Theological Instructions

LESSON FORTY-SEVEN: GOD’S PROMISE REGARDING THE RESURRECTION

Introduction

The Noble Qur’an fulfils its case to mankind by highlighting the issue of Resurrection. It establishes Resurrection through intellectual arguments so that man furthers his understanding of this concept.

The following explanation of Resurrection given by the Qur’an is outlined in the two subsequent sections.

The inevitable promise of God

The Noble Qur’an informs us that the Day of Judgement is inevitable:

“Indeed the Hour is bound to come” (Ghāfir: 59)

In the following verses the Qur’an states:

“They swear by Allah with solemn oaths that Allah will not resurrect those who die. Yes indeed, it is a promise binding upon Him, but most people do not know” (al- Nahl:38)

“The faithless claim that they will not be resurrected. Say, ‘Yes, by my Lord, you will surely be resurrected; then you will surely be informed of what you did, and that is easy for Allah’” (al-Taghābun:7)

“Raiser of ranks, lord of the Throne, He casts the spirit of His command upon whomever of His servants that He wishes, that he may warn [people] of the Day of Encounter.” (Ghāfir:15)

“Rather they deny the Hour, and We have prepared a Blaze for those who deny the Hour” (al-Furqān:11)

Whoever recognizes the genuineness of this Divine Book will therefore accept the fact of Resurrection. The realisation of the Qur’an being the reality is achievable for every man who is in search of truth, unless his mind is deficient or there is some other preventative factor.

Examples of intellectual arguments

Many Qur’anic verses are written in such a way that they help to establish the necessity of Resurrection and therefore they could be considered as contributing towards an intellectual and wise argument. Such verses also refute the polytheists and infidels:

“Did you suppose that We created you aimlessly, and that you will not be brought back to Us?” (al-Mu’minūn:115)

This verse clearly indicates that the entire universe and creation of mankind would be futile without the principle of Resurrection. God is the All-Wise and nothing is made in vain, therefore the return of creation is certain.

This argument is an exclusive syllogism (qiyās), whereby the first premise is a conditional proposition, which indicates that the creation of man in this world is with a wise purpose whereby he returns back to God and receives the outcome of his actions in this world. This has been clearly explained in a previous lesson (See argument for ‘Wisdom’).

However the second premise (that God does not perform absurd acts) is that very subject related to the Divine Wisdom and has already been

discussed in the section on theology, therefore the verse mentioned above conforms with it.

Likewise, the Noble Qur’an mentions the quality of the ‘people of understanding’ as:

“Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth [and say], ‘Our Lord, You have not created this in vain! Immaculate are You! Save us from the punishment of the fire.” (Āl-‘Imrān:191) By contemplation upon this verse man will realise his obligation of relying on the wisdom of God. While doing so, he will understand that this great creation is fashioned with a purpose and if the next life ceased to exist then the creation of the universe would be illogical.

Another classification specified in the verses indicates the intellectual argument and the necessity of Resurrection, which is in conformity with the argument of justice (‘adl). The demand of justice is that those who do good and evil must be rewarded and punished for their performed action. There should be a clear distinction between the right and wrong doers, this is not possible in this world, and hence Divine justice can only be realised in the next world. Regarding this the Qur’an says:

“These are eye-openers for mankind, and guidance and mercy for a people who have certainty. Do those who have perpetrated misdeeds suppose that We shall treat them as those who have faith and do righteous deeds, their life and death being equal? Evil is the judgment that they make! Allah created the heavens and the earth with the truth, so that every soul may be requited for what it has earned, and they will not be wronged.” (al-Jāthiyah:20-22) It is essential that we remember that “the creation of the heaven and the earth with truth,” indicates the argument for wisdom. As the argument for justice is related to the argument for wisdom, we may remind the reader of the discussions concerning Divine Justice, whereby justice was the referent for wisdom.

Questions

  1. How does the Qur’an prove Resurrection?

  2. Quote the Qur’anic verses, which indicate the argument of wisdom and its explanation.

  3. Explain the verses indicating the argument for justice (‘adl). How can the argument for justice (‘adl) be returned to the argument for wisdom (hikmah)?