بســم
اللــه الرحمــن الرحيــم
والصلاــة
والسلاــم علــى نبيــه الكريــم
وعلــى
اهــل بيتــه الطيبيــن الطاهريــن المظلوميــن
والعاقبة
للمتقين
It is quite odd that the mainstream, orthodox Ulama
insist that the Messiah son of Maryam (alayhis-salam) is at present
alive with a worldly and corporal life, having been raised up to heaven in his
physical body, when there are numerous compelling statements in the Qur’an
al-Karim which proclaim that he is deceased. Even if the Qur’an was silent on
the matter of whether the Messiah is dead or alive, those who believe he is
alive would still have to bring explicit proof to substantiate their view. This
is because the rational principle is that it is to be assumed that a person of
ancient times died, as all mortal human beings are meant to die and cannot live
beyond the natural human lifespan, even if the death of an ancient person is
not explicitly mentioned. Most of the Ulama have no trouble accepting this
principle when it comes to all the other Prophets besides the Messiah son of
Maryam (alayhum as-salam). In the index of these Prophets, it seems the
only one whose death has been explicitly mentioned by name is sayyidina Ya’qub (alayhis-salam):
أَمْ كُنتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ يَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ
Or were you witnesses when death came to Jacob
(Sura 2:133)
But the Ulama, for the most part, acknowledge the death
of the other prophets along with Ya’qub, even though, according to them, it is
only Ya’qub that has been mentioned by name in the Qur’an as having died. Take
for example sayyidina Alyasa – that is Elisha
- (alayhis-salam), a prophet mentioned in the Qur’an. None of the Ulama
claim that he is alive, despite the fact that there is no explicit mention of
him by name of him having died. Why then do the “orthodox” Ulama argue that the
Messiah is alive? And whether or not the other prophets have been mentioned by
name as having died, the fact of the matter is that there are several Verses in
the Qur’an which explicitly mention the Messiah by name as having died. I have discussed
two of them in the immediate past two entries. However, in this entry I shall
bring forth the Ayah of the Qur’an which categorically states that all the
Apostles of Allah passed away (died), which will necessarily have to include
the Messiah too:
وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ
الرُّسُلُ ۚ أَفَإِن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَىٰ أَعْقَابِكُمْ
And Muhammad is not except an Apostle. Certainly, the Apostles from before
him died. So if he died or is killed will you turn back upon your heels
(Sura 3:144)
The form of the verb khala
has been used here as qad khalat, which I
have translated to mean “died” but which most translations translate to mean “passed
away”. Those who believe the Messiah is physically alive in heaven without
having died, when presented with this Verse, claim that the Messiah “passed
away” without having died. But the linguist, Ibn al-A’rabi (d. 231 H), said that
when applied to a person, the verb khala signifies death:
خَلَا فلانٌ: إِذَا مَاتَ
(Taj al-Urus, v.38 p.11):
Interestingly, another Verse says:
مَّا الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ
مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ وَأُمُّهُ صِدِّيقَةٌ ۖ كَانَا يَأْكُلَانِ الطَّعَامَ
The Messiah son of Mary was not except an Apostle. Certainly, the Apostles
from before him died, and his mother was truthful. They both used to eat food.
(Sura 5:75)
Whether the Ulama translate khalat here to mean “died”
or “passed away”, most of them would certainly admit that all of the Apostles
from before the Messiah son of Mary have died without exception. Yet the exact
same words are used in 3:144, and those Ulama are inconsistent when they say an
exception is made for the Messiah, who merely “passed away” without death,
whereas all the other Apostles plainly died. Now apart from the verb khala
as being applied to people (the Apostles), another proof that the Apostles,
including the Messiah, have all died is the context and objective of this Ayah.
Allah Most High is essentially saying that Muhammad (sall Allahu alayhi
wasallam) is only an Apostle like all the Apostles who were before him, so
if he dies or is killed is that justification for the people to turn apostate
(a rhetorical question)? If none or even some of those Apostles from before
Prophet Muhammad (alayhim as-salam) are alive and didn’t die, the very
purpose of the Ayah in arguing for the humanity and inevitable death or
possible murder of the Prophet would be defeated and rendered meaningless.
Incidentally, when the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) did
die, some of his companions initially were so shocked and refused to
acknowledge his death. Foremost among them was sayyidina Umar (radi Allahu
anhu) who at that time stood up with a naked sword and threatened with the
following words:
إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى
اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَمْ يَمُتْ ، وَلَكِنْ عُرِجَ بِرُوحِهِ كَمَا عُرِجَ
بِرُوحِ مُوسَى ، وَاللَّهِ لَا يَمُوتُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ حَتَّى يَقْطَعَ أَيْدِيَ أَقْوَامٍ وَأَلْسِنَتَهُمْ
“Verily, the Apostle of Allah - sall Allahu alayhi
wasallam - has not died, but rather his spirit has ascended like the
ascension of the spirit of Moses. By Allah! The Apostle of Allah - sall Allahu
alayhi wasallam - will not die until he cuts the hands of peoples and their
tongues!” (Sunan al-Darimi)
While the people were in this hypnotic state, transfixed
on sayyidina Umar and his threats, the Prophet’s closest and most senior
companion, sayyidina Abi Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) emerged and then
addressed those present:
أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّهُ
مَنْ كَانَ يَعْبُدُ مُحَمَّدًا ؛ فَإِنَّ مُحَمَّدًا قَدْ مَاتَ ، وَمَنْ كَانَ
يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ ؛ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ حَيٌّ لا يَمُوتُ . ثُمَّ تَلا هَذِهِ الآيَةَ
وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ سورة آل عمران
آية 144 إِلَى آخِرِ الآيَةِ ، قَالَ : فَوَاللَّهِ لَكَأَنَّ النَّاسَ لَمْ
يَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ هَذِهِ الآيَةَ نَزَلَتْ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ حَتَّى تَلاهَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ يَوْمَئِذٍ . قَالَ : وَأَخَذَهَا
النَّاسُ عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ فَإِنَّمَا هِيَ فِي أَفْوَاهِهِمْ . قَالَ أَبُو
هُرَيْرَةَ : قَالَ عُمَرُ : وَاللَّهِ مَا هُوَ إِلا أَنْ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا بَكْرٍ
يَتْلُوهَا فَعُقِرْتُ حَتَّى وَقَعْتُ إِلَى الأَرْضِ ، مَا تَحْمِلُنِي رِجْلايَ
وَعَرَفْتُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَدْ مَاتَ
“O you people! Verily, whoever worshiped Muhammad, then verily
Muhammad has died, and whoever worshiped Allah, then Allah is Living and does
not die.” Then he recited this Ayah: And Muhammad is not except an Apostle. The
Apostles from before him died (3:144) until the end of the Ayah. By Allah, the
people did not remember this Ayah having been revealed upon the Apostle of
Allah peace be upon him until Abu Bakr recited it that day. Abu Hurayra said:
Umar said: “By Allah, my legs could not bear to keep me standing and I fell to
the earth when I heard Aba Bakr reciting it, and I realized that the Apostle of
Allah had really died.”
Interestingly, while sayyidina Umar was threatening the
people and denying that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had died, he gave the
example of the ascension of the spirit of Moses for forty nights, when the
Prophet Moses went up to Mount Sinai and the Children of Israel became
impatient believing him to have died. Sayyidina Umar claimed that likewise the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had not died but would soon return to
exact revenge upon the “hypocrites” meaning anyone who was saying that he had
died. If, as the “orthodox” Ulama claim, that the Messiah is physically alive
in heaven, he would have been a more obvious example for sayyidina Umar to cite
when he was denying the death of Prophet Muhammad. The fact that sayyidina Umar
had to resort to citing the example of Prophet Moses instead is proof that even
sayyidina Umar knew that the Messiah is deceased, and it would serve no purpose
to compare the Prophet Muhammad with the Messiah in denying his death.
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