How can pain sensation is restricted to skin according to Quran

Question

In quran surah nissa v:56 Allah swt talks about the nociceptors for pain in skin in this manner:

"Those who reject our Signs, We shall soon cast into the Fire: as often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the penalty: for Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise"

in this verse Allah swt clearly restricts the sensation of pain to the skin and today we all know that pain receptors are distributed to all part of the body for example if i drink hot tea my mouth,pharynx and esophagus will burn it is a simple observation we had in our life. so isn't this verse unscientific rather than scientific?

Answer 1

First of all I would like to clarify that we will not maintain our physical shape in the afterlife, indicated from the hadith below:

The prophet PBUH said: Those who will enter Hell are innumerable, yet one of them will be so huge that his molars will be as big as Mount Uhud, and the distance between his shoulders will be equivalent to three days walking.

Secondly, punishment within hell is not limited to burns only, there are other forms such as making them eat foods and drink drinks which cause them pain

"No food will there be for them but a bitter Daree obnoxious thorny plant (6) which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger". (Al-Ghashia 88:6-7)

"Verily the tree of Zaqqum (43) will be the food of the sinful (44), like molten brass, it will boil in their insides,(45) like the boiling of scalding water." (44:43-46).

"Is that [Paradise] the better entertainment or the tree of Zaqqum [a horrible tree in Hell]? (62) For We have truly made it [as] a trial for the wrongdoers (63) For it is a tree that springs out of the bottom of Hellfire (64) The shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the heads of devils; (65)Truly they will eat thereof and fill their bellies therewith (66) Then on top of that they will be given to drink a mixture made of boiling water (67) Then, shall their return by to the blazing Fire of Hell". (As-Saffat 37:62-68)

No offence, but the question presented, sounds like it came from an Islam-phobe who is trying to find faults within the Quran therefore he reads one verse and thinks he understands the Quran entirely.

Therefore my dear brother I would always advise to look into your concerns and analyse them before making any conclusions!

God Knows Best! May Allah Guide us all!

Answer 2

if i drink hot tea my mouth,pharynx and esophagus will burn it is a simple observation we had in our life

Brother Aboudi has already mentioned in his answer that there will be punishment for the inner parts too. God also speaks about intensely cold drinks in the Quran in addition to the boiling water.

so isn't this verse unscientific rather than scientific?

Actually you miss a scientific point in the verse. The verse reads:

Those who reject our Signs, We shall soon cast into the Fire: as often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the penalty: for Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.

Allah calls Himself Wise, as He ruled that burnt skins be exchanged for fresh ones^{ft. 1}. And it is essential, because when the skins are roasted, the pain receptors are obliterated after a third degree burn and pain isn't felt any more. So for the continuity of punishment, the skin needs to be restored.

So this verse does not limit location of nociceptors to skins, rather it enlightens us that intense burn renders the receptors disfunctional.

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_{ft. 1 : Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs, Tafsir(s) of verse 4.56}