When Jesus (son of Virgin Maryam) ascended to the heavens, was he alive or dead?

[Zainab_M]

 




The modernists (namely Free Minders) have long been propagating a very incorrect notion (similar to the Christians) that Essa (or Jesus) (son of Virgin Maryam) was dead when Allah made him ascend to the heavens.  They have grossly misinterpreted a few Quranic verses to justify this blunder and  intentionally overlooked several verses which categorically confirm that Essa was NOT dead when he ascended.

We will now analyse this topic in detail with direct references from the Noble Quran.

Point one:
The incorrect concept nurtured by modernists that Essa son of Virgin Maryam could not have ascended to the heavens alive is fueled by their frenzy to reject the possibility of miracles to such an extent that they think even Allah Almighty cannot perform miracles. They conveniently demolish all Quranic miracles and yet call themselves "Quran alone followers." They forget the oft mentioned expression of the Glorious Quran ' "Be" and it is' or Kun Fa Ya Kun ( كُن فَيَكُونُ ).Allah has repeatedly asserted in His Final Message that nothing is impossible for him to acquire. Whenever he decides upon something, He only has to say "Be" and it happens. This is a categorical Quranic confirmation.

"The Originator of the heavens and the earth! When He decrees a thing, He says unto it only: Be! and it is." (2:117).

"But His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says unto it: Be! and it is." (36:82)

Point two:
The Noble Quran makes it quite clear that Allah Almighty made Essa (son of Virgin Maryam) descend unto Him in the heavens when Essa was alive. Otherwise if he was already dead, then what would be the need of his ascendency as mentioned? Kindly check the following verses 157 & 158 of Surah An-Nissa for proof of this fact.

"And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and indeed! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain." (4:157)

"But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise." (4:158)

Mark the words. Allah says about the people who wanted to kill Essa, "they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them;" Thus, if Essa was not slain nor crucified, then how could he ascend in a state of death?   Who killed him?  Obviously  he was alive. And when Allah says that "it appeared so unto them;"  indicates the strong possibility that apparently Allah sent some apparition that resembled Jesus in his place, so his killers were deceived into thinking that it was him whom they killed or crucified.

Point three:
Again in verse 3:55 Allah mentions that He is causing Jesus to "ascend" unto Him. This too is by no means a confirmation of his death. 

"(And remember) when Allah said: O Essa!  Indeed! I am gathering you and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing you of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow you above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me you will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein you used to differ." (3:55)

Point four:
Also, the contents of Verse 4:159 confirm its preceding Verses 4:157 & 158, I quote:

"There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them - " (4:159).

This means that none of Essa's followers will believe in the miracle of his ascendency until when they are at the doorstep of death which will be too late, and then, on the Day of Judgment Essa himself will be a witness of the fact of his ascendency to them.

This is also a great prophecy of the Quran which has come true. At present, by far the majority of the Christians of all denominations believe that Essa died on the cross.

Hence those so-called Muslim modernists who think that Essa was not alive during ascendency means that they believe he died on the cross. This subsequently means that they are actually following the view of the Christians which has been confirmed wrong in the Quran very plainly in Verse 4:159. 

Point five: 
One of the verses which the modernists consider to be an evidence that Essa ascended dead is Verse 19:33 of Surah Maryam.   I quote the entire passage from Verses 29 to 34 of Surah Al-Maryam in which Jesus son of Virgin Maryam spoke from the cradle soon after his birth.

"Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy ?   He spoke: Indeed! I am the slave of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and has appointed me a Prophet, And has made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, And (has made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and has not made me arrogant, unblessed. Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!  Such was Essa, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt."  (19:29-34)

The modernists take the underlined portion (comprising of Verse 19:33) as a confirmation of Essa ascending dead because Essa mentions "the day I die .." while speaking from the cradle.  But the very vital point the modernists overlook is that just like all other Prophets, Jesus too was not aware of any future events.  In other words, Essa did not know the future.  None of the Prophets knew anything about the future.  Thus, when Essa was born he never knew what lay ahead of him. Predicting future events is not one of the miracles Allah bestowed upon Jesus nor on any of his predecessors nor his successor.   Allah has repeatedly confirmed in the Quran that only HE knows the future and the unseen. 

"And with Him are the keys of the Invisible. None but He knows them. And He knows what is in the land and the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it, not a grain amid the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but (it is noted) in a clear record."  (6:59)  Surah Al-Anam.

Therefore, it would be right to conclude that when Jesus was born, he thought he would ultimately die like anyone else. But Allah ordained it differently when the time came close.   Essa had no idea beforehand of the rebellion that eventually grew against him.  It was the will of Allah to protect him by not letting him suffer the pain and humiliation on the cross.  This has been clarified amply by all the verses quoted above in this article.

Point six:
The other verse taken by modernists to presume that Jesus ascended in a state of death is Verse 21:7-9.

"And We sent not (as Our messengers) before thee other than men, whom We inspired. Ask the followers of the Reminder if you know not ? We gave them not bodies that would not eat food, nor were they immortals. Then we fulfilled the promise unto them. So we delivered them and whom We would, and We destroyed the prodigals." (21:7-9)

The modernist argument is that since Verses 21:7-9 confirm that all Prophets were humans with mortal bodies, therefore Jesus could not have ascended alive. 

Well yes, Verses 21:7-9 do categorically assert that all messengers were humans, made of flesh and blood with destructible bodies who ate earthly food and were inspired by Allah. Also, Allah confirms in the same verses that He fulfilled His promise to all prophets by granting them victory (by delivering them) and defeated their adversaries. "delivered them" refers to Allah's protection to the Prophets.  Mortality of a prophet is NOT necessarily a factor that refutes being delivered miraculously by the ordainment of the Divine Power as a passage into the next realm, if He so desires. After all, Allah Almighty granted Essa son of Virgin Maryam a miracle birth, similar to Adam. "Indeed! the example of Essa with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! and he is." (3:59). This miracle found in the cases of Adam and Essa is not found in other mortals. The Quran has also elucidated other miracles about Jesus that he spoke from the cradle, that he healed the blind and the leper by the permission and will of Allah only, otherwise he would not be able to .. and that he raised the dead only by Allah's leave. In the face of all these miracles, is it not possible that Allah can raise him or make him ascend is a state of existence different from the death of ordinary humans? Of course He can and He did, and for that reason He has not given any evidence in the Quran about Jesus' death. It's only those people who twist and turn the translations that bring these wrong interpretations.

I repeat, the modernist idea of the "death" of Essa is for the purpose of refuting miracles. They not only reject the ascendancy of Essa in a living state, but also downplay or deny the various super natural powers Allah bestowed on him. Because the modernists claim that Essa was not raised alive, they also cannot find their own reasons to accept other additional information concerning Essa which Allah Almighty has elucidated as extra-ordinary characteristics He bestowed on Essa.  Not just that, but Allah Almighty also granted Musa (pbuh) the power to perform some miracles when he threw down his staff and it turned into a serpent gliding. And of course parting of the sea as ordained by Allah to help Musa and his followers during the Exodus.  All these miracles were performed by the Prophets by the Will of Allah (from the unseen) which makes the skeptics dismissive of the truth.   Similarly, making Essa ascend to the heavens was a miracle directly from the unseen Creator for the protection of His messenger.  But whatever the modernists cannot comprehend because of their own limitations, they deny. 

Hence, those verses of all prophets being humans are not to be taken as a confirmation that Allah cannot grant miracles to whoever He desires nor can the human status of prophets prevent Allah from performing miracles on whoever He pleases.

What then is the significance of these miracles? It demonstrates the absolute power of Allah to create or cause whatever He desires. All such miracles (including Jesus' ascendency) show the prophets on whom the miracles were bestowed were not acting on their own, but that they were constantly protected and cared for by Allah.

Modernist belief same as that of Christians
The modernists, in order to make themselves look like the ones who are embracing Islam, purposely propagate the incorrect concept that Jesus died on the cross and claiming that the Christians believe Jesus did not die on the cross.  But actually, the Christians believe in the opposite .. Christians believe that Jesus was crucified and that he did die on the cross, identical to the modernist belief.   If the Christians did not believe in the crucifixion of Jesus, why would the crucifix be a permanent religious symbol for Christian of all denominations around the world?   And most importantly, Verse 4:159 confirms how the Christians are deceiving themselves by assuming that Jesus died on the cross.  Please check the explanation of Verse 4:159 above, in this article.

Conclusion
It has clearly been proven beyond all doubts that the ascendency of Essa did not take place in the form of a common death as with all ordinary people. The exact state of the existence of Essa at the time of ascendency is only known to Allah. However, I repeat, it was not the usual, commonplace "wafat" or death the modernists wrongly imply, similar to Christian belief, that blatantly contradict the Noble Quran.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Gorgeous work, my sis.  SubhanAllah.  This is worth saving and keep for future references.   I had also heard of the Free Minders  belief of Essa (son of Virgin Mariam) dying on the cross but I didn't know they were so persistent about it.   

Here is another Verse which supports this topic.

"When Allah says: O Essa, son of Mary! Remember My favor unto you and unto your mother; how I strengthened you with the holy Spirit, so that you spoke unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught you the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how you did shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and did blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and you did heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how you did raise the dead by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) you when you came unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: This is naught else than mere magic;"  (5:110 Surah Al-Maidah).

In my opinion the underscored line in the above Verse 5:110 is also an obvious reference to the final assault by the Romans and Jews on Essa (pbuh) while trying to crucify him but he was saved by the will and power of Allah, The Almighty.   And Allah also mentions that only those who disbelieve (in Allah or in His power to perform miracles) will be the ones to think that he died.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Subhan'Allah, wow!  This is dynamic piece!    It really gives excellent points to unveil the truth which the Quran has repeatedly asserted on the ascendancy of Essa (son of Virgin Maryam) that he was not killed by his persecutors, and if he wasn't killed by them then how could he ascend dead?   All verses quoted and the arguments put forth are brilliant.

I recall, about a year ago a Muslim lady at our community center asked me if the Christians believe Jesus died on the cross.  I told her yes they did believe he died on the cross, and now I realize it's similar to the belief of the Free Minders.  That lady requested me if I could show her any Verse from the Quran as evidence which refutes the Christian belief that Jesus died on the cross.  I told her I would but then she didn't turn up at the community center for several months and we forgot about this discussion.  Now when I read Verse 4:159, I get reminded of the verse I could have shown to her.  She has begun coming to the center again, and InshAllah I'll show it to her.  Most people aren't able to understand Verse 4:159 correctly.  I will InshAllah analyse it before showing it to her because I know she will ask me to explain it to her.  If any of you can analyse it to help me, I would appreciate it.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Sister Ruhi ,, sure sis, I'll give you an analysis.  You're right, this verse is often not interpreted correctly by folks who read it.  But it's actually quite easy. 

Well, first of all, that lady should know that this idea of wrongly presuming that Essa died on the cross is a common erroneous Christian concept all around the world.  For this reason in Easter they also have mock demonstrations of Essa being taken to the cross, nailed, bleeding and dying with blood flowing on the mud below the cross.  Of course such stories are flatly rejected by the Noble Quran in various verses as clarified excellently in sister's article.  Verse 4:159 also confirms the wrong idea of the Christians in thinking that Jesus was killed. 

The following is the detailed explanation of Verse 4:159 to make it simpler for you to explain to that lady.


Verse 4:159
"There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them -"

Now I'll take it up in portions.

"There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him"
Paraphrase: None of the Christians (probably also Jews) will believe in Jesus (which obviously includes his ascendency).

"before his death,"
Paraphrase: Here "his" refers to the Christians, meaning, none of them (the Christians) believe in Essa until death overtakes them (the Christians) and then it will be too late.

"and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them -"
Paraphrase: This is very simple, no need to explain it. "he" refers to Essa. Of course it means Essa will be a witness against his own people who denied him, including the miracles that were bestowed to him by Allah.

As sister Zeynab mentioned, this is also a remarkable prophecy of the Noble Quran. It's spot on up to this very day. The Christians firmly believe Essa died on the cross. That's why the crucifix has become a religious symbol for them.  And as I stated, during Easter Christians also dramatize the scene. The Quran makes it clear that this was not Essa, it only appeared so to his tormentors who were deceived. That's because Essa had by then already ascended. Thus, Verse 4:158 : " .. but it appeared so unto them; .... those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture;" Ask yourself, what appeared unto the people that made them think it was Essa?  Allah also rebukes them by saying they have no knowledge and so they guess. What "knowledge" is Allah referring to? That "knowledge" is the miracle through which Allah saved Jesus from the pain and distress of dying an agonizing death on the cross.   No one needs to be an alim in Arabic or English or any language to understand something so simple.   The Free Minders just love to argue for lack of anything better to do.

[Zainab_M]

Many thanks my sister Heba for these additional clarifications and references.  Sister Ruhi, I think now you'll be able to explain V.4:159 to that lady.  

[N. Truth Seeker]

Wonderfully educative and very helpful discourse. I read it this morning and appreciated it much.  Thanks a lot sisters.  It is indeed worth saving for future references as the modernists very often bring it up, not for discussion but to raise arguments.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Thanks in plenty my sisters.  It's been incredibly helpful for me.  
May Allah Almighty bless the believers.