Question: It is said that the
Prophet Jesus (sws) is to return near the end of this world to establish
the dominance of truth over falsehood. Is this really so? Was it because
of this return that he was lifted alive from the earth and not given death?
Answer: There are certain questions
which arise on the descension of Jesus (sws) which are hitherto unanswered.
Unless a sound answer is given to them, his reappearance cannot be regarded
as an established fact. Here are these questions:
1. The Qur’a#n
is totally silent on this issue. Nowhere has the reappearance of Jesus
(sws) been mentioned in it. Since on his reappearance, every Muslim is
expected to profess faith, the gravity of the matter demands that it be
mentioned in the Qur’a#n which
is supposed to have every article of faith mentioned in it.
2. Not only is the Qur’a#n
silent on the issue, it mentions at one place the dominance of the
followers of Jesus (sws) over the Jews till the day of judgement:
Remember when Allah said: O Jesus I will give death to
you and raise you to Myself and cleanse you from those who have denied.
I shall make those who follow you superior to those who reject faith till
the Day of Judgement. (3:55)
In other words, everything which is to
occur till the Day of Judgement with reference to the supremacy of the
followers of Jesus (sws) is mentioned in these verses. This was perhaps
the most appropriate place to mention that Jesus (sws) will reappear near
the Day of Judgement and be responsible for the supremacy of his followers.
But we find nothing of the sort. The question is: Why?
3. At another place in the Qur’a#n,
the dialogue which will take place between the Almighty and Jesus (sws)
on the Day of Judgement is stated. In this dialogue, Jesus (sws) negates
the innovations of his followers and proclaims his acquittal from them
in the following words:
And remember when Allah will say: O Jesus the son
of Mary Did you say to men: ‘Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation
of Allah’. He will say: Glory to you! Never could I say which I had no
right to say. Had I said such a thing you would have indeed known it. You
know what is in my heart though I know not what is in Yours. For You know
full well what is hidden. Never did I say to them except what You commanded
me to do: Worship Allah my Lord and your Lord and I was a witness over
them while I dwelt with them. When You gave death to me, You were the Watcher
over them and You are a witness over all things. If You punish them they
are Your servants and if You forgive them You are exalted in power, the
wise. (5:119-121)
This is another very appropriate place
where sense and reason demand that the Qur’a#n
mention the return of Jesus (sws). It should have reported that a little
time back he had appeared again on the earth and refuted the self-invented
concepts of his followers. So the question is: Why did this great event
not find a mention at this place as well?
4. The first Book of H@adi#th,
the Mu`at@t@a#
of Ima#m Ma#lik
contains nothing on this topic. This again is very strange. A person
who is writing his book in Madi#nah about
a hundred years after the death of the Prophet (sws) has nothing to report
on this issue, while some of the books of H@adi#th
compiled much later mention this event.
5. Not only is the Mu‘at@t@a#
devoid of any such report, on the contrary, it does mention a dream
or vision of the Prophet (sws) in which he saw Jesus (sws) and the Dajja#l
circumambulating the Ka‘bah:
`Abdulla#h Ibn
`Umar reports that the Prophet said: In a dream, I found myself near
the Ka‘bah one night. I saw a man near the Ka‘bah of brownish
colour, the best of brownish people you could have seen. He had hair till
his shoulders, the best you could have seen of such appearance. He combed
his hair while they dripped with water and he was leaning on two people
... and circumambulating the Ka‘bah. So I asked: Who is this person?
Someone told me that this is Jesus son of Mary. Then suddenly I saw another
man who had curly hair and had a blind right eye ... So I asked: Who is
this person. Someone replied that this is Dajja#l-Masi#h@.
(Kita#b al-Ja#mi`)
The question arises: Is it not this H@adi#th
which has gradually taken the form of Jesus's reappearance in various
Ah@adi#th
reported in other books later on?
In the light of these questions the reappearance of Jesus
(sws) is an issue which needs further attention and deliberation of our
scholars. Nothing can be established from the Ah@a#di#th
which do mention his arrival unless these questions are answered.
The fact that Jesus (sws) was lifted
to the heavens alive, is not supported by the Arabic language as quoted
in the verses of Su#rahs 3 and
5 above. The words inni# mutawaffi#ka
(I will give you death) explicitly say that Jesus (sws) died on the
face of the earth. They cannot be regarded to denote any other meaning
unless of course the Arabic language is done away with. The words ra#fi‘uka
ilayya also are very clear: They mean that his body was lifted to the
heavens. In other words, after he died, his dead body was raised to the
heavens. This was perhaps to safeguard it from the hands of his opponents
who could have mutilated it.
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