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wa-ʾaqsamū bi-llāhi jahda ʾaymānihim lā yabʿathu llāhu man yamūtu balā waʿdan ʿalayhi ḥaqqan wa-lākinna ʾakthara n-nāsi lā yaʿlamūna
They swear by Allah with solemn oaths that Allah will not resurrect those who die. Yes indeed [He will], it is a promise binding upon Him, but most people do not know,
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah An-Nahl – Verse 38
38. “And they swore by Allah with their most earnest oaths (that) Allah will not raise up him who dies. Yea! It (raising the dead) is a promise binding on Him in truth, but most people do not know.”
It is quoted that a Muslim man, who was indebted to by a pagan, went to him to claim his due. The pagan acted evasively which made the Muslim man infuriated and made this oath in his speech: “I swear to whatever I expect after death” He meant the resurrection and Allah’s account, to which the pagan replied: “I swear to God that He will raise no one from the dead.” Upon this, the verse was revealed which embodied an answer to him and to the ones like him.
Allah, the Almighty, deals with another type of their deviation and ill ways of thinking, indicating that they swear to the Lord vehemently, exaggerating with utmost insistence that He does not raise any one from the dead, and meaning that generally no one will be enlivened and revived after death. The holy verse says:
“And they swore by Allah with their most earnest oaths (that) Allah will not raise up him who dies…”
Here, Allah, rejecting their speech, implies that: of course, Allah will revive them and will reappoint them. This is the unequivocal promise which Allah has given them, and it is incumbent on Him to fulfill all His promises because of His wisdom, for His promise is truthful and is irrevocable, as were there no Resurrection Day to be held, duties of men would be meaningless. In other words, once duties are correctly in place that there are punishment and rewards designated for one’s actions.
However, most people do not draw proper conclusions from this fact because of their paganism and rejection of the prophets. Some claim that those who do not follow the philosophy of the resurrection and rebirth of the dead, therefore they reject.
Two Points
One of the capital sins is swearing for false causes especially when the issue in question begins with the terms: /wallah/, /billah/ and /tallah/, which are the three terms for swearing. According to the quotations which have been mentioned in the books of Roudah-Kafi, Nūr-uth-Thaqalayn, and Tafsir-i-Burhan from Imam Sadiq (as) and Hadrat-i-Imam Baqir (as), it has been quoted that one of the examples of this verse is ‘regression’ or ‘return’ during the course of which, in this world, Allah enlivens some groups during the era of the revolution or uprising of Imam-i-Zaman (as) though the opponents of Shi‘ites refute that.