Five Times the Dead Are Raised

It is worth noting that in Sūrat al-Baqarah we have heard this matter of returning to life, of resurrection, and of its importance, more than once. Sūrat al-Baqarah has in fact five instances in which resurrection is mentioned, in which the dead are brought back to life. Let us recall them briefly.

The first is the account of the Baqarah itself, the whole reason for their sacrificing and slaughtering the cow: that the murdered man was made alive to say who had killed him. That is the first.

Then there is the one not entered upon at any length, where the Banū Isrāʾīl, the Israelites, wished to see Allah — to see Him in reality. Allah (swt) had them all put to death, and then let them return to life.

After that comes the account of those who tried to flee the plague. They all died, and Allah then gave them life again. That is the third.

The fourth is the account of ʿUzayr, of Ezra, and the hundred years. And the fifth is that of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) — or rather not of himself, but of the birds, the creatures he had to slaughter, which then returned to life.

So there are five such discussions. And there is besides the other that comes in Sūrat al-Kahf, where for three hundred years — though there it is not a returning to life, but only that men are put to sleep for three hundred years, in silence — which is taken up in the chapter upon that sūrah.