We Have Seen the Resurrection Many Times in this World

By: Ayatullah al-Uzma Shaykh Nasir Makarim Shirazi
The verses of the Holy Qur’an clearly show this truth that the idol-worshippers and also the other kufar, not only at the time of the Holy Prophet, but in other ages as well, were surprised or amazed by the issue of resurrection and life after death and they were frightened by it to the point that whoever mentioned it was considered to be insane and they would say to each other: “The kuffar say (in ridicule), ‘Shall we point out to you a man that will tell you when you are scattered to Pieces in disintegration that you shall (then be raised) in a flew creation?” (34:7)
Yes. In that age, because of a lack of knowledge and short-sightedness any mention of the belief in a life after death and a world after death was considered to be insanity or an insult to God and the belief that giving life to a dead body was considered to be insanity.
But it is interesting that opposed to this Way of thinking, the Holy Qur’an refers to various reasons of life which both a common average person can understand as well as scholars, each one to their own extent of ability Even though referring to all of the Qur’anic verses in this area requires a separate book, we have tried here to present some of them.
1. Sometimes the Qur’an says to them: “It is God Who sends forth the winds so that they raise up the clouds and We drive them to a land that is dead and revive the earth therewith after its death; even so (will be) the Resurrection.” (35:9)
We look at the visage of nature in the winter time.
Every place smells of death. The trees all lack leaves, fruit and blossoms and the only thing remaining of it is dry branches. Neither do the flowers laugh nor blossoms blossom nor is any movement of life to be seen.
The spring season arrives. The weather grows warmer, life-giving drops of rain fall. Suddenly a movement is seen in all of nature: flowers bloom, trees grow leaves, blossoms and flowers appear, birds find their places upon the branches of trees and it is glorious to see.
If life after death had no meaning, we would not see this scene every year before our eyes. If life after death was something which was absolutely impossible, and words of the insane, we would not be able to sense it every year before our eyes.
What difference is there between the life of the earth after death and the life of human beings after death?
2. Sometimes, the Qur’an also grips their hands and takes them to the beginning of creation and recalls it to them and refers to that Arab Bedouin who picks up a rotten bone and goes to the Prophet of Islam and says, “O Muhammad, who will be able to enliven this rotten bone? Tell me who?”
And he thinks that he has found the final proof for disproving the Resurrection.
The Holy Qur’an says: “Say, ‘He will give them life Who created them for the first time. For He is well-versed in every kind of creation!” (36:79)
What is the difference between initiating creation and a new creation?
And the answer is found in another verse.
“Even as We produced the first creation shall We Produce a new one.” (21:104)
3. Sometimes the great Creation of God of the heavens and the earth is mentioned: "Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like thereof? Yea, indeed! For He is the Creator Supreme of skill and knowledge. Verily, when He intends a thing, His Command is, ‘Be,’ and it is.,, (36:81-82)
Those who doubted this issue were individuals who had short-sightedness and never saw beyond their own environment. Otherwise, they would know that a new creation or a recreation is easier than initiating of creation and the new life given by .God with all of His strength is not a difficult issue, and new creation is not a difficult task.
4. Sometimes the Resurrection energies have been mentioned whereby it says: “The same Who produces for you fire out of the green tree, when behold! you kindle therewith (your Own fires).” (36:80)
When we study this wondrous verse of the holy Qur’an with care and we seek aid from today’s science, science tells us that only green trees can store the energy of light of the sun and that when we burn a piece of wood and we make a fire, that is the same heat and energy which is similar to the heat of the sun which has been stored in it for years and we thought that that light and heat had died and had been destroyed but we see today that it has found new life.
For God Who has all of this power, who can store tens of years of the energy of light from the sun within a tree and in one moment bring all of it forward, and it receives new life, it is not a difficult task.
At any rate, we see with what logic and clarity the Holy Qur’an explains the issue of the resurrection to those who have doubts about it and they even thought that anyone who believed such a thing was insane. It clearly proves the existence of the resurrection, only a small part of which we have been able to mention here.

Think and Answer
1. Why are the multi-theists surprised by the issue of the Resurrection?
2. How is the Resurrection created each year for us in nature?
3. The Qur’an in a part of its verses shows that the life of a fetus is similar to the Resurrection Why?
4. What is the energy of the Resurrection?
5. Why has the Holy Qur’an emphasized the green tree?

The Resurrection ad The Philosophy of Creation
Many ask the question, “Why did God create us?”
And sometimes they go further than this and ask, “What is the philosophy of Creation of this great universe?”
A gardener plants a tree for its fruit and he plows the earth for seeds and spreads the seeds, why did the Great Gardner of Creation create us?
Was God lacking something that He created us?
If so, He will be in need of something and this does not suit the fact that He is in the station of the Creator and is Infinite in Existence.
There are many words which have been written in response to this question but it can be summarized in a few sentences.
It is a great mistake to compare God’s QuImam Ali (A.S.)ties with our own. As we are limited creature, everything we do is in order to eliminate a need. We study in order to make up for the deficiency we have in learning.
We work in order to make up for the economic deficiency we have.
We seek after health centers and treatment in order to meet our health requirements.
In relation to God Who is Needless from all points of view, if we do something we must seek Him in other than His Existence. He does not create in order to benefit from His Creation, rather His goal is to Be for His creatures.
He is like a sun which is full of radiance and is Infinite without Him having any need, He illuminates so that all may gain advantage from it. This is what His Infinite Essence is and His special blessing where He has taken the hands of His creatures and moves them towards transformation and perfection.
Our creation from non-being was itself an outstanding step of transformation. The sending of the prophets and the descent of a heavenly Book and the formulation of laws and programs are each to be reckoned to be a basis for us.
“This universe is a great university and we are students in this university”.
“This world is a readied pasture and we are the farmers of this land”.
“This world is a beneficial, commercial center and we are merchants in this bazaar.” (Nahj al-Balaghah)
How can we, for the creation of humanity, be the purpose of a goal? When we look around ourselves and we look at each and every creature, each one has a goal.
In the wondrous system or factory of our body, there is nothing which is without a goal including our eyelashes and the arches in our feet.
How is it possible that the structure of our body, each particle of it, have a goal but the totImam Ali (A.S.)ty of our being lack one?
We leave aside our own bodies and we look at the great world; we see that every system has a separate goal, the goal of the shining of the sun, the goal of rain falling, the goal of the special characteristics of the air that breathe, but it is possible that the totImam Ali (A.S.)ty of this then, lack a goal?
The truth is that within the heart of this expansive universe, it is as if these where a painting showing the final goal which we cannot always see at the first moment but it says, “Education and transformation.”
Now that we have briefly become familiar with the goal of creation, words are about whether or not our life of a relative few days with all of its difficulties, problems and deficiencies can be the goal of creation?
Let us assume that I will live 60 years in this world and everyday from morning until night, I struggle to earn a living and at night, exhausted, I return home and the conclusion or result is that throughout my life, several tons of food and water are consumed and with difficulty, I purchase a house and then die and leave this world. Does this goal have the value to call me to live with all of these difficulties?
In truth, if an architect builds an enormous building in the wilderness and he spends many years completing it and he provides it with all of the necessary facilities and when he is asked, “What is your purpose?” He says, “My goal is that all of my life I build this building for passer-bys to spend an hour in it!
Will we not be surprised and will we not say, “Does one hour of rest of a passer-by need all of this effort?”
Because of this, those who do not believe in life after death, think that life in this world is absurd and this perspective is often repeated in the words of the materiImam Ali (A.S.)sts, to whom living in this world is purposeless. Often, among these individuals there are people who commit suicide because they are tired of this life.
That which gives purpose to life and makes it logical is because it is the preliminary for another life and the bearing of the difficulties of this life is preparatory for making use of the way towards an eternal life.
Here we had previously presented an interesting example, and that is that if a fetus which is in its mother’s womb had sufficient intelligence and if they were to say to it, “There is nothing after this life for you,” the fetus would most certainly object to this and would ask, “What purpose is there in my being imprisoned in this environment? To go through all this and then nothing?”
The Creator had a purpose in this creation!
But if we are assured that these several months are but a quickly passing phase and the preparatory stage for a relatively long life in this world, a world which in relation to the world of a fetus, is extensive and full of light and in relation to that it has several stages, the fetus will be assured that the period of gestation makes sense and that it has a goal and because of that, it is bearable.
The Holy Qur’an says: “And you certainly know already the first form of creation. Why then do you not celebrate praises?” (56:62)
In summary, this world cries out with all of its being that there is another world after this world, otherwise it would be useless.
Listen to the words of the Holy Qur’an, “Did you then think that We had created You in jest and that you would not be brought back to Ifs (for account)?” (23:115)
This refers to the fact that if there were no return to God, as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, through the resurrection, the creation of human beings would be equivalent to being useless.
The conclusion is that the philosophy of creation says that after this world, another world must exist.

Think and Answer
1. Why can the QuImam Ali (A.S.)ties of God not be compared to the quImam Ali (A.S.)ties of a human being?
2. What was the purpose behind our creation?
3. Can life in this world be a goal for the creation of the human being?
4. A comparison of the life of a fetus with life in this world teaches us what?
5. What reasoning does the Holy Qur’an give for the creation of this world for the existence of the hereafter?