An-Nahl (The Bees): 70

{And Allah created you, then He causes you to die, and among you is he who is returned to the most abject age...}

Issues in the Verse:

After mentioning the wonders of animal life, the Almighty mentions the wonders of human life, which this verse points to: the stages of human lifespan. The wise have categorized these stages into four:

1. Stage of Growth and Development (Nushū').
2. Stage of Stasis (Waqf), which is the age of youth.
3. Stage of Slight Decline (Inhiṭāṭ Qalīl), which is the age of middle age (Kuhūlah).
4. Stage of Great Decline (Inhiṭāṭ Kabīr), which is the age of old age (Shaykhūkhah).

The Almighty proves through the transition of an animal from one stage to another that Allah is the one effecting this transition.

The Naturalist Physicians claim that the cause of this transition is the nature (ṭabīʿah) of the human being. I will summarize their argument, expose its weakness, and thus confirm that the true agent is Allah (SWT).

The Naturalist Physicians' Argument:

1. The human body is created from semen (manī) and menstrual blood (dam aṭ-ṭamth). Both are hot and moist substances.
2. Heat acting upon a moist body reduces its moisture and imparts a degree of dryness—this is observable.
3. The inherent heat in these two substances continuously reduces the moisture until the organs become firm, bones, cartilage, nerves, tendons, and ligaments form.
4. When the body is fully formed, the fetus separates from the mother's womb, yet moisture remains abundant. Evidence: A newborn's organs are soft, and their bones are pliable, resembling cartilage.
5. The body's inherent heat continues to act upon this remaining moisture, reducing it further.

They state that the body undergoes three conditions:

• Condition 1: The body's moisture is greater than its heat. In this state, the organs are capable of expansion, increase, and growth. This is the stage of growth and development, lasting until thirty or thirty-five years.
• Condition 2: The body's moisture is reduced to the minimum required to sustain the original innate heat, but no more. This is the stage of stasis and youth, lasting until the age of forty (which is the end of this stage).
• Condition 3: The moisture decreases further to a point where it is insufficient to maintain the innate heat. Decline then appears.
  • If this decline is subtle, it is the age of middle age, lasting until sixty.
  • If the decline is apparent, it is old age, lasting up to 120 years.

My Critique of the Physicians' Argument:

I find this reasoning weak, and its weakness is demonstrated in several ways:

First Argument (Contradiction in Transformation Power): We argue that initially, when the substance was semen and blood, the moisture was dominant, and the innate heat was submerged and weak. Despite this weakness, this heat managed to analyze (break down) most of that moisture, transforming it from the state of blood/semen into bone, cartilage, nerve, and ligament. Once the organs formed and the body completed its structure, the moisture decreased. Therefore, the innate heat should have gained greater power than before. Consequently, the analysis (breakdown) of moisture after the body's formation should be greater than the analysis before its formation. However, the opposite is true: before formation, the substance transformed into solid structures; after formation, no such transformation occurs. If the formation of these organs were due to the heat acting on moisture, the analysis of moisture after completion should exceed that before completion. Since this is not the case, we know that the body's formation was by the planning of an All-Powerful, Wise Agent who manages animal bodies according to their welfare, not merely by the effect of heat on moisture.

Second Argument (Contradiction in Heat Increase): The innate heat in the complete human body is either the same as the heat in the semen, or it has increased.

1. The first case is false: The innate heat in the semen was proportional to the small mass of the semen. If the body retained only that amount of heat, it would be extremely weak and show no effect in the large body.
2. The second case implies that the innate heat increases as the body grows. If the heat increases moment by moment, and if increased heat leads to increased strength and health moment by moment, then the animal body should always be increasing and perfecting itself. Since this is not the case, we know that the increase and decrease of the animal body are not governed by nature, but by the Will of the Decisive Actor (Allah).

Third Argument (The Vicious Cycle): (This argument was presented in my major book on Medicine.) We ask the physicians: When the innate moisture becomes balanced with the innate heat, why must the innate heat decrease, causing the transition from youth to decline? They reply: Once this equilibrium is reached, the innate heat acts to dry out the innate moisture, reducing it until it can no longer sustain the innate heat. When this happens, the innate heat also weakens because the innate moisture acts as nourishment for the heat. Thus, the heat causes the moisture to decrease, and the decrease in moisture causes the heat to weaken, leading to a cycle where both diminish until the moisture vanishes, and the heat is extinguished, resulting in death.

This is weak. We ask: If the innate heat dries out the innate moisture, why can we not say that the nutritive faculty supplies a replacement? They respond: The nutritive faculty can only supply a replacement if the innate heat is strong; when the heat is weak, it cannot. Here, a vicious cycle (dawr) is established: Moisture decreases only if the nutritive faculty fails to supply a replacement. The nutritive faculty fails only if the innate heat is weak. The innate heat becomes weak only if the innate moisture decreases. This decrease occurs only if the nutritive faculty fails to supply a replacement. Thus, their premise leads to a vicious cycle, which is invalid.

Therefore, attributing the transition between life stages to the influence of natural principles is flawed. We must conclude that these conditions are attributed to the Capable, Willing, Wise, Merciful God, who manages animal bodies according to their welfare. This is the intended conclusion.

I recall reading Surah Al-Mursalat one day, and when I reached the verses: {Did We not create you from a despised fluid? Then We placed it in a firm resting place, For a determined period. So We determined—and how excellent are We at determining! Woe that Day to those who deny!} (Al-Mursalat 77:20–24) I thought: Undoubtedly, the deniers referred to here are those who attribute the formation of animal bodies to natural forces and the effect of heat on moisture. I firmly believe, O Lord of Might, that these arrangements are not from nature but from the Creator of the universe, the Most Wise of judges and the Most Generous of the generous.

Once this is established, the truth of {And Allah created you} is confirmed by rational proof, as we have proven that the creator of human and animal bodies is not nature, but Allah (SWT).

Regarding {then He causes you to die}: We have shown that the reason they cite for death is false and leads to the vicious cycle. Since that is refuted, life and death occur only by the creation and decree of Allah.

Regarding {and among you is he who is returned to the most abject age}: We have proven by evidence that nature cannot be the cause of a human's transition from perfection to deficiency, or from strength to weakness. Therefore, we must conclude that the transition from youth to old age, from health to frailty, and from complete intellect to heedless confusion, is not dictated by nature but by the Act of the Decisive Actor (Allah). Thus, what the Quranic text indicates is confirmed by definitive proof.

Finally, {Indeed, Allah is Knowing, Able}. This is the foundation upon which all the preceding points rest. Nature is ignorant; it cannot distinguish between a beneficial time and a harmful time, so these bodily changes cannot be attributed to it. However, the Lord of the universe, its manager and creator, is perfect in knowledge and perfect in power. Because of His perfect knowledge, He knows the measure of benefits and harms, and because of His perfect power, He is capable of achieving benefits and repelling harms. Therefore, it is appropriate to attribute the creation of animals to the Lord of the universe, and it is impossible to attribute it to nature. (And Allah knows best.)

The exegetes state: {And Allah created you} when you were nothing, {then He causes you to die} when your appointed terms expire, {and among you is he who is returned to the most abject age} (arḍal al-ʿumr), meaning the worst and weakest age. The root radhula means something became base or degraded. Hence the verse: {except those whom they follow, except the most degraded} (Ash-Shuʿarā’ 26:111).

Does {and among you is he who is returned to the most abject age} include the Muslim, or is it specific to the disbeliever? There are two opinions:

Opinion 1: It includes everyone. It is said that arḍal al-ʿumr refers to extreme old age.

• It is narrated from Ali (peace be upon him) that he said: The most abject age is seventy-five years.
• Qatadah said: Ninety years.
• As-Suddī said: It means senility (al-kharf), which is the loss of intellect.

The first view (extreme old age) is stronger because if arḍal al-ʿumr meant the loss of intellect, then the statement {so that he knows nothing after having known anything} would mean that Allah returns him to this age for the purpose of removing his intellect. This would make the age itself the intended goal, which is nonsensical.

Opinion 2: It is specific to the disbelievers. This condition does not apply to Muslims. A Muslim only gains greater honor with Allah through longevity. It is not appropriate to say a Muslim is returned to the most abject age. The evidence for this is the verse: {Then We return him to the lowest of the low, Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds} (At-Tīn 95:5–6). Allah clarifies that those who believe and do righteous deeds are not returned to the lowest of the low. `Ikrimah reported that whoever memorizes the Quran will not be returned to the most abject age.

Regarding {Indeed, Allah is Knowing}: Ibn Abbas said this refers to what He does to His allies and His enemies. {Able} means capable of whatever He wills.

This verse, in addition to proving the existence of the Decisive Actor God, also proves the validity of Resurrection and the Hereafter.

1. From Non-Existence to Existence and Back: Man was pure non-existence (ʿadam maḥḍ). Allah brought him into existence, and then He causes him to cease to exist a second time (death). This proves that just as his return to non-existence in the second instance was possible (since he was non-existent initially), his return to existence in a second life is also possible.
2. From Death to Life and Back: Man was dead when he was a drop of fluid, then became living, and then died. Since the first death was possible, a second death is possible. Similarly, since the first life was possible, a return to life in the second instance is necessary/possible.
3. From Ignorance to Knowledge and Back: In his earliest childhood, man is ignorant, knowing nothing. Then he becomes knowledgeable, rational, and understanding. When he reaches the most abject age, he returns to the state he was in during childhood—the absence of intellect and understanding. Since the absence of intellect occurred once, its return is possible.

If this is established, it proves that whoever has died and ceased to exist, the return of his existence, his life, and his intellect is permissible. If this is the case, then the assertion of Resurrection, Gathering, and Reinstatement is true. (And Allah knows best.)

Verse 71

{And Allah has favored some of you over others in provision. But those who are favored will not yield their provision to those whom their right hands possess so that they may be equal therein. Then is it the favor of Allah they deny?}