Is the Afterlife Resurrection Spiritual or Material?

A number of recent prominent Islamic thinkers believe the resurrection of after life described in Quran is meant to be understood figuratively and not literally. That is, we will come back to life with a spiritual body and our material body will not be restored.

Perhaps this is one of the fundamental questions that all believers may ask God at some point in the evolution of their faith.  That is why, Quran has address this subject as follows:

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

2:260

وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ ۖ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن ۖ قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي ۖ قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِّنَ الطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ اجْعَلْ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِّنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ادْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا ۚ وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

And [mention] when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead." [ Allah ] said, "Have you not believed?" He said, "Yes, but [I ask] only that my heart may be satisfied." [ Allah ] said, "Take four birds and commit them to yourself. Then [after slaughtering them] put on each hill a portion of them; then call them - they will come [flying] to you in haste. And know that Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise."

2:59

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ أَنْ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ إِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ قَالَ أَنَا أُحْيِي وَأُمِيتُ ۖ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

Or [consider such an example] as the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin. He said, "How will Allah bring this to life after its death?" So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him. He said, "How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day." He said, "Rather, you have remained one hundred years. Look at your food and your drink; it has not changed with time. And look at your donkey; and We will make you a sign for the people. And look at the bones [of this donkey] - how We raise them and then We cover them with flesh." And when it became clear to him, he said, "I know that Allah is over all things competent."

10:45

وَيَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ كَأَن لَّمْ يَلْبَثُوا إِلَّا سَاعَةً مِّنَ النَّهَارِ يَتَعَارَفُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ قَدْ خَسِرَ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِلِقَاءِ اللَّهِ وَمَا كَانُوا مُهْتَدِينَ

"And on the Day when He will gather them, [it will be] as if they had not remained [in the world] but an hour of the day, [and] they will know each other. Those will have lost who denied the meeting with Allah and were not guided."

صدق الله العلي العظيم

From Quran.com

According to another verse of Quran God knows what is in our heart We can therefore, understand that the verse 2:260 is directly addressing the same concern of all humans namely how God can revive a dead?  It is not a blasphemy to ask God an honest question as Abraham did. This verse also proves that God will never ignore our doubts and questions if we are really keen to know the answer. We however,  tend to avoid a direct conversation with God, most of us at least.

This is mainly because if we are answered and it becomes clear to us that God has somehow answered us, then it will become our responsibility to either testify the truth or to deny it.  Each choice will bring about huge consequences in our life, which we mostly rather to avoid.  I believe, most of us, can not believe and do not want to believe that every ordinary human can enter a direct conversation with God. Perhaps, that is one of the qualities that make us different from a prophet.

That said, God's answer to our doubt on resurrection clarifies that our material body will be restored with its appearance before death. The verse 2:260 also implies that our body will be revived in a way that it will have full functionality since the revived birds could fly back to Abraham.

God must be a perfect philosopher too as he has also addressed this subject from another perspective. In verse 2:59, a believer who is passing by the remains of an ancient village  asks God how he can revive them.   " So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him. ....." , Which is a beautiful story and self explanatory.

Thirdly, verse 10:45 states that when people are revived after life they recognize each other.  This can only be possible if we are resurrected in our material body that we have lived in over our life on earth where we get to know others. Otherwise we will not be able to identify our acquaintances by their soul.

Lastly, while it is understandable that interpreting the Resurrection day as merely spiritual may be a solution to some apparently incomprehensible descriptions of heaven and hell, it seems clearly contrary to the above mentioned verses of Quran.  Hence reducing resurrection day to only spiritual revival can not be the truth.