In these excerpts, Ṭabarī comments on the kinds of “exposures” or “showings” (ʿaraḍāt) that are implied inQ. 69:18 (“On that day you will be exposed; no secret of yours will be concealed”) by presenting the opinions of Ibn Masʿūd, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, and al-Ḍaḥḥāk. These opinions include terms such as disputation (jidāl), excuses (maʿādhīr), arguments (khuṣūmāt), and the flying of scrolls (taṭāyur al-ṣuḥuf). In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange draws parallels between these procedures of heavenly judgment and those encountered in earthly courtrooms to argue that exegetes imagined the heavenly courtroom along lines similar to its earthly counterpart. But there were differences as well. Regarding the procedure for witness testimony as mentioned in Q. 82:11 (“Over you are guardians, noble, recording [kātibīna]”), Ṭabarī explains that these guardians record what humans say and intend. Ṭabarī’s explanation thus distinguishes heavenly judgment from earthly judgment, in which intentions are not taken into account. Lange also argues that exegetes such as Ṭabarī made sure to avoid anthropomorphic interpretations of the verses. For instance, Ṭabarī deploys a Prophetic ḥadīth, “This is not a reckoning, it’s a [simple] exposure (ʿarḍ),” to avoid interpreting Q. 84:7–9 (“As for one who is given his book in his right hand, he will be reckoned with an easy reckoning and will return to his people joyful”) in anthropomorphic terms.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale(ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.