In this article we would see
that ‘mauta’ and ‘mutawaffi’ are two different words and are used with
different meanings in Quran and in Arabic language. Though in Urdu, we use word
‘mutawaffi’ in the meaning of ‘dead’ but, in Arabic language and Quran, this
word ‘ mutawaffi’ is not essentially
used in the meaning of ‘dead’. In Arabic
language and Quran, word ‘mauta’ is essentially
used in the meaning of ‘dead’, and word ‘mutawaffi’ is used with two
meanings i.e. ‘taken away’ and ‘dead’. In other words, if word ‘mutawaffi’ and
its variants have been used in Quran, all such words do not mean ‘dead’; many
such words mean ‘taken away/taking away’. On the other hand whenever word ‘mauta’
and its variants are used in Quran, all such words mean ‘dead/ giving death’.
In the succeeding lines, we
will see that in the Quranic verses which are presented as a proof of death of
Hazrat Isa a.s, word ‘mutawaffi’ and its variants have been used in the meaning
of ‘taken away’, not in the meaning of ‘dead’. One such verse is stated below:
[Mention]
when Allah said, "O Jesus, indeed I will take you (mutawaffika) and raise
you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who
follow you superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. After
that to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in
which you used to differ (al-imran-55).
The word ‘mutawaffika’
used in this verse cannot be taken as meaning ‘ will give you death’; rather this word means ‘ will take you’. A plain reading of sequence
of this verse tells clearly that first Allah will give Christians (people
following Jesus) superiority over the people not believing hazrat Isa
(as) and this superiority will continue till Qiyamah. After that
(word ‘summa’ in Arabic language means ‘after that’; ‘after that’ means after
continuation of this superiority till Qiyamah) Hazrat Isa (and people) will return to Allah (means
they will die on/ near Qiyamah) . It may be noted that addressee of this verse
is hazrat Isa which is a singular noun but word 'kum' in the word ‘ merjiokum’/
your return’ is a plural word; that means 'merjiokum'/ 'your return' means not only death of hazrat Isa but also death of
other people around. Because this ‘merjiokum’/ ‘death of Isa a.s. and people
around’ has to happen after superiority of Christians over non-Christian people
would have continued till Qiyamah, it means this ‘merjiokum’/ ‘death of Isa
a.s. and people around’ will happen on/ near Qiyamah. (it may also be noted that Christian
superiority is to happen over people who do not have faith in Hazrat Isa a.s.;
because Muslims do have faith in Hazrat Isa (as), Muslims will not be dominated
by Christians forever like non-Muslim and non-Christians will be dominated
forever by Christians). In short, al-imran 55 states that first Allah will give
Christians superiority over the people not having faith in hazrat Isa (as) and
this superiority will continue till Qiyamah, and, after this superiority would
have continued till Qiyamah, hazrat Isa
and other people around will die near/on Qiyamah.
Now it is obvious
when Isa a.s. was made ‘mutawaffi’- when he was exalted/raised above in 33 AD-
Christians were not superior to non-Christian nations including Jews.
Christians started getting strength after three centuries had passed after exaltation
of Isa a.s. That means exaltation of Isa a.s. in 33 AD cannot be labelled as
death of Isa a.s. because death to Isa a.s. would occur after Christians would
have got superiority over the non-Christian people. Similarly above quoted verse
ale Imran-55 states death will occur to Hazrat Isa a.s. near/on Qiyamah. Now
that Christians have got superiority over non-Christian and non-Muslim nations,
Isa a.s. may descend whenever Allah wills it so but it would happen near
Qiyamah.
In short death has
not yet occurred to Isa a.s. That means word ‘mutawaffika’ used in verse ale
imran-55 does not mean death has happened to Isa a.s; rather this word means
Isa has been ‘taken away’.
Similarly another
verse which is presented as a proof to death of hazrat Isa a.s is discussed
below.
“I said not to them except what You
commanded me - to worship Allah , my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness
over them as long as I was among them; but when You took me up (tawaffaytani),
You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness”
(al-maidah-117).
In
this verse word ‘tawaffaytani’ has been used; this word too means ‘you took me
up’, not ‘you gave me death’. In this dialogue between Isa a.s and Allah on
Qiyamah, Isa a.s. is mentioning the period between his exaltation and his
return; Isa a.s is not mentioning the period after his death. Even if he a.s is
mentioning the period after his death, it may be appreciated that this dialogue
between Isa a.s. and Allah will happen on Qiyamah and before that dialogue he
a.s. will face death after his return on/ near Qiyamah. In short this verse
does not prove death has occurred to Isa a.s even if word ‘tawaffaytani’ is
taken as meaning ‘you gave death’.
There
are many other verses in Quran in which word ‘mutawaffi’ and its variants do
not mean ‘ dead’; rather they mean ‘taken away/taking away’. For instance
“Those who commit unlawful sexual intercourse
of your women - bring against them four [witnesses] from among you. And if they
testify, confine the guilty women to houses until death takes them
(yatawaffahunn al moutu) or Allah ordains for them [another] way”
(al-nisaa-15).
In this verse, word death (maut) has been used side
by side with word ‘takes them/ yatawaffahunna’. That means death and ‘yatawaffahunna’
are two different words and ‘yatawaffahunna’ means ‘takes them’, not death. Similarly
in verses al-anaam-61 and al-zumar-42 , word ‘death’ has been used along-with variants
of word ‘mutawaffi’. If these two words have been synonymous, these two words would
not have been used side by side. It is against principle of comprehensiveness
that two words should be used, if meaning may be conveyed with one word. Similarly,
al-anaam-60 states:
“And it is He
who takes your souls (yatawaffakum) by night………….”
This verse states about taking away human
soul in night (during sleep); it is obvious during sleep human does not die; he
only becomes unconscious. It means in this verse ‘yatawaffakum’ (a variant of ‘mutawaffi’)
does not mean ‘ give you death’; rather it means ‘takes your souls’.
From the foregoing it becomes clear that word ‘mutawaffi’
and its variants do not essentially mean ‘dead’/ ‘giving death’; rather they may
mean ‘taking away/ taken away’. The verses presented as a proof of death of Isa
a.s. contain word ‘mutawaffi’ and its variants which do not mean ‘death’;
rather such words mean ‘taken away’. In short, death of Isa a.s. is not proved from
Quran; rather life of Isa a.s. is proved, as discussed above.
Wherever word ‘mutawaffi’ and its variants have been
used in Quran regarding Isa a.s, such
words do not mean death of Isa a.s. However word ‘mauta’ and its variants mean ‘death/giving
death’. For the description of death of Isa a.s. too- when it will occur-, variant
of word ‘mauta’ has been used. Quran says:
“And peace is
on me the day I was born and the day I will die (amutu) and the day I will be
raised alive (ub,athu hayya)" (Maryam-33).
This verse states Isa’s a.s statement in his
childhood. He says peace is on him the day when he was born and on the day he
will die and on the day he will be raised alive”.
This verse is another proof that Isa a.s. has been
raised above alive; actually Isa a.s. has made a prediction about his raising
above alive. It may be appreciated, in this verse, the words ‘ ub,athu hayya’ do not mean ‘raising alive on Qiyamah’; this
is one meaning of these words. Another
meaning of these words is ‘raising above alive’. We have already seen in many
cases that if there are two different meanings (not contradictory to each
other or to any other Quranic verse) both meanings may be adopted. There is no contradiction between these
two meanings of these words; so both meanings may be adopted. In this case, to
adopt both meanings would mean that Isa a.s. has been raised above alive (before
Qiyamah) and he a.s. will be raised again alive on Qiyamah, after having death
after his return to earth.
We may conclude that death has not yet occurred to Isa a.s.
The verses which are presented as a proof of death of Isa a.s. contain word ‘mutawaffi’
and its variants which do not mean ‘dead/ giving death’; rather such words mean
‘taken away/taking away’. That means Isa a.s. has yet not been given death; he has been raised above alive,
and will face death after his return to earth on/ near Qiyamah.