The Muslim View of the Ascension of Jesus
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Creator: Abu Iman Abd ar-Rahman Robert Squires
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Identifier: http://jews-for-allah.org/messianic-jews/muslimviewoftheascensionojesus.htm
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Subject: comparative
Title: The Muslim View of the Ascension of Jesus
Created on: Thu Jan 24 10:31:08 -0500 2008
Updated on: Thu Jan 24 10:31:08 -0500 2008
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Abstract: ... istians. God states that they will put faith in him when he descends to earth. It is stated that he was raised up to God when He said: "I am gathering you and causing you to ascend to Me" (Qur'an 3:55). He will descend to earth before the Day of Resurrection and then he will die. By this God has informed us that they will believe in him before Christ's death, as He also says elsewhere (Qur'an 43:59-65). In the sound hadith reports from the Prophet he said: It is impending that the son of Mary will descend among you as a just judge, a righteous imam; he will break the cross, kill the pig, and impose the jizya. In the Qur'an (4:147) God has made it clear that He has raised up Christ alive and saved him from death, and that they will believe in him before he dies. This is confirmed by God's saying, "and I am purifying you from those who have disbelieved" (Qur'an 3:55); had he died there would have been no difference between him and others. The word al-tawaffi in Arabic means "completion" and "receiving" and that is of three kinds: a) the completion of sleep; b) the final completion of death; and c) the final completion of soul and body together. It is in this third meaning whereby Christ went out from the state of the people of the earth who have need of food, drink, and clothing, and he departed from them in matters pertaining to natural functions. God brought Christ to this state of completion; he is in the second heaven until the time he descends to earth, and his state is not like the situation of the people of the earth in eating, drinking, dressing, sleep, natural functioning, etc. For their statement (i.e. the Christians) that by his death is meant the death of his human nature it is necessary that they hold as their basis that by his "completion" is meant the death of his human nature. Whether it is said to refer to his death or to his completion in God, he is nothing other than human nature, for there is nothing other than that which God "brings to Himself" (Qur'an 3:55). This "gathering" is his being raised to God. Their view that what is raised is his divine nature would be contrary to the text of the Qur'an, even if it were a matter of his death. So how can that be the meaning when he is not said to die? They can make what is raised up something other than "received, completed", and yet the Qur'an states that what is raised up is "received". Similarly when in another verse God says: "They certainly did not kill him, but God raised him up to Himself" (Qur'an 5:157-158). He is rejecting the claim of the Jews that "We have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, messenger of God". The Jews did not claim to have killed "Divinity", nor did they concede that God had a divine nature in Christ. Moreover God did not mention their claims to have killed him from the Christians, so that one could say that their intent was the killing of the human nature without the divine. The claim, however, was from the Jews, who only attested to the human nature in Christ. The Jews had claimed that they killed him, and so God said: "They certainly did not kill him, but God raised him to Himself". God thereby attested to His raising up that which they claim to have killed, that is, Christ's human nature. It is obvious, therefore, that God denies that [Christ's] human nature had been killed. Rather, He is assuming it to Himself. Christians admit the assumption of the human nature, but they claim that it was crucified, rose from the grave either after a day or three days, and then ascended to heaven and sat, human nature and divine, at "the right hand of the Father". God said: "They certainly did not kill him". The meaning is that God denies the killing; He is certain about it, There is no doubt about it, in contrast to those who differed because they were in doubt whether or not he was killed. Those who believed it were not certain about it, since they could produce no proof for it. There was a group of Christians saying that he was not crucified, for those who crucified the crucified man were the Jews, and they had confused Christ with someone else, as the Qur'an indicates. Among the People of the Book also it was held that he was confused with another, and those who wanted to kill him did not know who Christ was, until one of the people said to them "I know him". Only then did they know him. The view of those who say the meaning of the passage is "They did not kill him knowingly, but rather uncertainly" is weak. Almighty God said: "O Jesus, I am gathering you and causing you to ascend to Me, and am cleansing you from those who disbelieve" If that which was raised up was the "Divine Nature", the Lord of the Universe would be saying to Himself and to His word "I am causing you to ascend to Me". Moreover, God said: "But God raised him up to Himself", but according to them (i.e. the Christians) Christ is God. It is obvious that His raising Himself to Himself is impossible. If they say that he is the Word, they nevertheless hold that he is the Creator God. They do not make him of the same status as the Torah and the Qur'an, and other speech of God like these about which God spoke "To Him there arises the good word" (Qur'an 35:10). According to them Christ is God the Lord of the universe, the Creator, the Sustainer; so to say that the One-and-only Lord of the universe was raised up to the One-and-only Lord of the universe is ridiculous. Almighty God the Most High said: "I was a witness of them while I dwelled among them, and when You took me You were the Watcher over them". This indicates that after his being gathered up to God, Christ was not a watcher over them, but only God without Christ. This statement is also an indication of the Reckoning; if this and statements like it are true, it is known that after his being taken up Christ is not a watcher over his followers. God is the watcher who observes them, counts up their deeds, and requites them accordingly. Christ is not a watcher; he does not observe their actions; neither does he reckon them up, nor does he reward them." (All of the above paragraphs were quoted from A Muslim Theologian's Response to Christianity, edited and translated by Thomas F. Michel, Caravan Books, Delmar, New York, 1984, pages 305-308. This is an English translation of Ibn Taymiyyah's al-Jawab as-Saheeh.) Hopefully, this long quotation will answer most of the questions which you have concerning this subject. However, I'm still not sure what to think of your statement that "Doubtless your local Imam will tell you that this refers to when Jesus comes back to Earth to judge people". Possibly you're just trying to show that even though this belief is both popular and widespread amongst Muslims, it still may be erroneous? As far as this probably being the belief of most "local Imams", you're partly right, as the above quotation from Ibn Taymiyyah indicated. This is because all of the Qur'anic verses and hadeeths that refer to Jesus' death refer when he returns to earth in the time of the Mahdi. However, your statement that " . . . when Jesus comes back to Earth to judge people (including Muhammad? - interesting to know what you think about this)", is not correct. It seems as though you've confused Christian beliefs with Muslim beliefs. As the last paragraph of Ibn Taymiyyah's quotation said, Islam certainly does not teach that Jesus, peace be upon him, will come to judge people - especially Muhammad, peace be upon him. Neither the Qur'an nor the authentic hadeeths record such a thing, and I'd be surprised to hear of a "local Imam" who believed such a thing. I know Christians believe that Jesus will come to judge "both the quick and the dead" on the Last Day, but Muslims certainly don't. In Islam, the Final Judgment is for Almighty God alone - not for someone who sits at His "right hand". I think that you might need to check some of your sources, because I don't know where you got such an idea. On that note, I would just like to say that it is always wise to learn about a religion from those who adhere to it. Unfortunately, when you go into most bookstores in the West, the Christians books are written by Christians, the Jewish books by Jews, but the books on Islam are written by Christians, Jews, Orientalists, atheists - and maybe you'll find one or two by a Muslim if you're lucky! Concerning your statement that we then "have to decide what to do about Question 1", well it has already been addressed, since "Question 1" has been shown to be marred by a mis-translation, and your hypothetical opinion of the "local Imam" has already been addressed above. As far as the reasons why Muslims don't just "accept that the prophecy has already happened, as many people think it has?", as I've already said, Islam isn't made up of personal desires, whims or what "people think". It is based on Divine Revelation. The long quotation from Ibn Taymiyyah, which I included above, should be enough to prove that the Muslim position on this issue is the one most consistent with both the Qur'an and the authentic hadeeths. Your third question was: "If Jesus spoke from his cradle only days after he had been born, this would really be a miracle. However, both Christians and Muslims believe that when Jesus was born on Earth, He was a perfect man. Men don't speak when they are only babies, so was God speaking through him? If so, then the words are those of God, not Jesus. In the same way, Muslims believe that the words in the Qur'an are from Allah, not Muhammad. If Jesus really did speak from his cradle, then 1) he would be much more than a mere human, and 2) why did Christians not report such a miracle to reinforce the status of Jesus?" Well this paragraph sure brings up some interesting questions! While it is true that Christians and Muslim both believe that Jesus was a "perfect" man, they don't believe this in the same way. When Muslims say that Jesus, or any other prophet, was "perfect", they mean "free from sin". Many scholars hold that this means free from both major and minor sins, while others hold that it only means major sins during their actual call to prophethood - and anything that would have effected their ability to carry out their prophetic duties. However, none of the prophets were free from unintentional mistakes or mistakes in judgment, since even the Qur'an documents some of these about Muhammad, peace be upon him. This having been said, it should be clear that Muslims don't consider Jesus, peace be upon him, or any of the other prophets, to have been "perfect" in the absolute sense, since that attribute is reserved for Almighty God alone. Now concerning your statement: "Men don't speak when they are only babies, so was God speaking through him?", you seemed to have unnecessarily limited the various options and interpretations of this event. Even though it is certainly possible that Almighty God was speaking through him (just like He did to all of His prophets), the more apparent meaning is that God gave him the ability (or caused him) to be able to speak in the cradle. And "yes!", this certainly is a miracle, since anytime such a wondrous and extraordinary thing happens due to God's will, it is a miracle. Additionally, I don't know why you conclude that this disqualifies Jesus from being a "perfect man". As I've already said, "perfect" means "free from sin", and participating in a miracle with God's help is certainly not a sin. Actually, a sinful act would be to refuse to participate in, or believe in, such a miracle. Moving on . . . your conclusion that if Jesus, peace be upon him, did speak from the cradle, "he would be much more than a mere human" seems to be a bit inconsistent, since most prophets of God did miracles. However, in spite of the fact that they did miracles, this does not mean that they are more than human beings. This is one of the main misconceptions that Islam came to correct, both among the idol-worshippers and the Christians. This is because Christians use inconsistent logic when trying to justify the alleged "Divinity" of Jesus by saying that he did great miracles. Both Muslims and Christians agree that Moses parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22), but does that make him "more than human"? Elisha fed one hundred men with only a few loaves of bread and ears of corn (II Kings 4:44), he cured the blind (II Kings 6:17-20), and even raised the dead (II Kings 4:34 ). Elijah, according to the Old Testament, also raised people from the dead (I Kings 17:22). However, none of this made these great prophets "Divine" or "more than human". Above, I have already quoted verses from the New Testament which prove that Jesus only did his miracles by the power of God - just like the other prophets. An important point that I need to mention is that the root of all "shirk", which is the Arabic word for associating and worshipping others along with Almighty God, is the belief that prophets and other "holy men" were "more than human". In the Qur'an, God Almighty said: "And they said: 'Do not forsake your gods, neither Wadd, Suwa', Yaghuth, Ya'uq, nor Nasr" (Qur'an 71:23). It is narrated in an authentic hadeeth that Ibn 'Abbas, a compan... [Full Article...]
