Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 46
46 AHMADIYY AT mentioned in the verse is clearly spiritual exaltation which follows upon the death of a righteous person. The whole purpose of the mention of such exaltation in this verse is to clear Jesus of the calumny of the Jews that he had died an accursed death and had thus been rejected by God. Therefore, this verse affirms that Jesus died a natural death and was spiritually exalted to God and was not rejected by Him. This is reaffirmed in another verse, where it is stated: 'They certainly did not slay him; indeed, Allah exalted him to Himself; Allah is Mighty, Wise' (4:158-9). The term employed in these two verses for exaltation is used at other places in the Quran in the same sense of spiritual exaltation. For instance, it is said with regard to Prophet Idris (Enoch): 'Recite the account of Idris according to this Book; he was indeed a righteous person and a prophet, and We exalted him to a lofty station' (19:57-8). In another verse it is stated: 'Recall to them the case of him to whom We gave Our Signs but he passed them by. Then Satan went after him and he became one of those who had gone astray. Had We so willed We would have exalted him by means of Our Signs, but he leaned towards the earth and followed his vain desires' (TI76-7). Besides, it is worthy of note that the exaltation promised to Jesus and indeed to all the righteous is to God Himself, which can only be spiritual exaltation. There is no mention or indication here of any physical ascent to heaven. The matter is conclusively settled by the clear affirmation of the Quran that it is not pos$ible for a human being to ascend bodily to heaven. The opponents of the Holy Pro- phet, peace be on him, assured him that they would believe in him if he would ascend up into heaven and bring down therefrom a book which they might read. The Holy Prophet was directed to tell them in answer to their demand: 'Holy is my Lord. I am but a human being sent as a Messenger' (17:94). Therefore, there can be no doubt whatever that itis out of the question for any human being to ascend bodily unto heaven.