The Seemingly Unanswerable Question That Religion Raised
By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam
21 November 2022
Quran Deals With The Question Of The Resurrection,
It Never Resorts To The Unscientific Explanation Invented By The Theologians
That We Have A Soul That Survives Death
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All through the history of religion, those without
faith, posed the question "when we die and turn to dust how will we be
raised again in the Hereafter?” The answer the prophets and the scriptures
provided was beyond the understanding of man given his state of knowledge of
the material world and required “faith” to accept the answer. The theologians
were equally at a loss to understand and explain and therefore invented the
concept of a soul to explain how this will happen. They argued that while
the material body disintegrates, we have an immortal soul that is not matter
but spirit which never dies. The body is only the outward form and the real us
is our soul which is eternal, they said. Did this explanation satisfy the people?
It didn’t satisfy the disbelievers but the believers accepted it.
In the Quran, there are at least 13 instances where
the same question is the subject. The Quran does not answer this question in
any of these 13 instances as the theologians do with the concept of an immortal
soul. Clearly, therefore, the concept of an immortal soul is an invention of
the theologians and philosophers and has nothing to do with Allah’s revelations
whether in the Quran or the previous scriptures. If this concept has crept into
the previous scriptures, it is understandable, because the Muslims have also
interpolated using semantic gamesmanship the concept into the Quran using the
two words “Nafs” and “Ruh” which are not even synonyms. This subject is covered
in detail in my articles:
- Islam
and Mysticism: Is ‘Nafs’ Soul? (Part - 1)
- Islam
and Mysticism: Is ‘Ruh’ Soul? (Part 2)
- Islam
and Mysticism: What Else Is Confused With Soul? (Part 3)
The Quran On Resurrection
The Quran speaks of the resurrection of our
physical body. It says:
1.(71:18) "´And in the End He will return you
into the (earth), and raise you forth (again at the Resurrection)” (75:3)
Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones?(4) Nay, We are able to put
together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers.
(The verse above puts paid to the contention of the
philosophers such as Avicenna and Al-Farabi who argued against bodily
resurrection and believed in an immaterial soul. I wonder how and why did these
Muslim philosophers ignore the explicit verses from the Quran that speak of
resurrection in the body and none of which speak of “soul”.)
2. See they not that Allah, Who created the heavens
and the earth, has power to create the like of them (anew)? (17:99).
Verily, when He intends a thing, His Command is, "be", and it is!
(36:82)
(We will be created anew and there is no immortal
soul that is carried forward)
3.(31:28) And your creation or your resurrection is
in no wise but as a unique individual: for Allah is He Who hears and sees (all
things). (50:4) With Us is a record guarding (the full account).
(The resurrection is therefore based on the
well-guarded stored information about every individual. The Quran often speaks
of the record in several verses. The record is integral to every being and
every phenomenon).
4. Allah will cause us to return to life. He will
call us and we will answer (17:52). (2:260) When Abraham said: "Show
me, Lord, how You will raise the dead, " He replied: "Have you no
faith?" He said "Yes, but just to reassure my heart." Allah
said, "Take four birds, draw them to you, and cut their bodies to pieces.
Scatter them over the mountain-tops, then call them back. They will come
swiftly to you. Know that Allah is Mighty, Wise."
5. (22:6) …it is He Who gives life to the dead, and
it is He Who has power over all things.(7) And verily the Hour will come: there
can be no doubt about it, or about (the fact) that Allah will raise up all who
are in the graves.
6. (2:259) Or (take) the similitude of one who
passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. He said: "Oh! how shall
Allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death?" but Allah
caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). He said:
"How long didst thou tarry (thus)?" He said: (Perhaps) a day or part
of a day." He said: "Nay, thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but
look at thy food and thy drink; they show no signs of age; and look at thy
donkey: And that We may make of thee a sign unto the people, Look further at
the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh." When
this was shown clearly to him, he said: "I know that Allah hath power over
all things."
The Laughable Concept Of Soul
The theologians and the philosophers lacking
accurate knowledge of our world, struggled with several concepts, and argued
without proof and even against what the scriptures say clearly. For example,
all the theologians and philosophers (those who believe in a life in the
Hereafter) believed in an immortal soul. Since the body
disintegrates, or a person may be burnt to ashes in an accident or cremated,
they had difficulty accepting that we are resurrected in our body although the
Quran says so categorically. Even many of the Muslim philosophers such as
Avicenna and al-Farabi argued against bodily resurrection and believed in an
immaterial soul. The soul was therefore what was left and required to live a
life in the Hereafter and this must not die and therefore must be immaterial or
spirit. It must also have all the characteristics that made us a
unique person and the capacity to see, feel, think and remember without the
body, the brain, the nervous system and the organs! What an
impossibility and yet even the so-called rational philosophers believed in it!
The Quran is categorical about resurrection in the body in complete detail
right up to our fingertips. In all of the thirteen instances, the Quran deals
with the question of the resurrection, it never resorts to the unscientific
explanation invented by the theologians that we have a soul that survives
death.
How Will We Then Be Resurrected In Body
(50:2) But they wonder that there has come to them
a Warner from among themselves. So the Unbelievers say: "This is a
wonderful thing!(3) "What! When we die and become dust, (shall we live
again?) That is a (sort of) return far (from our understanding)."(4) We
already know how much of them the earth takes away: With Us is a record
guarding (the full account).(5) But they deny the Truth when it comes to
them: so they are in a confused state.
Verse 50:4 is saying clearly that no matter if the
body is destroyed or turned to dust, with Allah is complete information which
is fully guarded against destruction. As far as what we made of ourselves,
there are numerous verses that speak of the entire record of our deeds,
thoughts, intentions etc. being preserved. We know today that all that is
needed to resurrect us on the Day of Judgment exactly as we were is
information. We know how the physical body can be cloned. The genes in the egg
fertilized by the sperm from our father have resulted in our conception and
have given us our sex, form and body. The information is enough to recreate the
body exactly as it was. What we made of ourselves in our lifetime is all
recorded as the Quran informs us clearly. This information will be used to
recreate our “Nafs”, populate our memory and create our old patterns of
thinking. We will be recreated exactly as we were without doubt but this does
not require an immortal “soul” but only accurate information.
The modern man knows that if all his apps and data
are backed up including the settings and preferences, a lost computer or
Smartphone can be “recreated” by buying the same model and downloading all the
backed-up apps and data. It would then be the same as if you never lost it. The
analogy for the resurrection is similar. All that is required is
accurate information. This is in complete agreement with science as we know it
today.
All The Quranic Verses On Resurrection
The 11 other instances where the question "How
is it possible that when we die and turn to dust will be raised again in the
Hereafter?” the Quran addresses, are listed below:
(17:49) They say: "What! when we
are reduced to bones and dust, should we really be raised up (to be) a new
creation?"(50) Say: "(Nay!) be ye stones or iron,(51) "Or
created matter which, in your minds, is hardest (to be raised up),- (Yet shall
ye be raised up)!" then will they say: "Who will cause us to
return?" Say: "He who created you first!" Then will they wag
their heads towards thee, and say, "When will that be?" Say,
"May be it will be quite soon! (52) "It will be on a Day when He
will call you, and ye will answer (His call) with (words of) His praise,
and ye will think that ye tarried but a little while!"
(17:98) That is their recompense, because they
rejected Our signs, and said, "When we are reduced to bones and broken
dust, should we really be raised up (to be) a new Creation?" (99) See
they not that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, has power to create
the like of them (anew)? Only He has decreed a term appointed, of which
there is no doubt. But the unjust refuse (to receive it) except with ingratitude.
(50:2) But they wonder that there has come to them
a Warner from among themselves. So the Unbelievers say: "This is a
wonderful thing!(3) "What! When we die and become dust, (shall we live
again?) That is a (sort of) return far (from our understanding)."(4) We
already know how much of them the earth takes away: With Us is a record
guarding (the full account).(5) But they deny the Truth when it comes to
them: so they are in a confused state.
(22:5) O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the
Resurrection, (consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm,
then out of a leech-like clot, then out of a morsel of flesh, partly formed and
partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (our power) to you; and We cause
whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do We bring you
out as babes, then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength;
and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old
age, so that they know nothing after having known (much), and (further), thou
seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is
stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth
(in pairs).(6) This is so, because Allah is the Reality: it is He Who gives
life to the dead, and it is He Who has power over all things.(7) And verily the
Hour will come: there can be no doubt about it, or about (the fact) that Allah
will raise up all who are in the graves.(8) Yet there is among men such a
one as disputes about Allah, without Knowledge, without Guidance, and without a
Book of Enlightenment,-
(13:5) If thou dost marvel (at their want of
faith), strange is their saying: "When we are (actually) dust, shall we
indeed then be in a creation renewed?" They are those who deny their
Lord! They are those round whose necks will be yokes (of servitude): they will
be Companions of the Fire, to dwell therein (for aye)!
(23:33) And the chiefs of his people, who disbelieved
and denied the Meeting in the Hereafter, and on whom We had bestowed the good
things of this life, said: "He is no more than a man like yourselves: he
eats of that of which ye eat, and drinks of what ye drink.(34) "If ye obey
a man like yourselves, behold, it is certain ye will be lost.(35) "Does
he promise that when ye die and become dust and bones, ye shall be brought
forth (again)?(36) "Far, very far is that which ye are promised! (37)
"There is nothing but our life in this world! We shall die and we live!
But we shall never be raised up again!(38) "He is only a man who
invents a lie against Allah, but we are not the ones to believe in
him!"(39) (The prophet) said: "O my Lord! help me: for that they
accuse me of falsehood." (40) (Allah) said: "In but a little while,
they are sure to be sorry!"(41) Then the Blast overtook them with justice,
and We made them as rubbish of dead leaves (floating on the stream of Time)! So
away with the people who do wrong!
(23:81) On the contrary they say things similar to
what the ancients said. (82) They say: "What! when we die and become
dust and bones, could we really be raised up again?(83) "Such things
have been promised to us and to our fathers before! they are nothing but tales
of the ancients!"
(27:66) Still less can their knowledge comprehend
the Hereafter: Nay, they are in doubt and uncertainty thereanent; nay, they are
blind thereunto!(67) The Unbelievers say: "What! when we become dust,-
we and our fathers,- shall we really be raised (from the dead)? (68)
"It is true we were promised this,- we and our fathers before (us): these
are nothing but tales of the ancients."
(37:16) "What! when we die, and become dust
and bones, shall we (then) be raised up (again) (17) "And also our fathers
of old?"(18) Say thou: "Yea, and ye shall then be humiliated (on
account of your evil)."
(37:51) One of them will start the talk and say:
"I had an intimate companion (on the earth),(52) "Who used to say,
´what! art thou amongst those who bear witness to the Truth (of the Message)?(53)
"´When we die and become dust and bones, shall we indeed receive
rewards and punishments?´"(54) (A voice) said: "Would ye like to
look down?"(55) He looked down and saw him in the midst of the Fire.(56)
He said: "By Allah! thou wast little short of bringing me to perdition!
(57) "Had it not been for the Grace of my Lord, I should certainly have
been among those brought (there)!
(56:47) And they used to say, "What! when
we die and become dust and bones, shall we then indeed be raised up again?-(48)
"(We) and our fathers of old?"(49) Say: "Yea, those of old and
those of later times,(50) "All will certainly be gathered together for the
meeting appointed for a Day well-known.
Conclusion
When the Quran addresses the question "What!
when we die and become dust and bones, shall we then indeed be raised up
again?” thirteen times without speaking of an immaterial,
immortal soul and always of the resurrection of the body, it is beyond doubt
that we do not have what the theologians have conjured as our immortal soul.
Now that we understand the possibility of resurrection using information alone,
the answer the scriptures have always provided has finally become intelligible.
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A
frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering
graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having
served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over
three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal
contributions to its interpretation.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/resurrection-unscientific-quran-religion/d/128449
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