Can we believe in Bahaullah\'s allegorical resurrection?

Here I hope to examine Bahaullah\'s idea of a spiritual resurrection rather than a bodily resurrection. Basically Bahaullah says that the term \'Resurrection\' in the Quran does not refer to a physical resurrection of humans, but rather a form of spiritual awakening for the portion of humanity at that time. This spiritual awakening, he claims, is actually a new office of Messenger from God, bringing a new holy book, new laws and a new calendar.

In Kitab-i-Eqan, Bahaullah quotes Surah Takwir saying that \'stars falling\' doesn\'t mean physical stars but rather the height of knowledge. From there he finally comes to the point of Qiyamah, the resurrection and says something to the effect that if there rest could be metaphorical, then the resurrection is also metaphorical for a new prophet, namely himself.

I took the following excerpt from http://bahai-library.com/unpubl.articles/resurrection.html :

THE RESURRECTIONS OF THE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD


With regard to the Resurrection of the Manifestation of God, Baha\'u\'llah wrote, \"...by `Resurrection\' is meant the rise of the Manifestation to proclaim His Cause ...\" (Kitab-i-Iqan, p.170). And `Abdu\'l-Baha, Baha\'u\'llah\'s Son, explained:


The resurrections of the Divine Manifestations are not of the body. All their states, their conditions, their acts, the things they have established, their teachings, their their expressions, their parables, and their instructions have a spiritual and divine signification, and have no connection with material things. (Some Answered Questions, old ed., p.119)


When the Manifestation of God begins His Ministry, symbolized, with Moses, by the appearance of a Burning Bush, with Zoroaster, by the Sacred Fire, with Buddha, by the bo tree, with Jesus, by the dove, with Muhammad, by the angel Gabriel, with the Bab (Baha\'u\'llah\'s Forerunner), by a vision of the Imam Husayn (one of the central figures in Shi\'ih Islam), and with Baha\'u\'llah, by a vision of the Maid of Heaven, He is, figuratively, \"resurrected.\" That is to say, He arises to begin His earthly Mission.

The above is one of the re-interpretations of Bahaullah. Of course many Baha’is have come to believe this and espoused it into their core beliefs. Its just unfortunate that Baha’is do not actually pickup the Quran to re-confirm such an  interpretation of the Resurrection.

I leave Baha’is to their own belief of course, they are free to opt for Bahaullah version of resurrection if they like. I just want to mention that the verse mentioned by Bahaullah was not the only verse on resurrection. Let us now examine with our own eyes what the Quran says about resurrection and you be the judge whether it metaphorical or physical, shall we? Look at the verse below, I\'ve included what early scholars were taught about its explanation. Some info were taken from http://www.islam-guide.com/life-after-death-by-wamy.htm :

Quran Surah 45 verse 24: 
And they say, \"There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time.\" And they have of that no knowledge; they are only assuming.

Tafsir al-Jalalayn

And they, those who deny the Resurrection, say, ‘There is only, that is to say, [the only] life [is], our life, the one that is, in this world. We die and we live, that is to say, some die, while others are given life by [virtue of] being born, and nothing but time, that is, [nothing but] the passage of time, destroys us’. God, exalted be He, says: Of that, saying, they have no knowledge; they are only making conjectures.

Quran Surah 45 verse 25:  

And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, their argument is only that they say, \"Bring [back] our forefathers, if you should be truthful.\"

Tafsir al-Jalalayn

And when Our signs, of the Qur’ān, indicating Our power to resurrect, are recited to them, being clear signs, evident [signs] (bayyinātin, ‘clear signs’, is a circumstantial qualifier), their only argument is to say, ‘Bring us our fathers, alive, if you are being truthful’, [when you say] that we will be resurrected.

Quran Surah 45 verse 26: 
Say, \" Allah causes you to live, then causes you to die; then He will assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt, but most of the people do not know.\"

Tafsir al-Jalalayn

Say: ‘God [is the One Who] gives you life, when you are sperm-drops, then makes you die, then gathers you, alive, to the Day of Resurrection, in which there is no doubt; but most people, and these are the one who say the above-mentioned, do not know’.

The above verses of the Quran talks about how the people during the time of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were of the notion that there\'s nothing after this worldly life.

Importantly, is the fact that they argued about the resurrection by asking the Prophet Muhammad to bring back their forefathers if the resurrection was real. Now why would they ask such a thing if they understood the resurrection to be metaphorical? If the Quran spoke about a metaphorical resurrection, shouldn\'t they ask about the time when a another messenger would come?

But instead they sarcastically ask the Prophet to resurrect their ancestors. But Allah instructed the Prophet Muhammad to \'say\' to them Allah is the one who caused you to live and die and then Allah will assemble them for during the resurrection. Allah mentions in detail to refute their argument of instantaneous resurrection by telling them that the resurrection is an event which will take place after they lived and died, then they would be resurrected. If the resurrection truly meant the coming of another messenger, then it would be prudent to point out that it would be their children who would see the resurrection and no them. But instead Allah takes the time to elaborate in the Quran that the resurrection would happen to the people whom He was addressing, that they would live and die and be assembled. Not their generations to come, but rather they themselves.

Yet in another Surah known as Yaseen, Allah recorded the following verses:

Quran 36:78-81

[78] And he makes comparisons for Us, and forgets his own (origin and) Creation: he says, \"Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)?\"  
[79] Say, \"He will give them life Who created them for the first time! for He is well-versed in every kind of creation!  
[80] \"The same Who produces for you fire out of the green tree, when behold! ye kindle therewith (your own fires)!
[81] \"Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like thereof? \"Yea, indeed! for He is the Creator Supreme of skill and knowledge (infinite)!

Look at the preciseness of the Quran, the Speech of Allah himself. The people used to question the physical resurrection by asking: Is it possible to physically come back to life after our bones are dried and decomposed?

So was Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) talking to them about a metaphorical resurrection for them to ask him this question?

Were the people of that time, deaf? No they heard correctly, but they couldn\'t believe the Prophet was talking about a physical resurrection. Glorious is Allah who had recorded their statements and questions so that we can understand during our time that the resurrection was never meant to spiritual or metaphorical.

I leave it to the reader to decide who\'s telling the truth.

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