Page 54 - The Prophet Jesus (as) will Return

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THE PROPHET JESUS (AS) WILL RETURN
If the term bal, which appears in Surat an-Nisa' 158 and which I have
translated as "on the contrary," comes after a sentence expressing a

negativity, then, according to the rules of Arabic linguistics, the sen-
tence following it must mean the exact opposite of the one preceding
it. The opposite of death is life. This is a requirement of the rules of
linguistics. If we say that "the ascension here is a spiritual one" and
"the Prophet Jesus (as) died in the normal sense," then we are violat-
ing that rule. In that case, the ascension following the expression "on
the contrary" would not represent the opposite to the verbs of
"killing" and "crucifying" in the negative sentence preceding it.
That is because it may be possible for a person to be killed and for his
or her soul to rise to the skies. Otherwise, this term would be mean-

ingless, and there are no meaningless terms in the Qur'an …
According to those who support the thesis that the ascension is only
one of the soul, the meaning of the verse is this: "They did not kill him
and did not crucify him … on the contrary, Allah raised his station."
There is no particular oratory here, let alone succinctness … No
rational person could take the words "The elevator in my building
raises me to the fourth floor every day," to mean that I am only raised

to the fourth floor in spirit. Therefore, neither was the Prophet Jesus
(as) raised only in spirit. 13
Said Ramadan al-Buti interpreted the subject in the same
way:
The mutual compatibility between the verse's previous and later sec-
tions necessarily reveals a fact. For example, if an Arab says: "I am

not hungry; on the contrary, I am lying on my side," this is not a cor-
rect sentence. In the same way, there is a discrepancy between the
components in the sentence: "Khalid did not die; on the contrary, he
is a good man." What would be correct is to say: "Khalid did not die;