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What is the interpretation of the Almighty’s saying: "The Day that the Shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to prostration, but they shall not be able"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The verse: "The Day a Shin will be uncovered and they are called to prostrate, but they are not able," (68:42) explains some of what will occur on the Day of Judgment, when Allah will uncover His Shin, and the believers will prostrate to Him, while the hypocrites will be unable to do so. The verse affirms the attribute of a Shin for Allah, and we believe in it in word and meaning, entrusting its modality to Allah, in confirmation of His saying: "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." (42:11). What was narrated from Ibn Abbas interpreting the 'uncovering' as the severity of the matter is contradicted by what is authentically reported from Ibn Mas'ud and is refuted by the interpretation of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. For the two Sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim) narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Our Lord will uncover His Shin, and every believing man and believing woman will prostrate to Him. And there will remain those who used to prostrate out of hypocrisy and seeking reputation; they will go to prostrate, but their backs will become one solid piece." This interpretation does not necessitate anthropomorphism or resemblance.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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