Part 51

Allaah, the Most High, says, "It is He (Allaah) who originates the creation, then brings it back again after it has perished, and that is even easier for Him." [surah ar-Room (30):27] "We shall bring the creation (on the Day of Resurrection) back to the state in which We first created them: naked, barefoot and uncircumcised. That is a promise We have given and We shall certainly carry it out." [surah alAmbiyaa (21): 104] He also said, commanding a rebuttal to the saying of those who deny the resurrection of the decayed bones, "Say to the one who denies the resurrection of the decayed bones: They will be revived to life by the One who created them in the first place when they had been nothing. Indeed He has full knowledge of all His creation." [surah Yaa Seen (36):79] (ii) The earth becomes dead and barren and devoid of greenery, and then the rain falls and it comes to life, sprouting green plants of all kinds. So the One able to give it life after its being dead is the One who is able to bring the dead to life. Allaah, the Most High, says, "And from the signs proving Allaah's ability to bring the dead to life is that you see the earth dry and dusty, devoid of plants and crops. Then when Allaah sends down rain upon it the earth swells and puts forth vegetation. Indeed He who brought it to life will certainly bring the dead back to life. Indeed He is fully able to do all things." [surah Fussilat (41):39] "And We send down from the clouds water containing blessings; and with it We cause many gardens to grow, and crops of wheat and barley, and tall date-palms having spathes piled one on top of the other, as sustenance for the servants; and We give life with that water to barren land. Likewise will be the Resurrection." [surah Qaaf (50):9-11] Some of the people of deviation went astray and denied the punishment of the grave, and its bliss, claiming that it is not possible since it is contrary to the reality we experience. They say: If you were to uncover the dead in the grave you would find him just as he was, the grave would not have changed by becoming wider or tighter. So this claim of theirs is rendered futile by the texts, experience and intellect. The texts proving establishment of punishment and bliss of the grave have preceded under section (b) from those matters pertaining to eemaan in the Last Day. Also in sahih al-Bukhaaree from the hadith of Ibn 'Abbaas, radiyallaahu 'anhumaa, who said: "The Prophet was passing by a walled garden in al-Madeenah when he heard the sound of two people being tortured in their graves." and he mentioned the hadith and it contains: "that one of them had not used to save himself from being soiled by urine, and in a narration: from his urine; and as for the other then he used to go about with evil gossip (to cause enmity between people)" [Eng. transl. vol. 1, p. 141, no. 215], As for what is experienced, then a person who is asleep may see in his dream that he is in a spacious and splendid place where he is in bliss, or that he is in a restricted and frightening place where he feels pain, and sometimes that which he sees may cause him to awaken. Yet despite this he remains upon his bed, in his room, in the same state that he was in before. Then sleep is the brother of death, and therefore Allaah, the Most High, calls it wafaat ('passing away'), Allaah, the Most High, says, "Allaah takes the souls when the appointed span for their life is completed, and also those that do not die He takes during their sleep so then He keeps those for which He has ordained death, and sends the others forth for an appointed term." [surah az-Zumar (39):42] As for the intellect, then a person while sleeping sees true dreams which are consistent with reality. He may even see the Prophet in his true appearance, and whoever sees him upon his true appearance has truly seen him. Yet despite this the person who is asleep remains in his room upon his bed, far from what he sees. So if this is possible in the worldly life, then how can it not be possible in the life of the Hereafter?!