Ahmadiyyat or Qadianism! Islam or Apostasy? — Page 159
declaring that 'according to the Holy Quran, Jesus is not alive in heaven but has died like all other mortal beings. '¹º2. In his response to a question on Hazrat Isa's life and death, Sheikh. Mahmud Shaltut quotes three passages from the Holy Quran 103 which refer to Jesus's fate at the hands of his people and states: 'These are the verses of the Holy Quran which relate all that Jesus experienced at the hands of his people. The last verse relates an incident in the Hereafter when Allah will ask Jesus concerning him and his mother being worshipped in the world and Jesus will reply that he did not say anything to his followers except that which God had commanded him, that is, worship Allah who is your God and my. God, and he kept watch over them during the period of his stay among them and that he did not know what they did after Allah caused him to die. 'The word tawaffa has been used in the Holy Quran in the sense of death so many times that it has become its foremost meaning. This word is used in its different sense only when there is a clear indication as to the other meaning. ' '104. After proving the above contention with several Quranic verses,. Sheikh Mahmud Shaltut continues his discussion on the Arabic word tawaffaytani and states: 'The word tawaffaytani in this particular verse primarily means natural death which is known to everybody. The Arabic speaking people. understand this and only this meaning of the word with reference to the context. Therefore, had there been nothing else to indicate the death of Jesus in this verse, even then it would have been improper and incorrect to state that the Messiah Jesus was alive and not dead. . There is no room for the view that the word wafat here means the death of Jesus after his descent from heaven a view being held by 102. Al Risalah, Cairo: Vol 10. No 462 103. Al Quran 3. 53/56; 4. 158/159 & 5. 117/118 104. Shaltut, Sheikh Mahmud: Al Rislah, Cairo: Vol 10. No 465 160