The Event: (60) "We have decreed death among you..."

There are several issues concerning this verse.

Issue 1: The Ordering of the Statement

There are two main perspectives on the ordering here:

First View: It confirms what preceded it. This is like His saying, "He who created death and life" (Al-Mulk: 2), followed by, "We created you" (Al-Waqi'ah: 57), and then, "We have decreed death among you." If the One who can bring about life and death—two opposites—is established as having free will (mukhtār), then resurrection after death is possible from Him. This contrasts with a situation where life comes from a source that lacks the power of death; one might assume that source is necessary (mūjib) rather than having free will. A necessary agent cannot do everything possible. Thus, He says: "We created you and decreed death among you," so reflect upon this, and know that We are capable of creating you a second time.

Second View: It is a response to a denier who argues: If life and death were merely natural occurrences in bodies—due to the accumulation or depletion of humors (heat and moisture)—then death would not occur. How fitting is it for the Wise Creator to create something perfectly, give it a beautiful form, then spoil it, annihilate it, and then bring it back and create it anew? He responds by saying: "We have decreed death among you." Your questions—Why annihilate? Why create anew? Why destroy and rebuild?—are irrelevant, because the perfection of power necessitates this. It is only ugly for a goldsmith or builder to create, build, break, and recreate because it requires time and effort. This is like a person looking at something, momentarily averting their gaze, and then returning their gaze. God, the Exalted, is far above this analogy, because in the human case, movement and time are required, and if this happened repeatedly, the person would tire. However, in a single instance, fatigue is not established. God Almighty is free from fatigue, and His action requires neither time nor movement of a physical body.

A More Subtle Third View: The preceding verse, "Have you considered what you emit?" (Al-Waqi'ah: 58), means: Have you considered that semen (manī) is lifeless? If you reflect, you will know that before this, it was alive, connected to a living being, possessing perceptive parts that felt pain and pleasure. Then, when it is emitted, you do not doubt that it is dead, like inanimate objects. Yet, God Almighty creates it as a human being and makes it a well-formed person. The drop of fluid (nuṭfah) was alive before separation, then became dead, and then God revived it once more. Therefore, know that just as We first created you, then decreed death among you, and will create you a third time, do not deem this far-fetched, just as in the case of the semen drop.

Issue 2: Difference from Surah Al-Mulk

What is the difference between this passage and the beginning of Surah Al-Mulk, where it says, "He who created death and life" (Al-Mulk: 2), mentioning death first?

We say: The discussion here follows the original sequence, as stated in other places, such as: "And indeed We created man from a extract of clay" (Al-Mu'minun: 12), followed later by, "Then indeed, after that, you are to die" (Al-Mu'minun: 15). As for Surah Al-Mulk, we will discuss its benefit, God willing. It refers to what we mentioned: that He created death in the semen drop after it was alive when connected, and then created life within it after death, which is evidence for the Resurrection. Alternatively, the death mentioned there refers to the death that comes after life, while the death here refers to the one before life (i.e., the death of the semen drop).

Issue 3: Difference in Terminology (Creation vs. Decree)

Here, He says, "We have decreed" (qaddarnā), but in Surah Al-Mulk, He says, "created death and life" (khalaqa al-mawt wal-ḥayāh). Here, He says, "We created you" (khalaqnākum), and "We have decreed death among you" (qaddarnā baynakum al-mawt).

We say: In Al-Mulk, the intent was to state that death and life are created absolutely, not specifically concerning humans. Here, since He said, "We created you" (Al-Waqi'ah: 57), He specified them. It is as if He meant: We created your life, so if He had said, "We decreed your death," it would imply their death must occur immediately, which is not the case. This is why He said, "We have decreed among you." In Al-Mulk, death and life were created in two contexts, not specifically relative to a particular group.

Issue 4: The Significance of "Among You" (Baynakum)

Is there a significant benefit in using the phrase "among you" instead of other words?

Yes, a profound benefit, which becomes clear when comparing it to alternative phrases: "We decreed death for you" (lakum) or "We decreed death in you" (fīkum).

1. If He said, "We decreed death in you" (fīkum), it would imply creation within us, as a container holds its contents (like whiteness in the body or kohl in the eye). But death is not created in us in that sense.
2. If He said, "We decreed death for you" (lakum), it suggests that death is something set aside for you, implying it belongs to someone else today and will be yours tomorrow, like His saying, "And these days We alternate among the people" (Al 'Imran: 140).

The phrase "among you" (baynakum) avoids these implications.

Issue 5: The Meaning of "We are not to be preceded" (Mā Naḥnu bi-Masbūqīn)

The famous interpretation is that it means: We are not overcome or rendered incapable of creating you and restoring you after your parts have scattered. The phrase fātahu al-shay’ means something overcame him, and he could not attain it, similar to sabaqahu.

Based on this, we reiterate the point about the ordering: If "We have decreed death among you" explains that He created life and decreed death (two opposites), then the Creator of opposites must be capable and possess free will. Therefore, He says, "And We are not to be preceded," meaning: We are not incapable of anything. This contrasts with a necessary agent (mūjib), which cannot bring about both opposites; fire, for instance, cannot cause cooling because its nature necessitates heating—it is preceded by the inability to do otherwise.

Alternatively, if this is a rebuttal to those who said that death occurring through the annihilation of original humors and the extinguishing of natural heat, rather than by the decree of a Wise, Willful Creator, would be unjustifiable—as why would the Wise build and then demolish, create and then annihilate?—then He says: "And We are not to be preceded," meaning: We are not incapable in any way that they deem impossible for a builder or goldsmith, who requires time, place, opportunity, and suffers fatigue from movement. God Almighty creates by saying "Be," and it is. This is superior to the analogy of averting and returning one's gaze in the quickest instant, where one cannot be questioned for averting the gaze in that subtle, imperceptible moment. The claim of perfect power over something in a short time is demonstrated by rapid movement: performing an action, nullifying it, performing another, and nullifying it—like the actions of sleight-of-hand artists who feign an action, nullify it, and then produce something else to show their power.

In this context, His saying in Surah Al-Mulk, "He created death and life to test you" (Al-Mulk: 2), means He caused death and life so that you would know He is a willful agent, leading you to worship Him and believe in reward and punishment, thus improving your deeds. If you believed it was necessary, you would do nothing.

The apparent meaning of "And We are not to be preceded" is its literal meaning, which implies two things:

1. He is the First; nothing preceded Him.
2. Regarding the creation of people and the decree of death among them, nothing preceded His action.

This is a method of establishing another defense: If "We are not to be preceded" means nothing preceded Him, it indicates that no matter which path of reasoning you follow, you will end up at God and stop there, never surpassing Him. If you say: Before the semen drop was a father, and before the father a semen drop, reason dictates that semen drops and fathers must terminate in an uncreated Creator, and that Creator is Me, for I am not preceded; there is no creator or predecessor before Me. This proceeds by gradual descent from a high station. The intelligent person guided by strong guidance knows the first principle first, and the lesser knowledge follows. The obstinate person, if they return to their intellect after considering the stages, must acknowledge that everything requires a God, and He is not preceded in what He does.

If it means He did what He did, and His creation had no precedent, then regarding His re-creation, having no precedent is even easier, like His saying, "And it is easier for Us" (Ar-Rum: 27). This is supported by His saying, "to change your likenesses and bring you forth in a creation which you know not." If someone objects that this interpretation contradicts the context of a questioner, implying the meaning is: "Indeed, We are capable, and We are not to be preceded," meaning: We are not incapable—this is our proof. This is because "Indeed, We are capable" negates inability, so "And We are not to be preceded" must have a distinct meaning. Then He says, "to change your likenesses," according to the famous interpretation.

The connection of "to change" ('alā an nubaddila) relates to "And We are not to be preceded," meaning: We are not incapable of changing.

The Verification of this View: Whoever precedes something is as if he has overcome it and rendered the other incapable. The preposition 'alā (upon/to) in this context is derived from the usage of the word musābaqah (precedence), as one precedes over something; whoever precedes another in a matter is the victor.

In the other view, 'alā relates to "We have decreed": "We have decreed death among you in the manner of changing," not in the manner of cutting off lineage from the beginning, as one says, "So-and-so left on the condition that he would return soon." This connection seems more apparent.

If we accept the commentators' view that "changing your likenesses" (nubaddila amthālakum) means changing your forms and descriptions (where amthāl is the plural of mithāl), meaning: We are not incapable of transforming you into apes and pigs, like His saying, "And if We willed, We could have transformed them in their place" (Ya-Sin: 67)—and if we maintain the interpretation of masbūqīn as "incapable," and connect 'alā an nubaddila amthālakum to "We have decreed"—then "changing their likenesses" means changing their forms, not their actions.

This raises an objection against all commentators who interpret amthāl as the plural of mithāl, which is the apparent meaning (e.g., "then they will not be like you" [Muhammad: 38] and "And if We willed, We would surely replace their likenesses with a complete replacement" [Al-Insan: 28], where idhā implies occurrence). Transformation of descriptions through disfigurement is not something that occurs.

The answer is: Amthāl can either be the plural of mithāl (likeness/form) or the plural of mathal (example/substitute).

1. If it is the plural of mithāl (likeness): We decreed death among you in this manner: We change your descriptions—you become infants, then youths, then middle-aged, then elderly, and then the term limit reaches you. We did not decree death among you by annihilating you all at once, except when the time comes for you to perish by a single blast.
2. If it is the plural of mathal (example/substitute): The meaning of "We will change your likenesses" is: We will make your likenesses substitutes for you, and badal means substitution. It would not be appropriate to say, "We substituted you in this manner," as that implies we made a substitute, not that annihilation befell them. The point is that when someone says, "I made X a substitute," the meaning is incomplete unless they specify what X is a substitute for. Since God says, "We will change your likenesses," the mithāl (likeness) points to the mathal (substitute), as if He said: We made your likenesses substitutes for you. This means We did not decree death by annihilating creation all at once, but rather by making their likenesses replace them for a long period, then annihilating them all, and then creating them anew.

Regarding "in what you do not know" (fīmā lā ta'lamūn): According to the famous interpretation, this refers to the characteristics and dispositions you do not know. The apparent meaning is the characteristics and the time, as no one knows when they will die or when they will be resurrected. Or perhaps they asked: When is the Hour and the re-creation? He replied: You have no knowledge of them. This is based on the famous interpretation.

There is a subtlety here: His saying "in what you do not know" confirms His previous statement, "Do you cause it to grow, or are We the growers?" (Al-Waqi'ah: 59). It is as if He is saying: How can you claim this when you are brought forth in your mothers' wombs with characteristics you do not know? How can the creator of a thing be ignorant of it? This is like His saying, "He is most knowing of you when He produced you from the earth and when you are fetuses in the wombs of your mothers" (An-Najm: 32).

Based on our interpretation, there is a benefit: it encourages righteous action. Since the changing (of forms) and the re-creation (death and resurrection) occur at a time no one knows, one should not rely on the length of life nor neglect preparation. His saying, "And you have certainly known the first creation," confirms the possibility of the second creation.

Then the Almighty says:

(61) "Have you considered what you sow? Do you cause it to grow, or are We the growers?"