The Conclusive Argument — Page 68
68 and heresy to interpolate the Holy Word of God Almighty like the Jews, fabricating its meaning on one’s own with an unclean heart? Justice demands that if they did not accept this clear and conclusive argument, they should have shown it to be false. But my opponents have not done so; on the contrary, by resorting to laboured interpre- tations and totally abandoning the ways of truth, they have demon- strated to me that they have no regard for truth at all. They declared the rejection of Jesus’ being alive as a word of kufr [disbelief ] but did not open their eyes to see that the Quran and the Prophet of the Latter Days [i. e. Muhammad s as ] both agree in word and speech upon Prophet Jesus’ death. A great imam like Imam M a lik believed in his death. The renowned Imam of Hadith, Imam Bukhari, placed two separate verses together just to prove his death. An eminent Hadith scholar like Ibn Qayyim affirmed the death [of Jesus] in Mad a rijus-S a lik i n. Similarly, ‘All a mah Sheikh Ali bin Ahmad explained Jesus’ death in his book Sir a j-e-Mun i r. The great scholars of Mu‘tazilah were also convinced of Jesus’ death. However, in the sight of our oppo- nents, ijm a ‘ still holds about Jesus’ being alive. Some ijm a ‘ this is! May Allah the Almighty have mercy on these people; they have exceeded all limits. They have declared the statements proved by the words of God and His Messenger as words of kufr. ِ ْه ی َ َّا هلِلِ وَإِنَّا إِل إِن رَاجِعُوْن [Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return]. 1 I do not want to dwell on this subject for long, nor do I need to remind how absurd and preposterous Maulaw i Rusul Baba’s book H ay a tul-Mas ih is. What is of vital importance, and for which I have 1. A phrase from the Holy Quran which is recited by Muslims to express deep sorrow. [Publisher]