Pretexts for Denying Resurrection
One of these excuses is about the time when the Resurrection Day will occur. The Quran says in Verse 51 of Surah Al-Isra: “They will ask: ‘Who will restore us?’ Say: ‘He who originated you at first.’ They will shake their heads and ask: ‘When will this be?’ Say: ‘Maybe it is near.’”
No one but God knows the time of the Day of Judgment. But not knowing the time of an event does not mean it will not happen. We do not know when our death will come. Would that be a good reason to deny death?
Another pretext of the deniers of resurrection was about bringing the dead back to life. They told the holy Prophet (PBUH): “Bring back to life our fathers if what you say is true.” (Verse 36 of Surah Ad-Dukhan)
If one abandons his stubbornness, he would realize that sleep and awakening, and spring and autumn are good enough signs for accepting resurrection. But if he insists on his obstinacy, even if his dead father is brought back to life, he will come up with another excuse and, for example, say ‘make me young again’.
This happened when prophets of God had miracles. After the Holy Prophet (PBUH) split the moon, the deniers refused to believe again, describing it as sorcery and magic. When Prophet Jesus (AS) brought the dead back to life, not many people considered even that enough to believe.
“They (the deniers) say: ‘We will not believe in you until you make a spring gush from the earth for us, or, until you own a garden of palms and vines and cause rivers to gush forth with abundant water in them; or, until you cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you have claimed, or, as a surety bring Allah with the angels in front; or, until you possess an ornate house of gold, or ascend into the heavens; and we will not believe in your ascension until you have brought down for us a book which we can read.’ Say: ‘Exaltations to my Lord! Am I anything except a human Messenger?’” (Verses 90-93 of Surah Al-Isra) The duty of the messengers of God is not to fulfil the deniers’ demands and desires but it is to show signs of divine power and guide people through reason and logic.
God says to those who consider bringing the dead back to life: “Have they not seen that Allah, who has created the heavens and the earth, has power to create their like? There is no doubt that He has appointed for them a term, yet the unbelievers refuse all but disbelief.” (Verse 99 of Surah Al-Isra)
So if believing in prophets needs showing miracles, the divine prophets did it, but if deniers want to see the upsetting of the order of the world, that is not going to happen.
Another point is that deniers consider death to be the end of God’s power and the victory of the causes of death over Gods will. This is while death is also under God’s command. The Quran says: “It was We who decreed death among you. We will not be surpassed” (Verse 60 of Surah Al-Waqi’ah) God also says in Verse 2 of Surah Al-Mulk: “It is He who has created death and life to put you to the test and see which of you is most virtuous in your deeds. He is Majestic and All-forgiving.”
Death is not an end to existence but it is going from one stage of life to another. That is why God describes death with the word Tawaffa (taking delivery of) 14 times in the Quran.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: Do not think you will exist no more after death. You just move from one home to another.
