Did our Prophet have a miracle about resurrecting the dead?

Did our Prophet have a miracle about resurrecting the dead? Will you give information about the sources and soundness of those narrations?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Answer 1:

The miracles of our Prophet (pbuh) regarding the resurrection of the dead:

“The first one is this: Hasan al-Basri, an important and loyal student of Imam ‘Ali and the greatest authority among the scholars of the external and esoteric sciences in the time of the generation subsequent to the Companions, related: “A man came weeping to God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He said: ‘I had a little girl; she drowned in such-and-such stream nearby. I left her there.’ He pitied the man and said they would go there together. They went, and the Messenger (UWBP) called to the dead girl, saying her name. At once the dead girl replied: ‘I am present and answer your call gladly.’ He asked her: ‘Do you want to return to your father and mother?’ She replied: ‘No, I have found something better here!’” (Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa, 1:320; Khafaji, Sharhush-Shifa, 3:106)

The second one: Important authorities like Imam Bayhaqi and Imam b. ‘Adiyy relate from Anas b. Malik: Anas said: “An elderly woman had a single son who suddenly died. The righteous woman was very grieved and prayed: ‘O God, I left my home and migrated here only to obtain Your pleasure and to pay allegiance to God’s Noble Messenger (UWBP) and to serve him. For the sake of Your Messenger, return my son to me, who was the only person to look after me.’” Anas said: “The dead man rose up and came and ate with us.” (Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa, 1:320; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya, 6:292)

In the following lines from the celebrated poem Qasidat al-Burda, Imam Busiri refers to this extraordinary event:

“Were his wonders to correspond to his virtue in greatness / Mere mention of his name would have animated decayed bones.”

Third incident: Scholars like Imam Bayhaqi relate from ‘Abdullah b. ‘Ubaydullah al-Ansari: ‘Abdullah said: “I was present when Thabit b. Qays b. Shammas fell as a martyr in the Battle of Yamama and was buried. As he was being put in his grave, a voice suddenly came from him, saying: ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God, Abu Bakr is the Veracious Siddiq, ‘Umar, the martyr, and ‘Uthman, pious and merciful.’1 We uncovered him and looked: he was dead and lifeless, yet he was foretelling ‘Umar’s martyrdom even before he had succeeded to the Caliphate. (see Qadi Iyad, ash-Shifa, 1:320; Aliyyul-Qari, Sharhush-Shifa, 1:649; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya, 6:157-158)

The fourth incident: Imam Tabarani, and Abu Nu’aym in his Dala’il al-Nubuwwa, relate from Nu’man b. Bashir: “Zayd b. Kharija suddenly dropped down dead in the marketplace. We took his body to his house. That evening between sunset and the night prayer, while the women were weeping all around him, he exclaimed: ‘Silence! Silence!’ Then, saying: ‘Muhammad is God’s Messenger! Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!’, he spoke most eloquently for a while. We looked: he was dead, without life. (Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya, 8:291 (with various chains of narrators); al-Haythami, Majma’uz-Zawaid, 5:179-180, with two different chains of narrators)

Thus, if lifeless corpses affirm his prophethood and the living do not, for sure they are more dead than the dead and more lifeless than corpses (see Said Nursi, Mektubat, On Dokuzuncu Mektub)

Answer 2:

First Incident:

The opinion of Aliyyul-Qari regarding the issue is as follows:

“The real narrator of that narration by Hasan al-Basri is unknown. But I (Qari) saw a similar one in Bayhaqi’s Dalail. It is as follows: The Prophet invited a man to Islam. The man said: “I will not believe in you unless you resurrect my daughter.” The Prophet said, “Show me her grave”. He showed it. The Prophet (went to the grave of that girl and) called to the dead girl, saying her name. At once, the dead girl replied: ‘I am present and answer your call gladly.’ He asked her: ‘Do you want to return to your father and mother?’ She replied: “O Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I don’t want because I see that the neighborhood/closeness/protection of Allah is better than that of my parents. I see that the hereafter is better for me than this world,” (see Aliyyul-Qari, Sharhush-Shifa, Beirut, 1421, 1/650-651)

- The same miraculous event is mentioned in other sources. (see al-Qastalani, al-Mawahibul-Ladunniyya, Cairo, nd., 2/296)

On this occasion, Aliyyul-Qari, also mentions that the Prophet brought together the bones of the sheep he ate with his Companions, in Jabir’s house, and brought the sheep back to life by Allah’s leave. (see ibid)

Second Incident

- Ibn Kathir includes the narrations that came through three chains of narrators regarding the issue. (al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya, 6/171, 291, 323)

- This incident is included in Ibn Abid-Dunya’s work called “Man Asha Badal-Mawt / Those Who Lived After Death” (Beirut, 1413, 1/12) with two full chain of narrators   - one reported from Anas and the other from another narrator. The above scholars trusted him since they included in their works.

- Bayhaqi includes three narrations with chain of narrators - all of which are reported from Anas. (see Bayhaqi’s Dalail an-Nubuwwa, 6/50, 51,52)

We could not come across anyone who corrected this narration and we could not come across anyone who criticized it.

Third incident:

Reporting from Bayhaqi (Dalail, 6/58), Ibn Kathir states that there are sound narrations about those who spoke after death. (see Ibn Kathir, Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya, 6/174-175)

In some of these sources, it is written that this incident took place in the Battle of Yamama, and some in Jamal or Siffin. As a matter of fact, Bayhaqi includes two different narrations showing those two places. (ibid)

Fourth incident:

Bayhaqi states that the narration he made regarding the issue was “sound”. And he includes some other narrations that support it. (see Dalail, 6/55-56)

- Bukhari briefly confirmed this event and included it in his history by saying, “Zayd b. Kharija is one of those who died during the caliphate of Uthman and spoke after death.” (at-Tarikhul-Kabir, 3/383)

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