The Conclusive Argument — Page 62
62 are also aware that there is disagreement over the meaning of ijm a ‘ [consensus] itself. Some restrict it to the Companions, some to the first three centuries, and some to the four Imams. The position of the Companions and the Imams is already known. The dissent of just one person suffices to break ijm a ‘ let alone a great imam like Imam M a lik, may Allah be pleased with him—who had millions of followers—should believe openly in Jesus’ death. Yet these people dare to claim ijm a ‘ regarding his life. Shame! Shame! Shame! The statement of Imam Ahmad [bin Hanbal], may Allah be pleased with him, regarding ijm a ‘ is truly based on research and justice. He says that whoever claims ijm a ‘ is a liar. This demon- strates that the Holy Quran and Hadith alone comprise the true and perfect charter for the Muslims; everything else is worthless. But a hadith which goes against the bayyin a t and mu h kam a t [explicit and decisive verses] of the Quran and narrates a story contrary to those of the Quran, is in fact not a hadith, but rather some perverted statement, or from its inception it is mau du ‘ [fab- ricated] and spurious. Such a hadith would undoubtedly be wor- thy of rejection. However, it is by the grace and blessing of God Almighty that the Hadith have nowhere opposed the Holy Quran regarding the issue of Jesus’ death; rather, they confirm it. The word َ مُتَوَفِّیْك [ mutawaff i ka —cause you to die] occurs in the Quran while the word َ مُمِیْتُك [ mum i tuka —give you death] in Hadith. The Quran contains ْ یْتَنِی َّ فَلَمَّا تَوَف and in Hadith, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has applied the same words, اَّمَلَف ْيِنَتْيَّفَوَت , to himself without any change or alteration, thus revealing its meaning as ‘causing death’, and nothing else. It is far from the dignity of a Prophet to distort the meaning intended by God Almighty by applying a verse of the Holy Quran