سورة فصلت

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted has ordained and made obligatory upon all your limbs duties and obligations by which He will argue against you on the Day of Resurrection and question you concerning them. He has reminded those limbs, admonished them, warned them and disciplined them. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: وَ ما کُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَنْ یَشْهَدَ عَلَیْکُمْ سَمْعُکُمْ وَ لا أَبْصارُکُمْ وَ لا جُلُودُکُمْ [And you did not veil yourselves lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should bear witness against you], and what is meant by julud (skins) here is the private parts.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Faith, disbelief, polytheism, and their increase and decrease are as follows. Faith in Allah is the highest of deeds in rank and holds the most exalted station; no station is more honorable than it, and its portion is the greatest of all. And He said: وَ ما کُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَنْ یَشْهَدَ عَلَیْکُمْ سَمْعُکُمْ وَ لا أَبْصارُکُمْ وَ لا جُلُودُکُمْ وَ لکِنْ ظَنَنْتُمْ أَنَّ اللهَ لا یَعْلَمُ کَثِیراً مِمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ [And you did not veil yourselves lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should bear witness against you, but you thought that Allah did not know most of what you did]. What is meant by 'skins' in this noble verse is the private parts and the thighs.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted has appointed a duty for each of the human limbs and organs, a duty which is not related to any other organ. Then what He made obligatory upon the ear, the eye and the private parts He mentioned all together in a single verse and said: وَ ما کُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَنْ یَشْهَدَ عَلَیْکُمْ سَمْعُکُمْ وَ لا أَبْصارُکُمْ وَ لا جُلُودُکُمْ وَ لکِنْ ظَنَنْتُمْ أَنَّ اللهَ لا یَعْلَمُ کَثِیراً مِمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ [And you did not veil yourselves lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should bear witness against you, but you thought that Allah did not know most of what you did]. What is meant by 'skins' in this noble verse is the private parts.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A person asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): 'Which deed is highest in the sight of Allah the Mighty and Majestic?' The Imam (peace be upon him) said: 'Faith in Allah.... Then Allah gathered together in one verse what He made obligatory upon the heart, the tongue, the ear and the eye, and said: Do not follow that of which you have no knowledge; indeed the ear, the eye and the heart — all of these will be questioned (al-Isra 17:36). And He said: وَ ما کُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَنْ یَشْهَدَ عَلَیْکُمْ سَمْعُکُمْ وَ لا أَبْصارُکُمْ وَ لا جُلُودُکُمْ [And you did not veil yourselves lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should bear witness against you] — and what is meant by the skins in this verse [which will bear witness on the Day of Resurrection] is the private parts and the thighs.'

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): They [in the verse یَوْمَ یَبْعَثُهُمُ اللهُ جَمیعاً فَیَحْلِفُونَ لَهُ کَما یَحْلِفُونَ لَکُمْ وَ یَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ عَلی شَیْءٍ أَلا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْکاذِبُون — The day Allah will resurrect them all, they will swear to Him as they swear to you, and they will suppose that they have some standing. Beware, indeed they are the liars (al-Mujadila 58:18)] are those who usurped the right of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (peace be upon him). At that moment Allah will seal their tongues and cause the parts of their bodies to speak; as a result, the ear will bear witness to what it heard of what is forbidden, the eye to what it looked upon of what is forbidden, the two hands to what they took of what is forbidden, the two feet to the forbidden things they walked toward, and the private parts to the forbidden acts they committed. Then Allah will cause their tongues to speak and the guilty ones, addressing the skins of their bodies, will say: لِمَ شَهِدْتُمْ عَلَیْنا قالُوا أَنْطَقَنَا اللهُ الَّذِی أَنْطَقَ کُلَّ شَیْءٍ وَ هُوَ خَلَقَکُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَ إِلَیْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ* وَ ما کُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ [Why did you bear witness against us? They will say: Allah, who caused all things to speak, has caused us to speak, and He created you the first time and to Him you shall return. And you did not veil yourselves] — meaning [if you had been hiding your sins] from Allah — أَنْ یَشْهَدَ عَلَیْکُمْ سَمْعُکُمْ وَ لا أَبْصارُکُمْ وَ لا جُلُودُکُمْ [lest your ears, your eyes and your skins should bear witness against you] — what is meant by 'skins' here is the private parts — وَ لکِنْ ظَنَنْتُمْ أَنَّ اللهَ لا یَعْلَمُ کَثِیراً مِمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ وَ ذلِکُمْ ظَنُّکُمُ الَّذِی ظَنَنْتُمْ بِرَبِّکُمْ أَرْداکُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ مِنَ الْخاسِرِینَ [but you thought that Allah did not know most of what you did. And that thought of yours which you thought concerning your Lord has ruined you, and you have become of the losers].

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The disbelievers used to say, "Allah has no knowledge of what we conceal within ourselves; rather, He knows only what we make manifest."