Returning to Life before the Day of Resurrection in the Beliefs of Jews, Christians, and Muslims

Abstract

The study examines the doctrine of “returning to life before the Day of Resurrection: rajʿah” in Islam (Ahl al-Sunnah and the Twelver Imāmī Shīʿah), Judaism, and Christianity, employing a comparative, analytical theological approach grounded in textual induction and semantic (meaning-based) critique. It concludes that the possibility of reviving the dead is, in general terms, affirmed as an indication of divine omnipotence and as part of the realm of miracles. The point of divergence, however, lies in whether rajʿah is to be affirmed as a future event occurring before the Final Resurrection: Sunni Islam affirms instances of revival as miraculous events while denying a future rajʿah, whereas the Imāmī Shīʿah affirms rajʿah and links it to the appearance of the Mahdī and the return of specific groups. In Judaism and Christianity, conceptions also emerge of an “earthly age” associated with the Messiah:Christ that involves a resurrection or return prior to the final judgment, with spiritual and social ramifications that vary according to the structure and function of the belief.