EVIDENCE FROM HOLY QURAN ON DEATH OF ISA (as) - from the writings of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (as):
The Holy Qur’an says:
[16:21] And those on whom they call beside Allah create not anything, but they are themselves created.
[16:22] They are dead, not living; and they know not when they will be raised.
Just see how clearly these verses affirm the death of all those human beings who were worshipped as gods by the Jews and Christians and some of the Arab tribes and to whom they supplicated. If you are still not convinced of the death of Jesus son of Mary, why don’t you simply admit that you are not prepared to believe in the Holy Qur’an?
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, p. 431]
Allah the Glorious quotes Jesus in the Holy Qur’an as saying:
[19:32] That is: ‘God has enjoined upon me Prayer and almsgiving throughout my life and has made me dutiful towards my mother as long as I live’.
These commandments can obviously not be carried out in heaven. He who believes that Jesus was raised bodily to heaven will have to accept, according the above verse, that Jesus is still subject to all the commandments of the Torah and the Gospel, whereas this requirement cannot be fulfilled in heaven.
It is also strange that, on the one hand, God Almighty should command Jesus to be dutiful to his mother throughout his life, but He should then separate him from her while he was still living; and that He should command him to give alms throughout his life, but should then convey him alive to a place where he cannot give alms himself nor can direct anyone else to do so; and that He should command him to observe Prayer, but should convey him far away from the company of the believers whose companionship was necessary for Prayer services. Did his bodily ascent to heaven have any other result than making him incapable of discharging his obligations towards his fellow beings and from carrying out the duty of enjoining virtue and forbidding vice? Had he continued to live on earth during these 1891 years, how beneficial his person would have been for God’s creatures!
The only result of his bodily ascent to heaven was that his people went astray and he himself was totally deprived of the opportunity to carry out the functions of Prophethood.
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 330-332]
The Holy Qur’an records the testimony of Jesus to the effect:
Al-Saff, [61:7] That is: ‘I give glad tidings of a Messenger who will come after me (i.e., after my death,) whose name will be Ahmad.’
Hence, if Jesus is still bodily alive, it follows that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has not yet appeared on earth.
[A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 5, pp. 41-42].
The Holy Qur’an affirms the death of Jesus in the verses:
‘When Thou didst cause me to die.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118
‘Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him.’— Al-e-‘Imran, 3:145
‘This day have I perfected your religion for you.’— Al-Ma’idah, 5:4
‘But he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets.’—Al-Ahzab, 33:41
And proclaims the end of normal Prophethood after the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and clearly affirms that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is Khatam-ul- Anbiya’ by stating:
‘But he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets.’—Al-Ahzab, 33:41
But those who insist on bringing Jesus (peace be on him) back to the earth believe that he will return with the status of a Prophet and for forty-five years Gabriel shall continue to convey Prophetic revelation to him. What room does this doctrine leave for the belief that Prophethood ended with the Holy Prophetsa? According to them it is Jesus who is the Khatam-ul-Anbiya’.
[Tohfah-e-Golarhviyyah , Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 17, pp. 173-174].
The citation by Hadrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), on the occasion of the death of the Holy Prophet (saw), of the verse:
‘Muhammad is only a Messenger; Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him.’—Al-e-‘Imran, 3:145
shows that he believed Jesus (peace be on him) to be dead. If this verse is to be construed to mean that some Prophets had died before the advent of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and some were still living, then it would not support the reasoning of Hadrat Abu Bakrra, as it would not be an authority for the death of all previous Messengers. Yet none of the companions of the Holy Prophetsa, who were all present on the occasion, took exception to the reasoning of Hadrat Abu Bakrra, which shows that it was supported by theconsensus of the companions, which is held as binding and can never err. One of the many favours that Hadrat Abu Bakrra bestowed upon the Muslims is that during his rightful Khilafat he opened the door of truth and accuracy to deliver them from the error that was to arise in later times and erected such a strong barrier against the flood of misguidance as cannot be demolished by the divines of this age even if they were assisted by all the Jinns. So we pray that God Almighty may shower thousands of blessings on the soul of Hadrat Abu Bakrra who conclusively settled, on the basis of pure Divine revelation, that Jesus had died.
[Tiryaq-ul-Qulub, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 15, pp. 461-462 footnote]
We have so many certain and conclusive proofs of the death of Jesus, son of Mary, that they cannot all be set out in this brief publication. Read the Holy Qur’an carefully and you will find the death of Jesus mentioned so clearly and definitely that it is not possible to interpret it otherwise. For instance, the Holy Qur’an reports the acknowledgement of Jesus:
‘Since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118
Can we interpret the word Tawaffi in this verse as meaning sleep? Would it be right to understand this verse as meaning: Since Thou didst cause me to sleep Thou hast been the One to watch over them? Of course not. The only appropriate interpretation of Tawaffi in this context is the straightforward one of death; and the context does not permit us to interpret that death will occur after Jesus’ bodily ascent to heaven. This is because the question put to Jesus refers to the going astray of his people, which had happened after his supposed bodily ascent to heaven and had been completed before the advent of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.)
The Hadith also confirms the death of Jesusas. On page 162 of the Commentary Ma‘alim it is mentioned on the authority of ‘Ali bin Talhah that Ibn-e-‘Abbasra interpreted the verse:
‘O Jesus, I will cause thee to die a natural death and will exalt thee to Myself.’—Al-e-mran, 3:56
to mean "Inni Mumeetuka" i.e., ‘I will cause you to die.’ This is supported by other verses like:
Say, ‘The angel of death…will cause you to die.’—Al-Sajdah, 32:12
‘Those whom the angels cause to die while they are pure.’—Al- Nahl, 16:33
‘Those whom the angels cause to die while they are wronging their souls.’—Al-Nahl, 16:29
Thus Ibn-e-‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, believed that Jesus had died. Our readers must be aware that Ibn-e-‘Abbas was among the foremost of those who comprehended the Holy Qur’an perfectly. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had prayed for him that he might be bestowed true knowledge of the Holy Qur’an.
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 224-225]
It is for this purpose that Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him), has quoted the verse:
‘Since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them.’—Al-Ma’idah, 5:118
in Kitab-ut-Tafsir. In so doing, he intended to convey that the correct interpretation of the word Tawaffaitani is the one which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) attributed to it, that is to say, ‘Thou didst cause me to die’. In the following Hadith:
the Holy Prophetsa says that: “on the Day of Judgement some of my people will be driven to hell, and I will supplicate, ‘Lord! these are my companions’. Then it will be said to me, ‘You know not what they did after you’. Upon this I will say what a righteous servant of God, i.e., Jesus son of Mary, had said when he was asked: ‘Did you teach your people that they should worship you and your mother as gods?’ I will say what Jesus had then said: ‘I was witness over them while I was amongst them; but since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the One to watch over them.’” (Bukhari)
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) meant that he would make the same affirmation as Jesus would make when he would be asked whether he had taught his people to take him and his mother as gods. In this manner the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) interpreted the expression Tawaffaitani as meaning death.
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 585-586]
I put only one question to the clerics who differ with me on the question of the death of Jesus. Had they pondered over it sincerely, it would have been enough to guide them aright, but they did not ponder over it, as none was desirous of being rightly guided. My question is: Twice has Allah the Glorious, applied the expression Tawaffi in the Holy Qur’an with reference to Jesusas;
and the same has been applied to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); and it has also been used in the prayer of Joseph (peace be on him.) There are several other places where it has been used in the Holy Qur’an.
Pondering over all these references, a just minded person would be satisfied that in each case Tawaffi connotes death and nothing but death. The expression Tawaffi has been used in hundreds of places in the Ahadith but nobody can show you a single occasion where it has been used to connote anything other than death. If an illiterate Arab were told Tuwuffiya Zaidun he would understand by it that Zaid has died. Whenever a companion or a relative of the Holy Prophetsa died, he always used the expression Tawaffi for
the purpose of conveying that the person mentioned had died. When he himself died, the companions used the expression Tawaffi to convey that he had died. In the same way, this expression was used to indicate the death of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and all other companions of the Holy Prophet (May Allah be pleased with them.) The use of this word to indicate the death of a Muslim is an honourable way of conveying the news of his death. In view of all this, why is it that this expression, when used with reference to Jesus, should be interpreted in any other way?
[Itmam-ul-Hujjah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 8, pp. 292-293]