Uzayr
Definition
Uzayr — identified by many scholars with the biblical Ezra, though with some uncertainty — is the man whose story the Quran narrates as a direct proof of resurrection: Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then restored him to life along with his donkey and his food. When asked how long he had been there, he said 'A day or part of a day' — and was then shown that his donkey's bones were being reassembled and his food had not spoiled. Ibn Kathir presents the story of Uzayr as the Quran's answer to the rhetorical question 'How can Allah bring this back to life?' — answered not with an argument but with a demonstration, witnessed by a single man whose testimony carried the weight of direct experience.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Uzayr.
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"The sufficiency of shortness of hope is illustrated by اللّٰه's words: "Have you considered if We let them enjoy for years, then there came to them that which they were promised, that which they were given would not avail them?" As اللّٰه says in سُورَة الشُّعَرَاء: "And on the Day He will gather them, it will be as if they had not remained but an hour of a day, recognizing one another." And in سُورَة يُونُس: "It will be, on the Day they see it, as though they had not remained [in the world] except for an afternoon or a morning thereof." And in سُورَة النَّازِعَات: "They will say, 'We remained a day or part of a day; ask those who enumerate.' He will say, 'You remained not but a little, if only you had known.'" And in سُورَة المُؤْمِنُون: "On the Day they see that which they are promised, [it will be] as though they had not remained [in the world] except for an hour of a day."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume One
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"fallen into ruin he said how will Allah bring this to life after its death. So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years then he resurrected him. He said how long have you remained? He said I have remained a day or part of a day. He said rather you have remained a hundred years so look at your food and your drink it has not changed over time and look at your donkey and we will make you a sign for the people and look at the bones how we bring them together and then we clothe them with flesh and when it became clear to him he said I know that Allah is over all things competent. Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi narrated that Allah"
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 2 — From the Israelite Prophets to Pre-Islamic Arabia
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"So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years. Then he resurrected him. He said, How long have you remained? He said, I have remained a day or part of a day. He said, Rather you have remained a hundred years. So look at your food and your drink. It has not changed over time. And look at your donkey, and we will make you a sign for the people. And look at the bones, how we bring them together, and then we clothe them with flesh. And when it became clear to him, he said, I know that Allah is over all things competent."
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 3 — The Sīrah: From the First Revelation to Badr
Appears in
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