QUESTION:
I had heard His Eminence, Sheikh al-Habib, mention two narrations that show that the Infalibles (peace be upon them) are capable of reviving themselves.
The first narration concerns the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) preparation for his burial by Imam Ali (peace be upon him). The second concerns the incident in which Imam Ali (peace be upon him) was denouncing the regime of Abu Bakr and the illegitimacy of his claim to the succession.
I also recall a narration stating that Al-Zahra (peace be upon her) held on to Hassan and Hussain (peace be upon them) when she was being washed and prepared for burial.
However, when presenting these narrations as proof to a Batri acquaintance of mine, he objected with the following:
1 – Who said that these narrations are authentic?
2 – Assuming they are authentic, where is your proof that the Prophet revived his own body, i.e., his flesh and bones, and not his soul?
3 – Assuming that the Prophet revived himself, how do you prove that he chose to revive himself of his own volition? It could be that Allah revived him. The Prophet is not capable of reviving himself by himself.
Could you please provide answers to the objections raised above, including any relevant evidence?
ANSWER:
In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful.
May Allah bless Muhammad and his Family and damn their enemies.
Q1 – The standard of accepting such narrations is reliability, not authenticity, which people commonly use. It is only in narrations related to judgments and jurisprudence that authenticity matters. The narration that His Eminence relayed is reliable, and those who object to it must prove and confirm that it is unreliable.
Q2 – We cannot possibly take any lesson from the life of a soul that is separated from its body from this material world. The human eye cannot recognize and become aware of the image and shape of the owner of any given soul unless the soul’s owner is alive in his material shape and body of this world, which differs from his shape of the Barzakh (the world of the dead). If we assume that the soul returned to a worldly vessel that no longer functions (assuming that the soul returns without the body regaining its functions), then there are no physical signs that the human senses can comprehend, making it a purposeless revival.
Q3 – The Sheikh does not say that Allah’s Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him and his family) is capable of reviving himself by a will and ability that is independent of the will and power of Allah (Exalted is He). Everything is in accordance with the will of Allah (Exalted is He). It is a shame that any so-called Shi’a would raise the same kinds of objections to these narrations that a Wahabi would. Is it not narrated of our Imams (may peace be upon them) that the Angels are commanded to obey them? For instance, the Angel of Death is obliged to obey the Seal of the Prophets (blessings and peace be upon him and his family), e.g., if the Prophet wishes to bring his soul back to his body, the Angel of Death must obey.
We do not need to provide further evidence to confirm the validity of this belief. Suffice to say that we can confirm that the Infallibles (peace be upon them) can revive themselves by simply observing the fact that they are capable of reviving the dead – as shown in Qur’an when Prophet ‘Isa (peace be upon him) brought life back to the deceased. And unless evidence of them not being able to revive themselves is presented, we cannot assume that they are incapable of reviving themselves when they can resurrect others. And as mentioned earlier, we have reliable evidence from our sources that the Infallibles (peace be upon them) are capable of self-revival, with the will of Allah.
The Office of Sheikh al-Habib