Resurrection of Decayed Bones إِحْيَاء الْعِظَام

Overview

The resurrection of decayed bones is one of the Quran's most-repeated theological arguments — addressed especially to those who, in pre-Islamic Arabia and elsewhere, denied bodily resurrection on the grounds that decayed bones cannot be re-formed. The Quranic argument is a fortiori (min bāb al-awlā): the One who first created humanity from nothing is fully able to re-create after decay. Surah Yā-Sīn 36:78–79 makes the argument with paradigmatic clarity:

"And he presents for Us an example and forgets his own creation. He says: Who will give life to bones while they are disintegrated? Say: He will give them life who produced them the first time, and He is Knowing of all creation." — Surah Yā-Sīn 36:78–79

Quranic references

• Surah Yā-Sīn 36:78–82 — the foundational passage.
• Surah An-Nāziʿāt 79:10–14 — "They are saying: Will we indeed be returned to [our] former state? Even if we should be decayed bones?"
• Surah Al-Wāqiʿah 56:47–50 — "And they used to say: When we die and become dust and bones, are we indeed to be resurrected? And our forefathers? Say: Indeed, the former and the later peoples are surely to be gathered together."
• Surah Al-Qiyāmah 75:3–4 — "Does man think that We will not assemble his bones? Yes — We are able even to proportion his fingertips."
• Surah Al-Hajj 22:5 — the Quran's rolled argument from embryology.

Hadith

Abu Hurayra reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "Every part of the human body will decay, except one bone — the coccyx — and from it the creation will be re-formed on the Day of Resurrection." — Sahih al-Bukhari 4814; Sahih Muslim 2955

See also

• Day of Judgement
• The Trumpet
• An-Nazi'at
• Akhirah
• Creation Account

References

1. The Quran: Surahs Al-Hajj 22:5; Yā-Sīn 36:78–82; Al-Wāqiʿah 56:47–50; Al-Qiyāmah 75:3–4; An-Nāziʿāt 79:10–14.
2. Sahih al-Bukhari 4814; Sahih Muslim 2955.
3. Ibn Kathir, Tafsīr, on Surah Yā-Sīn and Al-Qiyāmah.