كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَٰتًا فَأَحْيَـٰكُمْ ۖ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ 28
Translations
How can you disbelieve in Allāh when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned.
Transliteration
Kayfa takfuroon billahi wa kuntum amwatan fa-ahyakum, thumma yumitukum thumma yuhyikum thumma ilayhi turja'un
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah poses a rhetorical question rebuking those who disbelieve in Allah despite the clear evidence of His power demonstrated through the cycle of life and death. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi interpret this as referring to both spiritual death (ignorance before the message) and physical death, emphasizing that Allah's ability to create life from non-existence and resurrect the dead is an undeniable proof of His existence and authority. The ayah underscores the illogic of denying the One who grants life, sustains it, takes it away, and will resurrect all humanity on the Day of Judgment.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the opening section of Surah Al-Baqarah (the Medinan surah revealed after the Hijrah), where Allah establishes fundamental beliefs about divine oneness and resurrection to the newly formed Muslim community in Medina. It serves as a foundational argument addressing those who rejected faith despite witnessing Allah's creative power in nature.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'Between each two blasts of the trumpet there will be forty (days or years)' - related to the stages of death and resurrection mentioned in this ayah (Sahih Bukhari). Additionally, the hadith about the angel asking the soul 'Who is your Lord?' at death relates to accountability between death and resurrection (Sunan Ibn Majah).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah challenges believers to recognize Allah's undeniable signs in creation and the natural cycle of life and death as evidence against disbelief, while serving as a humbling reminder that all human life originates from Allah and returns to Him, thus warranting obedience and gratitude rather than ingratitude.
Related Ayahs
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِى سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَمَا مَسَّنَا مِن لُّغُوبٍ
And We did certainly create the heavens and earth and what is between them in six days, and there touched Us no weariness.
ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلشَّجَرِ ٱلْأَخْضَرِ نَارًا فَإِذَآ أَنتُم مِّنْهُ تُوقِدُونَ
[It is] He who made for you from the green tree, fire, and then from it you ignite.
ءَأَنتُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ ٱلسَّمَآءُ ۚ بَنَىٰهَا
Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He [i.e., Allāh] constructed it.
فَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰٓ ءَاثَـٰرِ رَحْمَتِ ٱللَّهِ كَيْفَ يُحْىِ ٱلْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَآ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمُحْىِ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
So observe the effects of the mercy of Allāh - how He gives life to the earth after its lifelessness. Indeed, that [same one] will give life to the dead, and He is over all things competent.