Page 83 - The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) Did Not Die

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HARUN YAHYA

Allah takes the souls [of people] at death [yatawaffaa],

and those who do not die [lam tamut] during their sleep.
Those on whom He has passed the decree of death [al-
mawt], He keeps back [from returning to life], but the rest
He sends [to their bodies] for a term appointed. Verily in
this are signs for those who reflect." (Surat az-Zumar:42)
The word here translated as "taking back" is the same
as that used in Surah Al 'Imran:55: yatawaffaa. Since a person
does not actually die during the night, the word yatawaffaa
here refers not to death, but to taking the soul at night. If
tawaffaa were being used in the sense of death, then that
would mean that all people would be biologically dead dur-
ing sleep. Thus, the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) would have died
every night of his life. Such an assertion is both irrational
and illogical.

Another instance in which sleep is regarded as a kind
of death, but which does not refer to biological death, is the
following hadith: "'All praise is for Allah, Who has made us
alive after He made us die [sleep] (Al-hamdu li Allah illadhi
ahyana ba'da maa amatana; wa ilayhi al-nushoo)' Our Prophet
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace) often said this
after he woke up." No doubt, he used these wise words not
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to refer to biological death when one is asleep, but rather to
a sleeping person's soul being "taken." Ibn Kathir, the fa-
mous Islamic scholar and commentator, used this hadith,
along with many other proofs in his commentary on Surah
Al 'Imran, to explain that tawaffaa refers to sleep. In addi-