The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 200
200 Essence of Islam-III upon beside Allah cannot create anything but are them- selves created. They are dead, not living. They do not know when they will be resurrected. ' Just see how clearly these verses affirm the death of all those human beings who were worshipped as gods by the Jews and Christians and some of the Arab tribes and to whom they supplicated. If you are still not convinced of the death of Jesus son of Mary, why don't you simply admit that you are not prepared to believe in the Holy Qur'an? [Izāla-e-Auhām, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 3, p. 431] Question: Though the Holy Qur'an affirms the death of Jesus, it does not specify when he died. Why not recon- cile the Qur'an and Aḥādīth by adopting the position that Jesus will die after his descent upon earth? Answer: The Holy Qur'an clearly says that Jesus died in the period when he was raised to reform the tribes of Is- rael which had gone astray; as Allah the Glorious, has said: يُعِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ وَ مُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْقَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيمَةِ 169 In this verse, 'I shall cause thee to die' precedes 'I shall exalt thee', which shows that death occurred before exal- tation. A further proof is that Allah the Glorious, has said: After thy death I shall place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve (i. e. , the Jews), until the Day of Judgement. All Christians and Muslims agree that this 169 'O Jesus, I will cause thee to die a natural death and will exalt thee to Myself, and will clear thee from the charges of those who disbelieve, and will place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve, until the Day of Resurrection. ' Āl-e-'Imran, 3:56 [Publisher]