Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 41
CHAPTER III فَلَمَّا تَوَفَيْتَنِي كُنْتَ انْتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ. الخ ) 41 To suggest here that the word [tawaffi] means ascension to Heaven with the physical body, this meaning is categorically false because it is evident from these same verses of the Holy Quran that this question will be asked of Haḍrat ‘Īsā on the Day of Judgment. Thus, such an interpretation necessarily implies that, prior to his death he will appear before God in this same condition of physical ascension, and then he will never die as there is no death after the Day of Judgment and such a notion is utterly false. Moreover, this reply of his on the Day of Judgment that ‘I did not know what happened to my ummah after my ascension to Heaven in my physical body' is proven patently false by the belief that proposes that he will come back to the world before the Day of Judgment. For, if somebody comes back to the world and witnesses the idolatry of his ummah-even fights wars against them and breaks their cross and kills their swine-how can he say on the Day of Judgment that 'I have no knowledge of the state of my ummah'? Indeed, this claim itself is peculiar because it asserts that when the word—tawaffi is used in the Holy Quran in relation to Ḥaḍrat Īsā, it means 'ascension to Heaven with the physical body, but this meaning does not apply to others. For the whole world the word -tawaffi means 'to seize the soul and not to seize the body' but for Hadrat Īsā it has the special meaning of 'to raise to Heaven with the physical body'. This meaning is peculiar indeed, that even our lord and master, the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not partake of this, and this meaning is reserved exclu- sively for Hadrat Īsā out of the entire creation. The insistence that there has been a consensus regarding the second coming of Hadrat 'Isā to the world is a grave calumny which beyond comprehension. 1. But since You did cause me to die, You have been the Watcher over them. . . (Surah al-Ma'idah, 5:118). [Publisher]