Examples of Resurrection in The Qur'an

Creation and resurrection are entirely in Allah's will, and, as is the case with creation, He has no need of external causes when it comes to resurrection. There are many examples of this in the Qur'an.

Allah reveals in the Qur'an that after people die and are buried, they will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment:

That is their repayment for rejecting Our signs and saying, "What, when we are bones and crumbled dust, will we then be raised up as a new creation?" Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and Earth, has the power to create the like of them, and has appointed fixed terms for them of which there is no doubt? But the wrongdoers still spurn anything but unbelief. (Surat al-Isra', 98-99)

As we have seen, disbelievers do not believe that people will be re-created after dying and becoming one with the soil. This example summarizes the situation as regards the theory of evolution. Our Lord, Who will re-form people's bodies from nothing on the Day of Judgment, also created the first man, the Prophet Adam (pbuh), from nothing. These verses are very important for those who believe in the Qur'an but who nevertheless insist upon believing in evolutionist ideas.

In the words: "You have come to Us all alone, just as We created you at first, leaving behind you everything We bestowed on you..." (Surat al-An'am, 94), in the Qur'an, Allah points to the resurrection of man on the Day of Judgment. It makes it clear that this creation will be like their "first creation." Each person, who will have died and become one with the soil, will be reborn through a re-creation in the Hereafter and assume a human form. That is why the first human creation resembles this and happens not stage by stage, but all at once and in a miraculous manner.

There are many examples of resurrection in the Qur'an. For instance, Allah allowed the tribe of the Prophet Moses (pbuh) to experience it, as He killed them and then brought them back to life. This is described in the Qur'an as follows:

And when you said, "Moses, we will not believe in you until we see Allah with our own eyes." So the thunder-bolt struck you dead while you were looking. Then We brought you back to life after your death, so that perhaps you would show thanks. (Surat al-Baqara, 55-56)

The Qur'an contains a similar account again involving the tribe of the Prophet Moses (pbuh). Allah had commanded them to strike a corpse with the flesh of a previously killed cow. As Allah reveals in the verse, He did this to show them that man would be resurrected and to ensure that they had belief. This is clearly a miracle. However, as we shall see in the following part of the verse, these people's hearts again grew hard after the miracle took place:

Remember when you killed someone and violently accused each other of it, and Allah brought out what you were hiding. We said, "Hit him with part of it!" In that way Allah gives life to the dead, and He shows you His Signs so that hopefully you will understand. Then your hearts became hardened after that, so they were like rocks or even harder still. There are some rocks from which rivers gush out, and others that split open and water pours out, and others that crash down from fear of Allah. Allah is not unaware of what you do. (Surat al-Baqara, 72-74)

Allah gives another example:

In this way Allah makes His signs clear to you, so that hopefully you will use your intellect. What do you think about those who left their homes in thousands in fear of death? Allah said to them, "Die!" and then brought them back to life. Allah shows great favor to mankind, but most people are not grateful. (Surat al-Baqara, 242-243)

In the Qur'an, Allah relates another example: the situation facing someone who did not believe in resurrection after death. According to the verses, Allah caused the person to be dead for 100 years and then resurrected him. However, even though so much time had gone by, the person thought that he had been dead only for one day or even less. When he was told the truth, he finally believed, as we see in the following verse:

Or the one who passed by a town which had fallen into ruin? He asked, "How can Allah restore this to life when it has died?" Allah caused him to die for a hundred years and then brought him back to life. Then He asked, "How long have you been here?" He replied, "I have been here for a day or part of a day." He said, "Not so! You have been here for a hundred years. Look at your food and drink – it has not gone bad – and look at your donkey so that We can make you a sign for all mankind. Look at the bones – how We raise them up and clothe them with flesh." When it had become clear to him, he said, "Now I know that Allah has power over all things." (Surat al-Baqara, 259)

Another example concerns the people of the cave (ashab al-kahf). What distinguishes this story from the others is that in this case the community was not killed, but merely fell asleep for longer than a normal human lifespan.

This group consisted of devout young people who had left their tribe and sought refuge in a cave because their tribe had turned to polytheism and idolatry. However, Allah miraculously caused them to sleep for more than 300 years in the cave, as follows:

So We struck them with drowsiness in the cave for a number of years. (Surat al-Kahf, 11)

They stayed in their cave for three hundred years and added nine. Say: "Allah knows best how long they stayed. The Unseen of the heavens and Earth belongs to Him. How perfectly He sees, how well He hears! They have no protector apart from Him. Nor does He share His rule with anyone." (Surat al-Kahf, 25-26)

However, after a time Allah awakened them. The description continues:

Then We woke them up again so that we might see which of the two groups would better calculate the time they had stayed there. We will relate their story to you with truth. They were young men who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. (Surat al-Kahf, 12-13)

They did not realize they had been asleep for such a long time. They thought they had only been asleep for a day, or a few hours, whereas it had actually been some three hundred and nine years. The verse in question states:

That was the situation when we woke them up so they could question one another. One of them asked, "How long have you been here?" They replied, "We have been here for a day or part of a day." They said, "Your Lord knows best how long you have been here. Send one of your number into the city with this silver you have, so he can see which food is purest and bring you some of it to eat. But he should go about with caution so that no one is aware of you." (Surat al-Kahf, 19)

Such examples given in the Qur'an explicitly reveal that Allah has no need of any cause in creation.