Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 256
Malf uza t - English translation of Urdu Volume 8 256 uniqueness that gave the Christians the opportunity to present it as an argument for his Divinity. If some Christian objects to Muslims, tell me whether such a characteristic has been given to any other person at this time. They have no answer because they believe that all the Prophets, peace be upon them, have died, but the death of Christ is not proven according to these opposing Muslims since they trans- late ْ تَوَفِّی ْ تَوَفِّی — tawaff i to mean being raised alive to the heavens. Therefore, the same meaning should be given in 1 ْ ْتَنِي ی فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّ ْ ْتَنِي ی فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّ that when you took me alive to the heavens. And no verse proves that he will also die. Then tell me what the impact of this would be? May Allah the Exalted guide these people and make them understand their mistake. I honestly say that those who call themselves Muslims and do not abandon this belief even when its weakness and wicked- ness are exposed are the enemies of Islam and its hidden foes. Remember! Allah the Exalted repeatedly mentions the death of Jesus in the Holy Quran and proves that he has died like all other Prophets and human beings. There was nothing in him that was not in the other Prophets and human beings. It is abso- lutely true that the meaning of ْ تَوَفِّی ْ تَوَفِّی — tawaff i is death. It cannot be proven by any lexicon that ْ تَوَفِّی ْ تَوَفِّی sometimes carries the additional meaning of being raised to heaven with the physical body. The beauty of a language lies in the broad applicability of its vocabulary. No such word exists in the world which applies only to one person but not to another. Yes, indeed, this unique- ness applies to God Almighty because He is God the One with- out any partner. Present any dictionary in which this meaning of ْ تَوَفِّی ْ تَوَفِّی is uniquely applicable to Jesus of being raised alive to heaven with the physical body, but when this word is used for the rest of the world, it means ‘death’. Show this peculiarity in 1. S u rah al-M a’ idah, 5:118 [Publisher]