Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 502
502 BARĀHIN-E-AHMADIYYA - PART FIVE upon him, has clearly stated that Hadrat 'Īsā, may peace be upon him, is included among the souls that have departed from this world; and the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, have agreed to this verdict with open and manifest consensus that all Prophets have died,¹ * 1. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were very grief-strick- en due to the demise of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Because of this state of grief, when Hadrat 'Umarra heard the words of some of the hypocrites, he said that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would return to the world and cut off the ears and noses of the hypocrites. Since this was an incorrect no- tion, Hadrat Abū Bakr Şiddīque first went to the house of Hadrat 'A'ishah Şiddīqahra, lifted the sheet from the face of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, kissed his blessed forehead, and said: اَنْتَ طَيِّبٌ حَيًّا وَمَيِّتًا لَنْ يَجْمَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ الْمَوْتَيْنِ إِلَّا مَوْتَتَكَ الْأَوْلَى . Meaning that: You are holy, in your life and in your death. God will never subject you to two deaths. For you is only the first death. This was meant only to convey that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would not return to this world. He then gathered all the Companionsta in the Prophet's Mosque-inciden- tally, on that day all the living Companionsra were present in Madīnah-and after gathering them, Hadrat Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, climbed the pulpit and read the verse: وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ أَفَابِنُ مَاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انْقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمُ Meaning that: 'The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is but a Prophet, and all Prophets before him have passed away. So if the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, too were to pass away or were killed, would you abandon the faith?' [Sūrah Al-e-Imran, 3:145] This was the first ever ijmā' [consensus] that took place among the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and it proves that all Prophets, including Hadrat Īsā, had passed away. To hold that the meaning of the word خَلَتْ ]khalat] includes being raised to heaven alive is sheer obduracy, because looking at all the Arabic lexicons nowhere do we find that the word خَلَتْ ]kha lat] can also be used for going to heaven while still living. Moreover, God has Himself set forth the meaning of خَلَتْ ]khalat in the second sentence because He says اَنَايِنْ مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ if he passes away or is killed], thus confining the mean- ing of خَلَتْ ]khalat] to two possibilities, that of dying a natural death or that of being killed. Otherwise, the explanation should have been: مع جسمه العنصرى أَفَإِن مَّات او قتل او رفع الى السماء مـ [If he were to die, or be killed, or raised bodily to heaven. ]