Quran Garden

Session 286

Chapter 2

Verse 259

Or take the man who passed by a village which had fallen into ruin. He said, "How will God bring this town to life after its death?" So God caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him. He said, "How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day." He said, "Rather, you have remained one hundred years. Look at your food and your drink; it has not changed with time.  And look at your donkey; We will make you a sign for the people.  Look at the bones - how We raise them and then  cover them with flesh." When it became clear to him, he said, "I know that God is over all things competent." (Chapter 2: Verse 259)

In the previous verse, a dispute erupted between an arrogant king and Prophet Abraham.  The subject of who truly controls life and death was brought up.  Rather than engaging in pointless debate, Abraham, peace be upon him, moved the argument form life and death to the creation of the sun. 

Allah does not want you to think that a true discussion of life of death was marginalized or avoided.  Thus, the Almighty immediately addressed this issue in multiple stories starting with the verse understudy.

The verse starts with the conjunction “or” which means that both the example in this verse and the example in the prior verse could equally serve to prove the case that “Allah: there is no god but Him, the Ever-Living, the Ever Watchful. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. All that is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Him.”  The same examples also prove the case that “God is the ally of those who believe: He brings them out of the depths of darkness and into the light. As for the disbelievers, their allies are the power of evil who take them from the light into the depths of darkness.” 

Let’s examine the story.  A ‘village‘’ is a small place where a group of people lives together.  The person who passed by it was an outsider-a traveler-.  We note that God did not specify the town or the name of the traveler.  Some believe that the town was Jerusalem and the person’s name was Armiya the son of Hilkiah, or maybe he was al-Khidr or Uzair.  We discussed earlier that had God willed, he would have identified the person and the town.  He, the All-Wise, left the names unidentified and so should we.  The verse is general because the events could have happened to anyone, and the lessons from the story are universal. 

The phrase ‘had fallen into ruin’ means the town was empty.  It may have had buildings and houses, but no inhabitants.  It also means that the structures were damaged, and ceilings had collapsed over foundations.  A ghost town abandoned in ruin must have been an eye-catching scene.  Naturally, a question came to the mind of the traveler: "How will God bring this town to life after its death?" As if the traveler was wondering about the revival of the village and, more specifically, the revival of its people.  Here is another example from the Quran where a town is mentioned, but its people are intended.  God says:

‘ask the town in which we were, and the caravan in which we came, and indeed we are truthful.’ (12:82)

When the children of Jacob, peace be upon him, returned from Egypt and left their younger brother behind, they said to their father: send someone to ask the people of the town in Egypt, and they will corroborate that our brother is there.  So the phrase ‘ask the town’ means to ask its people.  Likewise, the question "How will God bring this town to life after its death?" was about its people.

It is clear that the traveler who asked this question was a believer because he did not question: ‘Who will bring this town to life?’ He did not doubt that God alone is capable of resurrecting people from death.  His only question was ‘how?’  A similar question was asked by Prophet Abraham.  God says:

When Ibrahim said, ‘My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life.’ He asked, ‘Why, Do you not believe?’ He replied, ‘Indeed I do! But so that my heart may be at peace.’ He said, ‘Take four birds and train them to yourself. Then put a part of them on each mountain and call to them; they will come rushing to you. Know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.’ (02:260)

Abraham did not doubt that God gives life to the dead, but he wanted to see how it is done.  When you see a remarkable object or a complex machine, you often wonder how it’s made.  When you see the pyramids of Egypt, you know who made them, but wonder how such a feat was built? How did the ancient Egyptians move these monstrous stones to the top with no scaffolding or mechanical levers? Indeed, such questions are a healthy branch of faith.  God does not stop you from asking such questions nor prevent you from searching for the answers.  In fact, when you ask ‘how,’ rather than ‘who’, it indicates that you have full faith in the maker.

For example, when you see an exquisite wedding dress, you turn to the designer and say: ‘You have to tell me: how did you do this?’ It is an expression of admiration to both, the designer and the product. 

Is there anything more wondrous than the creation of our Lord? Our beloved Prophet Abraham had no doubt about who gave life after death; he was amused by resurrection and wanted to witness the craft and see how it is done. 

This brings us back to the village in ruin.  The traveler wanted to see the village come back to life with its people.  Human beings are the driver of movement and construction, and they bring life to towns and villages.  Thus, when people die, so does their village.  So, when the traveler asked: ‘"How will God bring this town to life after its death?" God wanted the answer to be a real-life experience for the questioner, not mere theories.  ‘So God caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him.’  In essence, God’s answer was ‘Why the village? Let’s do you!’ 

The verse continues: ‘So God caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him. He said, "How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day."  It could be that God spoke to the traveler as He spoke to Moses, or the man could have heard a voice.  It could be that an angel revealed God’s message to the man, or simply that a passer-by witnessed the event and asked.  What is important is that there was a question and an answer.  Allah narrates the conversations.

The man’s answer to the question: "How long have you remained?" suggests that he had doubt.  It seems that he could not determine how much of the day had passed just by looking at the sun, so he replied: "I have remained a day or part of a day."  Here we ask: Was he truthful or not?  We answer that he was truthful to the best of his abilities because the changes that he saw were mixed.  For example, he did not notice any changes in his beard, nor to the color or length of his hair, yet his donkey was a pile of bones.  What was God’s answer?  He said: "Rather, you have remained one hundred years."