In the Shade of the Qur'an by Sayyid Qutb

This passage, composed of only three verses deals with the subject of life and death, presenting an important aspect of Islamic belief, to complement the principles established in the preceding passage, with an obvious direct relationship to Verse 255, known as the ‘Verse of the Throne’, or āyat al-kursī, which outlines a number of fundamental attributes of God.

These three verses form part of the consistent and relentless drive that the Qur’ān pursues to establish in Muslim minds, hearts and consciousness a true and accurate understanding of the Islamic view of life and the world. This understanding is essential in order to approach life with full knowledge and an enlightened perception, built on confidence and an unshakeable faith.

Actions, modes of behaviour and moral values are not divorced from people’s beliefs, but are in fact firmly based upon them. Life cannot be well and securely organized unless it is linked to faith and a comprehensive and cohesive view of the world and the relationship it has with its originator who brought it into existence.

This explains the great emphasis in the Qur’ān on the fundamental concepts of Islamic belief. Indeed, the entire part of the Qur’ān revealed to the Prophet Muĥammad over thirteen years in Makkah is devoted to this subject. These concepts continue to receive ample and frequent attention in the parts of the Qur’ān revealed in Madinah, with every new legislation these parts outline and with every directive dealing with any aspect of life affairs.

The first verse in this passage relates an argument between the Prophet Abraham and a contemporary king who disputed his belief in God. The sūrah does not mention the king’s name, because mentioning it will not add to the moral of the story. This argument is related to the Prophet and the Muslim community in a way that invites amazement at this person who disputes the truth of God. We listen as though the argument is taking place now, before our eyes: “Are you not aware of him who argued with Abraham about his Lord simply because God had given him kingship? Abraham said, My Lord gives life and causes death.’ I, too,’ said he, give life and cause death.’ Abraham said, ‘Well, God causes the sun to rise in the east; cause it, then, to rise in the west.’ Thus the unbeliever was dumbfounded. God does not guide the wrongdoers.” (Verse 258)

We learn from the text that the king who argued with Abraham did not, in fact, deny God’s existence, but he denied that He was the only God or that He had sole sovereignty and control over mankind’s affairs. This belief was prevalent among the Arabs during their Dark Ages, or Jāhiliyyah. They assigned lesser gods as partners to God and denied that God had any concern with, or authority over, worldly and daily human affairs.

The arrogant, stubborn king denies God for the very reason that he should acknowledge Him, as it was God who had made it possible for him to become king and ruler, in the first place. Power in the hands of those who do not believe or appreciate God’s grace and generosity corrupts and leads to tyranny and despotism.

Rulers govern by God’s authority, and He never empowers them to enslave and oppress their people, or impose their own ideas and laws. Like their subjects, they are servants of God and subject to His authority. Their power is delegated by Him.

They have no right to initiate or devise teachings and legislation of their own.

The king’s attitude seems to evoke astonishment, as the interrogative form indicates. How could one who is given power and sovereignty by God arrogate to himself the right to question those of God, or claim independent powers of his own?

Abraham challenged the king, saying: “My Lord gives life and causes death.” (Verse 258) Life and death are two of the greatest wonders of this world which we witness every day. Thinking about them compels the human mind to seek a non-human cause behind them. There is, therefore, no escaping the conclusion that the supreme omnipotent power of God, and no other, lies behind the secrets of life and death. We remain ignorant of the true essence of life and death, but we perceive their manifestations in the world around us, and we are forced to seek their origin and cause with a power unlike any power known to man, and that is the power of God Almighty.

Abraham’s reply, “My Lord gives life and causes death,” (Verse 258) cites an attribute that is unique to God Almighty, with no one else able to claim a share of it for himself. The statement implies, too, that God rules and legislates over all. It is clear that in his reply Abraham, a noble Prophet, was not seeking to establish God’s power in the mere acts of originating life and taking it away. Both are prerogatives of God alone.

Abraham’s interlocutor saw his sovereign position over his subjects and his ability to kill them or let them live as evidence of his having more than temporal authority over them. His reply, “I, too, give life and cause death,” (Verse 258) implies having absolute power and authority over the affairs and destiny of his people, who are obliged to submit to his rule.

Abraham did not wish to pursue the argument about the meaning of originating life and causing death, with someone who twists facts.

He simply took the argument to a different sphere, citing another familiar event and challenging the obdurate king to alter a natural phenomenon, the movement of the sun, to make him realize that godhead could not be assumed merely by having absolute power over a group of people in a small corner on earth. God, by definition, controls all the affairs of the whole universe, and He is the source of legislation for mankind.

Abraham said: “God causes the sun to rise in the east; cause it, then, to rise in the west” (Verse 258) Another familiar daily occurrence is portrayed as a visible proof of God’s existence and power, even for those who are not familiar with the principles of astronomy or laws of physics. This statement comes as a direct challenge to man’s basic nature by expressing a fact that cannot be disputed. God’s Revelations often address human nature at various stages of human intellectual, cultural and social development to lead man from wherever he is to a higher state of consciousness.

“Thus the unbeliever was dumbfounded.” (Verse 258)

The challenge was real, clear, and unambiguous, and the stubborn king would have been better advised to give in, but his pride had the better of him and prevented him from submitting to the truth. He could do no more than be astounded and stupefied, thereby forfeiting the opportunity to believe and win God’s guidance. “The unbeliever was dumbfounded. God does not guide the wrongdoers.” (Verse 258) This encounter, which God cited for His Messenger and his community of followers, remains today an example for obstinacy and ignorance, and a lesson from which they learn how to confront those who deny the truth.

The passage presents two simple but profound truths: one taken from within man’s being, that God “gives life and causes death”, and the other from the natural world around, that “God causes the sun to rise in the east”, and not in the west. These are familiar occurrences, available for all to see and contemplate, requiring little knowledge or effort to perceive or understand. Man only needs to allow his inner nature to respond and react to these imposing phenomena, the impact of which cannot be mistaken or escaped, unless one is being deliberately stubborn or bent on rejecting the truth.

God is too kind to demand His recognition by means that may not be available to all people. Belief in God is an indispensable ingredient of man’s being, without which human life would lose all sense of direction and order, and man would have no source of values, legislation or moral standards.

This can be said about all other essential aspects of human life. Man seeks food, drink, air and procreation by his natural instincts. He does not need to attain certain levels of intellectual or cultural maturity to acquire the right to satisfy these desires.

Were he to need these, man would perish without moving one step forward. Belief in God, is equally essential to human life, and it is easily attained by responding honestly and naturally to the compelling evidence present throughout the universe and within man’s own being and existence.

Still on the subject of the miraculous nature of life and death, the sūrah relates another brief tale: “Or, [are you not aware) of him who, passing by a township which had fallen into utter ruin, exclaimed: “How can God bring this town back to life now that it is dead?’ Thereupon God caused him to be dead for a hundred years, then brought him back to life, and said, ‘How long have you remained thus?’ He said, ‘I have remained thus a day or part of a day.’ God said, No. You have remained thus for a hundred years. Just look at your food and drink: none of it has rotted. And look at your ass. We will make you a sign for mankind. Look you at the bones, how We put them up and then clothe them with flesh.’ When it had all become clear to him, he said, I know now that God has power over all things.’“ (Verse 259)

Again, the Qur’ān does not give details of the identity of the man or the ruined township because such details add little to the significance and impact of the story.

Were these necessary, they would not have been omitted in the Qur’ān. Despite the absence of detail, however, the scene comes to life and stirs the imagination with great clarity and power. It is a scene of death, desolation and destruction; a town in ruins, with walls and columns caved in on their foundations, the effect of which is eloquently expressed in the man’s incredulity as he exclaims: “How can God bring this town back to life now that it is dead?” (Verse 259)

The man is perfectly aware of God’s presence, but the impact of that scene of devastation is so powerful that he wonders in disbelief how life could ever be returned to that rubble. It is a most evocative and moving impression which the Qur’ān, in its inimitable style, depicts with eloquence and awesome brilliance.

“Thereupon God caused him to be dead for a hundred years, then brought him back to life, and said, ‘How long have you remained thus?’ He said, I have remained thus a day or part of a day.’ God said, No. You have remained thus for a hundred years. Just look at your food and drink, none of it has rotted. And look at your ass. We will make you a sign for mankind. Look you at the bones, how We put them up and then clothe them with flesh.’” (Verse 259)

The man was not given a rational argument as to how a dead body could be brought to life again, but was himself made to undergo that experience. Such a personal direct approach is often more effective than any logical or visible demonstration. It involves one’s senses, emotions and feelings. Its impact is sharp and overwhelming.

While he was dead, the man naturally lost all sense of time and could not tell how long he had been in that state. This is easy to understand, since human beings can misjudge things even when they are in control of their senses. Our material senses are not the only or the most accurate means of perception.

God said: “No. You have remained thus for a hundred years.” (Verse 259) But the man had no way of telling. His provisions remained in good condition.

“And look at your ass. We will make you a sign for mankind. Look you at the bones, how We put them up and then clothe them with flesh.” (Verse 259) Which bones are referred to here: the man’s own bones, as some commentators maintain? Had it been so, he would have immediately noticed, and would not have thought that he remained in that state for only a few hours or a day. Therefore, we are inclined to uphold the view that the reference here is to the bones of the ass whose gathering together and covering with flesh, before the man’s own eyes, was a compelling sign of God’s power. The fact that the man, the ass, and the provisions were affected in different wais under the same physical and environmental conditions is another sign of that absolute, limitless and unrestricted divine power. Thus the man gas made to understand how God could bring that desolate town back to life again.

As to how this miracle was achieved, the answer is: in the same way as every other miracle, including the creation of life itself, which we often tend to overlook, forgetting how totally ignorant we are of its reality. All we know is that life comes from God, in the way He wills it to be.

In his study The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin, the eminent British biologist, traces life back to the amoeba, a simple single-celled organism, but goes no further in explaining the origin of life. For most unscientific reasons, relating to the historic conflict between science and the Christian Church in Europe, Darwin’s theory does not acknowledge the logical and evident truth that life must originate with a creator.

Darwin claims that to explain life’s affairs by the notion of the existence of a creator is to introduce an unnatural element into a purely mechanical situation.

The situation, in fact, is far from being a purely mechanical one. What we need to look for is an explanation for this mystery that stares us in the face. It is indeed evident for all to see.

Darwin himself is compelled by the force of natural common sense to refer the whole phenomenon of life to ‘the first cause’, without telling us what this cause was.

It is the power capable of initiating life in the first instance and, according to Darwin’s own controversial thesis, is capable of directing the descendants of the first living cell in the direction Darwin supposed they had taken in the process of natural selection. It is pure evasion, obfuscation and muddle.

Going back to the parable of the man and the ruined city, one wonders what could explain the fact that things can exist in the same place and under the same environmental conditions but be affected differently. It could not be explained in terms of the creation or restoration of life. The explanation lies in the limitless and unrestrained nature of the divine will, which is bound by none of the laws or needs we consider absolute and incontrovertible.

Human beings fall into grave error when they apply human rational or ‘scientific’ assumptions to God Almighty or His actions, for a number of reasons. How can God or His actions be subjected to laws based on man’s limited knowledge and experience, and on his imperfect understanding and interpretation of that experience? Even if we assume that the laws man has discovered are final and conclusive, how can we be certain that they are the ultimate and overriding truth?

The absolute divine power of God creates laws but is not restricted by them. It is completely free to decide.

We learn from this passage that in addition to granting life and causing death, God’s power and will are absolute. The Qur’ān lays particular emphasis on this fact and seeks to instil it in the hearts of believers in order to refer them directly to God, whom they should seek beyond the visible material world. The man in our present story had come to the right conclusion when he said: “I know now that God has power over all things.” (Verse 259)

Then follows another episode, involving the Prophet Abraham and the phenomena of life and death. “When Abraham said, My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead,’ He replied, ‘Have you, then, no faith?’ ‘Indeed, I have’, said Abraham, ‘but I only wish to set my heart fully at rest to be fully reassured.’ God said, ‘Take four birds and draw them close to you, then [having cut them into pieces] place a part of them on each mountain.

Then call them back and they will come to you in haste. Know that God is Almighty, Wise.’’’ (Verse 260)

It is the usual tale of curiosity about the great mystery of life and creation. When this curiosity is expressed by a devoted and pious person like the Prophet Abraham, it proves that there are times when even the most favoured and believing of God’s servants experience a passionate urge and ambition to discover the secrets of creation.

Here curiosity is not motivated by lack of conviction or the demand for proof to confirm one’s faith, but has a different flavour, excited by a spiritual yearning to see and share one of God’s most fascinating secrets. This privilege, even for someone like Abraham, has a unique honour and a flavour of its own, different even to that of faith itself. It is a natural and spontaneous desire to know and learn how the divine will operates, not in order to believe or obtain proof, but to experience total peace and gain reassurance.

Abraham’s experience and the short dialogue which accompanied it reveal several perceptions of faith which the human heart, if it so desires, can experience and enjoy.

Abraham was seeking the reassurance of seeing God’s hand at work and the satisfaction of seeing a hidden mystery unfold before him. God was aware that Abraham was a devout believer and that his inquisitiveness had arisen out of the quest for knowledge. The episode also serves to inform and educate and reveal God’s compassion and benevolence towards a faithful and curious servant.

God responds favourably to Abraham’s request and exposes him to a direct personal experience to satisfy his curiosity, giving him the following instructions:

“Take four birds and draw them close to you, then [having cut them into pieces] place a part of them on each mountain. Then call them back and they will come to you in haste. Know that God is Almighty, Wise.” (Verse 260)

The instructions meant that Abraham should choose four birds and make sure of having them close to him so that he would be able to know every little detail of their appearance so that he could unmistakeably identify them at any time. He would then have to kill them and cut them into pieces before placing different parts of their bodies on the surrounding mountains. He would then call them to come over to him, and their parts will join again, life is breathed into them and they could speedily come to him. All this took place in reality.

Thus Abraham was able to witness the secret of breathing life into the dead unfolding before his own eyes. It is the secret that occurs all the time, but people only see its effects after its process has been completed. It is the greatest mystery of life, which was created in the first instance by God out of nothing, and which renews itself an infinite number of times in every new living thing. Abraham saw with his own eyes the birds he killed and placed portions of their bodies far apart, returned to life and moving in full vigour.

How could all this take place? It is the one mystery that continues to elude human perception. Even if one was to undergo Abraham’s experience and witness the actual act of creation, one would not comprehend its reality or how it is accomplished. It is the prerogative of God Almighty, of whose perfect and absolute knowledge man can acquire nothing, except by His will. It is God’s will that this sphere should remain beyond the bounds of human knowledge, possibly because it is beyond man’s comprehension and is not required for the fulfilment of man’s mission on earth.

Until God allows the curtain to be raised on this issue, man’s aspiration to grasp the coveted secret of life shall remain unfulfilled. If, however, he were to persist in his defiance of God’s authority and continue to trespass in regions that are the exclusive domain of the Divine, his efforts would for ever be in vain and yield nothing.