Truth About The Crucifixion — Page 153
exception it means: to take possession of the soul; to cause somebody to die after completing his or her term. The Quran contains as many as 22 (twenty-two) clear references where tawaffa has been used in that connotation. We have excluded therefrom the references where Jesus is mentioned as the object of tawaffa, because they are under discussion. There are two separate verses (al-An'am, 6:61 and az-Zumar, 39:42) about the taking possession of the soul during sleep. But that does not detract from the connotation that we have mentioned, as a simple quote from the last-mentioned verse will prove: Allah takes away (yatawaffa) the souls of human beings at the time of their death; and during their sleep of those that are not yet dead. Then He retains those against whom He has decreed death and sends back the others till an appointed term. Tawaffa is never used for taking possession of the body. It is the soul that is taken - either permanently (at death) or ad interim (in sleep). So Mutawaffika means as ibn 'Abbas reported; Mumituka (I will cause thee to die) - Bukhari. The phrase rafi'uka means I will exalt thee. Raf'a is used twice about Jesus. Once it is used about Idris (Enoch) in Maryam, 19:58: And We exalted him to a lofty station. This is a normal usage of the Quran. Muhammad Asad says in his Commentary (p. 177) that when God is the subject, raf'a means invariably: to exalt in rank. Also Mufradat says about Jesus that his raf'a is to be understood min haithi-ttashrif by way of bestowing honour on him. : Ibn Khatib says in his "modern" Egyptian Commentary (The Clearest of Commentaries) what we have translated here. And those who assert that Jesus is dead, point to the 145