THE DOUBT OF THE EATER (AKEL) AND THE EATEN (MAKUL)

[Taqavi]

If a human body is eaten by another, how can it be returned in the resurrection?

 

One of the fundamental beliefs of Islam is belief in the Day of Judgment and the resurrection of humans after death; the question of how the human body, especially in circumstances where the body has been consumed by other creatures, can be restored has always been raised.

Explanation of the doubt

If a human body after death turns into soil and through the roots of trees turns into plants and fruits, then another human eats that plant or fruit and it becomes part of his body; or suppose that during times of famine, a human feeds on the flesh of another human; on the Day of Judgment, to which of these two bodies will the eaten parts belong? If they return to the first body, the second body will be incomplete; and if they belong to the second body, the first body will be incomplete or destroyed;[1] this question is known as the doubt of the eater and the eaten.

Answer to the doubt

Allama Tabatabai, in his commentary on the verse concerning the request of Abraham (AS) to see how Allah raises the dead, [2] refers to two fundamental doubts. The first doubt relates to the scattering and destruction of the body's parts after death. [3] The second doubt, known as the issue of "the eater and the eaten," refers to a situation in which one being is eaten by another and its body parts become part of the predator's body. In this case, if both beings are to be resurrected on the Day of Judgment, determining the original ownership of the shared body parts becomes a serious problem; for if these parts are returned to the first body, the second body will be incomplete, and vice versa; this seemingly unsolvable problem creates a serious doubt about the possibility of bodily resurrection.

In response to these doubts, the Holy Quran presents the fundamental principle of "the body's subordination to the soul"; according to this principle, it does not matter what fate the material parts of the body have met and how they have changed; for by divine will, the soul returns to the body that inherently belongs to it, and the body is arranged in accordance with that soul; this comprehensive answer solves both doubts in a wise way, although the practical experiment mentioned in the Quran about reviving four birds emphasizes more on answering the first doubt. [4]

Mulla Sadra also responds to this doubt as follows:  The "personality" of a human being is with his "soul," not with his body, and the disappearance of some of the bodily matter does not change the person's personality.  If, on the Day of Resurrection, the soul of man belongs to any of the bodies whose parts have changed and perished, or is deficient, or is divided into other parts, the human body will be the same earthly body, and the human being will be exactly the same earthly human being. [5]

Makarem Shirazi, in response to this doubt, stated:  According to the verses of the Holy Quran, which say that the ultimate particles of the human body at the time of death will return to the same body on the Day of Judgment, if a human being has fed on the body of another human being and obtained part of the components of his body from another body, on the Day of Judgment these components will be returned to the original owner's body.

The only challenge here is that the second body seems incomplete; but in reality, the second body does not become incomplete, but rather smaller; because the components of the first body were scattered throughout the second body; therefore, when these components are returned to the first body, the second body becomes thinner and smaller accordingly.

However, this smaller body will still contain all the attributes of the second person without any deficiency, and on the Day of Resurrection it will appear as a complete human being, like a child who is initially small and then grows and becomes an adult; this evolution and growth will not create any intellectual or narrative problem. [6]

The late Allama Hilli, in his commentary on Tajrid al-I'tiqad, explained that when a human being feeds on the body of another human being, he actually uses only the extra and non-essential materials, not the essential and identity core of it. Every human being has essential and constant components that do not change and are not transferred to others; these components are what are used in the resurrection to recreate the body; therefore, Allama Hilli believes that the truth of bodily resurrection lies not in the return of all material particles, but in the revival of the human's original identity.

From Allama's point of view, in presenting this doubt, two invalid assumptions are created: The first assumption, which raises the issue of the return of all the particles of the body throughout life, necessitates the formation of a huge body, which is incompatible with the continuous process of cell regeneration in the body and causes interference between the changing parts of the body. The other assumption is that only the body's particles are collected at the moment of death; this is also unacceptable, as these particles may not be the same ones with which the person sinned or did good during their life, thus undermining the divine system of reward and punishment and being incompatible with divine wisdom in the precise accounting of actions.

Therefore, the only correct assumption is that resurrection is based on the recreation of the essential identity of man; this identity is constant and independent of the material changes of the body; the feeding of creatures on each other only includes waste materials and does not include the inherent essence, and divine power is also able to recreate this identity without any contradiction. [7]

Conclusion

From the foregoing, it can be concluded that the doubt of the eater and the eaten has been met with various responses from Islamic thinkers. These responses are based on several main axes:

The priority of the soul and identity over matter: emphasizing that a person's personality and identity are defined by their soul and spirit, not merely by the material components of the body. Therefore, the return of the soul to the body, even if the body has undergone changes, is sufficient.

The return of the main particles: This view believes that the main particles of the body are returned on the Day of Judgment, even if they cause defects in the body of the eater.

Feeding on waste materials: This is based on the belief that humans feed mostly on the waste materials of each other's bodies, and the main and identity components of the body are preserved.

A precise understanding of the concept of physical resurrection: Some thinkers lean towards the view that physical resurrection does not mean the precise return of all the body's particles, but rather the revival of the main and essential identity of man.

 

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[1] . Tafsir Nemuneh, Makarem Shirazi, Naser, Vol. 2, p. 308.

[2] . Baqarah/260: «وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِنْ قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِنْ لِيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِنَ الطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ اجْعَلْ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ادْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ»

[3] . For a response to this doubt, refer to the question "How is it possible for decayed bones to be revived again?"

[4] . Al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Quran, Allamah Tabatabaei, Vol. 2, p. 379.

[5] . Al-Hikmah al-Muta'aliyah fi al-Asfar al-'Aqliyyah al-Arba'ah, Mulla Sadra, Vol. 9, p. 200.

[6] . Tafsir Nemuneh, Makarem Shirazi, Naser, Vol. 2, p. 310.

[7] . Kashf al-Murad fi Sharh Tajrid al-'Aqa'id, Allamah Hilli, Vol. 1, p. 406.