The Reality of Khilafah — Page 162
SIRRUL-KHILAFAH— 162 as it appears in the verse under discussion, has been clearly and unequivocally defined. It has been categorically established that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, explained this word to mean ‘to cause to die’, as did Hadrat Ibn Abb a s ra, as well as Imam Bukh a r i who gave his practical testi- mony to this effect. As for the word nuz u l , even the most bigoted person can do no more than say it is mutash a bih a t [susceptible to different interpretations]. However, only those whose hearts have been corrupted would shy away from the word that has been authentically defined and opt for mutash a bih a t. If there is faith in you, then hold on to the word that numbers amongst the mu h- kam a t [categorical] and unequivocal instead of mutash a bih a t. Leave the interpretation of the mutash a bih a t to the wisdom of God Almighty so that you may be saved. I have here explained the major point of contention between us and our opponents, and the long and short of it is that we hold on to that which is categorical and authentic and has been proven from the Quran, the Hadith, sayings of the Companions, prece- dents from past scriptures, the eternal practice of God, the saying of Imam Bukh a r i , Imam M a lik, Ibn Qayyim, and Ibn Taymiyyah, and from the beliefs of other sects of Islam. Our opponents, on the other hand, only grasp the multi-faceted word nuz u l which— according to the lexicons, the Holy Quran, and past scriptures— bears various connotations. Never did the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, define the word nuz u l as pertaining to the physical descent of Jesus the Messiah, peace be upon him. The fact that a precedent has been established to show that a Prophet can only descend in spiritual terms, that the Jews who were awaiting the physical descent of Elijah were proven