Author: Abu Ayesha
Resurrection after Death (Part 17)
The Most Well-Known Sects That Denied Resurrection After Death
In order to better understand who denied resurrection after death, who the most prominent of these groups were, and the origins of their beliefs, we introduce below the most well-known among them:
Muslims, the People of the Book, and the Brahmins agree upon the restoration of creation and its possibility after total annihilation, even though they differ concerning its details. However, certain groups opposed this view, including:
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The Dahriyyah (Materialists) who denied the origination of the world;
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A group of philosophers who acknowledged the origination of the world but denied resurrection after destruction and death;
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A group of idolaters who lived during the time of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). Although they acknowledged the origination of the world, they denied resurrection after death, the Day of Judgment, Paradise, and Hell;
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Certain extremist Rāfiḍī sects, such as the Mansūriyyah and Janāḥiyyah, who denied the Resurrection (including Paradise and Hell) and abolished religious obligations.[1]
Classification of the Deniers According to Ḥāfiẓ al-Ḥakamī (may Allah have mercy on him)
Ḥāfiẓ al-Ḥakamī writes in Maʿārij al-Qabūl regarding the deniers of resurrection:
The deniers of resurrection fall into four categories:
First Category
Those who denied both the beginning (al-mabdaʾ) and the return (al-maʿād). They claimed that the entire universe operates by nature itself, comes into existence by itself, and perishes by itself. According to them, there is no Lord who governs this vast universe; rather, humans continuously come into existence and are eventually swallowed by the earth. This group comprises the majority of materialist philosophers and naturalists.
Second Category
Another faction of the Dahriyyah known as the Dawriyyah. They also denied the Creator and claimed that every thirty-six thousand years everything returns to its previous state, asserting that this cycle has occurred infinitely many times. They rejected transmitted revelation and opposed rational proofs out of arrogance and obstinacy.
Third Category
The Arab polytheists and those who shared their beliefs. This group acknowledged the initial creation and believed that Allah the Exalted is their Lord and Creator. The Noble Qur’an states: “وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ فَأَنَّى يُؤْفَكُونَ” [2] Translation: “And if you ask them who created them, they will surely say: ‘Allah.’ So how are they deluded (away from worshipping Him)?”
Yet despite this acknowledgment, they said: “إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا مَوْتَتُنَا الْأُولَى وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُنْشَرِينَ” [3] Translation: “There is nothing but our first death, and we shall not be resurrected.”
Thus, while admitting the beginning of creation and the existence of a Creator, they denied resurrection after death.
Fourth Category
The heretical Jahmi atheists and those who agreed with them. These individuals claimed belief in a form of return that is neither found in the Qur’an nor reported by the Prophets (peace be upon them). They asserted that this world would completely perish, and what follows is not resurrection but an entirely different world unrelated to the original one. According to them:
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The earth that will testify to what occurred upon it is not this earth.
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The bodies that will be punished and testify against those who committed sins are not the same bodies that sinned.
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The bodies that experience bliss and reward in Paradise are not the same bodies that performed acts of obedience.
Rather, they claimed these are entirely new creations brought into existence anew. Thus, they denied the return of the physical bodies and reinterpreted resurrection as a completely new beginning.[4]
Statement of Imam al- Raghib al-Asfahani (MABH)
Imam al-Raghib al-Asfahani said: “No one has denied resurrection and the emergence of the Hereafter except the naturalists. These individuals have disabled their intellects and neglected sound reasoning. Their attachment to the adorned pleasures of worldly life has prevented them from reflecting upon their origin and ultimate destiny.” [5]
Allah (SWT) says: “زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَوَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَالْبَنِينَ وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنْطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ وَالْحَرْثِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَاللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ” [6] Translation: “Beautified for people is the love of desires: women, children, heaps of gold and silver, branded horses, cattle, and cultivated land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life; but with Allah is the best return.”
Continues…
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References:
[1] Al-Baghdādī, Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd al-Qāhir ibn Ṭāhir. Uṣūl al-Dīn. Edited by Aḥmad Shams al-Dīn. 1423 AH / 2002 CE, pp. 257–258.
[2] The Qur’an, Surah al-Zukhruf (43:87).
[3] The Qur’an, Surah al-Dukhān (44:35).
[4] Al-Ḥakamī, Ḥāfiẓ ibn Aḥmad. Maʿārij al-Qabūl bi Sharḥ Sullam al-Wuṣūl ilā ʿIlm al-Uṣūl fī al-Tawḥīd. Edited by Ṭāhā ʿAbd al-Raʾūf Saʿd. Vol. 2, pp. 119–120.
[5] ʿAwājī, Dr. Ghālib ibn ʿAlī. Al-Ḥayāt al-Ākhirah mā bayna al-Baʿth ilā Dukhūl al-Jannah aw al-Nār. 1421 AH / 2000 CE. Vol. 1, p. 101.
[6] The Qur’an, Surah Āl ʿImrān (3:14).
