Tafsir of Surah Al-Baqarah - Verse 259

The Story of `Uzayr

Allah's statement,

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِى حَآجَّ إِبْرَهِيمَ فِى رِبِّهِ

(Have you not looked at him who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord) means, "Have you seen anyone like the person who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord" Then, Allah connected the Ayah,

أَوْ كَالَّذِى مَرَّ عَلَى قَرْيَةٍ وَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا

(Or like the one who passed by a town in ruin up to its roofs) to the Ayah above by using `or'.

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Ali bin Abi Talib said that the Ayah 2:259 meant `Uzayr. Ibn Jarir also reported it, and this explanation was also reported by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim from Ibn `Abbas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Sulayman bin Buraydah.

Mujahid bin Jabr said that the Ayah refers to a man from the Children of Israel, and the village was Jerusalem, after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it and killed its people.

وَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ

(in ruin) means, it became empty of people. Allah's statement,

عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا

(up to its roofs) indicates that the roofs and walls (of the village) fell to the ground. `Uzayr stood contemplating about what had happened to that city, after a great civilization used to inhabit it. He said,

أَنَّى يُحْىِ هَـذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا

(Oh! How will Allah ever bring it to life after its death) because of the utter destruction he saw and the implausibility of its returning to what it used to be. Allah said,

فَأَمَاتَهُ اللَّهُ مِاْئَةَ عَامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ

(So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again).)

The city was rebuilt seventy years after the man (`Uzayr) died, and its inhabitants increased and the Children of Israel moved back to it. When Allah resurrected `Uzayr after he died, the first organ that He resurrected were his eyes, so that he could witness what Allah does with him, how He brings life back to his body. When his resurrection was complete, Allah said to him, meaning through the angel,

كَمْ لَبِثْتَ قَالَ لَبِثْتُ يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ

("How long did you remain (dead)" He (the man) said: "(Perhaps) I remained (dead) a day or part of a day.")

The scholars said that since the man died in the early part of the day and Allah resurrected him in the latter part of the day, when he saw that the sun was still apparent, he thought that it was the sun of that very day. He said,

أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ قَالَ بَل لَّبِثْتَ مِاْئَةَ عَامٍ فَانظُرْ إِلَى طَعَامِكَ وَشَرَابِكَ لَمْ يَتَسَنَّهْ

("Or part of a day. " He said: "Nay, you have remained (dead) for a hundred years, look at your food and your drink, they show no change.")

He had grapes, figs and juice, and he found them as he left them; neither did the juice spoil nor the figs become bitter nor the grapes rot.

وَانظُرْ إِلَى حِمَارِكَ

(And look at your donkey!), "How Allah brings it back to life while you are watching."

وَلِنَجْعَلَكَ ءَايَةً لِلنَّاسِ

(And thus We have made of you a sign for the people) that Resurrection occurs.

وَانظُرْ إِلَى العِظَامِ كَيْفَ نُنشِزُهَا

(Look at the bones, how We Nunshizuha) meaning, collect them and put them back together. In his Mustadrak, Al-Hakim, recorded that Kharijah bin Zayd bin Thabit said that his father said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ read this Ayah,

كَيْفَ نُنشِزُهَا

(how We Nunshizuha.) Al-Hakim said; "Its chain is Sahih and they (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it." The Ayah was also read,

(نُنْشِرُهَا)

"Nunshiruha" meaning, bring them back to life, as Mujahid stated.

ثُمَّ نَكْسُوهَا لَحْمًا

(And clothe them with flesh. )

As-Suddi said, " `Uzayr observed the bones of his donkey, which were scattered all around him to his right and left, and Allah sent a wind that collected the bones from all over the area. Allah then brought every bone to its place, until they formed a full donkey made of fleshless bones. Allah then covered these bones with flesh, nerves, veins and skin. Allah sent an angel who blew life in the donkeys' nostrils, and the donkey started to bray by Allah's leave." All this occurred while `Uzayr was watching, and this is when he proclaimed,

قَالَ أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(He said, "I know (now) that Allah is able to do all things,") meaning, "I know that, and I did witness it with my own eyes. Therefore, I am the most knowledgeable in this matter among the people of my time."

The verse refers to Namrud نمرود ، the emperor of Babylon, who denied the very existence of God and had a debate with Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) on this issue. Allah has given him political power over a large territory. He should have been grateful to his Lord. But, on the contrary, his political power inflated him with pride and arrogance; he started denying the very existence of Him. It is in this context that the Holy Qur'an says: 'the one who argued with Ibrahim about his Lord, because Allah had given him kingship."

In the course of argument, he asked Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) about the basic attributes of God. He replied, "My Lord is the One who gives life and brings death." The foolish king did not understand the real nature of 'giving life' and 'bringing death.' Therefore, he argued that he, too, can kill anyone through his order and bring thereby death to him and can also let off a person sentenced to death and give thereby life to him. Obviously, his argument was totally absurd, because 'giving life' means to give life to something lifeless56.

56\. And 'bringing death' means power which may remove the life from every living creature without a necessary intervention of an apparent cause.

When Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) felt that his addressee is unable to understand the real nature of 'giving life' and 'bringing death,' he switched over to another argument and said, "Allah brings the sun out from the East, now, you bring it out from the West." Here the king was baffled and could not answer the Abrahimic argument. But even after the truth became clear to him, he did not accept the guidance. Hence the Qur'anic statement: "And Allah does not put the unjust people on the right path."

Injunctions and related considerations

1\. It is evident from the words used in the verse that if an infidel is given political power or a high worldly status, there is no harm (for a Muslim) in referring to him as a holder of that position (Qurtubi).

2\. The verse also affirms the permissibility of having debate with such an infidel in order to manifest the difference between right and wrong.

3\. Some people doubt the validity of the last argument of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) ، because Namrud نمرود could have refuted it by a counter demand from Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) and could have said, "If there is a God, let Him bring the sun out from the West."

But it is obvious that he could not come out with this counter-demand. The reason is that as soon as he heard the argument, he came to the conclusion that (he himself or anybody else cannot bring out the sun from the East or the West and) it is surely a divine function which proves the existence of God. And once it is proved that it is God who brings the sun out from the East, it necessarily follows from it that He has the power to bring it out from the West also. The king also came to the conclusion that Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) ، ac is the messenger of Allah, and if the prayed Allah to bring out the sun from the. West, Allah will do it, in which case such a miraculous event may bring a revolution against him and he may be deprived of his kingdom. Therefore, he did not make such a demand and having no other answer, was baffled with the argument. (Bayin al-Qur'an)

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.