Part II: PROPHET JESUSas HAS DIED: THE QURAN The notion that Hadhrat Jesusas floated into the sky towards God is an Un-Quranic concept. Before going into the specific verses which refute this popular belief, it should be noted that Heaven is a spiritual state which our souls experience AFTER death. It is not a physical location beyond the stratosphere. By climbing Mount Everest, we do not come closer to God! Humans, according to the Quran, must live and die in the physical universe. And for you there is an abode on the earth and a provision for a time, He said, therein shall you live and therein shall you die and therefrom shall you be brought forth. ( 7:25-6) Have we not made the earth so as to hold the living and the dead? (77:26-7) On one occasion the enemies of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, challenged him that they will not believe in him unless he ascend up into heaven and send down to us a Book. (17:93) The Holy Prophetsaw replied: Holy is my Lord! I am but a mortal sent as a messenger. (17:93) Thus the Prophets, like all humans, lived and died on the earth. If Jesus is alive today, he must be more than a mortal. IF ANY HUMAN BEING WAS ABLE TO GO TO HEAVEN WITH HIS PHYSICAL BODY THEN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OUR BELOVED HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMADsaw, THE GREATEST OF ALL PROPHETS. But the verses above indicate that since he is but a man, it is not possible. I will cause you to die An important verse is the following: When Allah said, O Jesus, I will cause you to die and will raise you to myself, and will clear thee of those who disbelieve, and will place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve, until the Day of Resurrection, then to Me shall be your return and I will judge between you concerning that wherein you differ. (3:56) The verse clearly indicates that Hadhrat Jesusas was to die a natural death and then only would he be raised to Allah. The verse does not say that Hadhrat Jesusas will be raised first then will die. An important word used in the Quran is mutawaffi, derived from tawaffa. When God is the subject and a human is the object, tawaffa means to take away the soul, i.e, death. Zamakhshari (467-538 A.H), an Arab linguist of great repute says, Mutawaffika means, I will protect you from being killed by the people and will grant you full lease of life ordained for you, and will cause you to die a natural death not being killed (Kashshaf). Scholars and commentators like Hazrat Ibn Abbas, Imam Malik, Imam Bukhari, Imam ibn Hazm, Imam ibn Qayyin, Qatadah, Wahhab and others are of the same view. Note that the same word Tawaffa, has been used in other places in the Quran to indicate death. For example, 2:235: and those of you who die (yatawaffou-na) and leave wives behind, these wives shall wait concerning themselves for four months and ten days. Another important word is rafaa, which means raising, elevating, lifting, exaltation, honor. When the rafaa of a man is spoken of as being towards Allah, the meaning is invariably spiritual elevation and exaltation. For example the Quran says about Prophet Enoch: We exalted him to a lofty station (19:58). A commentary of the Quran by Ibn Khatib (modern Egyptian Commentary) summarizes: And those who assert that Jesus is dead, point to the word of the exalted God: every soul shall taste death, and Jesus, peace be upon him belonged to the human species for which death is ordained. Some people presume that he is dead, and lies buried in a locality which they mention by name, and may be it is India, and God - may He be exalted - knows best what He has said and done. The Crucifixion The verse that refers to the crucifixion is 4:158,159: And for their saying, We did slay the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah; whereas they slew him not, nor did they bring about his death upon the cross, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified; and those who differ therein are certainly in a state of doubt about it; they have no certain knowledge thereof, but pursue only a conjecture; and they did not arrive at a certainty concerning it. On the contrary, Allah exalted him to himself. And Allah is Mighty, Wise. The argument of the Jews was that because Hadhrat Jesusas died on the cross, considered an accursed death according to the law of the Torah, Hadhrat Jesusas could not be a true prophet. The Quran rejects the slaying of Hadhrat Jesusas in any form, including killing by nailing to the cross. Nothing in the verse suggests Hadhrat Jesusas was NOT nailed to the cross: the verse only denies DEATH by nailing to the cross. The words Shubbi-ha la hum means he made it or him to be like it or him, or dubious. The question arises, who is the person who was made to appear like one crucified. Clearly it was Hadhrat Jesusas whom the Jews tried to crucify or slay. The theory invented by some Muslim commentators that someone else was made to look like Hadhrat Jesusas and was then crucified in his place, is simply absurd. The context of the verse cannot be twisted to make room for someone else. No one else is mentioned. Besides, the belief that God made someone else, an innocent person, look like Hadhrat Jesusas, and die in his place, makes God look very cruel. As shown here in this future article, the belief of a Jesus-look-alike dying on the cross instead of Hadhrat Jesusas has its origin in Christianity, and came into Islamic belief through conversion of Christians to Muslims. So the Quran is clear that Hadhrat Jesusas only appeared to be crucified, and in fact the Jews were in a state of doubt. The last portion quoted above refers to rafaa, spiritual exaltation. The plan of the Jews to make Hadhrat Jesusas appear accursed by making him die the accursed death of crucifixion failed, and on the contrary, Hadhrat Jesusas survived the crucifixion. In the sight of Allah, Hadhrat Jesusas was not accursed. In summary, according to the Quran, humans live and die in the physical universe. Prophets are human beings. Prophets, like all humans, are subject to hunger, pain, death, etc. The Quran is clear that Hadhrat Jesusas was a human being like the Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw. To say that Hadhrat Jesusas is alive today, 2000 years after he was born, is to make him more than a human. The Laws of God do not change. In fact, the Quran makes a general statement: But you will never find any change in the way of Allah, nor will you find any alteration in the way of Allah. (35:44) Co
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 05:41:01 +0000
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