Inquiry in Paradise?

For when the trumpet is blown,
that day there shall be no kinship any more between them,
neither will they question one another.
-- Sura 23:101

... this is the Day of Judgement...
Nay, but that day they shall submit (to Judgement);
and they will turn to one another, and question one another.
-- Sura 37:20,26,27

As to the Righteous, they will be in Gardens, ...
They will advance to each other, engaging in mutual inquiry.
-- Sura 52:17,25


A Muslim's Response by Randy Desmond
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 12:48:47 PDT

Surah 23:101 is talking about the Judgement. Surah 52:17,25 is talking about the Paradise. This should be very clear from the context, and is certainly not a discrepancy.


By the way, the above inconsistency is found in Al-Itqan by as-Suyuti; chapter on contradiction and inconsistency.

Sura 37:20,26,27 were inserted later after the Muslim response arrived. That is the reason he didn't comment on this (yet?).

If you want to restrict the first one to only the day of Judgement, then there might not be a contradiction. The question is if that is the original sense. It seems that it is more natural to read 23:101 as "from the blowing of the trumpet onwards" since it says "no kinship any more" or do you suggest that kinship is also only dissolved for the Judgement only and is reinstated afterwards? The first and second, the kinship and the questioning, seem to be parallel items and what holds for the first should be holding for the second. Anybody may decide for himself what he thinks is the most reasonable reading of this verse in its context. And afterwards see if it fits the other verse in Sura 52.


Another Muslim response

Contradictions in the Qur'an
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