Shall We Be Raised up as a New Creation?

They say: ‘When we are turned to bones and particles (of dust), shall we truly be raised up as a new creation?’ Tell them: ‘(You will be raised afresh even if) you turn to stone or iron; or any other form of creation you deem hardest of all (to create from).’ They will certainly ask:…

Written by

Published on

They say: ‘When we are turned to bones and particles (of dust), shall we truly be raised up as a new creation?’ Tell them: ‘(You will be raised afresh even if) you turn to stone or iron; or any other form of creation you deem hardest of all (to create from).’ They will certainly ask: ‘Who will bring us back (to life)?’ Say: ‘He Who created you in the first instance.’ They will shake their heads at you and inquire: ‘When will that be?’ Say: ‘Perhaps that time might have drawn near; on the Day when He will call you and you will rise praising Him in response to His call, and you will believe that you had lain in this state only for a while.’

(Al-Qur’ān – 17:49-52)

These ayaat enjoin believers to remove misapprehensions of unbelievers about the Day of Resurrection. As regards the statement that man will rise, praising God, this points to a significant reality. For on the Last Day everyone, both believers and unbelievers, will have God’s praise on their lips.

Believers’ praise of God will be emanating from his conviction. But unbelievers will praise God in the Hereafter since it is innate in human nature and despite the fact that his inherent conviction about God had remained suppressed because of his own folly. Naturally, with the commencement of a fresh phase of existence, when all artificial barriers have been removed, unbelievers will be forced to give vent to what had always been embedded in his nature; in the Hereafter he too will praise God.