UZAIR (EZRA)

Uzair invoked to Allah, and her eyesight was recovered. He also asked her to stand up by the leave of Allah. She stood up, looked at him and bore witness that he was indeed Uzair!

A flurry of activity ensued. Bani Israel were gathered in a meeting, including Uzair’s son, who was now also over a hundred years old. The maid proclaimed that this was the same Uzair who had disappeared a hundred years ago. At first, they did not believe her, but she showed proof through her restored eyesight. Uzair’s son needed further convincing, so he described a certain birthmark that was unique to Uzair. Uzair showed the same birthmark to the amazed crowd, thus establishing his identity beyond doubt.

During his time away, the children of Israel were badly oppressed by their enemies, to the point that all their books of faith were eradicated and burnt. Over time, no one could recall the contents of the Taurat anymore, as it had disappeared from sight and memory. However, before Uzair left the village, his father had buried the Taurat in a secret location only known to Uzair, in order to preserve its message. Therefore, the villagers asked Uzair to retrieve the hidden Torah. Unfortunately, the papers had disintegrated and turned rotten, and it was no longer legible to anyone.

Therefore Uzair reproduced the entire Taurat from memory, thus restoring its contents for Bani Israel. As there is nothing in the Qur’an or Sunnah which either confirms or denies the above reports, and given that the above account does not contain anything repugnant to Islamic belief, the rule is that we should neither accept nor reject the truth of the above accounts.

Eventually Bani Israel elevated Uzair’s status to that of being the son of Allah. They started worshipping him as the son of Allah, similar to what they would do to Isa (AS) in later generations. This is blasphemy and is cursed unreservedly in the following passage of the Qur’an:

And the Jews say: ‘Uzair (Ezra) is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths, resembling the saying of those who disbelieved aforetime. Allah’s Curse be on them how they are deluded away from the truth! (At-Taubah, 30)

Lessons to be Learnt

The main lesson is that Allah can do whatever He can and He wants, in the time and manner He wants, without any conditions or restrictions. Allah is above all laws of physics, and above what we believe we know. Allah can change conditions the way He wants it without any permission or intervention from anyone.

Yet the majority to us do not believe in the unknown, because we do not believe in the supreme power and Qudra of Allah. We tend to reject anything that defies logic, whereas our logic is based on a very limited understanding, based on limited rules and what we see rather in our vision rather than what actually exists. We make mistakes by questioning the Qudra of Allah and we forget that when we question the circumstances, we are actually questioning Allah’s omnipotence. Allah wants us to believe in the unseen, but many of us lack the conviction today, taking much of the unseen realm, such as the hereafter, lightly.

Any situation that we undergo is intended to strengthen our iman, not to weaken it. Allah is the One who is able to do everything and the only one we should rely on.

May Allah allow us to to believe in the power and ability of Allah. May Allah allow us to have faith and the certainty of faith, and to trust Allah rather than in our conditions and situations to the point that we allow the situation to weaken our iman, ameen.