Page 138 - The Glad Tidings of the Messiah

136 The Glad Tidings of the Messiah (pbuh)

lieve in him before he dies; and on the Day of Resurrection
he [Jesus] will be a witness against them. (Surat an-Nisa',
159)
The expression "and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a
witness against them" is important. Allah reveals in the Qur'an
that on that Day, people's tongues, hands, and feet (Surat an-Nur,
24, Surah Ya Sin, 65), as well as their eyes, ears, and skin (Surah
Fussilat, 20-23), will testify against them. No verse indicates that
the Qur'an will be the witness during this event. If the first part of
the verse is taken to mean "the Qur'an"—even though there is no
evidence in the syntax or the succession of verses for this—"him"
or "it" in the second part also would refer to the Qur'an. To accept
this, however, there should be an explicit verse confirming this
view. However, the commentator Ibn Juzayy does not mention the
possibility of the Qur'an being the "him" referred to, and Ibn
Juzayy transmitted the views of all the major commentators in his
work.
When we examine the Qur'an's verses, we see that when the
same personal pronoun refers to the Qur'an, there is generally
mention of the Qur'an before or after that specific verse as in the
cases of Surat an-Naml, 77 and Surat ash-Shu'ara', 192-96. If the
Qur'an is not mentioned before, after, or in the verse, saying that
the pronoun refers to the Qur'an could be mistaken. The verse
clearly speaks of the belief in the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and that he
will be a witness for those who believe.
Another point we need to make here has to do with the inter-
pretation of "before he dies." Some believe that this stands for the
People of the Book "having faith in the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) before
their own death." According to this view, everyone from the
People of the Book will definitely believe in the Prophet Jesus