Quite apart from all the foregoing...

Quite apart from all the foregoing, we may ask why God should not be able to recreate the form of man which came into being out of scattered particles of clay and was then again turned into earth. The Qur'an makes repeated reference to this matter, saying for example: “We created you from earth and return you to earth, and then bring you forth from it once more” (20:55) . In this verse, our attention is drawn to the creative power of the Maker.

Through the presentation of the past and future of man in this world and the hereafter in a single panorama, solace and assurance are given to man's unquiet and skeptical soul. The thought of man being swallowed up in death is shown to be irrational, and to speak of the changes and transformations that man undergoes as aimless is demonstrated to be absurd. Life in the narrow sphere of this world is too petty to represent the ultimate aim of creation.

If we take into consideration the total picture of creation, we will see that this petty realm taken in isolation is unworthy of the lofty origins from which it sprang. Addressing those incredulous people who imagine that the body of man dissolves and disappears as a result of chemical actions and reactions within the soil and that it cannot be restored to life, the Qur'an says*:* “The unbelievers say: `Is this not a strange thing that we should be brought back after dying and turning to dust?

Such a return is impossible.' But We are fully aware of what the earth takes from them, and it is We Who possess the Preserved Tablet” (50:2-4). This verse refers, then, to a group of unbelievers who deny the resurrection of the dead. It reminds them that God knows full well where the elements are that once made up their bodies before being dispersed and returned to the storehouse of nature.

He will reassemble those elements on the plain of resurrection, thus reconstructing the body in a way the unbelievers thought impossible. This reconstruction will follow entirely the structure and contents of the body as it previously existed and be based entirely upon it. The Persuasive Logic of the Qur'an When the Prophet of Islam, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, expounded the topic of resurrection to the pagan Arabs, a Bedouin by the name of Ubayy b.

Khalaf picked up a decayed bone and set out for Medina to visit the Prophet.