Opinions of Tuesday, 26 September 2023

Columnist: Musah Ibrahim

Re: Atheism and improbability of Jannah. Part 2 of 4

A file photo A file photo

We must always play by the rules! In sports, it is termed the "Fair Play".

Let us consider some Qur'anic verses to help us discuss this topic, relative to the way we discussed it in part one.

God says, "And then you will certainly die. Then will be raised on the Day of Resurrection". (Sura Al-Muminun, 23: 15, 16).

God again says, "Every soul will taste death. Then to us will you be returned ". (Sura Al-Ankabut, 29:57).

These are emphatic and unambiguous statements God has made.

And in another verse God says, "Say, none in the heavens and the earth knows the unseen except Allah, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected". (Sura An-Naml, 27:65).

Yes, we often see deaths, but we have never seen somebody rise from the dead.

God is right when He said we shall all taste death. Since He proclaimed this message in the Qur'an, over 1,400 years, nobody has ever come to dispute it. Even scientists, including Aristotle and his contemporaries who lived before the emergence of Islam had never known this fact.

Again, God is exactly right when He said in the last verse that nobody knows the unseen except Him.

God has been consistent in all His pronouncements, hasn't He?

The resurrection could not have been possible if everybody could live and they would not die. So since God Has created death, the resurrection is a possibility.

Again, nobody could claim to know the resurrection or the future. So, is God not right when He says none apart from Him knows the unseen? Certainly, only He knows the unseen.

Finally, God throws a challenge which reads, "And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down [i.e., the Qur'an] upon our servant [i.e., Prophet Muhammad], then produce a Sura the like thereof and call upon your witnesses [i.e., your supporters] other than Allah, if you should be truthful. (Sura Al-Baqarah, 2:23).

Now, if those who deny God's message cannot say they will never die, neither can they claim that they know the unseen nor produce a verse that God has demanded, are they being fair to God when they singled out the resurrection and denied it?

Since we all say we cherish fairness and reasonableness, we must always try as much as possible to have a critical appraisal of issues before we make them public.

Let us now reflect on some selected verses of the holy Qur'an and see how logical and scientific they are about knowing God and His creations.

"And they used to say, "When we die and become dust and bones, are we indeed to be resurrected?" (Sura Al-Waqiah, 56:47).

"And they say, there is none but our worldly life, and we will not be resurrected" (Sura Al-Anam, 6:29).

"Those who disbelieve have claimed that they will never be resurrected. Say, "Yes, by my Lord, you will surely be resurrected; then you will surely be informed of what you did. And that, for Allah, is easy" (Sura At-Taghabun, 64:7).

"But those who disbelieve will not cease to be in doubt of it until the Hour comes upon them unexpectedly or there comes to them the punishment of a barren Day." (Sura Al-Hajj, 22:55).

"Did We fail in the first creation? But they are in confusion over a new creation." (Sura Qaf, 50:15).

"Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He [i.e., Allah] constructed it." (Sura An-Naziat, 79:27).

"How can you disbelieve in Allah, seeing that you were dead and He gave you life?" (Sura Al-Baqarah, 2:28).

"He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living and brings to life the earth after its lifelessness. And thus will you be brought out." (Sura Ar-Rum, 30:19).

"Did we not create you from a despised water (sperm)? Then we placed it in a place of safety (womb)." (Sura Al-Mursalat, 77: 20, 21).

"Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators." (Sura Al-Muminun, 23:14)

"It is He who created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot; then He brings you out as a child; then [He develops you] that you reach your [time of] maturity, then [further] that you become elders. And among you is he who is taken in death before [that], so that you reach a specified term, and perhaps you will use reason." (Sura Ghafir, 40:67).

"And it is He who spread the earth and placed therein firmly set mountains and rivers; and from all of the fruits He made therein two mates; He causes the night to cover the day. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought." (Sura Ar-Rad, 13:3).

"This is the creation of Allah. So show Me what those other than Him have created. Rather, the wrongdoers are in clear error." (Sura Luqman, 31:11).