Tafseer of the verse “So on that Day no question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin” [ar-Rahmaan 55:39]
Question

                What is the meaning of the verse that says that man will not be questioned about his sin on the Day of Resurrection?.
Praise be to Allah.
    Perhaps the 
    questioner is referring to the verse in which Allah, may He be glorified and 
    exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “So on that Day no 
    question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin” [ar-Rahmaan 55:39]. 

    This is one of 
    the verses in Soorat ar-Rahmaan that speak of the terrors of the Day of 
    Resurrection and explain that one aspect of the terror of that great Day is 
    that no human or jinn will be questioned about his sin. 

    The scholars 
    have given a number of interpretations for this verse: 

    1.

    That humans 
    and jinn will not be questioned on the Day of Resurrection by way of finding 
    out about their sins, because Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, knows 
    best about them. But He will question them by way of making a statement or a 
    rebuke or telling off. This is more frightening and serves to emphasise the 
    horror of what will happen on the Day of Resurrection. 

    Shaykh Ibn 
    ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) says: 

    “no 
    question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin” – why? Because 
    everything is known. What is meant here is that there will be no questioning 
    by way of finding out, because all things are known. As for the kind of 
    asking that is intended as a stern rebuke, that will take place. Allah, may 
    He be exalted, says:

    “And 
    (remember) the Day (Allah) will call to them, and say: What answer gave you 
    to the Messengers? 

    Then the news 
    of a good answer will be obscured to them on that day, and they will not be 
    able to ask one another”

    [al-Qasas 
    28:65]

    “Except those 
    on the Right, (i.e. the pious true believers of Islamic Monotheism);

    In Gardens 
    (Paradise) they will ask one another,

    About 
    Al-Mujrimoon (polytheists, criminals, disbelievers, etc.), (And they will 
    say to them):

    What has 
    caused you to enter Hell? 

    They will say: 
    We were not of those who used to offer their Salat (prayers)”

    
    [al-Muddaththir 74:39-42]. 

    And Allah, may 
    He be glorified and exalted, will say to the people of Hell when they are 
    thrown into it (interpretation of the meaning):

    “Did there 
    not come to you, your Messengers with (clear) evidences and signs? They will 
    say: Yes”

    [Ghaafir 
    40:50]. 

    So they will 
    not be asked about their sin by way of finding out; rather they will be 
    asked by way of telling off and rebuking. What is mentioned about humans and 
    jinn being asked about their sins (“Did you do it or not?”) is questioning 
    that is aimed at rebuking and telling off. There is a difference between 
    questioning that is aimed at finding out and questioning that is aimed as a 
    rebuke, so there is no contradiction between the verses. The verses that 
    speak of them being questioned refer to questioning by way of rebuke and the 
    verses that say that they will not be questioned refer to questioning that 
    is aimed at finding out, because everything is already known and recorded. 
    End quote. 

    Tafseer 
    al-Qur’aan 
    (from al-Hujuraat to al-Hadeed), p. 317 

    2.

    One of the 
    frightening events that will take place on that Day is that Allah will place 
    a seal on the hearts of the disbelievers and hypocrites, and their hands and 
    feet will speak of what they used to do. They will not be questioned at that 
    time; rather their bodies will be questioned and will bear witness against 
    them, speaking of their sins. 

    3.

    Because of the 
    horror of what the disbelievers encounter on the Day of Resurrection, they 
    will be recognised by the blackening of their faces and the bleariness of 
    their eyes. So there will be no need to ask them about their sins when the 
    signs of disgrace have already appeared on them. This is also a source of 
    great terror and a difficult situation on the Day of Resurrection. This does 
    not contradict the true questioning that will occur at another stage, 
    because the Day of Resurrection will be a long day, with various stages. 

    Al-Haafiz Ibn 
    Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    The verse 
    (interpretation of the meaning): “So on that Day no question will be 
    asked of man or jinn as to his sin” [ar-Rahmaan 55:39] is similar to the 
    verse in which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “That will be 
    a Day when they shall not speak (during some part of it), And they will not 
    be permitted to put forth any excuse” [al-Mursalaat 77:35-36]. This is 
    one stage. And there will be another stage during which people will be 
    questioned about all their deeds. Allah says (interpretation of the 
    meaning): “So, by your Lord (O Muhammad SAW), We shall certainly call all 
    of them to account. For all that they used to do” [al-Hijr 15:92-93]. 
    Hence Qataadah quoted the words “So on that Day no question will be asked 
    of man or jinn as to his sin” [ar-Rahmaan 55:39] and said: The 
    questioning will have occurred, then a seal will be placed over the people’s 
    mouths, and their hands and feet will tell of what they used to do. 

    ‘Ali ibn Abi 
    Talhah said, quoting from Ibn ‘Abbaas: He will not ask them, Did you used to 
    do such and such? Because He knows better than they do about that. Rather he 
    will say: Why did you do such and such? This is another view. 

    Mujaahid said 
    concerning the verse: The angels will not ask about the sinners, because 
    they will be known by their marks (blackened faces – cf. ar-Rahmaan 55:41). 
    This is a third view. 

    It seems that 
    this will come when instructions have been issued to take them to Hell. At 
    that time they will not be asked about their sins; rather they will be taken 
    to it and thrown into it, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 
    “The Mujrimoon (polytheists, criminals, sinners, etc.) will be known by 
    their marks” [ar-Rahmaan 55:41], i.e., by marks that will appear on 
    them. 

    Al-Hasan and 
    Qataadah said: They will recognise them by their blackened faces and the 
    bleariness of their eyes. I say: Similarly, the believers will be recognised 
    by the bright marks on their faces and limbs from the traces of wudoo’. End 
    quote. 

    Tafseer 
    al-Qur’aan al-‘Azeem, 
    7/499 

    Al-‘Allaamah 
    al-Ameen ash-Shanqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him) says: 

    Allah, may He 
    be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Then surely, We shall 
    question those (people) to whom it (the Book) was sent…” [al-A‘raaf 7:6]. 
    This verse indicates that Allah will question all people on the Day of 
    Resurrection. There are similar verses, such as the following:

    “So, by 
    your Lord (O Muhammad ), We shall certainly call all of them to account”

    [al-Hijr 
    15:92]

    “But stop 
    them, verily they are to be questioned”

    
    [as-Saaffaat37:24]

    “And 
    (remember) the Day (Allah) will call to them, and say: What answer gave you 
    to the Messengers?”

    [al-Qasas 
    28:65]. 

    And there are 
    other verses that indicate the opposite of that, such as the following:

    “So on that 
    Day no question will be asked of man or jinn as to his sin” 

    [ar-Rahmaan 
    55:39]

    “But the 
    Mujrimoon (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) will not be 
    questioned of their sins”

    [al-Qasas 
    28:78]. 

    The answer (to 
    this apparent contradiction) consists of the following points: 

    1.

    This is the 
    best answer because it is what is indicated by the Qur’aan, which is that 
    questioning is of two types: questioning by way of rebuke and telling off, 
    which usually starts with the word “Lima 
    (Why)…?”, and questioning that is aimed at finding out, which usually starts 
    with the word “Hal…?” (an Arabic word which signals that what follows 
    is a question). If the question starts with the word 
    Lima, 
    it is a question by way of rebuke; and if it starts with the word Hal, 
    it is a question aimed at finding out. 

    We can see 
    from the context of the Qur’aan that all questions that will be put to them, 
    as stated in the Qur’aan, are questions that are intended as a rebuke, as in 
    the verses in which Allah says:

    “But stop 
    them, verily they are to be questioned. ‘What is the matter with you? Why do 
    you not help one another (as you used to do in the world)?’”

    
    [as-Saaffaat 37:24-35]

    “Is this 
    magic, or do you not see?”

    [at-Toor 
    52:14]

    “Did not 
    the Messengers come to you from yourselves”

    [az-Zumar 
    39:71]

    “Did no 
    warner come to you?”

    [al-Mulk 
    67:8]

    and there are 
    other similar verses. 

    And Allah will 
    ask the Messengers: What did you respond? – As a rebuke to those who 
    disbelieved in them. This is similar to the questioning of the girl who was 
    buried alive, for what sin she was killed? (cf. at-Takweer 81:9) – this is a 
    rebuke to the one who killed her. 

    2.

    On the Day of 
    Resurrection there will be various stages, at some of which they will be 
    questioned and at others they will not be questioned.

    End quote. 

    Daf‘ Eehaam 
    al-Idtiraab ‘an ‘Aayaat al-Kitaab, 
    p. 15 

    And Allah knows best.