Sunday, February 25, 2007

6: Meaning of Raf'a

Background: Quranic verse 4:159 is presented as a proof in support of the belief that Jesus was bodily raised to the heavens. It says that Jesus was given Raf'a. Since Raf'a literaly means to raise something, so it is argued that Jesus was bodily raised to the heavens while he was still alive and there he awaits his return before the Day of Judgement. This hadith helps explain Raf'a and tells us that it only means elevation of rank and not elevation or suspension of body at a higher altitude.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messengersaw as saying: Charity does not in any way decrease the wealth and the servant who forgives, Allah adds to his dignity, and the one who shows humility Allah elevates (Raf'a) him.

Imam Muslim accepts the authenticity of this hadith and includes it in his collection. Tirmazi and Nisa'ee have also reported it.

Clearly, raf'a means elevation of spiritual rank. When a person assumes humility, Allah raises his spiritual station.

When the Jews planned to kill Jesus by crucifying him, they intended to subject him to an ignoble and accursed death. A type of death that would prove him to be a false prophet. This is the key point and helps explain the Quranic usage of the word Raf'a to describe Jesus' fate. Raf'a is the exact opposite of accursed. According to the Torah, anyone dying on the cross dies an accursed death.[1] Such a person cannot possibly be a prophet of God. Allah absolves Jesus from that allegation and adjudges his fate to have been exactly the opposite: a noble death and elevation of spiritual rank. Furthermore 3:56 clearly establishes an order of events. Raf'a happens after Tawaffa (death). So whatever be the meaning of raf'a, Jesus would need to die before he is subjected to Raf'a. This is conceded to by Allama Shokani in his book Fatah-ul-Qadeer; by the Egyptian scholars Sheikh Muhammad Abdah and Mustafa Muraghi in their commentaries of the Holy Quran and by Shia scholar Allama Qammi in his book Akmaaluddin.

Lisan-ul-Arab, the authoritative Arabic dictionary, describes raf'a as being antonymous to lowering of rank, dignity or significance. It describes God's attribute of Al-Rafay to mean the One who raises the status of ordinary believers and to the aulia (highly spiritual people) He grants His nearness through their raf'a.[2]

This word is extensively used in hadith. Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw once said, “When someone assumes humility Allah causes his raf'a to the seventh heaven.”[3] Other traditions elaborate further by stating that this is bisilsilati i.e. in stages.[4]

In another hadith, Holy Prophet said that when a person assumes humility for the sake of Allah, Allah raises (raf'a) his status degree by degree until a he is raised to a lofty station (aliyeen). And when a person displays arrogance Allah debases him until a time comes when he is counted among the lowest of the low (asfala safileen).[5]

This tradition also finds mention in the Shia literature. In fact Shia literature employs other sublime usage of this term as well. It is said that when Jaffar Tayyarra presented himself in the court of Najashi, the king of Abyssinia was sitting on the floor. Jaffar (expecting the king to be on his throne), enquired as to why he was seated on the floor? Najashi replied that it is Jesus' teaching that when God grants favor to a man, man should assume meekness. I am being meek since God gave me a victory. When the Holy Prophetsaw learnt of this incident, he said that meekness raises the status of a man, therefore be humble such that Allah raises your station (gives you raf'a).[6]

Holy Prophetsaw used to pray between salaat prostrations that Allah may grant him raf'a (wa-Raf'ani).[7] If it is assumed that raf'a means physical elevation to the heavens, it would mean this particular prayer of the Holy Prophetsaw was not accepted (naoozo billah), whereas those who believe Jesus to be still alive, say that Jesus' prayer for deliverance from persecution was accepted by raising him to the heavens.[8] This should be an unacceptable proposition for any Muslim.

In the commentary of 55:30 -- Every day Allah reveals Himself in a different state -- Saheeh Bukhari states that each day Allah exaltes (gives raf'a to) many nations and many nations does He humiliate.[9]

Therefore, in the light of this evidence one can conclude that raf'a means exaltation of spiritual rank, and it is in this sense that Jesus Christ was given raf'a. Hazrat Ibne Arabi commenting on 4:159 writes that raf'a of Jesus means seperation of his soul from the binds of earthly existence and finding its place in the celestial world close to (Allah).[10]

Any tradition that suggests a physical ascension of Jesus would be considered unreliable as it would be against the Quran and the authentic traditions. Unitarian Christians of the past also believed Jesus to have died.[11] The present day belief of a living Jesus is a later Christian invention. Several Muslim scholars agree that the belief in Jesus being still alive was adopted by Muslims of the middle ages in error. These scholars include the following: Allama Ibne Qayyam, Allama Zurqani, Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan, Abul Kalam Azad, Allama Ubaidullah Sindhi, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Ghulam Ahmad Perwaiz.




[1] Deutronomy 18:20, Deutronomy 21:22–23

[2] Lisan-ul-Arab under Raf'a

[3] Kanzul Amaal by Allama Allauddin Ali Mutaqqi vol. 3, pg. 110, pub. Moassatur-Risalah.

[4] Kanzul Amaal vol. 2, pg. 26, pub. Dairatul Maarif Al-Nizamia Hyderabad Dakkan.

[5] Masnad Ahmad bin Hambal vol. 3, pg. 76, pub. Darul Fikr Al-Arabi.

[6] As-Saafi Sharah Usool Al-Kafi pg. 220-221, pub. Munshi Nawal Kishvar, Lucknow.

[7] Ibn-e-Majah vol. Aqamat-as-Salaat, chap. Ma Yaqoolu Baina Sajdatain.

[8] (i) Tafseer Jame' Al Bayaan by Allama Mohammad Bin Jarir Tabri vol. 3, pg. 290, pub. Mustafa Al Babi Al Jilli, Egypt. (ii) Bihar ul Anwaar vol. 16, pg. 144, pub. Maoosasta Al Wafa, Beirut.

[9] Saheeh Bukhari, Kitab-ul-Tafseer, Surah Rahman.

[10] Tafseer Quran-al-Kareem by Allama Ibne Arabi vol 1, pg. 296, pub. Darul Undalas, Beirut

[11] (i) Dalail An-Nabuwah by Allama Abu Bakr Bahiqi (d. 458 h) vol. 1, pg. 438, pub. Lajna Ahya-ul-Umahat Kutub 1970, (ii) Asbab Al-Nazool by Allama Wahidi (d. 468 h), pg. 61, Darul Fikr, Beirut


Monday, February 19, 2007

5: The Grave of Jesus


Narrated by Aishara that the Holy Prophetsaw in his last illness prior to his death said, ‘Curse of Allah be upon the Jews and the Christians who took the gravesites of their prophets as places for prostration.’

Both Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj agree on the authenticity of this tradition and have included it in their respective collections. It is also supported by Nisa'ee.

This hadith speaks of the Jews and the Christians worshiping the graves of their prophets. As far as the Christians are concerned the only grave they worship, which is also that of a prophet, is that of Jesus. It is in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a place of annual pilgrimage for many thousands of Christians. It is to be noted that the Christians do not worship the grave of any other prophet because in their view these prophets, like other people, are sullied with congenital sin having transferred from generation to generation since the time of Adam. Only Jesus is worthy of special reverance on account of his innocence.

This statement of the Holy Prophetsaw should be a sufficient proof for Muslims that Jesus' grave in Jerusalem is authentic. After he was saved from the cross, Jesus was removed to a secret place of burial, a sepulchre. He was kept there in his seriously injured state for three days and three nights until he recovered sufficiently. If this is not so, and the site of the sepulchre having anything to do with Jesus is only in the imagination of the Christians, then the Holy Prophet's statement would turn out to be erroneous as it would be corroborating a fiction. That, to a believer, is quite inconceivable. It is below the dignity of a prophet to relate stories and tales as facts. As for those who would insist that this is not the same grave which the Holy Prophet meant in the above tradition, onus is on them to produce another grave of a prophet which the Christians worship. If they are unable to do so, they should concede the authenticity of the Jerusalem sepulcher. This would imply that the orthodox Muslim belief of Jesus being bodily raised to the heavens prior to the crucifixion is no more than a baseless story.

Jesus compared himself to Jonah and said that like Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish, he would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.[1] And like Jonah he also emerged from his predicament very much alive. This is the plan of God mentioned in 3:55. God saved Jesus by leading the Jews to believe that they had succeeded in killing him.[2]

After escaping from the cross he migrated east and settled in Kashmir where he lived to an advanced age of 120. He is buried in Khanyar district of Srinagar.[3]



[1] Matthew 12:38–41

[2] Summary from Sat-Bachan, footnote to footnote pg 164 Ruhani Khazain vol. 10, pg. 309-310

[3] Tomb of Jesus website



Sunday, February 18, 2007

4: After 100 years ...

Narrated by Jabir Bin Abdullahra: about a month before he passed away the Holy Prophetsaw said: ‘there is not a single soul who lives today and breaths but that he will surely be dead before the passage of a 100 years.’

This is qouted in Saheeh Muslim and Saheeh Bukhari. The background of this tradition is that the Holy Prophetsaw in answer to a question about the Yaum-ul-Qiyamah (the Judgement Day) said that only Allah knows with certainty about that day, but a qiyamah (of sort) would occur a hundred years from then. Just like the death of a person is like a qiyamah for that person, similarly there is a qiyamah for a nation, a generation or an age. The Holy Prophet, calling Allah to witness, ascertains a limit of exactly one hundred years for everyone alive on that day to perish and in that way a qiyamah would have occurred for his contemporaries. If it is assumed that Jesus was alive on the day Holy Prophetsaw made this particular observation, even so, he would have at most a hundred years to live, and no more.[1] Some scholars have also deduced Khizar's death from this hadees (if at all he were assumed to be alive at that time).[2]

Those who believe Jesus to be still alive, assert his, as well as Khizar's exclusion from the verdict of this hadees, but they fail to provide a good reason for the exclusion. It is important to note that the Holy Prophet swears in the name of God and sets this limit for everyone alive on that day and mentions no exceptions. What would be the purpose of calling Allah to witness if this was only a general observation with some very important exceptions? Also, it is not possible to make this type of prediction without knowledge obtained through divine revelation. Clearly, with this hadith there is no possibility for an earlier prophet to live beyond the hundred years limit.[3]


[1] Azalah-e-Auham pg 624, Ruhani Khazain vol. 3, pg. 437

[2] Mazahir-ul-Haq Sharah Mishkat-al-Masabih vol. 4, pg. 381, pub. Adarah Nashriyat Islam Lahore.

[3] Hamamatul Bushra pg 14, Ruhani Khazain vol. 7, pg. 192



3: The First Consenus

Is there any hadith which speaks of the companions discussing and asserting Jesus' death one way or another? The problem in finding such a hadith is that arguments over death of people long gone, whether it occurred or not, is hardly engaged upon by the sane. Absence of any hadith to this effect in fact points to Jesus' death and not his life. No one, for example, in the year 2006 holds discussion forums on George Washington, the first president of the United States, being alive or dead, which tells us that his disposition is not a subject of interest or argument and all agree that he has died. It would be a poor reflection on someone's intelligence to needlessly labour the point that George Washington has died. Similarly the companions of the Holy Prophetsaw did not hold discussions on the death of Moses, Isaac, Abraham, Noah, Adam and neither did they discuss the dispostion of Jesus simply because they believed him to have died and there was no reason to question it such that it became a topic of interest. There is however one remarkable incident which leaves little doubt as to where they stood on the matter of death of all prophets including Jesus. That incident occurred after the death of the Holy Prophetsaw. He was not yet buried and the companions were in a highly emotional state, many refusing to believe his death. The following narrative is taken from Sahih Bukhari:

Abdullah bin Abbas narrates that when Abu Bakr arrived Umar was addressing the people. He said, “O‘ Umar sit down.” Umar did not sit but people left him and turned thier attention towards Abu Bakr, who then said, “Those amongst you who worshipped Muhammadsaw should know that Muhammadsaw has died. Those who worshipped Allah should be satisfied that Allah is alive and is impervious to suffering death. Allah has said that Muhammadsaw is but a messenger. Verily all Messengers have passed away before him. If then he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? Those among you who turn back on their heels will not harm Allah a whit and Allah will reward those who are thankful.” (Bukhari Kitab-ul-Mughazi Chapter Prophet's illness and death)

In another narration it said that Umarra was in such an agitated state that with his sword drawn he promised to kill anyone who said that the Holy Prophetsaw had died. Abu Bakrra on learning of these disturbing developments removed the covering from Holy Prophet'ssaw face, kissed his forehead, and said that surely Allah would not subject him to two deaths. He understood that Holy Prophetsaw was not going to return. He then gathered everyone in the Masjid-al-Nabwi and recited 3:145:

And Muhammad is but a messenger. Verily all Messengers have passed away before him. If then he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? (3:145)

Those who were in doubt were at once convinced. Umar collapsed to the ground. It is said that it felt like this verse was being revealed for the first time. With great wisdom Abu Bakr had brought the delicate situation under control. This verse was sufficient to prove to all present that Muhammadsaw had passed away like the earlier prophets. If it was the general belief that even one among the earlier prophets was still alive surely Abu Bakr's reasoning would have failed. If khalat did not mean death, Umar could not have been convinced and would have protested and brought up the case of Jesus. On the contrary no one uttered a word of protest and all concluded on the authority of this verse that Muhammadsaw had died like prophets before him.

For a more detail discussion on 3:145 please click here

Friday, February 16, 2007

2: Jesus has died

Ibne-Abbas narrates that the Holy Prophet said: “On the Day of Judgement I will see some people from among my companions being taken to the Left. Upon seeing them I will say, ‘my companions! my companions!’. I will be told that when I parted from them they turned back on their heels. At that point I will say the same thing what (Jesus son of Mary) the righteous had said: that while I was among them I watched over them but once You caused me to die (Tawaffi) it was You alone who watched over them.” (Bukhari Kitab-ul-Anbiya and Kitab-ul-Tafseer Surah Al-Maidah)

This hadith is qouted in Sahih-Bukhari, Sahih-Muslim, Tirmazi and Nisa'ee thus making it among the most authentic of traditions.

Imam Bukhari places it in his Kitab-ul-Tafseer since it sheds light on the meaning of Tawafaitani as used in 5:118. That particular verse describes a dialogue between Allah and Jesus on the Day of Judgement. Allah enquires of Jesus about the Christian faith and asks if he gave Christians the belief of his own and his mother’s divinity? Jesus responds that he gave no such teaching. As long as he was alive and was among his people this doctrine did not exist. He watched over them while he was with them, but once Allah had caused him to die, it was Allah who watched over them and indeed He is the Witness.

5:118 speaks of two different and distinct phases of Jesus’ existence. One in which he was among his people. And the other in which he was not among his people. The boundary between these two phases is defined by the word Tawafaitani. His absence from among his people is preceded by the state of Tawaffi. The question then boils to whether Jesus is present among his people or is he absent from his people? If he is absent from among his people then the state of Tawaffi has surely preceded this state of absence.

Tawaffi is a common Arabic term for death but some people take it to mean "capture of the body" when applied to Jesus. This hadith does not permit that translation. Holy Prophetsaw has used it such that it is impossible to give it any meaning other than death. The nature of Tawaffi of Jesus is the same as the nature of Tawaffi of the Holy Prophet. If that was not the case, Holy Prophet would not have said ‘I will say what Jesus had said …’. It is noteworthy that the Holy Prophet uses the same word and in the same context. Do words change meaning when applied to different people?

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

1: The soul of Jesus rests with the other prophets

Narrated by Malik bin Sasaa that the Holy Prophetsaw said: “while I was lying in the Kaaba ... and Gabriel set out with me till we reached the nearest heaven ... I saw Adam there. Gabriel said to me, ‘This is your father, Adam; pay him your greetings.’ So I greeted him and he returned the greeting to me and said, ‘You are welcomed, O' pious son and pious Prophetsaw.’ Then Gabriel ascended with me till we reached the second heaven... there I saw John and Jesus who were cousins to each other. Gabriel said to me, ‘These are John and Jesus; pay them your greetings.’ So I greeted them and both of them returned my greetings and said, ‘You are welcomed, O' pious brother and pious Prophetsaw...” (Saheeh Bukhari - Chapter Mairaj)

This tradition taken from Bukhari describes the Holy Prophetsaw meeting Jesus and other prophets on his spiritual journey variously known as the Mairaj and Isra. He finds Jesus among the other prophets, which shows that they all shared a common state and a common fate. The living and the dead do not intermix, therefore his abode could only be together with the earlier prophets if he had also died like them.

Imam Hasanra describes Hazrat Alira dying on the same night as when Jesus' soul was raised, which was the 27th of Ramadan.1

Ibn-e-Qayyam writes that the souls of other prophets were raised to their appointed heavenly stations only after their demise, whereas, exceptionally, the Holy Prophet's soul experienced the Mairaj.2

Datta Ganj Baksh Hajverira said the Holy Prophetsaw indeed met with the souls of Adam, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Jesus and Abraham on the night of the Mairaj.3

The mairaj tradition clearly establishes that it was the soul of Jesus and not his body which went through ascension (raf'a). Like other prophets he has also entered the Paradise from where no one is removed once admitted.

1 Tabqaat-ul-Kubra by Allama Ibn Saad vol. 3, pg. 39, pub. Dar Sadir, Beirut.
2 Zadal Ma'ad fi Huda Khair al Ibad by Allama Ibn-e-Qayyam vol. 1, pg. 302, pub. Nizam Publishers Kanpur
3 Kashaf-ul-Mahjoob pg. 317, pub. Kashmiri Bazar, Lahore