Who enlivens the decayed bones?

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Conclusion.Introduction

The first verse reminds us of a very famous incident. An Arab idolater came with a decayed bone to the Messenger. His name was Abi bin Khalaf or Aas bin Wayil or Omaiyya bin Khalaf. He had a piece of bone in his hand and said, “I am going with a solid proof to Mohammad to fight with him and to disprove his idea of life after death.”

He came to the Messenger and called out: “Who can make this decayed bone live again? Which intelligent mind agrees with this claim?” To support his words he softened a piece of the bone and threw it on the ground.

The Qura’n then asked the Messenger to give an indisputable reply through various ways and examples and the first of which is the issue of the first creation which the Qura’n has presented in a very composite and vivid manner. It says, “This forgetful person has forgotten his own creation.”

It further clarifies, “Say, “He who created them at first will give them life.”

If you think that these particles will scatter and each one of them will spread to some distant corner or if you think that it is not possible to bring these particles of dust to their former state because no one knows anything about them then it is a great mistake because He is the creator of everything and is all-knowing.

The word “ Anshaha” which is derived from “ Inshaa” means creating and nurturing and here it means that the God who in the beginning when there was nothing created him indeed will give him life again after he has turned into dust.

What does the term “forgetfulness of the creation” mean in this verse? There are two interpretations about it. The first is that man has forgotten his original creation from an insignificant drop of semen and thus is against the power of God to give the life after death.

The second verse is the reminder of the creation of mankind from dust. How is possible that God first created him from dust but the same manner of creation becomes impossible? Because the command is the same for the existence and non-existence things that are similar. Although here “Nisiyan” is either actual forgetfulness or is like the forgetful person who has not forgot but has become a denier because he has not acted according to the inherent nature his creation.(1)

In the second verse the same thing has been said in a unique style. Replying to the deniers of resurrection God says, “Were We then wearied out with the first creation that We cannot have the same authority on the Day of Judgment?” He then adds, “They have no doubts about the first creation but due to negligence and forgetfulness and bias they believe that no one can be resurrected” God then says, “They are in a confused doubt about a new creation.”

They have entangled themselves in a web of doubts and they have no answers.

The word “A’yiinaa” is derived from “A’yii”. It is sometimes used to denote humility and weakness and sometimes sadness and hardship. The first meaning is used here “We never wearied of the first creation.”

The term “First creation” refers to the creation of each person and especially to the creation of Adam but what some commentators have interpreted it to be as “The creation of the universe” is not compatible with the verse

The word “labs” means to cover something and “Libas’ is so named because it covers the body. According to Raghib it is sometimes used for spiritual deeds too and so means to cover the truth. This is what it means in the verse under discussion. They are in doubts of the Day of Judgment and because of bias and arrogance the truth remains hidden from them.

The third verse gives us another interpretation and that is the comparison between origination, life and life after death. The verse says, ““He it is who originates the creations and then He causes them to recur again.”

Some commentators have taken the word “Yabda” in the past tense or that God has created in the beginning but what is there to prevent the word being used in the present tense? The present tense denotes an ever lasting continuity so the verse will now mean, “God always creates his beings and then makes them return.”

This universe is a collection of a continuous stream of life and death and so there should be no doubt about resurrection on the Day of Judgment.

Our world dies regularly and then is recreated and thus in this context the return to a new life is a normal and regular feature and this is a very balanced and composed answer for the deniers.

 We deduce many things from the term, “Recreation is easier for Him than the first creation”; when we take into account God’s unlimited powers then becoming easy or hard have no meaning for every thing is the same to Him; it is easy for Him to uproot the highest mountains as it is for him to remove a straw. Creating the solar system is as easy for

Him as creating a particle of dust because the terms easy and hard have no meaning for Him but for us who have limited strength and powers it is easy to lift a small stone than to lift a boulder.

The commentators have given several interpretations for this but the best answer is that this is according to the logical conclusion and the awareness of men.

 When a person does a piece of work it is easy for him to repeat it. But for the Supreme and never diminishing authority every thing is equal.

It is also said that the word “Ahwan” is not used here in a des c r i p tive sense but as “Hayyin” which means easy. Other reasons and explanations have been given but as they were not proper they are not mentioned here.

The way people talk to each other and think has been kept in mind in the use of “easy” and “Easier” but for Him every thing is easy and there is no scope for “easier”

The 4th verse describes all that has come before in a new manner. God in answer to the deniers of life after death says,

“Have they not seen how God originates the creation then causes it to return again?” This work is easy for God. (2)

In continuous sense “Yabda’” can mean “begins” and “Yu’ido” may mean “recalls” and this may have been used to emphasize what has been said in the previous verse that God always creates and begins and this universe always changes into new forms and every day is the repetition of the origin and the end.

This more so when it is said, “Have they not seen?”  And this means that it is possible for every one to observe the continuous and ever lasting creation.

It is also possible that the word “Yu’id” may refer only to the Day of Judgment. In that case the explanation of the verse will be: “Have they not seen how God has created the beings? And he can make them return in the same way”

Everything is easy and possible for God and this may be an argument for those who have interpreted the word “Ahwan” as “Hayyin”. (Easy as easier)

Do the deniers of life after death not see how the vegetation springs forth from the dead earth? How mankind enters the realm of life? How the dead and barren trees are laden with leaves and fruits? How at every given moment something new comes into existence?

Is it impossible for the creator of all these things to make them return when both these work are easy for Him? The existence of something is the best proof of the possibility of its existence.

In the 5th and final verse the language is concise, composed and very meaningful. It says, ““He brought you forth in the beginning so shall you return to Him.”

This sentence is a part of verse 29 of Surah A’raf and is regarded as the most precise and vivid proof of resurrection in the Qura’n. God says, “Consider the possibility of the second life after studying the origination of the first creation” This is a logical argument about this issue. Those who consider such a verse to be the excuse for guess in the commandment of worship because guess work in permissible in it when the proof of the first commandment and the cause and effect is evident so that the second commandment can also be proven. In the same way resurrection can be seen in the above verse and in the next.

We know that the proof of the first creation is God and this meaning is also valid for the second creation. But Guess work has no place in the laws relating to deeds because neither is their philosophy very clear nor has any valid cause been mentioned for them. Such guess work is based on whims and not certainty or intellect.

The issue is clear in view of the interpretation mentioned above on the basis of the next verses but the strange thing is that some commentators have said that it means that just as in the beginning you were created with well being, damnation, believer and non-believer your end will be the same.(3)

Some people may have desired to find some proof or argument for their belief in compulsion but here the issue is the, the origin, first creation, and then the return to a new life

Especially when there is not even a trace of hint about obedience due to compulsion or the nature of the believer and the non-believer.

 


 

1. See Tafsir Ruhul Ma’ani vol.23 page 50
2. It should be remembered that the meaning of the words “Yubdi-a’” and “Yubda-a’” is the same; to being something or to manifest something.
3. Fakhr Razi in Tafsir Kabeer vol. 14 page 58 has mentioned the two explanations as one.

 

Conclusion.Introduction
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