“The Day a Shin Will Be Uncovered”

God commands us to reflect upon His cosmic laws, gradually unveiling truths across time. But how do we respond to this unveiling? Do we grow in faith—or fall into arrogance because of our knowledge?

In the verse:

“On the Day the shin will be uncovered, and they will be called to prostrate but they will not be able.” (Qur’an 68:42)

What does “the shin” mean here? And how does it differ from the verse:

“And the shin is wound around the shin.” (Qur’an 75:29)

Why did some commentators interpret “the shin” in the first verse as a physical depiction of God—God forbid—while in the second they took it to mean the intertwining of this life and the hereafter? Are we perhaps dealing with a deeper concept that we have overlooked?

Let us reflect and seek answers.

1. What is meant by “the shin”? Is it embodiment—or universal law?

In Arabic, “sāq” (shin) refers to that upon which something stands, or that which supports and carries it—a core part of any created thing. In the Qur’an, however, it points to depth: the laws and principles by which God governs creation.

In this world, everything is subjugated for humanity and functions according to precise laws set by God, such as:

Chemical reactions that transform matter from one state to another.
Natural processes like the growth of trees and the bearing of fruit.
Physical and biological laws that regulate all forms of life.

For long periods, these truths were hidden from humankind. But with scientific advancement, the “uncovering of the shin” began—that is, the discovery of the subtle, intricate laws governing matter and nature.

Thus, “the Day the shin is uncovered” is not necessarily only the Day of Judgment. It may also refer to any era in which new divine laws of creation are revealed to humanity.

2. God’s unveiling of the shin in our age: blessing or trial?

God reveals the secrets of creation to mankind across generations. But the real question is: how do humans respond?

The true believer sees in each unveiling a sign of God’s power, growing in faith and humility, and using knowledge to build the earth in line with divine guidance.
The arrogant imagine they can manipulate God’s laws—tampering with genetics, altering creation, and disrupting the natural order. Their pride brings corruption, imbalance, disasters, and disease.

As God says:

“So let man consider from what he was created.” (Qur’an 86:5)

We are commanded to observe with insight, not with arrogance.

3. Why can they not prostrate when the shin is uncovered?

On the day when these profound truths are revealed, people are called to prostrate—that is, to submit to God’s laws and refrain from altering His creation. Yet they cannot. Why?

Because they persisted in corrupting matter and nature, distorting the innate order God created, until it became impossible to restore balance.

“Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them, though they had been called to prostrate while sound [in health].” (Qur’an 68:43)

In the past, they were invited to submission while the natural order was intact, but they refused.
Now, with systems ruined, it is too late to turn things back. The corruption has reached a point of no return.

4. The intertwining of the shins: when this life meets the next

“And the shin is wound around the shin.” (Qur’an 75:29)

This verse refers to the moment of death, when the shin of this world intertwines with the shin of the hereafter—when the laws of worldly life intersect with the laws of the next life.

At that moment, neither knowledge nor invention can save a soul. Only righteous deeds can carry one safely forward.

“To your Lord that Day will be the procession.” (Qur’an 75:30)

Just as there are laws for this world, there are laws for the Hereafter. And worldly science alone is of no use on the Day of Reckoning.

5. How have humans responded to the shin unveiled for them?

Instead of humbly submitting, they:

❌ Used science to alter God’s creation.
❌ Corrupted the natural balance, leading to disease, pollution, and catastrophe.
❌ Fell into a great trial—believing they could manipulate matter at its core.

As God warns:

“I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them desires, and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah.” (Qur’an 4:119)

This is the trial of the modern age: the temptation to alter God’s creation and tamper with nature.

6. Is the unveiling of the shin linked to the trial of the Dajjal?

The Dajjal represents the greatest trial humanity will face—the trial of arrogant knowledge.

The Dajjal is said to “see with one eye”: he perceives through the eye of worldly science but is blind to the eye of faith.
Today we live in the era of the “one eye”: science is treated as an all-powerful god, divorced from acknowledgment of the Creator.
Modern technology has revealed the secrets of matter, yet is often wielded without reverence for God—used instead to test human power over creation.

“He makes promises to them and fills them with false hopes, but Satan promises them nothing but delusion.” (Qur’an 4:120)

Thus, the unveiling of the shin is part of the greater tribulation humanity now faces.

7. How can we be saved from this trial?

✅ Acknowledge that God’s creation is perfect, and that attempts to alter it only lead to corruption.

✅ Use knowledge for constructive purposes, not for destruction or distortion of creation’s natural order.

✅ View the universe with two eyes: the eye of science and the eye of faith—not material science alone.

✅ Prostrate to God—not only in prayer, but in respecting His laws that govern the cosmos.

“And [He revealed] that the masjids are for Allah, so do not call upon anyone alongside Allah.” (Qur’an 72:18)

Every law of the universe is a place of prostration to God. We must not violate them or worship through them anyone but Him.

Conclusion: Returning to true prostration

The Qur’an poses a question: Will you prostrate before it is too late?

If you prostrate now—submitting to God’s laws in creation and respecting His design—you are safe.
But if you persist in tampering with creation, a day may come when you are called to prostrate, yet you will not be able.

“They had indeed been called to prostrate while sound [in health].” (Qur’an 68:43)

Shall we grasp this truth before it is too late? 🤲

The “day” here represents not a measure of chronological time, but rather a stage of transformation—a distinct transition marked by what precedes it and what follows it. Such a stage carries within it the characteristics of a previous phase that has now receded into the background, while also integrating the properties of a current phase. Thus, the “day” becomes a unifying link between past and present stages, overlapping events into one continuum, making the day itself a phase.

Hence we read of:

the Day of Resurrection (Yawm al-Qiyāmah),
the Day of Judgment (Yawm al-Ḥisāb),
the Day of Gathering (Yawm al-Ḥashr),
the Day of Mutual Loss and Gain (Yawm al-Taghābun),
the First Day, the Last Day, the Day of Religion (Yawm al-Dīn),
the Day of Rising (Yawm al-Baʿth),
the Day of Meeting (Yawm al-Talāq),
the Day of Assembly (Yawm al-Jamʿ),
the Day of Decision (Yawm al-Faṣl), and so forth.

In fact, the whole worldly existence may be described as a day: the first day preceding the last day. Likewise, when the Qur’an speaks of the earth being created in six days, these are not temporal intervals but six stages of transformation—the phases of formation, structuring, and provisioning of the earth.

As creatures of the physical world, however, we redefined “day” as the period from one sunrise to the next, and later as the Greenwich system—midnight to midnight. Yet in the Qur’anic sense, “day” signifies a momentous transformative stage.

Thus, “the Day a Shin will be uncovered” is a stage of transformation: from a state in which the shin was concealed to one in which it is unveiled. At that point, humanity enters a new phase—the phase of disclosure of the shin of the worldly order.

It is, therefore, a reference to a station, a moment, and an appointed time in which a shin is laid bare.

The Unpacking of the Phrase: يُكْشَفُ عَنْ سَاقٍ (“A Shin Will Be Uncovered”)

يُ (yu) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

The act of disclosure emerges from its source—the laws of the created order. It marks a stage of transition where prior knowledge gives way to new unveiling and understanding. This disclosure is more evident, active, complex, and impactful than before, combining and linking attributes of knowledge both of the material and beyond. It bridges opposites, uniting two different domains of knowledge—what is visible of the shin and what is hidden. Thus, what is discovered from matter had always concealed within its apparent exterior an inner depth.

كْ (kaf sukun) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

This disclosure arises through a framework of science endowed with power and authority—laws, evidences, proofs. Their coherence forms an epistemic structure that allows for the reconstruction and retrieval of the unveiled shin.

شَ (sha) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

This framework of scientific authority is itself an image of knowledge, revealing only partial aspects of the totality of knowledge, not the Absolute. It permits disclosure of fragments from the Whole through evidences and laws embedded in material reality.

فُ (fu) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

Through this scientific framework, humanity diverges from prior modes of thought, distinguishing between states of the shin. It scrutinizes them, linking attributes of authority across apparent and hidden domains. Knowledge thus becomes a bridge between earlier and present insight.

عَ (ʿa) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

This unveiling penetrates into depths of material reality previously unseen. Such disclosure alters the stance of the discoverer: one may remain a mere observer, or rise to the level of one who perceives with insight.

نْ (nun sukun) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

At the moment of unveiling, it is pure knowledge of the shin, distinct from all prior understandings, yet connected to them. It supersedes them with a unique and more advanced comprehension.

سَ (sa) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

God reveals to humanity the central laws by which phenomena and creatures operate. These are divine patterns (sunan) precisely calibrated for the benefit of humankind. From this center, material entities move from one state to another, governed by divine order.

ا (alif) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

This constant calibration between states and phenomena integrates all beings into a single harmonious system, perfectly ordered. These entities remain in submission (sujūd) to God’s laws within them.

قٍ (qaf kasra) — yukshafu ʿan sāq:

This center bears within it divine laws that produce new, pure forms. When one entity merges with another, a new state emerges, irreversible, replacing the prior form entirely. Growth continues within this merged state, giving rise to transformation, the pace of which depends on the speed of integration.

“And they will be called to prostrate, but they will not be able” (Qur’an 68:42)

This summons addresses all who have comprehended the unveiling of the shin and realized that violating God’s laws in this worldly realm—tampering with the ordained balance in which all creatures prostrate through their submission—leads to corruption within nature and matter. Those who become aware of the devastating consequences of their actions, after the unveiling of the shin, witness widespread corruption on earth caused by their refusal to submit to God’s order and their acts of desecration. They are no longer capable of restoring matters to their natural equilibrium.

Naturally, after the Resurrection, there is no further call to faith or prostration—rather, there begins the reckoning for deeds performed in worldly life. If one’s actions were grounded in faith in God, and one receives their record in the right hand, then the account commences regarding deeds and productions. For deed (ʿamal) and craft/production (ṣunʿ) are the elements of human action. God says:

“…that Allah may reward them with the best of what they used to do.” (Qur’an 9:121)
“…but worthless is what they made therein, and vain is what they used to do.” (Qur’an 11:16)

Thus, the call to prostration is in the worldly life. Prostration means submitting to God’s laws in creation. The prostration of creatures is their compliance with the original commands instilled in them by God. But the unveiling of the shin was a test for humankind: would they acknowledge that God’s commands in creation are best for humanity, or would arrogance deceive them into tampering with it, taking Satan as a patron instead of God, and elevating themselves as rulers over creation—imagining they could improve upon the divine design?

God says:

“And recite to them the news of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviant. (175) And if We had willed, We could have elevated him thereby, but he clung to the earth and followed his desire. So his example is that of a dog: if you chase it, it pants; or if you leave it, it [still] pants. That is the example of the people who denied Our signs. So relate the stories that perhaps they will reflect. (176) Evil is the example of the people who denied Our signs and wronged themselves.” (Qur’an 7:175–177)

The call, then, was always in the dunya. But what did they do with the shin that God unveiled to them? They became incapable of restoring matters to their balance, unable to repair what they had corrupted. As God says:

“Allah has cursed him, and he said: I will surely take from among Your servants a determined portion. (118) And I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them false desires, and I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle, and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah. But whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah has certainly sustained a clear loss. (119) He promises them and fills them with vain desires. But what Satan promises them is nothing but delusion.” (Qur’an 4:118–120)

Thus Satan vows to mislead humanity into altering God’s creation—tampering even with the genetic origins of livestock and attempting to modify creation itself.

Neither global systems, nor states, nor individuals can restore equilibrium. Tampering with God’s commands and laws has unleashed chain reactions that cannot be halted. The creature who fails to grasp the wisdom in the stability of God’s decrees at the level of cell and atom—and the fact that their sujūd (submission) in their divinely structured chemical and physical functions is the most beneficial state for us—will inevitably destroy that balance. And once disrupted, human limited knowledge cannot restore it. The matter is entrusted to God, who permits humanity to be deluded, to follow Satan, and who, by His laws, subjects us to nature, diseases, viruses, microbes, and harmful radiations—consequences of the very imbalance we contributed to—until the balance is restored again by His command.

So what is the difference between their being called to prostrate when they were sound, before the unveiling of the shin, and after its unveiling? God says:

“Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. For they had been invited to prostration while they were sound.” (Qur’an 68:43)

When God graciously unveiled to them aspects of the shin—the core and depth of the laws governing creatures—had they remained in prostration and submission to God’s laws, they would have contributed in two dimensions:

Serving humanity with this knowledge while keeping aligned with the submission of cells, genes, and the like;
Demonstrating to humanity the signs of God in His creation, thereby increasing in faith.

But once they corrupted and altered creation, prostration became exceedingly difficult. Instead, their obstinacy intensified, and they sank deeper into manipulation of what God had unveiled, increasing in disbelief and deviation.

Now the questions arise:

Who will call them to prostrate?
Commentators claimed this occurs after the Resurrection, and even asserted—God forbid—that the unveiled shin is God’s shin. But is there any call to faith and prostration after the Resurrection?
The call was clearly in the dunya. But what did they do with the shin unveiled to them, such that they could no longer restore balance?
Why do they not prostrate, even though on that Day their eyes are humbled, covered with humiliation, acknowledging their guilt?
What is the difference between their being called to prostrate while sound, before the unveiling of the shin, and after it?
What is the nature of the prostration required before and after the unveiling of the shin?
Has God unveiled a shin in our present civilization—and in previous civilizations?
Are there further calls to prostration after such an unveiling, or not?
What did they corrupt in our lives after the unveiling of the shin in our age?
What were the consequences of their corruption of this shin for humanity?
Can they ever restore the shin to its natural state after what they have corrupted?
Were we sound before the corruption of the shin that God unveiled to us?
In whose hand lies the restoration of the shin to its natural state after corruption?
Are terminal illnesses and other catastrophes the result of the unveiling of the shin?
Is the trial of the unveiling of the shin the greatest trial of our age—the trial of the Dajjāl?
What is the shin that will be wrapped around another shin?
When will the shin be wrapped around the shin?
How will the shin be wrapped around the shin?

Key Definitions for Deeper Understanding:

The Soul (nafs): The driver and leader in worldly life, accountable for its actions, deeds, and productions.
The Body (jism): The ground of the soul, its vehicle for passage—a secure land entrusted to the soul to steer along the straight path. By resisting bodily desires, the soul either earns reward for righteous deeds that benefit humanity or incurs blame for misusing its bodily domain.
The Spirit (rūḥ): The divine energy source that animates the body, placing it under the command of the soul.
The Command (amr):
- Fixed command for the body: The involuntary operating system of each organ, gene, and cell, including cell production, replacement, and the command for the end of life when the spirit departs and the soul is released from its bodily land.
- Variable command for the soul: A system responsive to the soul’s needs, allowing it to employ the body in accordance with its will. The soul’s actions are imprinted in the body’s memory, which testifies against it on the Day of Reckoning.

“By the soul and He who proportioned it (7), and inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness (8)—successful is the one who purifies it (9), and failed is the one who corrupts it (10).” (Qur’an 91:7–10)

At the moment of death, the command comes to end life: the spirit departs, the soul is freed from its body. At that instant, the soul is prepared for its journey between dunya and ākhirah—when the shin is wrapped around the shin, and the worldly side is joined to the otherworldly side.