Surah 17:98
Show Full Scripture Context (17:98-99) — 2 Verses
ذَٰلِكَ جَزَآؤُهُم بِأَنَّهُمۡ كَفَرُواْ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا وَقَالُوٓاْ أَءِذَا كُنَّا عِظَٰمٗا وَرُفَٰتًا أَءِنَّا لَمَبۡعُوثُونَ خَلۡقٗا جَدِيدًا
That is their payment because they disbelieved in Our signs, and said, ‘When we have become bones and fragments, shall we indeed be raised up as a new creation?’
۞أَوَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَ قَادِرٌ عَلَىٰٓ أَن يَخۡلُقَ مِثۡلَهُمۡ وَجَعَلَ لَهُمۡ أَجَلٗا لَّا رَيۡبَ فِيهِ فَأَبَى ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ إِلَّا كُفُورٗا
Do they not see that God, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create their equivalent? He has appointed a time for them – (there is) no doubt about it – yet the evildoers refuse (everything) but disbelief.
Allah says: This punishment, being resurrected blind, dumb and deaf, is what they deserve, because they disbelieved,
{Our Ayat}, i.e., Our proof and evidence, and did not think that the resurrection could ever happen.'
meaning, when we have disintegrated and our bodies have rotted away,
meaning, after we have disintegrated and disappeared and been absorbed into the earth, will we come back a second time? Allah established proof against them and told them that He is able to do that, for He created the heavens and the earth, so raising them up again is easier for Him than that, as He says:
{The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind;} [40:57]
And Allah says here:
meaning, on the Day of Resurrection, He will recreate and restore their bodies, as He created them in the first place.
means, He has set a time for them to be re-created and brought forth from their graves, an appointed time which must surely come to pass. As Allah says:
{And We delay it only for a term (already) fixed.} (11:104)
{But the wrongdoers refuse} - after the proof has been established against them,
{(and accept nothing) but disbelief.} means, they persist in their falsehood and misguidance.
— from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Page 93-95)