We have believed that the notion of Raj’ah was a true concept, as God had described in His book:

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ خَرَجُوا مِن دِيَارِهِمْ وَهُمْ أُلُوفٌ حَذَرَ الْمَوْتِ فَقَالَ لَهُمُ اللَّهُ مُوتُوا ثُمَّ أَحْيَاهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ

“Have you not considered those who went forth from their homes, for fear of death, and they were thousands, then Allah said to them, Die; again He gave them life; most surely Allah is Gracious to people, but most people are not grateful” (2:243).

They belonged to a colony of seventy thousand houses and used to suffer from plague every year. The rich, on the strength of their wealth were capable of departing from the city, while, the poor were left in their squalid houses to die (with plague), due to their poverty. Those who survived among them used to wish that had they got some resources they too would have left the city. Whereas, the rich proclaimed that if they had not left, they too would have suffered like the others who had stayed behind. One day they all agreed that this time they would leave the city before the plague struck. They followed the timetable of the plague and left the city to settle somewhere else. At that juncture, God commanded them all to die and so they died.

With the passage of time, the travelling routes to various cities altered and their site was lost from the trekkers. So, they were forgotten for a period determined by the will of God. One day a Prophet of God, named Armiah or Ozair happened to pass by that ruin. They requested God to resurrect those people, if He wished, so that they could inhabit the cities and enhance its population, and worship Him along with their other flock.

God then sent His revelation to Armiah stating that if he wished, He would revive them. The Prophet confirmed his request and God restored them to life and let them accompany him. Thus, the dead were revived and returned to the same world and then continued to complete their appointed time. Similarly, at another place in the Qur’an God spoke:

أَوْ كَالَّذِي مَرَّ عَلَىٰ قَرْيَةٍ وَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا قَالَ أَنَّىٰ يُحْيِي هَٰذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا فَأَمَاتَهُ اللَّهُ مِائَةَ عَامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ قَالَ كَمْ لَبِثْتَ قَالَ لَبِثْتُ يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ قَالَ بَل لَّبِثْتَ مِائَةَ عَامٍ فَانظُرْ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِكَ وَشَرَابِكَ لَمْ يَتَسَنَّهْ وَانظُرْ إِلَىٰ حِمَارِكَ وَلِنَجْعَلَكَ آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَانظُرْ إِلَى الْعِظَامِ كَيْفَ نُنشِزُهَا ثُمَّ نَكْسُوهَا لَحْمًا فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ قَالَ أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

“Or the like of him (Uzair) who passed by a town, and it had fallen down upon its roofs; he said: When will Allah give it life after its death? So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him to life. He said: How long have you tarried? He said: I have tarried a day, or a part of a day. Said He: Nay! you have tarried a hundred years; then look at your food and drink - years have not passed over it; and look at your ass; and that We may make you a sign to men, and look at the bones, how We set them together, then clothed them with flesh; so when it became clear to him, he said: I know that Allah has power over all things” (2:259).

The man, who was dead for one hundred years and then returned to this life to complete his appointed time, was reported to be either Armiah or Ozair, as suggested by various narrations.

In the Qur’an, God told the story of some individuals of Bani Isra’il, the nation of Moses (‘a), who were selected to have a meeting with God upon their insistence. They died with a flash from His Majesty. They were then restored to life after the supplication of Moses, so that they might thank Him.

ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَاكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَوْتِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

“Then We raised you up after your death that you may give thanks” (2:56).

The story was like this - when the people of Moses heard the word of God, they said that the validity of His message would not be acceptable to them unless they saw the Lord with their own eyes. This squabble led them to be killed by the flash of heavenly lightening. When they were all dead Moses asked God about how he would face his nation, if he returned alone.

Almighty God then, revived them again to live in this world, in a manner that they married and had their offspring, and then died at the appointed time. God addressed Jesus (‘a):

يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ…. تُخْرِجُ الْمَوْتَىٰ بِإِذْنِي

“Oh Isa Ibn Mariyam ... you have revived the dead with My permission” (5:110).

This proved that those people who were resurrected by God through the hands of Jesus (‘a), all returned to this world and then they died at their allotted times. Similarly, Ashab al-Kahf (The Companions of Kahf) remained dead for three hundred and nine years in the cave, and then they were returned to the world, so that they might ask each other about their ordeal. The episode of Ashab al-Kahf was very famous. If someone objected about their death by saying that God, while addressing Prophet Muhammad (S) has said:

وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ

“[O My dearly loved Prophet], you might think that they [Ashab al-Kahf] were awake; in fact, they were in deep sleep” (18:18).

Therefore, their awakening was not Raj’ah.

The answer to their doubt was quoted in the Qur’an, in a speech by those who died, but when resurrected on the Day of Judgement, said:

قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا مَن بَعَثَنَا مِن مَّرْقَدِنَا

“Alas, who made us awaken in our bedrooms from our sleep...” (36:52).

It will be said in their reply

هَٰذَا مَا وَعَدَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ وَصَدَقَ الْمُرْسَلُونَ

“...This is the same Day of Resurrection, which you were given the promise by the Prophets and the merciful God” (36:52).

If the statement that infidels would be revived from their death (which they referred to as sleep), was accepted, then it could be said that the companions of Kahf were also in the same state i.e. they were dead and then resurrected. The essence of this discussion was that just as graves were symbolically called bedrooms, likewise the death of Ashab al-Kahf was also figuratively called sleep.

The similarity between sleep and death was also explained in various other Qur’anic Verses. It was therefore, proven that Raj’ah had taken place in the previous nations. The Prophet (S) had also said that many of the happenings of the previous nations would be repeated for his Ummah in a manner similar to the matching of a left pair of shoes with the right, or like one arrow pairs with another.

Our opponents had also narrated this tradition that Jesus will return from the Heavens and pray behind Imam Al-Mahdi (‘a). This return of Jesus on the earth would be after his death as stated in the Qur’an:

يَا عِيسَىٰ إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ

“O Jesus (‘a) I am about to seize you, and raise you to Myself...” (3:55).

At another place in the Qur’an God said:

يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا

“On the day when Allah will raise them up all together…” (58:6).

and at a different place it was said,

وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ فَوْجًا مِّمَّن يُكَذِّبُ بِآيَاتِنَا فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ

“And on the day when We will gather from every nation a party from among those who rejected Our communications, then they shall be formed into groups” (27:83).

This showed that this was a different day when all the people will be resurrected unlike the day when only a few would be raised. God said that they invoked His name robustly that He will not revive the dead, but God’s promise was true (that He would revive them), but many people did not understand. The revival here was the revival of Raj’ah, because immediately after this statement God said:

وَأَقْسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ لَا يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَن يَمُوتُ بَلَىٰ وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

“And they swear by Allah with the most energetic of their oaths: Allah will not raise up him who dies. Yea! it is a promise binding on Him, quite true, but most people do not know” (16:38).

لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمُ الَّذِي يَخْتَلِفُونَ فِيهِ

“So that He might make manifest to them that about which they differ…” (16:39).

Evidently the result of this clarification must be shown in this world instead of the hereafter. I would write an enduring book about the subject of Raj’ah, which would include its status and all the arguments of its happening with strong supporting arguments. The concept of Tanasukh was wrong and whosoever believed in this concept was an infidel, because it rejected the belief of Paradise and Hell.