وَحَرَٰمٌ عَلَىٰ قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَٰهَآ أَنَّهُمْ لَا يَرْجِعُونَ
23:100-101; 36:32.
Important Words:
حرام (inviolable law) is inf. noun fromحرم . They say حرم علیه i.e. it was or became forbidden or unlawful to him. It (a place or a right or a function) or he was or became sacred or inviolable or entitled to respect or honour. حرام means, forbidden or prohibited or unlawful; sacred or inviolable (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:145.
Commentary:
The verse means to say that it is an inviolable divine law that the dead are never sent back to this world. Those who pass away from this world pass away forever (23:100, 101; 39:43). This meaning of the verse is supported by a well-known saying of the Holy Prophet according to which a companion of his named ‘Abdullah was slain in a battle. The Prophet told ‘Abdullah’s son, Jabir, that he had seen in a dream that God was so pleased with his father that He had asked ‘Abdullah what thing he would love to have so that the same might be given to him, and ‘Abdullah replied that he wished to be sent back to the world so that he might fight and be slain again in the cause of truth, to which God the Almighty said: "This cannot be because the word has gone forth from Me that the dead shall not return to the world" (Majah & Nasa’i).