Dear Br. Nasir Mahmood Assalamo Alaikum

May Allah help you understand Qur'an, and increase your knowledge, Amen!

Here is your question:

 AOA,

 003.144. Muhammad is no more than an apostle: many were the apostle that passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will ye then turn back on your heels? If any did turn back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to God; but God (on the other hand) will  swiftly reward those who (serve Him) with gratitude.

 Does the above ayah mean that Prophet Jesus also passed away and "not raised to heavens" as is generally believed? Regards,

Nasir Mahmood

 

ANSWER:

 Allah (S) has said in verse 55 of chapter 3 that I will re-call (or make you dead) you, and raise you to Me. Here He has used Arabic word 'mutawaffeeka'. In dictionary, it means will recall you, but now it is used for death as well. Thus, there are two points of view. One says Allah has recalled Jesus alive. The other point says that Allah has made him die as well. Let us look into their arguments.

First, the argument that Jesus is dead: Those who argue as such take the meaning of wafat as death. They say that Jesus is dead but his status is raised above other peoples. Here raising him means raising of his status the same as that of the Prophet Muhammad (S), which Allah has mentioned in chapter Alam Nashrah. However, they too agree that Jesus was not crucified as claimed by the Jews and the Christians. To them, Jesus died a natural death. When and where? To them, Allah has not mentioned this.

Now let us look at the argument that Jesus was raised alive, and is still living. They refer to ayaat 157-159 of chapter 4. Allah says "And no doubt, they have not killed him, but Allah has raised him to Himself. And Allah has the power, and is Wise." Here Allah specifically mentions that He has the power of raising Jesus to Himself. Refuting the claim of killing, and then saying that Jesus was raised to Him can only mean that he was raised alive, and not just his status. Suppose, it is only the status that is raised; then what is the specialty in it? There are many martyrs who were raised in status. For example, Hazrat Hamza (R) was killed in a battle, but raised to the status of Syed-ush-Shuhada (Chief of Martyrs). All the believers respect and remember him.

Why then Allah has not used the word death in his case? As regard the word wafat, they argue that Allah has used it in its literal meaning of re-call, as He has used the same word for sleep at night. In verse No. 60 of chapter 6, He says, "It is He who gives you death at night." What type of death is this? Allah re-calls man during his sleep, and does not cause physical death to the sleeping man, he remains physically alive. Moreover, in verse No. 159, Allah says, "And there is none of the people of the book, but must believe in him before his death." The Jews do not believe in him. The Christians have distorted their belief in him. Allah says that they will believe in him before his death. As they do not yet have right belief in him, it means he is still alive. If he is dead, then this statement of Allah, May Allah forgive me, becomes invalid, or should have a different meaning. A hadith says, "Jesus will come back, defeat Dajjal, and every one will believe in him" (Abu Hurairah R, Abu Dawood). This hadith confirms that Jesus is alive and will come back. Where and how is he alive? Allah has not mentioned that.

To sum up the matter, it is a controversial one. We should not indulge ourselves in such needless and unnecessary matter. Hope this will satisfy you. Wassalam

 

Dr. Syed Hasanuddin Ahmad