This answer is not satisfactory, because your aqida is that sayyidina Eisa عليه السلام was raised up in his Jasad al-Unsari (earthly body). So we have to discuss the reality of the flesh and blood human body. The reality about the factors of life in Heaven, time, atmosphere, etc., are irrelevant. Allah says:
وَمَا جَعَلْنَاهُمْ جَسَدًا لَّا يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَمَا كَانُوا خَالِدِينَ
And We did not make for them (Messengers) a body that does not require eating food for nourishment, nor were they immortal (Sura 21:8 )
Quite simply, there is no evidence that the human body can survive without nourishment, or that it can be taken to such a place where it will not experience aging and deterioration. Now if you say that Jesus was raised up to Heaven not in this earthen body, but in a Jism al Mithalee, in other words, his soul took on the form of a jism infused with light that is not subject to the restrictions of the earthen body, I would have no objection.
The essence of the problem is your insistence that Jesus was raised alive in Heaven with his Jasad al-Unsari (earthen body) without any explicit proof. It is this aqida which is creating all sorts of problems and raising too many questions and dilemmas.
I told you before these matters are of unseen, and we have no knowledge about its details. We believe in these things because it was informed by Prophet Muhammad(saws) who received certain knowledge of unseen through Wahi(revelation) from Allah.
Belief in the Unseen is central to the message of the Quran. Allah says: “This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah; who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them.” [Surah al-Baqarah: 2-3]
This verse establishes for us that belief in the Unseen is the basis for certainty of faith. Indeed, all six of the articles of faith are founded upon belief in the Unseen.
This is why Allah mentions belief in the Unseen here as the first characteristic of a believer. We are not supposed to limit our belief to those things that we can apprehend with our senses. We are not supposed to allow our observation of the physical world to blind us to our faith in what is beyond it.
Allah gives us the balance that we are supposed to strike when He tells us: “On the Earth are signs for those of assured Faith, as also in your own selves: Will you not then see? And in heaven is your sustenance, as (also) that which you are promised.” [Sûrah Dhâriyât: 20-22]
In these verses Allah mentions matters of the Unseen with matters that are subject to our empirical scrutiny. The world of the Unseen is the domain of faith. The proof for our faith, however, is in the tangible world, the world wherein we carry out our lives.
We must simply concede that our minds and our faculties are limited, and some things in Allah’s creation have not been subjected to our scrutiny.
Consider the human soul. Though it has a vital connection with the human body, its nature is a complete mystery to us.
Allah says: “They ask you about the soul. Say: the soul is from the affair of my Lord, and of knowledge you have been vouchsafed but little.” [Sûrah al-Isrâ: 85]
The matters of the Unseen that Islam calls upon people of faith to believe – they are all matters which reason cannot ascertain. At the same time, they are not matters that run contrary to the dictates of reason.
Ibn Taymiyah explains this as follows:
Islam asserts matters that transcend the limits of human reason – matters that the human mind is incapable of resolving on its own. Islam does not assert matters that run contrary to the dictates of reason, things that our rational faculties clearly show us to be impossible or wrong.
Reason does not deny the existence of the Unseen. To the contrary, reason acknowledges that necessity of the Unseen for human life in this world and for the concerns of the Hereafter.
So without going on another tangent, in summary I believe that the man mentioned in this Verse (2:259) experienced a vision which from our point of view lasted a day or part of a day, hence why neither his food or drink were spoiled, and why his donkey remained as it was. In fact, I use those very facts as evidence that what he experienced was a vision, in which he was transported to a period of 100 years ahead to witness the coming back to life of the hamlet he had come across. Then when he awoke from his vision he saw that his food and drink was as they were, and also his donkey, but all that he had seen about the hamlet being quickened to life was in a powerful spiritual Vision.[/size][/font]
That's twisting the verse of Quran. Your theory would have been acceptable if in case the Quran wouldn't have said that the person remained for 100 years. In this case the wordings would have been that, the time period for the vision was a very short interval. Since Quran mentions that he remained there for 100 years, when he thought he was there only for a day, this proves that it was practical.
Secondly You asked me to refer your article, In the last I found this conclusion from you:
These people were perhaps the Israelites during the Babylonian captivity who had been banished from the Holy Land beginning around 597 BCE. It was their nation which had died and was in a state of death. Nevertheless, Allah, out of His grace, restored the nation and caused them to be released from captivity and return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple in 538 BCE after Cyrus’s proclamation.
So lets compare this with Quranic verse.
In 597 BCE this nation was destroyed. And this nation was restored in 538 BCE.
So if Ezekiel saw this scene in 597 BCE when it started, then 100 years after it when it was restored would be 497 BCE, not 538 BCE. So there are clear inconsistencies in your baseless theories. The fact is that you are basing your views on unreliable Christian sources, whose authenticity is rejected if they contradict Muslim sources.
Lets see how Muslim scholars explained, so that readers benefit from it.
Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Ali bin Abi Talib said that the Ayah ﴿2:259﴾ meant `Uzayr. Ibn Jarir also reported it, and this explanation was also reported by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim from Ibn `Abbas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Sulayman bin Buraydah.
You wrote in the article:
Allah also draws attention to his donkey which is also still present and alive.
We read:
(And look at your donkey!), "How Allah brings it back to life while you are watching.''(And thus We have made of you a sign for the people) that Resurrection occurs..
As-Suddi said, " `Uzayr observed the bones of his donkey, which were scattered all around him to his right and left, and Allah sent a wind that collected the bones from all over the area. Allah then brought every bone to its place, until they formed a full donkey made of fleshless bones. Allah then covered these bones with flesh, nerves, veins and skin. Allah sent an angel who blew life in the donkeys' nostrils, and the donkey started to bray by Allah's leave.' [Tafseer Ibn Katheer]
That is based off of the saying of a Sahabi and not a Hujjah.
It is an hujjah for Ahl us sunnah, I'll deal with this point in detail later inshaAllah.
But if you insist, I can prove to you that our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave two separate and contrasting physical descriptions of Jesus.
During the Mi'raj, our Prophet saw Jesus and described him as a man of red complexion with curly hair. Then the Prophet had a vision of Jesus circling the Ka'ba, and described him as a dark man with straight hair. So if you insist on your point, based on a similar kind of reasoning, I can insist that the Jesus of Nazareth of 2000 years ago which our Prophet beheld during the Mi'raj is a different Jesus who will descend in the future that the Prophet beheld in his vision circling the Ka'ba.[/size][/font]
Apparently there seem to be two contradictions here;
1) About Complexion
2) About Hair
In the following lines we discuss in detail all the various Ahadith about the issue.
Complexion:
1) As to the complexion, apparently there seems to be a contradiction but there isn’t any. One Hadith of Ibn Umar (RA) above says that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) described Jesus (PBUH) to be of red complexion while other narration from him says he was described to be of wheatish complexion. This apparent contradiction is resolved considering other narrations.
عَنْ سَالِمٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ لَا وَاللَّهِ مَا قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لِعِيسَى أَحْمَرُ وَلَكِنْ قَالَ بَيْنَمَا أَنَا نَائِمٌ أَطُوفُ بِالْكَعْبَةِ فَإِذَا رَجُلٌ آدَمُ سَبْطُ الشَّعَرِ
Salim reports from his father (i.e. Abdullah bin Umar), he said: “No, By Allah, the Prophet did not say that Jesus was of red complexion but he said, “While I was asleep circumambulating the Ka’ba (in my dream), suddenly I saw a man of brown complexion and lank hair.” (Bukhari, Kitabul Ahadith al-Anbiya, Hadith 3185)
2) Considering the fact that Ibn Umar (RA) himself so emphatically repudiates the idea that Holy Prophet (PBUH) described Jesus (PBUH) to be of red complexion so we have to believe, the narration which attributes to Ibn Umar (RA) the report of Holy Prophet describing Jesus as such is perhaps a mistake by some later narrator. Jesus (PBUH) was not purely of red complexion. Infact this is generally not true for the Semitic people.
3) The rightful description of Jesus (PBUH) is as narrated by Ibn Abbas (RA):
ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ …َرَأَيْتُ عِيسَى رَجُلًا مَرْبُوعًا مَرْبُوعَ الْخَلْقِ إِلَى الْحُمْرَةِ وَالْبَيَاضِ سَبِطَ الرَّأْسِ
Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet said, “On the night of my Ascent to the Heaven, … I saw Jesus, a man of medium height and moderate complexion inclined to the red and white colors and of lank hair.” (Bukhari, Kitabul Bad’ al-Khalq, Hadith 3000)
4) Infact his complexion was neither white as lime nor purely red but something between these two as described in the Hadith above. And the same complexion was sometimes referred to as ‘wheatish’ or ‘wheat-colored.’
Al-Nawawi has written the same in his commentary to the Hadith that speaks of red complexion of Jesus (PBUH):
وَأَنَّهُ اِشْتَبَهَ عَلَى الرَّاوِي فَيَجُوز أَنْ يُتَأَوَّل الْأَحْمَر عَلَى الْأَدَم ، وَلَا يَكُون الْمُرَاد حَقِيقَة الْأُدْمَة وَالْحُمْرَة بَلْ مَا قَارَبَهَا
“And this is confusion on the part of the narrator and perhaps he took red to be wheat-like and it does not mean tan or red but what is near to it.” (Sharah Al-Nawawi on Sahih Muslim 1/302, Kitabul Iman)
5) The fact of the matter is that it’s not easy to describe ones complexion. The same is evident from the fact that Anas (RA) in one narration says Holy Prophet (PBUH) was wheatish in complexion and in another narration says he was not wheat-colored. (Shamail Tirmidhi Hadith 1 & 2. Both authenticated by Albani)
The Hair:
1) As to the hair; straight or curly, we need to have a look at the actual wording of the Hadith that is taken to speak about the curly hair of Jesus (PBUH);
فَأَمَّا عِيسَى فَأَحْمَرُ جَعْدٌ
The usual translation goes as; “Jesus was of red complexion [and] curly hair.”
Here the word جَعْدٌ is taken to mean curly hair but this is not the exclusive meaning of this word. Ibn Athir
writes about it:
مَعْناه… شَدِيد الأسْرِ
i.e. “It means… ‘Of strong built.’” and further gives an example of it from Hadith:
والحديث الآخر [ على ناقة جَعْدَة ] أي مُجْتَمِعة الخَلْق شَدِيدةٍ
“In another Hadīth, ‘On a camel of strong built’ i.e. of rigorously cogent built.” (Nihaya fi Gharib al-Asar 1/767)
Indeed scholars have always taken جَعْدٌ to mean ‘of strong built’ in this context. Hafiz Ibn Hujr mentions that it refers to his physical bearing and not hair. He says;
وَوَصْفه لِجُعُودَةِ فِي جِسْمه لَا شَعْره وَالْمُرَاد بِذَلِكَ اِجْتِمَاعه وَاكْتِنَازه
“And this is about sturdiness in body, not the hair and it refers to its compactness and robustness” (Fath Al-Baari 10/242, kitabul ahadith al-anbiya)
Al-Nawawi has also said the very same. He writes;
الْمُرَاد بِالْجَعْدِ هُنَا جُعُودَة الْجِسْم وَهُوَ اِجْتِمَاعه وَاكْتِنَازه وَلَيْسَ الْمُرَاد جُعُودَة الشَّعْر
.
“Here جَعْدِ means firmness of the body i.e. its compactness and being thickset. And it does not refer to curling of the hair’ (Sharah Al-Nawawi on Sahih Muslim 1/296, Kitabul Iman)
2) So the correct and most suitable translation of the Hadith which is generally taken to refer to the curly hair of Jesus (PBUH) is:
Narrated Ibn Umar: The Prophet said, “I saw Moses, Jesus and Abraham (on the night of my Ascension to the heavens). Jesus was (person) with red complexion, robust body and a broad chest.” (Bukhari, Hadith 3183)
Similar Description of Jesus (PBUH) as seen during Mi’raj and on his descent:
The thing of utmost importance we need to consider here is the fact that when the Holy Prophet (PBUH) told about the features of the Jesus (PBUH) to recognize him on his descent it went directly in line with the description of Jesus (PBUH) found in the Ahadith about Night of Ascension (Mi’raj).
ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ …َرَأَيْتُ عِيسَى رَجُلًا مَرْبُوعًا مَرْبُوعَ الْخَلْقِ إِلَى الْحُمْرَةِ وَالْبَيَاضِ سَبِطَ الرَّأْسِ
Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet said, “On the night of my Ascent to the Heaven … I saw Jesus, a man of medium height and moderate complexion inclined to the red and white colors and of lank hair.” (Bukhari, kitabul bad’ al-khalq , Hadith 3000)
عن أبي هريرة أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال ليس بيني وبينه نبي يعني عيسى وإنه نازل فإذا رأيتموه فاعرفوه رجل مربوع إلى الحمرة والبياض
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (PBUH) said: There is no prophet between me and him, that is, Jesus (PBUH). He will descend (to the earth). When you see him, recognize him: a man of medium height, complexion inclined to red and white…” (Abu Dawud, Kitabul Malahim, Hadith 4324. Classified as Sahih by Albani)
This proves that the man who is described in the Ahadith to descend from the Heavens near the End of Times will be same Israelite Prophet whom the Holy Prophet (PBUH) met during the Miraculous Night (Mi’raj).
All these details upholds the unanimous Muslim belief that Jesus of Nazareth will indeed descend from the Heavens.
Again we are talking about these factors in relation to the earthen flesh and blood mortal human body. It needs to be first proven that this human body has the capacity to survive being raised up into the Heavens, into dimensions beyond our own. This is the crucial factor that has to be discussed.
Allah says that it is the Angels and the Ruh which ascend to Him in a Day the measure of which is 50,000 years. Obviously the Angels and the Ruh have the capacity for this ascension, but obviously not the human body.
If you are going to judge a supernatural event with physical laws then obviously you won't be able to grasp it. Which such parameters, Im afraid you will some day rejector of Quran as well. Take example of Ibrahim(as) who was thrown into fire, the natural process is that flesh and skin would burn in fire, but since it was a supernatural event, what happened was contrary to natural law. The fire became cool on Ibrahim(as).
“We said: ‘
O fire! Be you coolness and safety for Ibrahim (Abraham)!’ And they wanted to harm him, but We made them the worst losers” [Surah al-Anbiyaa 21:69-70].
May be for you, this as well was the vision of Ibrahim(as).
So again I repeat that we believe in descend of Isa(As) because Prophet(saws) informed us about it, and we are from those who believe in Ghaib and supernatural events.
As for the evidence that Isa(as) would return in a physical body then, the Marfoo hadeeth from Prophet(saws) describes that when Isa(As) would descend, he will be wearing clothes, water would drop from his hair, He would place his hands on the wings of angels, which signifies that it would be for support while descending, and only a physical body would need to do that.
Allah would send Jesus, son of Mary, and
he will descend at the white minaret in the eastern side of Damascus wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and placing his hands on the wings of two Angels. When he would lower his head, there would fall beads of perspiration from his head, and when he would raise it up, beads like pearls would scatter from it. [ Sahih Muslim 2937 a]
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April 05, 2016, 05:47:07 AM
