Page 82 - The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) Did Not Die

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Surah Al 'Imran:55 informs believers that Allah will
"take back" the Prophet Jesus (pbuh), protect him from the

unbelievers, and raise him to His Presence. Many great Is-
lamic scholars and commentators have interpreted this
verse to mean that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) did not die. As
Allah states in the verse:
[Allah said:] "Jesus, I will take you back [mutawaffeeka]
and raise you up [wa raafi`uka] to Me and purify you of
those who are unbelievers. And I will place the people who
follow you above those who are unbelievers until the Day of
Resurrection..." (Surah Al 'Imran:55)
The part requiring special consideration is the sen-

tence "I will take you back [mutawaffeeka] and raise you
up to Me." A close examination reveals a most important
truth: The verb carries a sense that differs from what is nor-
mally meant by "to die." The word translated into English
as "to die" is the Arabic verb tawaffaa derived from the root
waffaa. This verb does not imply death,
but rather taking the soul, or surrender.
Allah also reveals in the Qur'an that
taking a person's soul does not al-
ways imply death. For instance,
Allah uses tawaffaa in another
verse to refer not to a per-
son's death, but to tak-
ing his or her soul

while asleep: