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Tuesday 31 July 2018

Isa a.s. and Difference between ‘Mauta’ and ‘Mutawaffi’


       
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.

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