Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and all his Companions. To proceed:
One of the fundamental principles of Tawhid and faith is that Allah alone truly possesses the power to give life and cause death. He is the Creator of life and death, and He is capable of bringing the dead back to life and resurrecting them after they have perished.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were dead and He gave you life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you to life, and then to Him you will be returned.﴾ [Al-Baqarah 2:28]
And He says:
﴿That is because Allah is the Truth, and He gives life to the dead, and He is over all things competent.﴾ [Al-Hajj 22:6]
And Allah تعالى says:
﴿And He is the One who gave you life, then He will cause you to die, then He will give you life again. Indeed, mankind is ungrateful.﴾ [Al-Hajj 22:66]
Allah تعالى demonstrated the falsehood of the polytheists' belief in their idols and made clear that none of those worshipped besides Allah possesses any of the unique powers of creation, giving life, or causing death.
He says:
﴿Allah is the One who created you, then provided for you, then will cause you to die, then will give you life. Is there any of your partners who can do any of that? Glory be to Him, and exalted is He above what they associate with Him.﴾ [Ar-Rum 30:40]
This verse denies that the alleged partners possess the ability to create, provide, cause death, or give life, and establishes that these matters belong to Allah تعالى alone.
Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti, may Allah have mercy on him, emphasized that these verses explain one another and that the Qur’an repeatedly establishes that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is uniquely capable of giving life, causing death, and resurrecting the dead. This is among matters necessarily known as part of the religion.
Someone may ask: If Allah alone gives life to the dead, how does the Qur’an state that Jesus son of Mary عليه السلام used to bring the dead back to life?
The answer is that Jesus عليه السلام did not bring the dead back to life through an independent power of his own. Rather, it occurred by the permission and power of Allah, and it was a miracle with which Allah supported him as proof of his truthfulness.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿I create for you from clay the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by the permission of Allah ... and I bring the dead to life by the permission of Allah.﴾ [Aal ‘Imran 3:49]
And He says:
﴿And when you brought forth the dead by My permission.﴾ [Al-Ma’idah 5:110]
The repetition of the expressions “by the permission of Allah” and “by My permission” makes clear that this was not an independent power possessed by Jesus عليه السلام. Rather, Allah تعالى caused this miracle to occur through him as a sign supporting his prophethood.
This does not conflict with the fact that Allah تعالى alone possesses the true power to give life and cause death. A created being may be a means through which an extraordinary event occurs, but the act and the power ultimately belong to Allah تعالى.
One of the most famous Qur’anic passages concerning this matter is the debate between Abraham عليه السلام and the one who disputed with him concerning his Lord.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, “My Lord is the One who gives life and causes death,” he said, “I give life and cause death.” Abraham said, “Indeed, Allah brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.” Thus the disbeliever was confounded, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.﴾ [Al-Baqarah 2:258]
The claim of possessing the power to give life and cause death was therefore not a valid argument. When Abraham عليه السلام moved to a clear matter that the man could not answer—the rising of the sun from the east—the man was unable to respond, and the falsehood of his claim became evident.
Here, a distinction must be made between acts whose true power belongs exclusively to Allah تعالى and ordinary actions that human beings perform through normal causes. A person killing another does not mean that he possesses the divine power of causing death, just as saving someone from danger or treating an illness does not mean that a doctor independently possesses the power of giving life.
Allah تعالى is truly the Giver of Life and the Causer of Death, and He alone possesses the power to bring the dead back to life after their death.
As for what occurred through Jesus عليه السلام, it was a miracle that Allah brought about through his hands by His permission, and it was not the result of an independent power possessed by Jesus.
Therefore, it is not permissible for anyone to believe that a human being or any created being possesses an independent, inherent ability to bring the dead back to life or to cause the living to die, because such power belongs exclusively to Allah تعالى.
And Allah knows best.