:Death of all Prophets 1.The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger; messengers before him had indeed passed away. (5:75) 2.And Muhammad is only a messenger — messengers have already passed away before him. If, then, he dies or is killed, will you turn back upon your heels? (3:144) The second verse here explains the first one. Both verses are similarly worded, the first referring to Jesus, and the second to the Holy Prophet Muhammad. The Quran’s verdict here is very clear for a truth-seeker. The first verse explicitly states that all prophets before Jesus had died — and all Muslims accept this. In the second verse, the same words are used to state that all prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him) had died. In fact, since no prophet arose between Jesus and the Holy Prophet, the second verse could only have been revealed specifically to show that Jesus had died. Classical works of Arabic grammar tell us that, owing to the prefixal(the), the wordmessengers(al-rusul, lit. the messengers) in the above two verses really meansall messengers(seeBahr al-Muhit, vol. 3, p. 68). Meaning ofkhala It should be remembered that the wordkhala(translated above as passed away) in the past tense without a particle, when used about human beings, refers to their death (seeLisan al-‘ArabandAqrab al-Mawarad). In the Quran too, whenever the wordsqadkhalatwithout the particleilaare used about any persons, the meaning is that they passed away and died, and will not return to this world. For instance: 1.Those are a people that have passed away (qadkhalat). (2:134) 2.…before which other nations have passed away (qadkhalat). (13:30) 3.…among nations that have passed away (qadkhalat) before them. (46:18) 4.Such has been the way of Allah with those who have passed away (khalat) before. (33:38) In interpreting the two verses about all prophets before Jesus and the Holy Prophet (may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him) having passed away, the commentators have generally adopted the same meaning: The Holy Prophet would leave the world as had done previous prophets, by natural death or murder. (Qanwa ‘ala Baidawi,vol. 3, p.124) In fact, the above verse about the Holy Prophet (3:144) itself clarifies the meaning ofkhala(passingaway of all previous prophets) by using the words if he dies or is killed with regard to him. Obviously, the passing away of all previous prophets must also be one or other of dying or being killed. :All gods are dead All those who are taken to be gods besides the One God are described by the Quran as dead: And those whom they call on besides Allah created nothing, while they are themselves created. Dead (are they), not living. And they know not when they will be raised. (16:20-21) And as to Jesus being taken for a god, the Quran itself bears witness: Certainly they disbelieve who say: ‘Allah, He is the Messiah, son of Mary’. (5:72) These verses prove conclusively that Jesus, who is taken to be ‘god’ by a large section of mankind and is called by them as Lord Jesus, must have been dead when these verses were revealed. Otherwise, this exception would have been mentioned here. Afteramwat— Dead (are they) — the wordsghairu ahya’-in— not living — clarify the matter absolutely, and re-affirm the death of these gods. Jesus’ second coming contradicts Finality of Prophethood Jesus’ coming again into this world would infringe the principle of the Finality of Prophethood because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him) is the last and final prophet according to that principle. The Quran says: Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last of the prophets. (33:40) The Holy Prophet’s being the last prophet (Khatam an-nabiyyin) necessitates that after him there should not appear any prophet, neither a new one nor a former one. Just as the coming of a fresh prophet would infringe the Finality of Prophethood, so would the appearance of a former prophet, because the Last Prophet is the one who appears after all other prophets. If Jesus comes after the Holy Prophet, he (Jesus) would be the Last Prophet, theKhatam an-nabiyyin. It is wrong to argue that, in his supposed second coming, Jesus would not be a prophet (nabi). For the Quran says: Jesus said: I am a servant of God: He has given me the Book and made me a prophet, and made me blessed wherever I may be. (19:30-31) So, were he to return to this world he would still be a prophet. His coming without prophethood would be meaningless, for the task of leadership of the Muslims (Imamah) and successorship to the Holy Prophet (Khilafah) could be performed by a member of the Muslim community. Hence it stands proved that Jesus died, as did all other prophets, and that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him) is the Last Prophet
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 15:06:39 +0000