A Comparative Research of “Making Hear and Hearing of Death” in the Interpretations of the Two Sects

In this study, Quranic verses that indicate “non-hearing of the dead” have been examined from the perspective of Shiite and Sunni commentators to determine the correct view in this regard from the beginning of Islam until now and to clarify when the deviant views has entered the beliefs of Muslims. This study, using the library method and examining the Qur'anic verses argued by the deniers of the hearing power of the dead and the Shiite and Sunni interpretations, has come to the conclusion that the words “death” and “hearing” have different meanings and in the verses in question, “Death” means the death of the heart and the intellectual faculty, and the word “hearing” does not mean sensory hearing, but means understanding, and these verses refer to the lack of understanding of the divine revelations by those whose hearts are dead. The result of the research is that until the seventh century, no commentator claimed not to hear about the dead, and this idea, after that and after the promotion and popularization of Ibn Taymiyyah's ideas, entered to Islamic issues and is not a real Islamic belief and if there is a meaning in the verse, the phrase “not hearing” does not mean “not hearing” of the dead, but it will indicate the inability of the caller of the dead to hear and making hear them, and there is no connection (concomitant) between the inability of hearing and the inability to hear the dead.