Al Mizan- Vol 4 Chapter 2 (224-286)

New revised and edited version

In explaining verse 2:260, the author says that the plea of Abra- ham, 'My Lord! show me how Thou givest life to the dead, " proves that he asked for a demonstration, not for logical reasoning. The prophets (and especially a prophet like Abraham, the friend of God) are too great to believe in the resurrection on the Day of Judgement without any logical reason. A belief without reason is either blind following or also is based on defective intellection. And neither of these two can be attributed to Abraham. Moreover, he used the word "how" which is used to ask about the state and condition of a thing, not about the thing itself. In short, Abraham wanted to know how God gives life to the dead and not as to how the dead accept life. He wanted to see the cause, not the effect. That is why he said, "how Thou givest life to the dead" (active voice); and did not say, "how the dead are made alive" (passive voice).