Hazrat Uzair A.S
The man who slept for 100
years and was given his life back afterwards was Hazrat Uzair A.S or Prophet
Ezra, reported Hazrat Abdullah bin salam R.A. Hazrat Wahab bin Munba R.A noted
that as a saint and a wise man. He went out one day to his own farm, as was his
custom. On his return, he passed through a ruined building. It was so hot out
there that he decided to take refuge in the building.
He
entered the ruined town and dismounted his donkey, taking figs and grapes in
his basket. He took his bowl and squeezed the grapes in it to soak the dry piece
of bread to make it edible. He then laid down to rest. He observed that the
roof was still intact and looked at what remained of the ruins. The people had
long been lost, and he saw bones. He said:
Oh! How will Allah ever bring it to
life after its death? Ch 2:259 Quran
He
said this not out of doubt but out of curiosity. Allah sent the Angel of Death
to take his life. He remained dead for one hundred years. During his sleep, so
many incidences took place to bani Israel.
After
one hundred years had passed and there had been changes in Israelite affairs,
Allah sent an angel upon Ezra to revive his heart and his eyes in order for him
to feel and see how Allah revives the dead. The angel said: "For how long
did you sleep?" He said: "A day or part of a day." He said this
because he knew he had slept early in the afternoon and woke up late in the
afternoon. The angel said: "You remained asleep for one hundred
years." He ate and drank the food which he had prepared before he was overtaken
by that long sleep. Then the angel revived his donkey.
Almighty
Allah said:
And look at your donkey! Thus We
have made of you a sign for the people. Look at the bones, how We bring them
together and clothe them with flesh." When this was clearly shown to him
he said: "I know now that Allah is able to do all things. Ch 2:259 Quran
Uzair
replied I know Allah knows all and Allah can do anything.
Revisiting his home
He
rode on his donkey and entered his native place, but the people did not
recognize him, nor did his household, except the maid, now an old crippled
woman. She was his servant. When he last saw her, she was 20yrs of age. He
asked her: "Is this the house of Ezra?" She said: "Yes, but the
people have long forgotten Ezra." He said: "I am Ezra, Allah had
taken my life for a one hundred years and has now returned it to me." She
said: "Subhan Allah! Ezra is missing from 100 years and no one seem to
know his whereabouts. Ezra’s prayers were answered when he prayed to Allah. The
sick used to get well when he prayed. Pray to cure me of blindness if you are
Ezra." He prayed for her and massaged her eyes and took her by the hand.
"Get up by the power of Allah," he said. The crippled woman stood up
and walked; she opened her eyes and saw; her blindness was gone. She said:
"I bear witness that you are Ezra."
Testimonies and copying torah
She
rushed to the assembly of the Israelites. Ezra's son was one hundred eighteen
years old, and his children's children now were lords of the assembly. She
called out to them saying: "This is Ezra come to you." They accused
her of lying. She said: "I am your old maid. He has just prayed to Allah
for me, and here I am whole again, walking and seeing." The people stood
up and looked at him. His son said: "My father had a mark between his
shoulders, a black mole," and they discovered it. They said: "None
among us memorized the Torah since Nabuchad nezzar (Bakht Nasr) burned it,
except Ezra; and there was only one copy of the Torah, which was hidden by Uzair/Ezra’s
father. He buried it in the days of Nabuchad nezzar in a place none but Ezra
knows." Ezra led the people to the hidden place and took out that copy of
the Torah. Its leaves had rotted, and the book itself crumpled.
Ezra
sat under the shade of a tree surrounded by the children of Israel. Two stars
shinned on him and entered his body. He readily remembered all the verses of
torah and copied out the Torah for them. Henceforth, the Jews said that Ezra is
the son of Allah, for two evidences which came down from Heaven and for his
copying the torah and for his fighting the cause of the Israelites. For jews,
Moses always had a prewritten script but Ezra had it in his heart due to this
he was called as son of God. He had been copying the Torah for Ezekial in the
land of darkness in the hermitage of Ezekiel. The village which was in ruins is
said to be Sayrabadh.
Ibn
Abbas commanded: " So it is as Allah said:
We have made of you a sign for the
people. Ch 2:259 Quran
That
is, for the Israelites, in that he was sitting among his children, the old men,
and he a youth. He died as a forty year old, and Allah resurrected him at the
same age on the day of his death."
References:
http://storiesofquran.blogspot.com/2011/08/hazrat-uzair-as.html
http://www.ijunoon.com/islam/?section=Qasas+ul+Anbiya&ss=Hazrat+Uzair+%28A.S%29
