By Babatunde Jose
Today’s sermon is taken from Stories of the Quran to exemplify the possibility and reality of bodily resurrection on the Day of Qiyyamah. The reality of the Day of Judgment speaks to the need for accountability in all that we do and the realization that no one will escape the judgment of Allah.
The story of Uzair is here used to epitomize the power and glory of God. He is the creator and ‘Master of the Day of Judgment’. Uzair questioned the possibility of resurrection and Allah made an example of him. He was made to die for a hundred years, resurrected and made to face his people who have all added a hundred years to their age since he left them. He was made to die at the age of 40 and had not added a day to his age when he was resurrected. His maid who was 20 was now 120 and his son who was 18 had grown to 118. Yet, Uzair was still 40. What a paradox. Allahu Akbar!!!
Allah the Almighty says:
Or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. He said: “Oh! How shall Allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death?” But Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). He said: “How long didst thou tarry (thus)?” He said: “(Perhaps) a day or part of a day.” He said: “Nay, thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food and thy drink; they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey: and that We may make of thee a Sign unto the people, look further at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh.” When this was shown clearly to him, he said: “I know that Allah hath power over all things.” (Quran 2: 259)
Ishaq Ibn Bishr narrated that `Uzair was the man whom Allah caused to die for a hundred years, then raised up again. `Uzair was a wise, pious worshipper. One day, he went out to look after some of his properties, when he finished he passed by a ruined place where he was scorched by the blazing sun. So, he entered that ruined place riding on his donkey. He got off the donkey holding two baskets, one full of figs and the other full of grapes. He sat down and brought out a bowl in which he squeezed the grapes and soaked the dried bread he had therein. He ate thereof and then slept on his back, relying his two legs against a wall and started to gaze at the ceiling of the house. He saw some decomposed bones and said: Oh! How will Allah ever bring it to life after its death?
He did not doubt Allah’s Omnipotence to do this, but he said it in exasperation. Upon this, Allah the Almighty sent the Angel of Death who seized his soul, and thus Allah caused him to die for a hundred years. And, after one hundred years, Allah the Almighty sent to him an Angel who woke him from death. The Angel asked him saying: How long did you remain (dead)? He (the man) said: (Perhaps) I remained (dead) a day or part of a day; that he was caused to die in the afternoon and then was given life again by the end of day while the sun was still in the sky; that’s why he said: or part of a day i.e. not even a whole day. The Angel said: Nay, you have remained (dead) for a hundred years, look at your food and your drink i.e. the dried bread and the squeezed grapes that did not alter or turn bad, they show no change, and the grapes and the figs did not change as well.
As if he began to deny the matter by heart, the Angel said: Do you deny what I have said? And look at your donkey! He looked at his donkey and found his bones to be decomposed. The Angel called upon the donkey’s bones and they answered his call and gathered together from all directions till he was made whole again – while ‘Uzair was looking and he clothed them with flesh, skin and hair. Then, the Angel breathed life into it and it roused erecting his ears and head towards the sky thinking the Last Hour had come.
Then, he rode on his donkey back to his village where he seemed unfamiliar to the people and the people looked unfamiliar to him. Even so, he did not find his own house easily. When he reached the house, he found a crippled blind old woman at the age of one hundred twenty years old. She was a maid owned by him in the past and he left her while she was only twenty years old. He asked her saying: is this the house of ‘Uzair? She said: Yes, it is. She wept and said: Today, no one ever remembers `Uzair.
He told her that he was ‘Uzair and Allah the Almighty caused me to die for one hundred years then He gave me life again. She said: Glory is to Allah! We lost ‘Uzair one hundred years ago and never heard anything about him. He said: Verily, I am ‘Uzair. She said: ‘Uzair was a man whose supplications were acceptable by Allah the Almighty, so invoke Allah to return my sight to me to look at you, so if you were ‘Uzair, I would certainly know you’. Consequently, he invoked Allah the Almighty, then, he wiped over her eyes and they were recovered and took her by the hand and said: Stand up by the Leave of Allah! She stood up by the Leave of Allah. She looked at him and said: I bear witness that you are ‘Uzair.
Then, she set out for the Children of Israel in their meetings and gatherings and Uzair’s son who was about one hundred and eighteen years and she called them saying: This is ‘Uzair who came back to you. They believed her, but she said: I am so and so, your maid. He invoked Allah for me and He recovered my eyesight and legs. She added: he claims that Allah caused him to die for one hundred years and then He gave him life again. The people rose up and went to look at him. His son said: my father had a black mole between his shoulders. He disclosed his shoulders and they realized that he was ‘Uzair.
The Children of Israel said: ‘Uzair was the only one who committed the whole Torah to his heart and Bikhtinassar burnt it and nothing is left thereof but what the men can remember, so (if you are the true ‘Uzair) write it down for us. His father, Surukha, buried the Torah during that era of Bikhtinassar in a place known to nobody but ‘Uzair. Thus, he took them to that place and brought them out, but unfortunately, the papers were rotten and ruined. Consequently, he sat under the shade of a tree surrounded by the Children of Israel and he renovated the Torah for them.
He renovated the Torah for them in the land of As-Sawad. The town in which he died is said to be called “Sairabadh.” ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: Thus he was as said by Allah the Almighty: And thus We have made of you a sign for the people i.e. for the Children of Israel. That he was with his sons a young man among old people for he died when he was only forty and was revived at the same age and status. Allahu Akbar!!! – Stories of the Quran
Barka Jumuah and a happy weekend
