The Conclusive Argument — Page 58
58 over the question honestly, only one question would have suf- ficed for their guidance. If they were truly seeking guidance, they would ponder over it. The question was that Allah, the Lord of Glory, has twice used the word توفّي [ tawaff i —cause to die] for the Messiah, peace be upon him, in the Holy Quran and this word has also occurred with respect to our Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Similarly, Allah, the Lord of Glory, used this word in the prayer of Joseph, peace be upon him, and it is also present at several other places. Observing these instances, a fair-minded person can ascertain to his satis- faction that the word توفّي [ tawaff i ] always means to seize the soul and to cause death; nothing else. This expression also occurs commonly in Hadith literature. You will find the word tawaff i hundreds of times in Hadith books, but can anyone prove that it has been used there to mean something other than ‘to cause death’? Certainly not! On the contrary, if we said this phrase even to an uneducated Arab, ٌ ي َ زَیْد ِّ تُوُف [ Tuwuffiya Zaid ], he would understand this phrase to mean: ‘Zaid has passed away. ’ Leaving aside the common idiom of the Arabs, the sacred sayings of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, them- selves prove that whenever a Companion or any other relative of his died, he s as always pronounced his death with the word tawaff i. When the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passed away, his Companions also announced his death with the word tawaff i. Similarly, the deaths of Hadrat Abu Bakr, Hadrat Umar, and all other Companions were described in speech and writing by the word توفّي [ tawaff i ]. It was regarded as a respectful term for the death of Muslims, but when the same word occurs with regard to the Messiah, why