Message in the Tales of Life After Death in the Quran

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam

26 May 2026

The Quran stresses on the fact that life after death is a reality and presents incidents, mentions miracles of people being revived after death after a certain period to draw home the point that every human being will be brought to life after death and will be held accountable for his deeds during his life.

The Quran stresses on life after death because for centuries human beings believed that after death their body turns to dust. Due to this belief, he had no sense of accountability. He thought that he was accountable hor his deeds only during his life and after death everything comes to an end. Therefore, he lived his life according to his whims and fancies. He committed oppression, injustice and sins without remorse. Through prophets, God taught man that life after death was a reality and he will be resurrected after a certain period and will be rewarded or punished for his deeds. Initially, people did not believe in Renaissance and prophets preached the belief in life after death ages after ages. They would express surprise at the idea that long after they die and their bones turn into dust, they would come alive. They would say:

"And they say, 'It is nothing but sheer magic. Will we and our forefathers be raised again after we died and turn into dust? Tell them that they will be and that they will be humiliated"(As Saffaat:15-18)

The idea of life after that was seemed so impractical and illogical that prophets tried to make them understand this for thousand years. To convince them of Renaissance, God even showed miracles through his prophets. One of the miracles is mentioned in chapter Al Kahf. In this chapter, the tale of a few young men who had been out to sleep by God in a cave and were miraculously revived after 309 years. When they woke up, they thought they slept for a day or less.When some of them went to the market to buy some food with the coins that were three centuries old, the people realised that they were the same young men who had gone missing three hundred years ago and believed that human beings could be brought to life after death. They decided to build a mosque at the site where they had slept as a memorial. They brought faith in God's power of reviving human beings after death.

This is not the only miracle or in ident of life after death mentioned in the Quran. In the chapter Al Baqarah, two more miracles of life after death are narrated.  The first is presented here:

"Or didn't you see the man who passed through a city and it was scattered under its roofs. He said how will Allah bring it back to life after its destruction?Then We kept the man dead for one hundred years, then revived him and asked, 'How long did you stay here? He said, 'I stayed for a day or less.' We said, 'No, you stayed for hundred years. No look at your food and drink. It has not rotten. And look at your donkey.And We wanted to make you an example for people, and look at the bones and wonder how We join them and put flesh on it. Then as he observed and realised the truth, he called out, 'I know that God is Omnipotent."(Al Baqarah:259)

Exegetes have attributed this incident to Prophet Uzair pbuh though the name of the person who was put to sleep for hundred years is not mentioned here. However, the man was revived after hundred years to prove to him that man can be revived after death.

Second miracle of life after death mentioned in chapter Al Baqarah is about thousands of residents of a land who had fled their homes due to fear of death. God had caused them to die. They were brought back to life after a certain period. Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani writes in his exegesis that they were revived after seven years. The miracle was shown to them to prove that human beings cannot escape death. Therefore, they should confront the situation with courage without fearing death. By reviving them God gave them another opportunity to face adverse circumstances, enemies or disease with courage. The verse about this miracle is as follows:

"Didn't you see those who who came out of their homes in thousands out of fear of death. Allah said to them, 'Die!" Then He brought back to life. Indeed Allah bestows blessings on people but many do not express gratitude."( Al Baqarah: 243)

There is yet another miracle of life after death in the chapter Al Baqarah attributed to prophet Abraham pbuh. When prophet Abraham pbuh had requested God to demonstrate to him how He would bring back the dead to life, God had instructed him to place heads and other bones of four dead birds on different hilltops and call out to them. When prophet Abraham pbuh did the same, all the birds came back to life and ran towards him.

"And recall when Abraham said, "O my Lord, demonstrate to me how You will revive the dead' He said,'Don't you believe? He replied, 'Why not, but because I want to be content. He (God) said, 'Catch hold of  said(Al Baqarah: 260)

Through all these miracles, God presented to man the reality of life after death because for centuries man believed that after enjoying life for a certain period, he will turn to dust and will not face the punishment for his oppression and bad deeds.

However, on the hand there were communities, who though did not believe in God, they had the belief that they will come back to life after a certain period. The nation of Pharaohs or the Egyptians believed that they will rise to life in uncertain future. What was the basis of this belief is not known but strongly believed that they will be revived in future. For that purpose, they had developed the science of preserving their dead bodies which is called mummification. Mummies of Egyptian Pharaohs, ministers and knights have been unearthed from the Valley of Kings in Egypt. Their belief in life after death was so strong that they had their ornaments, clothes and other royal belongings buried with their mummies in their tombs so that when they came back to life, they come out of their tombs with their past glory. It shows that the idea of life after death was not alien to mankind but the Quran provided the scriptural basis for it and strengthened man's sense of accountability on earth through the belief.

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