating something more complex, which is to put fingertips in their respective positions, just as they were in life. This implies that man will be brought back to life, with every little detail or small aspect of his physique put back in perfect order. Nothing is lost, however small!

2. Linguistic Analysis

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Frequency of Root words in this Ayat used in this Surah *


3. Surah Overview

4. Miscellaneous Information

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5. Connected/Related Ayat

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6. Frequency of the word

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7. Period of Revelation

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Although there is no tradition to indicate its period of revelation, yet there is in the subject matter of this Surah an internal evidence, which shows that it is one of the earliest Surahs to be sent down at Makkah. After verse 15 the discourse is suddenly interrupted and the Prophet told: “Do not move your tongue to remember this Revelation hastily. It is Our responsibility to have it remembered and read. Therefore, when We are reciting it, listen to its recital carefully. Again, it is Our responsibility to explain its meaning.” Then, from verse 20 onward the same theme which was interrupted at verse 15, is resumed. This parenthetical passage, according to both the context and the traditions, has been interposed here for the reason that when the Angel Gabriel was reciting this Surah to the Prophet, the Prophet, lest he should forget its words later, was repeating them at the same moment. This in fact happened at the time when the coming down and receipt of Revelation was yet a new experience for him and he was not yet fully used to receiving it calmly. There are two other instances also of this in the Qur’an. First, in Surah 20: Ta Ha, the Prophet has been told: “And see that you do not hasten to recite the Qur’an before its revelation is completed to you.” (v. 114). Then, in Surah al-A’la, it has been said: “We shall enable you to recite:, then you shall never forget.” (v. 6). Later, when the Prophet became fully used to receiving the Revelation well, there remained no need to give him any such instruction. That is why except for these three, there is no other instance of this in the Qur’an.

8. Reasons for Revelation

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9. Relevant Hadith

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10. Wiki Forum

Comments in this section are statements made by general users – these are not necessarily explanations of the Ayah – rather a place to share personal thoughts and stories…

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12. External Links

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