Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 458
B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 458 in ancient times by some Jewish scholars. On page 31 of this book we find written: Then, taking him out to the place of punishment they stoned him to death. Then the wise men commanded him to be hung on a tree… so that the beasts should eat the body and the corpse would thus be desecrated. This statement is supported by this statement of the Gospel also wherein it is written, ‘Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. ’ See Acts 5:30. 1 ٭ 1. ٭ Jewish scholars who are present even till today and can be found also in Bombay and Calcutta laugh and mock greatly at the Christian statement that Hadrat ‘ I s a ascended to heaven. They say how foolish can these people be who do not understand the real issue. The fact is that it has been an ancient Jewish belief that anyone who is killed on the cross becomes accursed and his spirit is not raised to heaven. It was to counter this objection and to remove the stain that death on the cross entails that the Christians concocted the belief that Hadrat ‘ I s a ascended to heaven in his physical frame. This, however, was very naïve of them since the creed of the Jews was not that one who is not physically raised to heaven is an apostate and an unbe- liever and cannot achieve salvation. For even Hadrat M u s a [Moses], accord- ing to the belief of the Jews, did not ascend physically to heaven. Rather the argument of the Jews was that in keeping with the edict of the Torah anyone who is put on the cross, his spirit is not raised to heaven. Since the cross was a tool for killing criminals, it was far from the Holiness of God to allow a pure and righteous person to be killed by crucifixion. And so this commandment was written in the Torah that anyone who is killed by the cross is not a believer and his spirit is not raised towards God; in other words, he does not experience rafa‘ ilallah [exaltation to Allah]. And so when the Messiah was killed on the cross it proved in the eyes of the Jews that he was—God forbid—not a man of faith and his spirit was not raised towards God. Thus, to say in response to this argument that the Messiah ascended phys- ically to heaven is sheer folly, and with such an absurd answer the Jewish objection still remains pertinent as it applies to spiritual exaltation and ascen- sion towards God, and not to physical ascension to heaven. And this is what