you with the Purest Spirit so that you could speak to people in the cradle and when you were fully grown; when I taught you the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel; when you created a bird-shape out of clay by My permission, and then breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission; healed the blind and the leper by My permission; when you brought forth the dead by My permission; and when I held back the tribe of Israel from you, when you brought them the clear signs and those of them who did not believe said: 'This is nothing but downright magic.'"(Qur'an, 5:110)

Despite all of these miracles, such as the ones mentioned above and the fact that he could tell people what they had eaten and what they had hidden, and referred to Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) as "Ahmad," very few people in his society actually believed in him.

THE ERROR OF THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THAT JESUS (PBUH) IS DEAD

he Qur'an and hadith reveal that Jesus (pbuh) did not die but was raised to God's presence. The Christians also believe this; however, their belief contradicts the Qur'an. In addition, some Muslims also have the mistaken ideas that Jesus (pbuh) died and will not return. Such a claim is completely unfounded and, as our Lord states, those who make it are only guessing. God tells all believers not to speculate on matters of which they have no knowledge:

Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Hearing, sight, and hearts will all be questioned. (Qur'an, 17:36)

Some people may be taken in by this erroneous belief, because they fail to fully consider what it means to make or believe such a claim. Or, they may be unaware of the responsibility that this will place on them. We do not seek to disparage such people; rather, our goal is to show them their mistake so that they will abandon it. But before they can be made to realize what a great error they are making, they need to consider just what that claim implies. In the Qur'an, God reveals that He confounded the unbelievers' plots against Jesus (pbuh) and that they did not kill him. It is a grave responsibility to ignore a truth revealed as clearly as in the words: "� they did not kill him and they did not crucify him" (Qur'an, 4:157). In essence, believing that Jesus (pbuh) was killed means that the unbelievers' plot succeeded, which contradicts the Qur'an.

Some people say that Jesus (pbuh) was not killed but died when his appointed hour came. That is also untrue. According to this error, God took Jesus' (pbuh) soul before the unbelievers could lay their hands on him, and therefore he was not killed by them. Yet the relevant verses clearly demonstrate that this is not the case. Moreover, such logic is flawed. Consider the following analogy: Three people have conspired to kill an enemy in an ambush. Let us further assume that the person in question dies of a heart attack before reaching the ambush site. In such a case, those who set the ambush will presumably rejoice in the belief that they have achieved their objective.

Alternatively, consider the case of someone who goes to an enemy's home to kill him. However, he falls to his death from the balcony rather than as the result of a punch during the fight. The fact that the person in question has died means that his antagonist has attained his objective. A similar analogy can be imagined in the case of Jesus (pbuh). The unbelievers set a trap designed to kill him. Yet God reveals that He foiled that trap. If Jesus (pbuh) were to die anyway, this would mean that the unbelievers succeeded, which is not possible. Therefore, he is still alive, will come again at God's command, and will make religious moral values prevail over the whole world. In effect, he will die only after he has returned to Earth and lived until he reaches old age. (God knows best.)

Still other people maintain that Jesus (pbuh) was saved from the unbelievers' trap but then died at an unknown time. Not only does this claim lack any logical foundation, it also raises a number of unanswered questions to which these people offer no logical explanation. God caused Jesus (pbuh) to disappear suddenly while he was still alive. After this, nobody saw or spoke to him ever again. This is an extraordinary situation. If, as these people maintain, Jesus (pbuh) had lived for a while longer, surely some people would have seen him or spoken to him. Yet we have no such information that such a thing actually happened. Of course, it would have been impossible for him to have lived without moving among the people, speaking to anyone, or communicating his message, for doing so was the sole reason for his creation and being sent to the Children of Israel.

As mentioned earlier, this situation is unique to Jesus (pbuh). The word tawaffaa is used only to describe his death. In addition, no other prophet was taught the three divine books: "I taught you the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel" (Qur'an, 5:110) or has been described as: "He is a Sign of the Hour" (Qur'an, 43:61). Only Jesus (pbuh) was raised to God's presence while still alive, only his followers will be superior until the Day of Judgment, and only in his case will all members of the People of the Book believe in him before he dies. All of this is an important proof that God has approved a very special destiny for Jesus (pbuh), and that to fulfill his destiny Jesus (pbuh) must be alive in His presence and return to Earth. (God knows best.)

God's confounding of the unbelievers' plot against Jesus (pbuh) and raising him while still alive, in both body and soul, to His presence is a great miracle. Throughout history, God has supported the prophets with various miracles. He revealed the true book, the Qur'an, to Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace). Furthermore, Prophet Muhammad's (may God bless him and grant him peace) transport from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque in a single night (Qur'an, 17:1) and his prediction that the believers would enter the Sacred Mosque in safety (Qur'an, 48:27) are some of his miracles. The way that Moses' (pbuh) staff turned into a snake and confounded the illusions of Pharaoh's magicians, the way that his hand appeared snow-white to onlookers, and the way that the Red Sea divided in front of Moses (pbuh) and his people as they were being pursued by Pharaoh and his army; the way that Jesus (pbuh) came into the world without a father, spoke to people while he was still in his cradle, raised the dead, and cured lepers; and the way that the fire was cooled when Abraham (pbuh) was cast into it are other miracles performed with God's approval.

The faithful believe in these miracles performed by our Lord, and these miracles increase their joy in belief. Just as one of the faithful believes in all of the prophets' miracles, including those wrought by Jesus (pbuh), by the will of God, that person must also believe that Jesus (pbuh) was miraculously raised to His presence.

In addition, those who claim that Jesus (pbuh) has already died have to bear in mind the loss they will suffer when Jesus (pbuh) does return. Many of the signs regarding this event, as revealed in the Qur'an and the hadith, have already occurred. It is also great news that his second coming is at hand. (God knows best.) That being the case, believers need to experience the excitement, enthusiasm, and joy of that event, and to compete with one another to make the best possible preparations to greet him. Therefore, those who have become caught up in this erroneous belief that Jesus (pbuh) has already died need to abandon their preconceptions, listen to their consciences, and again study in detail what the Qur'an has to say. Only by doing so will they see the truth and be freed from their error.

Nevertheless, it will be useful to examine these mistaken claims once again to see their groundless nature so that those who have been taken in can acquire accurate information.

Claim 1 and Its Refutation

One so-called piece of evidence put forward by those who maintain that Jesus (pbuh) has died is the expression: "� when You took me back to You [tawaffaytanee], You were the One watching over them..." in Qur'an 5:117. These people interpret tawaffaytanee as biological death. However, as discussed earlier, taking the soul does not always refer to biological death. We will give a brief summary of the preceding arguments here, as follows:

1. The term took me back is the same as that employed in Qur'an 3:55. As we made clear in our analysis of this verse, the word carries different senses than the English word death. An analysis of how tawaffaa is used in the Qur'an makes this clear. We have already looked at Qur'an 39:42 in connection with this. Now, we will consider another verse that uses tawaffaa in the same sense:

He takes you back to Himself at night [yatawaffakum], while knowing the things you perpetrate during the day, and then wakes you up again, so that a specified term may be fulfilled. (Qur'an, 6:60)

As this verse states, God takes the souls of sleeping people. While asleep, people do not die in the normally accepted sense; the soul merely leaves the body for a different dimension for a brief period of time. If this is considered biological death, then Jesus (pbuh) died every night of his lifetime. Moreover, this would be true of all people. Clearly, the verse is not saying this.

According to the majority view, tawaffaa is used in the sense of sleep. Therefore, the verse means: "I shall cause you to sleep." In conclusion, we can say that Jesus (pbuh) was placed in a state similar to sleep, was raised to God's presence while alive, and that he merely departed from this dimension. (God knows best.)

The contemporary Islamic scholar Muhammad Khalil Herras made the following comment:

The word tawaffaa in this verse does not mean "death," but "putting one into a state resembling sleep." If we accept the meaning of death, then there can be no explanation for Jesus (pbuh) being raised dead to God. Again, if the word is being used in the sense of death, then there would be no meaning to the good news of Jesus' (pbuh) being saved and purified from the Jews. Moreover, God would have helped the Jews if He had killed him. (God is surely beyond that.) Moreover, how are we to understand God's trap in Qur'an 3:54? For God to kill Jesus (pbuh) before the Jews would not fit into this trap. The genuine trap is that God will raise Jesus (pbuh) to His presence while still alive, and Jesus (pbuh) will descend in the End Times�72

Similarly, in commenting on Qur'an 5:117, Hamdi Yazir of Elmali draws attention to the use of mutawaffeeka in Qur'an 3:55 and says that the word is used in the same sense in both verses. Hamdi Yazir of Elmali gives the following exposition in his commentary:

But when You took my soul, You took me from among them and raised me.73

In other words, the expression "You took me back" refers not to his biological death; rather, it indicates that he was raised to God's presence in a state resembling sleep and thereby removed from this dimension. (God knows best.)

2. Some people misinterpret the tidings given in Qur'an 5:116-17 and, as a result, fall into a number of errors. However, when these verses are examined in the light of the following verses and the interpretations of Islamic scholars, the errors of such people are exposed. For example;

And when God asks: "Jesus son of Mary. Did you say to people: 'Take me and my mother as deities besides God?'" he will reply: "Glory be to You! It is not for me to say what I have no right to say! If I had said it, then You would have known it. You know what is in my self, but I do not know what is in Your Self. You are the Knower of all unseen things." (Qur'an, 5:116)

The people in question claim that this question posed by God reveals that Jesus (pbuh) died. However, the expression revealed here deals with our Lord speaking to Jesus (pbuh) on the Day of Judgment. When the verses following this one are examined, this becomes quite clear:

[Jesus will say:]"I said to them nothing but what You ordered me to say: 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.' I was a witness against them as long as I remained among them. But when You took me back to You, You were the One watching over them. You are Witness of all things. If You punish them, they are Your servants. If you forgive them, You are the Almighty, the All-Wise." God will say: "This is the Day when the sincerity of the sincere will benefit them. They will have gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever and ever. God is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. That is the great victory." (Qur'an, 5:117-19)

Moreover, the Qur'an contains other information about the Day of Judgment. Abu Lahab is one example of those told by our Lord, while he was still alive, that he would go to Hell:

Ruin to the hands of Abu Lahab and ruin to him! His wealth has not helped him, nor anything he has earned. He will burn in a Flaming Fire. And so will his wife, the firewood-carrier, with a rope of twisted fiber round her neck. (Qur'an, 111:1-5)

Similarly, the Qur'an reveals that God calls people to account on the Day of Judgment and that the guardians of Hell speak with those who have earned suffering for themselves:

O company of jinn and human beings! Did not messengers come to you from among yourselves, relating My signs to you and warning you of the encounter of this day? They will say: "We testify against ourselves." The life of this world deluded them, and they will testify against themselves that they were unbelievers. (Qur'an, 6:130)

Those who do not believe will be driven to Hell in companies. When they arrive there and its gates are opened, its custodians will ask them: "Did messengers from yourselves not come to you, reciting your Lord's signs to you and warning you of the meeting on this day?" They will reply: "Indeed they did." But the decree of punishment is justly carried out against the unbelievers. (Qur'an, 39:71)

As we have seen, God gives examples of conversations carried out in the Hereafter. The conversation with Jesus (pbuh) will take place with our Lord in the Hereafter, after he has come to Earth for a second time and then died.

Christians have fallen into serious error by deifying Jesus (pbuh). (God is surely beyond that.) Those who adhere to this error will have to give an account in God's presence on the Day of Judgment. According to the Qur'an, Jesus (pbuh) will bear witness that they turned away from the true religion, because, like all other prophets, he called his society to believe in God as the one and only and to serve only Him. Qur'an 5:119 says that this event will occur in the Hereafter, which means that it refers to the Day of Judgment, as revealed in the above verses. The sentence "This is the day when the sincerity of the sincere will benefit them" indicates this.

In conclusion, this conversation refers to the future, not the past. In addition, there is no indication given in the verse "when You took me back to You" that can be interpreted in such a way to support the mistaken claim that Jesus (pbuh) died in the past. Thus, this verse cannot be used as evidence that Jesus (pbuh) has already died.

As stated earlier, the great majority of Islamic scholars agree that these verses refer to Jesus' (pbuh) ascension to God's presence. For instance, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi said that the verse means "Jesus' (pbuh) raising to the sky."74 Similarly, Ibn Kathir said that this does not point to his death, but describes a conversation that will take place on the Day of Judgment. He also said that the word in the familiar sense of (biological) death is not used in the verse.75 In his book Mawqif al-'Aql, Sheikh al-Islam Mustafa Sabri analysed the verse in the following terms: "You took and raised me from among them, and put an end to my relationship with Earth." He then continued: "This is taking by raising to His presence; it is not killing." Such modern commentators as Hasan Basri Cantay, Omer Nasuhi Bilmen, and al-Sabuni have said that "You took me back to You" means "You raised me from among them to the heavens."76

Claim 2 and Its Refutation

As stated earlier, Jesus' (pbuh) ascension to God's presence is an important piece of evidence that he never died. People who misunderstand this truth, however, have sought to interpret his ascension in terms of the concepts of time and space, which apply to us. As a result, they assert that Jesus (pbuh) is present in the sky in physical form, which then leads them to deny his ascension to God's presence. But this is a most mistaken view. First and foremost, the intention behind raising Jesus (pbuh) to His presence was not so that he could live physically in the heavens, but to take him to a separate dimension, one independent of time and space. (God knows best.)

Human beings inhabit a dimension bounded by time and space and can only perceive and understand events within that dimension, as far as God permits and in the manner desired by Him. However, many verses reveal that there are other dimensions of which we know nothing, such as that inhabited by angels and jinns. With our Lord's approval, angels and jinns can cross from their own dimension to ours. An examination of the relevant verses will clarify this matter for us.

1. God is the Lord of the Worlds

One of God's names is "Lord of the worlds." This indicates the existence of worlds other than the one known to and inhabited by human beings. (God knows best.) God is the Creator and Lord of all worlds, even of those that are both known and unknown to us and that we can and cannot perceive. This name appears in various verses, some of which are presented below:

[Noah said:] "I do not ask you for any wage for it. My wage is the responsibility of no one but the Lord of all the worlds." (Qur'an, 26:109)

Truly, it is revelation sent down by the Lord of all the worlds. (Qur'an, 26:192)

But when he [Moses] reached it, a voice called out to him: "Blessed be him who is in the Fire and all who are around it. Glory be to God, the Lord of all the worlds!" (Qur'an, 27:8)

But when he reached it, a voice called out to him from the right-hand side of the valley in the part that was full of blessing, from out of the bush: "Moses, I am God, the Lord of all the worlds." (Qur'an, 28:30)

The revelation of the Book, in which there is no doubt, is from the Lord of the worlds. (Qur'an, 32:2)

You will see the angels circling round the Throne, glorifying their Lord with praise. It will be decided between them with truth. And it will be said: "Praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds." (Qur'an, 39:75)

2. Martyrs Inhabit a Dimension Unknown to Human Beings

Other verses that point to the existence of dimensions are those that reveal the rank and position of martyrs. For example:

Do not say that those who are killed in the way of God are dead. On the contrary, they are alive, but you are not aware of it. (Qur'an, 2:154)

In other words, even though martyrs appear to have died in the biological sense, He states that they are alive, but that we cannot fully understand their true situation. The expression "they are alive, but you are not aware of it" indicates that people have no knowledge of this subject and cannot understand it, for they are only familiar with the conditions of this world. (God knows best.) Other verses reveal that martyrs live in the manner appointed for them by God in a very different dimension, one in which there is no time and space:

Do not suppose that those killed in the way of God are dead. No indeed! They are alive and well provided for in the very presence of their Lord, delighting in the favor God has bestowed on them, rejoicing over those they left behind who have not yet joined them, feeling no fear and knowing no sorrow, rejoicing in blessings and favor from God, and that God does not let the wage of the believers go to waste. (Qur'an, 3:169-71)

In this dimension, martyrs are sustained, feel joy, and wish to give glad tidings to those who come later. Those who feel unnecessary doubts and concerns about Jesus (pbuh) being raised to God's presence because they fail to understand the essence of this event should, necessarily, also doubt the existence of this dimension. Yet there is no evidence to provoke such doubt. On the other hand, there is a clear proof that, just like martyrs, angels, and jinns, Jesus (pbuh) inhabits a dimension about which we know nothing, and that he will return to Earth when God wills. God raised Jesus (pbuh) to His presence, and, when the time established by God comes, he will return to this dimension, which is bound by time and space. (God knows best.)

3. Angels Descend to Earth and Ascend to God's Presence

Belief in angels is one of Islam's fundamental tenets of faith. The Qur'an contains some information about these entities: They constantly praise and glorify God, do what He tells them to do perfectly and fully, have sincerely submitted to Him, and inhabit a dimension that is not bound by time and space. As regards this last point, consider the following verses:

[This punishment is] From God - the Lord of the Ascending Steps. The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose length is fifty thousand years. (Qur'an, 70:3-4)

The expression "a day whose length is fifty thousand years" shows that angels are not bound by the human concept of time. Furthermore, it is a proof that there is a life beyond this concept, one that does not resemble the life in this world and is not bound by the concepts of time or space. It is very possible that Jesus (pbuh) is living in such a dimension. (God knows best.)

The fact that God sends angels to Earth to perform specific tasks shows that there is a transition between the human and other dimensions. Some of their tasks are to transmit God's revelations to human beings and to help and support believers:

And when you asked the believers: "Is it not enough for you that your Lord reinforced you with three thousand angels, sent down?" (Qur'an, 3:124)

He sends down angels, as He wills, with the Spirit of His command to any of His servants: "Give warning that there is no deity but Me, so have fear of [and respect] Me!" (Qur'an, 16:2)

Another verse reveals that angels can descend to Earth to carry out various duties approved by God:

In it, the angels and the Spirit descend by their Lord's authority with every ordinance. (Qur'an, 97:4)

In addition, angels were sent as messengers to Abraham (pbuh) and Lot (pbuh) to inform them that their peoples would be punished; that they came to Zechariah with the glad tidings of a child; and that they came to Mary, telling her that God had chosen her and that she would bear a son named Jesus (pbuh). The revelation of the Qur'an to our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) by means of the angel Gabriel, as well as our Prophet's seeing him, is revealed as follows:

[The Qur'an is] taught him by one immensely strong, possessing power and splendor. He stood there stationary - there on the highest horizon. Then he drew near and hung suspended. He was two bow-lengths away or even closer. Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed. His heart did not lie about what he saw. What! Do you dispute with him about what he saw? He saw him again another time by the Lote-tree of the Final Limit, beside which is the Garden of Refuge, when that which covered the Lote-tree covered it. His eye did not waver nor did he look away. He saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord. (Qur'an, 53:5-18)

When the angels return to His presence, this does not mean that they cease to exist, in the terms that apply in this world. They merely move to another dimension and continue living beyond our understanding. Similarly, the fact that Jesus (pbuh) was raised to God's presence does not mean that he has died. Many verses and hadith confirm the truth of this interpretation. Jesus (pbuh) is alive in a dimension that surpasses our understanding. Moreover, the fact that angels cross between two dimensions, as God wills, shows that this transition is very easy when our Lord so wills. When the time set forth by God comes, Jesus (pbuh) will return to Earth and call people to religious moral values as the messenger of God. (God knows best.)

All of this evidence indicates that those people who deny that Jesus (pbuh) is still alive and will return fail to appreciate God's power and might. Given that God, the All-Mighty and All-Powerful, is sovereign over all things, He creates as He wills and has infinite knowledge, whereas all human knowledge is limited to that which God permits humanity to have. A human being can only comprehend an event, how it takes place and the wisdom behind it, to the extent permitted by God. The fact that Jesus (pbuh) was purified of the unbelievers and raised to God's presence may be one of those events that people cannot fully comprehend. A great miracle took place when the unbelievers came to kill Jesus (pbuh). Miracles are marvels that strengthen the believers' faith and cause some unbelievers to turn to faith. After they see a miracle, believers turn to God and appreciate His infinite might. Their awed respect and sincere love for God is reinforced, and their enthusiasm and excitement grow. The way that Jesus (pbuh) was protected from the unbelievers' traps and departed from this dimension in both body and soul is one of these miracles. When the time appointed by God comes, another great miracle will take place: Jesus (pbuh) will return to Earth. This fact has been imparted in verses and hadith, and is a marvel that all believers need to ponder.

Other Indicative Accounts in the Qur'an

As stated at the beginning, one of the most serious errors made by those who reject Jesus' (pbuh) ascension is their failure to realize that God is not bound by time and space. In fact, there are dimensions, all of which He created, that are unknown and unperceived by humanity. This fact can help us understand the proofs presented for this miraculous event. As the Qur'an states:

What are they waiting for, but for God to come to them in the shadows of the clouds, together with the angels, in which case the matter will have been settled? All matters return to God. (Qur'an, 2:210)

Another verse reveals that all matters "ascend to" God during "a day whose length is a thousand years," according to the human comprehension of time: