It sometimes happens that the part of one man’s body become the part of another. It may be direct like in the days of famine when people resort to cannibalism or indirect in the way when the body turns into dust and part of his clay becomes the part of some plant (like lentils, vegetables or fruits) that he eats or that the plant is eaten by an animal and it in turn becomes food for human beings. It is also possible that the dust from the human body turn into gas and is inhaled by some person.

It is also possible that the body of one person changes into the body of another.

The question is at the time of resurrection when the soul return then to which body will it return? If it becomes the soul of the original body then the rest of the bodies become incomplete and if it joins the later body then the first body will remain incomplete. It is also possible that some people may be good and some bad. What will be fate of these parts?

The background of the verse 260 of Sarah Baqarah about apostle Abraham and the four birds tells us that his question was about the their physical resurrection and the eater and the eaten. He had seen a dead body near the river the parts of which were in the water and was being eaten river creatures while the part that was on land was being eaten land creatures. This scene set apostle Abraham thinking and this is why He asked God for a visible display of resurrection.

The answer.

Various answers have been given to these ancient objections and the most famous is the one about the original parts. The believers in this theory say that the human body consists of two parts, the original and the non-original and the later are those that increase and decrease.

The real parts remain even after death and even if they turn to dust then that dust does not become the part of another animal’s body. On the Day of Judgment these parts will constitute the human body and the soul will join it.

Some traditions also support this theory. The tradition says that Musaddiq bin Sadaqa quotes Ammar bin Musa that he asked Imam Jafar Sadiq, “Will all of the dead body decay?”

The Imam answered: “Yes and even his flesh and bones will not be spared excepting for the clay from which he was originally made. That portion will not decay and will always remain in the grave till the time when it is created as it was created originally.” (1)

There is another tradition from Imam Jafar Sadiq which is not very confirmed that he spoke about the slaughter of the cow of Bani Israel:

“They took a part of the slaughtered cow and struck the dead man (it was the last part of the spinal chord) with something from which the sons of Adam were to be created and they will find this system when they are created anew” (2)

The point to be noted here is that since the second tradition is “Mursal’ (unconfirmed) it is weak and the first Hadith needs to be debated because the personality of Umar bin Saeed is controversial.

Moreover, you will see that this tradition is not correct according to the Qura’n and so they cannot be relied upon.

The modern research of the scientists negates this issue and makes no difference between the parts of the body. They believe that all parts of the body can turn into dust and become part of another person physically. Those who believe in the original parts believe the spinal chord to be the original part. According to them it is not destroyed with the passing of the time while observations do not confirm this. It has often happened that the entire body has been turned to dust because of fire and there is no difference betweens its dust and the dust of other bodies.

This theory is incorrect according to the Qura’n. The Qura’n says the Bedu who brought the bone and said who will make it alive was answered by the Qura’n in verse 78-79 of Sarah Yasin that say, “ He sets a parable for us forgets his own creation. He says, “Who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away and turned to dust?” 79. “Say, “He who created them first will give life to them. And He is the knower of every creation!”

It is very far fetched to believe that the Bedu was asking this while he had the spinal chord in his hands.

From the story of apostle Abraham we learn that the body parts of the four birds would return to their original form.

Keeping the present conditions and the Qura’nic meaning in mind we can not rely on this answer also and a single source of news is not enough for it.

Some people have adopted another path for the issue of “Aakal o Makool” and said that it is not imperative that the same parts of the body return because the personality of person is attached to his soul and which ever body the soul adopts will be the original person. So the changes and replacements of the body parts during life do not harm the person.

There is nothing to stop God from creating another body and the soul may join it and then this soul together with the body may enjoy the gifts of Paradise or suffer the punishments of Hell. We know that the issue of pleasure and pain is connected to the soul and the body is nothing but an agent.

This answer is also incorrect because it clashes with all the verses of the Qura’n. as we have mentioned in our previous discussion the Qura’n says that the same decayed bones will rise from the graves and not that God will create a new body for the soul to join. So the above answer also in not reliable.

1. Behar-ol-Anwar Vol.7 page 43 Hadith 21

2. Behar-ol-Anwar vol. 7 page 43 Hadith 19.