Have you, Muhammad, not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord, or the one who passed by a township?
(… قَرْيَةٍ …) (…township…): A township is a place with the residences of a group of people.
The question here is who’s the one who passed the township which had fallen into ruins? Most scholars said that he was Uzair, who was one of the prophets of the Children of Israel after Moses (PBUH). Anyhow, the Quran hasn’t elaborated if that was Uzair or another person; so we leave this aspect and come to the aspect we want.
(… قَالَ أَنَّىٰ يُحْيِي هَٰذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا …) (…He said, “How will Allah bring this to life after its death?”…): It’s the same issue of life and death. The verse before it reads: (Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord [merely] because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, “My Lord is the one who gives life and causes death,”) and here is the same issue raised: have you, Muhammad considered the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin? Everybody in this township is dead; the ceilings are down to the ground; and there’s no life there at all. The one who passed by that township wondered. He never questioned Allah’s (swt) ability to give life and cause death; he rather wondered how Allah would bring it to life?
(… فَأَمَاتَهُ اللَّهُ مِائَةَ …) (…So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years …): Allah (swt) said “die” and caused him to die for a hundred years after which Allal (swt) resurrected him. So, he remained dead for a hundred years to get an answer on how the dead are brought back to life.
(… ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ …) (…then He revived him …): Allah (swt) brought him back to life after he had been dead for a hundred years.
(… قَالَ كَمْ لَبِثْتَ …) (…He said, “How long have you remained?”…): Here is a miracle meant to be a lesson taught to humanity. He was resurrected a hundred years later, and this is an evidence on resurrection as in the story of “the cow”:
{ فَقُلْنَا اضْرِبُوهُ بِبَعْضِهَا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُحْيِي اللَّهُ الْمَوْتَىٰ وَيُرِيكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ}
(So, We said, “Strike the slain man with part of it.” Thus does Allah bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason.) (Al-Baqara: 73)
There were plenty of miracles revealed to prophets, particularly the prophets of the Children of Israel. Anyway, the man was revived after a hundred years by Allah (swt), Who asked him: “how long have you stayed?” Some questions are raised such as: Had Allah (swt) talked to him directly? Had someone told him so? Or had the angels spoken to him? Allah (swt) didn’t elaborate. So, we stop only at what Allah (swt) wants us to know.
(… قَالَ لَبِثْتُ يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ …) (…The man said, “I have remained a day or part of a day.”…): The man told the truth here because he looked at his body and food and found them without any changed. His hair never turned grey; his nails never got longer; and his figure remained the same. Therefore, he said he had slept for a day or part of a day. This is how he thought.
(… قَالَ بَل لَّبِثْتَ مِائَةَ عَامٍ …) (…He said, “Rather, you have remained one hundred years …): You have to consider two facts here:
1- (Look at your food and your drink; it has not changed with time.) They had never changed, and it’s a proof that his answer was correct: he slept for a day or part of a day.
2- (And look at your donkey;) The donkey is a sign that he slept for a hundred years. The donkey wasn’t only dead but its flesh had totally decayed, and its bones were scattered.
There are two important points then. The food and drink didn’t change or weren’t spoiled. They remained unchanged even after a hundred years contrary to the normal course. This is such a miracle by Allah (swt). The second point, however, is that the donkey decayed after a hundred years as normal.
(… وَانظُرْ إِلَىٰ حِمَارِكَ وَلِنَجْعَلَكَ آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ ۖ وَانظُرْ إِلَى الْعِظَامِ كَيْفَ نُنشِزُهَا ثُمَّ نَكْسُوهَا لَحْمًا) (…And look at the bones [of this donkey] – how We raise them and then We cover them with flesh.”…): The man was looking while the bones of the donkey were raised and brought together then covered with flesh by Allah (swt).
( فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ قَالَ أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ … ) (And when it became clear to him, he said, “I know that Allah is over all things competent.”…): He was aware that Allah (swt) is over all things competent. Yet, the knowledge here had become a knowledge of certainty along with the eye of certainty. In other words, the knowledge of certainty turned to the eye of certainty as he saw how Allah brought the donkey to life after death. We say that there are three levels:
– The knowledge of certainty,
– The eye of certainty, and
– The true certainty.