With Love to Muhammad (sa) - The Khatam-un-Nabiyyin — Page 189
Death of Hazrat ‘ Ī s ā as bin Mariam ra 189 D ā w ū d, Nasa’ ī , D ā rim ī , Mu’att ā and Sharh-us-Sunnah etc. , was that the expression tawaff ī has been used three hundred and forty six times, and in no single instance has it been used, either by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of All ā h be upon him) or by his companions, to mean anything other than death , or taking possession of the soul. I have gone through these books with great care line by line, and I can say that on each and every occasion the expression tawaff ī has been used only in the connotation of death or taking possession of the soul. A careful perusal of these books also establishes that, from the moment of the Call and all through his life, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of All ā h be upon him) never used the expression tawaff ī in any connotation other than death and taking possession of the soul. . . . Imam Muhammad Ism ā ‘ ī l Bukh ā r ī has made a fine point in his compilation which indicates that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of All ā h be upon him) used the expression tawaff ī at least seven thousand times between his Call and his death, and every time he used it in the connotation of death and taking possession of the soul. Seekers after truth should be grateful to Im ā m Bukh ā r ī for this information. 196 Again, he writes: The Holy Qur’ ā n clearly states that there never was a prophet who did not pass away: 196 Iz ā la-e-Auh ā m , R ū h ā n ī Khaz ā ’in, Volume 3, Pages 583-585, trans. in The Essence of Isl ā m, Volume 3, Pages 196-198