O Prophet, remember when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, show me how the dead come back to life’. Allah said to him, ‘Do you not have faith in this?’ Abraham replied, ‘I do have faith, but I just want to put my heart at ease’. So, Allah instructed him, saying, ‘Take four birds and tame them. Then cut them up into pieces and place a piece of each bird on the hills around you. Then call those birds and you will see that they will come quickly to you, having been brought back to life. Know, O Abraham, that Allah is Mighty in His dominion and Wise in His instruction and legislation’.
And (remember) when Ibrahim said, "My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead." He (Allah) said: "Do you not believe?" He (Ibrahim) said: "Yes (I believe), but to be stronger in faith." He said: "Take four birds, then cause them to incline towards you (then slaughter them, cut them into pieces), and then put a portion of them on every hill, and call them, they will come to you in haste. And know that Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise. (260)
The Khalil Supplicates to Allah to Show Him How He Resurrects the Dead
The scholars said that there are reasons behind this request by Ibrahim. For instance, when Ibrahim said to Nimrod,
رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ
(My Lord (Allah) is He Who gives life and causes death,) he wanted to solidify his knowledge about resurrection by actually witnessing it with his eyes. Prophet Ibrahim said,
رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي
("My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead." He (Allah) said: "Do you not believe?" He (Ibrahim) said: "Yes (I believe), but to be stronger in faith.")
Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
نَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِالشَّكِّ مِنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِذْ قَالَ
رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي
(We are more liable to be in doubt than Ibrahim when he said, "My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead." Allah said, "Don't you believe?" Ibrahim said, "Yes (I believe), but (I ask) in order to be stronger in faith.")
The Prophet's statement in the Hadith means, "We are more liable to seek certainty."
The Answer to Al-Khalil's Request
Allah said,
قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِّنَ الطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ
(He said: "Take four birds, then cause them to incline towards you.")
Scholars of Tafsir disagreed over the type of birds mentioned here, although this matter in not relevant due to the fact that the Qur'an did not mention it. Allah's statement,
فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ
(cause them to incline towards you) means, cut them to pieces. This is the explanation of Ibn 'Abbas, 'Ikrimah, Sa'id bin Jubayr, Abu Malik, Abu Al-Aswad Ad-Dili, Wahb bin Munabbih, Al-Hasan and As-Suddi. Therefore, Ibrahim caught four birds, slaughtered them, removed the feathers, tore the birds to pieces and mixed the pieces together. He then placed parts of these mixed pieces on four or seven hills. Ibn 'Abbas said, "Ibrahim kept the heads of these birds in his hand. Next, Allah commanded Ibrahim to call the birds to him, and he did as Allah commanded him. Ibrahim witnessed the feathers, blood and flesh of these birds fly to each other, and the parts flew each to their bodies, until every bird came back to life and came walking at a fast pace towards Ibrahim, so that the example that Ibrahim was witnessing would become more impressive. Each bird came to collect its head from Ibrahim's hand, and if he gave the bird another head the bird refused to accept it. When Ibrahim gave each bird its own head, the head was placed on its body by Allah's leave and power. " This is why Allah said,
وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
(And know that Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise) and no one can overwhelm or resist Him. Whatever Allah wills, occurs without hindrance, because He is the All-Mighty, Supreme above all things, and He is Wise in His statements, actions, legislation and decrees.
Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Ma'mar said that Ayyub said that Ibn 'Abbas commented on what Ibrahim said,
وَلَٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي
(but to be stronger in Faith), "To me, there is no Ayah in the Qur'an that brings more hope than this Ayah." Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Muhammad bin Al-Munkadir said that 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas met 'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al-'As and said to him, "Which Ayah in the Qur'an carries more hope for you?" Ibn 'Amr said,
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا
(Say: "O 'Ibadi (My servants) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not.)[39:53].
Ibn 'Abbas said, "But I say that it is Allah's statement,
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَىٰ
(And (remember) when Ibrahim said, "My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead." He (Allah) said: "Do you not believe?" He (Ibrahim) said: "Yes (I believe)...)
Allah accepted Ibrahim's affirmation when he merely said, 'Yes.' This Ayah refers to the doubts that attack the heart and the thoughts that Shaytan inspires." Al-Hakim also recorded this in Al-Mustadrak and said; "Its chain is Sahih but they did not record it."
Commentary
This is the third story taken up in the above verse (260). The gist of the story is that Sayyidna Ibrahim (Abraham) (علیہ السلام) sought from Allah Almighty the favour of being shown as to how He would bring the dead back to life. Allah Almighty asked him why he had made such a request. Was it because he did not believe in His perfect power which controls everything? Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) explained his true state of mind. In fact, there was no question of his being suspicious about the Resurrection, because the infinite power of Allah is manifest every moment to every sensible person both in the universe and in his own being. However, it is a part of human nature that unless one sees an unusual event happening before his own eyes, he keeps wondering how and in what manner it is going to happen. Such thoughts often disturb one's peace of mind. It was in this context that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) made a request to Allah for witnessing the procedure of the revival of the dead.
Accepting this request, Allah Almighty provided for him an exceptionally unusual scenario for personal sighting which, at the same time, was to show a resolution of all doubts and misgivings the disbelievers nursed. That scenario was activated when he was commanded to get hold of four birds and keep them as pets. When they grow so domesticated that they come to him at his call and he too starts knowing them well enough so that there remains no doubt about a stranger bird taking their place; then he should kill those four birds, make mince-meat of everything -- bones, feathers all included - dividing it in several portions. After that, using his own discretion, he should place one portion each on top of a different hill. Then he was to call them. Insh’ Allah انشاء اللہ ، they shall come back to life by the perfect power of Allah Almighty and come running to him.
In Tafsir Ruh al-Ma` ani, on the authority of Ibn al-Mundhir, it has been narrated from Sayyidna Hasan ؓ that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) did what he was commanded to do. When he called them, then in no time, bone to bone, feather to feather, flesh to flesh, everything took its original form, the birds became alive and came running to Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) Allah Almighty said: '0 Ibrahim, this is how, on the Day of Resurrection, I shall assemble in no time all parts and bodies, and breathe life into them.'
The Qur'an has used the expression يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا :(and to you they shall come running). These particular words mean that the birds will come running, which tells us that they will not come flying because if they came flying across the sky, the doubt -- that they went out of sight and were replaced in the process -- would remain. Now if they came running on the ground, they will be fully in sight. Through this happening, Allah Almighty made Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) see a sample indicator of life after death, following resurrection, which helped resolve, through visual experience, all doubts expressed by polytheists and disbelievers.
That there is rising after death and that there is life in the Hereafter give disbelievers their greatest difficulty in comprehension. They think man becomes dust after death, then somewhere this dust scatters away with the wind, somewhere it flows away with water, somewhere it reappears in the form of trees and planted fields, so much so that its particles spread out to the far sides of the world. Now to gather these scattered parcels and human parts and to infuse life into them are things short-sighted man finds difficult to understand because he measures everybody on the scale of his own power and status, and does not deliberate in the non-analogous Power above him!
Although, should he peep a little into his own being, he would start seeing that, even today, his existence is a collection of parts and particles spread all over the world. The mother and father through whom man comes into being and the food that goes to make their blood and body are themselves nothing else but particles brought together from different corners of the world. Then comes the post-birth period, deliberation in which will show that the food causing growth, causing formation of blood and flesh is totally composed of different particles coming from all over the world. The milk that man drinks is part of some cow or water buffalo or goat and these composed parts came into those animals through the fodder that they have eaten. Who knows the chaff and grain in their fodder came from which country and who can tell how the winds roaming round the world have introduced particles from many an unnamed land into their nurture. So, one can only marvel in how many ways and from how many corners of the world the perfect power and the precise plan of Allah Almighty has accumulated in the body of one man the whole wide world's produce, its grains and fruits and everything else man eats and uses as medicine, and which become part of his body.
If man, negligent and short-sighted, would for a moment leave the world aside and get on with doing a little research on his own body, he would discover that his being itself is composed of so many parts some of which belong to the East, some to the West, some to the South and still some to the North. Right this day, the precise plan of Divine power has accumulated in his body all those particles scattered around the world, and after death, these particles will disperse again in the same manner. Now, why should it be at all difficult for His perfect power to assemble them a second time? Especially so, when He was the One who had assembled these scattered particles in his being.
Some related questions and their answers
The incident mentioned in the above verse raises certain questions:
1. To begin with, why did Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) raise this question at all while he was, in accepting faith in the perfect power of Allah Almighty, the foremost believer out of the whole world of his time?
This has already been answered earlier when it was said that the question raised by Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) was not, in reality, based on any doubt. The purpose of the question was to reaffirm that Allah Almighty will raise the dead on the Day of Resurrection. Given His perfect power, this was not distant or surprising in any manner at all; it was rather absolutely certain. But raising the dead to life is beyond man's power. He never saw a dead person rising to life. Then, the act of raising the dead to life could take different modes and forms. Now it is man's nature that he keeps inquiring into modes and forms of that which he does not know by visual experience. In doing so, his thoughts wander in different directions as a result of which he bears by the pain of mental distraction. The state that helps remove this mental distraction and is replaced by a heart at rest is called sukun or peace. This is what Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) sought through his request.
Incidentally, the difference between ایمان ‘Iman (faith) and Itmi'nan (peace) also comes out from this discussion. ایمان ‘Iman is the name of that voluntary belief or certainty, which man receives about something not seen or known, by trusting the Rasul (messenger of Allah) while Itmi'nan اطمنان refers to peace of the heart. There are times when one does perfectly believe in something not seen, but there is no peace of heart because its modes and forms are not known. This peace can come only by visual experience. Sayyidna Ibrahim Khalilullah (علیہ السلام) was also a perfect believer in life after death -- his question was simply concerned with the modality of man's being raised to life.
2. When Sayyidna Ibrahim Khalilullah (علیہ السلام) had simply asked as to how the dead will be raised and had no doubt in the actual raising of the dead, the question is: How can the Divine interrogation: أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن it that you do not believe?' be explained? It would seem that there was no occasion for it.
The answer is that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) had meant to say that there is no doubt in the actual happening, but the question can be taken in two senses, the obvious one relates to this very position, that is, he wished to inquire how the dead will be raised. But the words of the question may also point out to a second sense which is prompted by doubt in or denial of the real power. For instance, you see a heavy package and you are sure that such and such a person cannot lift it and then, to test his capacity, you challengingly tell him -- let's see how you lift it. Since anybody could have taken Sayyidna Ibrahim's (علیہ السلام) question in this wrong sense, therefore, Allah Almighty, in order to free Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) from this possibility, addressed him with أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن so that he could say ] (bala بلٰی : yes, why not) in reply, and thus get past the ambush laid out by liars and accusers.
3. At least, Sayyidna Ibrahim's question settles this much that he was not at peace concerning the problem of life after death, although it has been reported from Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ that he said: If curtain is raised from that which is unseen, it will add nothing to my certainty and peace since I enjoy perfect peace through my very faith in the unseen'. Now, when some of his followers enjoy such an elevated state of peace how can it be that the very 'friend of Allah' will remain without it?
In this connection, let us be clear that Itmi'nan اطمنان or peace of heart has its own gradations. There is an Itmi'nan اطمنان that the men of Allah (awlia' Allah اولیاء اللہ ) and the True (siddiqin صِدِقین) have. Then there is an exalted grade of Itmi'nan اطمنان which is given to the general line of prophets (علیہم السلام) . And there is a grade even above it which is bestowed upon the special ones in the form of visual experience.
Surely, Sayyidna Ibrahim Khalilullah (علیہ السلام) had the degree of peace which Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ had, even a higher degree of Itmi'nan اطمنان which is special to the station of prophethood. In this degree of Itmi'nan اطمنان ، Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) was superior to all his followers. Now what he is respectfully asking for is that highest degree of Itmi'nan اطمنان which is bestowed upon the very special prophets -- as it was with our Holy Prophet ﷺ who was granted special Itmi'nan اطمنان by means of a visual experience of Paradise and Hell.
In short, using this question as an excuse to say that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) did not have peace of heart is not correct. Avoiding that, we can simply say that the absolutely perfect peace of heart which comes in the wake of visual experience was not there and that was why he had made this request.
Towards the end of the verse it was said أَنَّ اللَّـهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ, that is, Allah Almighty is All-Powerful and All-Wise. Through ` Aziz عَزِيز ٌ, the perfect power of Allah was pointed to, and through 'Hakim حَكِيمٌ ' (the All-Wise), it was indicated that it is in Allah's wisdom that visual experience of life after death is not granted to everyone, otherwise it is not at all difficult for Allah to make every man see it for himself. But, in that case, the superior quality of having faith without seeing (الایمان بالغیب ‘Iman bi l'ghayb) will not be there.
The two experiences of resurrection after death mentioned here relate to the prophets. It is generally thought that in the first incident, the prophet in question was Ezra (Uzayr) (5th century BC), while in the second, as the Quran itself makes clear, it was Abraham, who lived between the years 2160 and 1985 BC. Prophets are sent by God in order to inform mankind of realities which, for ordinary people, lie beyond the realm of human vision, being screened by a veil of cause and effect. This veil is removed, however, in the case of the prophets, since it is their task to inform others of these realities. This can be done with far greater conviction if they have actually witnessed with their own eyes the facts which they attempt to convey to the rest of mankind. Their hearers, also, are more likely to believe in their message, rather than treating it purely as hearsay. Prophets have generally been endowed with prophethood around the age of forty. Prior to this, they have shown impeccable honesty in their dealings with their fellows. Having provided practical proof of their truthfulness, the time then came for them to inform mankind of those realities of life which God, in order to test men, has kept hidden from them. These truthful human beings, known as prophets, communicated to mankind the message revealed to them by God, while providing evidence based on nature and reason to back up their teachings. The prophets have always been fully sincere in what they taught. It is shown by the fact that they themselves have never wavered from the truth, despite the severe hardships which they had to endure as a result of following this course. If they had simply concocted their message, they would not have proved so persistent in their adherence to it, for the mendacious usually crack under pressure and abandon the subject. Neither does something, which has been formulated by the human mind, as opposed to being inspired by God, conform so perfectly to the phenomena of the outside world.