The Islamic Belief in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Contrary to the collective belief of the ummah, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan says that the second coming of Christ is in fact not his real coming but the coming of his role. He says that it is generally believed that Jesus Christ is alive in the heavens and will come down physically on earth in the final phase and kill Dajjal. Though this belief is widespread, it is proved neither by the Quran nor Hadith in its present form. In the books of hadith, there are two dozen reliable narrations which tell of the appearance of Christ but it is noteworthy that none of them explicitly states that Christ will descend physically from the heavens. In fact the coming of Christ means the coming of the role of Christ. In other words, when in the final years, Dajjal will appear, a member of the Muhammadi ummah will rise and playing the role akin to Christ’s, face the trials of Dajjal and finish him off. (Al Risala, May 2010, Page 46)-- Maulana Nadeemul Wajidi
By Maulana Nadeemul Wajidi
Contrary to the collective belief of the ummah, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan says that the second coming of Christ is in fact not his real, physical coming but the coming of his role. He says that it is generally believed that Jesus Christ is alive in the Heavens and will come down physically on earth in the final phase and kill Dajjal (anti-Christ). Though this belief is widespread, it is proved neither by the Quran nor Hadith in its present form. In the books of hadith, there are two dozen reliable narrations which talk of the re-appearance of Christ but it is noteworthy that none of them explicitly states that Christ will descend physically from the Heavens. In fact the second coming of Christ means the coming of the role of Christ. In other words, when in the final years, Dajjal will appear, a member of the Muhammadi ummah will rise and playing the role akin to Christ’s, face the trials of Dajjal and finish him off. (Al Risala, May 2010, Page 46)
It is evident from the excerpt that Maulana Wahiduddin Khan does not believe that Jesus Christ is alive in the Heavens. I am not sure if he believes also in the ascension of Christ or not, or like Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani believes that Jesus has expired and is buried in a neighbourhood in Srinagar (Kashmir, India). The Maulana does not even believe that Jesus Christ will descend physically from the Heavens. He only believes that his descent means the coming of his role or character which he will play on the appearance of Dajjal for which his physical presence is not needed. A member of the Muhammadi ummah will rise and fight him. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan claims that this is not his personal point of view but subscribed also by Fakhruddin Raazi, Jamaluddin Afghani, Mufti Mohammad Abdah, Sheikh Syed Rasheed Raza Misri, Sheikh Mohammad Shaltut, Dr Mohammad Iqbal, Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Ahmad Abu Zahrah, Sheikh Mohammad Al Ghazali. But he has not written in which books and in what words have they presented their points of view. Even if we suppose that these few personalities also do not believe in the physical descent of Christ, it does not have any bearing on the core of the issue as the belief of the descent of Christ is an established belief of the Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal-Jama'at which is based on the Quran and Hadith. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s claim that the physical descent of Christ is not proved by the Quran and the Hadith is false.
The truth is that the descent of Christ around the Day of the Judgement is proved by the Quran as well as Hadith. Let’s consult the Quran first. The tale of Jesus Christ is narrated in a little detail in surah Al-e-Imran and surah Al Nisa in which it is also stated that God protected Jesus Christ from the evil of the Jews; he could neither be slain nor crucified but he was lifted towards the Heavens alive. This has been stated clearly in two verses of surah Al Nisa: “And they neither killed him, nor crucified him, but they fell in doubt.”(Al Nisa: 157). In the next verse it is said: “But Allah lifted him towards Himself” (Al Nisa: 158). It is said that the Quran mentions ‘ascent to heaven’ but does not mention ‘descent to earth’. It gives the impression that it’s a fabricated story. The answer is that the Quran has its own style. It states many things in brief, sometimes giving only hints which have been explained by Hadhrat Mohammad (PBUH) in his sayings. If the Quran does not mention it, it makes no difference. The books of hadiths mention it. And these hadiths are not one or two, ten or twenty but more than hundred in which the Holy Prophet (PBUH) has given us the tidings of the second coming of Jesus Christ in the world stating in detail the event of descent and the circumstances to evolve thereafter. But if one insists to see the prediction of the descent in the Quran, he may see this verse:” And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them; (Al Nisa: 159).
The sahaba (holy companions of the Prophet), Tabeyeen (persons who saw the holy companions) and the exponents of the Quran have explained this verse thus: Though these people of the book do not believe in Jesus Christ, one day they will definitely believe in him and the day will come when Jesus will descend on earth again before the Day of Judgement. Imam Qurtubi has quoted this hadith from Sahabi Abu Huraira (R.A.) saying:” Abu Huraira said: before the death of Jesus Christ (the people of the book will definitely bring faith in Jesus Christ); this Abu Huraira said thrice.” Though in other books of exegesis, other probable explanations have also been presented, but according to the context of this verse, the probable explanations are not corroborated nor are they supported by the hadiths. What emerges from the context of the verse and numerous hadiths and the sayings of sahabas clearly is that Jesus Christ will come down on earth alive and upon witnessing this miracle, the people of the book, especially the Christians will come to believe in him before he dies. The famous exponent of the Quran Hafiz Ibn Kaseer has quoted this explanation from the Imamul Tafseer Hafiz Ibn Jareer and himself supported it. He said,” The most authentic statement is that after the descent of Jesus Christ no one from the people of the book will remain there who would not believe in him and this is the truth. We shall prove the truth with undisputable evidences, Insha Allah.”
From the context of the verses it is evident that the claim of the Jews that they had crucified Jesus Christ is false. A section of the gullible Christians also accepted the claim of the Jews. God repudiated it and said that it was not so. The truth is that the matter was made to appear doubtful to them. They killed someone resembling Christ and believed they killed Christ. In fact, God lifted him towards Himself. He is alive and will appear on earth before the Day of Judgement as is known from various traditions. (Tafsir Ibn Kasir 1/762).
Hafiz Ibn-e-Hajar Asqalani has written in Fath-al-Bari that it is not the view of Ibn Jarir alone but most of the scholars are of the same view. (Fathal Bari:6/492, Kitab Ahadith ul Ambiya). Hadhrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlvi (R.A.) has also preferred this view. In his translation of the Quran, he says: None of the people of the book will remain without believing in him before he (Christ) dies and Jesus will remain a witness unto them.” After rendering this translation Hadhrat Shah Waliullah Dehlvi writes in his exegetical note: The Jews present at the time of descent of Jesus Christ will definitely believe in him”. Thus, it is evident from this verse that Jesus Christ will, of course, physically descend on the earth.
Another verse in this chain is: “And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment): therefore have no doubt about the (Hour), but follow ye Me: this is a Straight Way.”
Most exponents have written that Jesus is a sign of the Day of the Judgement, that is, he will descend shortly before the Doomsday. His arrival was therefore declared as one of the signs of Doomsday. Explaining this verse, Hafiz Ibn-e-Kasir has written that innumerable hadiths of the Prophet (PBUH) give the news that Jesus will arrive before the Day of Judgement as an imam-e-adil (just leader). The statement has been attributed by Hadhrat Abu Huraira (R.A.) and Hadhrat Ibn-e-Abbas(R.A.) among the sahaba, and to Hadhrat Mujahid, Abul Aliyah, Abu Malik, Akrama, Hasan Basri, Qatada, Zahak and others among the Tabeyeen. (Tafseer Ibn Kasir:4/167)
Imam Fakhruddin Raazi writes: “Jesus Christ is the source of the knowledge of the Day of Judgement, that is, he is one of the signs of the Day of Judgement. (Tafsir Al kabir: 27/222).” Qazi Baizawi has written in his exegesis: “Jesus is a sign of the Day of Judgement; his arrival or descent is one of the signs of the Doomsday. It will tell us that the Doomsday has come closer” (Tafsir Al Baizawi:484). One recitation of the verse is also with the stress on the letters ‘laam’ and ‘ain’ which makes the meaning even clearer.
The following verse also bears testimony to the descent of Jesus Christ, though it does not convey the sense very clearly. Nevertheless, if the literal meaning of a particular word in the verse is kept in mind, it becomes obvious that it indicates the period in Jesus Christ’s life when a man reaches the stage which is mentioned in the verse: "He (Jesus Christ) will speak to the people in the cradle and in manhood, and he will be one of the righteous."(Al-e-Imran: 46). Here the word ‘kahl’ is used. It’s a stage in a man’s age when youth is on the wane and signs of old age become evident. In Urdu we call it ‘adhed umr’ (middle age). Imam Isfahani says that ‘kahulat’ is an age when the hair starts greying.(Mafarradat-ul-Quran:1/442). Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Abbas narrates that Jesus was 30 years old when he was lifted towards the heaven. (Tafseer Ma’alim Altanzeel Lilbaghwi:2/77). It means he had not reached ‘kahulat’ or middle age’. Even today, the hair of 30 year olds is generally black and no one calls them middle-aged. In contrast, 30-35 years old people are considered young. Therefore, when Jesus was lifted to the Heavens, he was young. Why was ‘cradle’ mentioned then? The meaning is clear: ‘He had not reached ‘kahulat’(middle age) which will definitely come later when he will appear on earth again and die a natural death after living for a long period. The exponent of the Quran Hadhrat Maulana Md Shafi Usmani has discussed in length the wisdom and ramifications of the descent of Jesus Christ and has drawn the inference from detailed mention of Jesus in surah Al-e-Imran and other surahs that if we study the verses deeply, there cannot be an iota of doubt about the descent of Christ.
The summary of what Mufti Usmani has written is that God has mentioned a number of prophets in the eleventh ‘ruku’ of surah Al-e-Imran but they have been mentioned in a single verse briefly. Afterwards, in twenty two verses in three ‘rukus’, there is a detailed account of Jesus Christ, even the account of his family is given in detail whereas Hadhrat Mohammad, the last Prophet (PBUH) to whom this book was revealed was not mentioned in such great detail. The mention of Christ’s grandmother, her offering, birth of his mother, her name, the events of her education and upbringing, coming of Jesus into her womb, the event of his birth, the mention of mother’s diet after the birth, her visit to her family with the child after the birth, the taunts and allegations by her family members, the incident of bestowing of the power of speech on Christ soon after birth, the days of his youth, the work of dawah and its opposition, the help and support of his companions, the hostility of the Jews and his ascension to the heaven, all are mentioned in the Quran in detail. Then there are hadiths in which further qualities of Jesus, his appearance, his dress etc. are narrated in detail. These are the things which have not been mentioned about any other prophet in such great detail in the Quran and the Hadith. This gives us a point to ponder as to the reason and wisdom behind it.
It can be clear at the slightest consideration that as Hadhrat Mohammad (PBUH) is the final prophet and no other prophet will come till the Day of Judgement, he has taken special care while passing over his teachings to give necessary instructions to the ummah relating to the events to unfold till the Day of Judgement. On the one hand, he especially told the ummah of the people who were worthy to be emulated after him, some of them were mentioned only in terms of attributes while the others were mentioned by name. One the other hand, he also informed the ummah of those who have gone astray and pose a threat to the ummah.
The biggest of the threats that the ummah’s life and belief will face after the Prophet’s demise is from Dajjal (anti-Christ). The hadiths have given so many details and attributes of it that the ummah will know without any doubt when it appears. Similarly, the most important of the reformers who will be born or appear will be Jesus Christ who was honoured with prophethood and kept alive in the Heavens for the assistance of the ummah and annihilation of the anti-Christ. When anti-Christ will appear close to the Day of Judgement, then he (Christ) will also be sent down to earth to kill him. So it was also imperative to tell people in most uncertain terms about the personalities and attributes of Jesus Christ in order to enable the ummah to recognise him upon his descent without any mistake because if the ummah is not able to recognise him and remains confused about him, the whole purpose of his arrival will remain unfulfilled. That is why his descent will take place ceremoniously at a time and place in the capital of the Islamic rule that everyone will be able to witness the event with open eyes.
A detailed account of Jesus Christ was also necessary due to the fact that if there were insufficient details about him and the signs were unclear, there was the possibility that many people would claim to be Christ as Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani has done. If hadiths did not have a detailed account of Jesus Chirst, the repudiation or falsification of Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani’s claim would have been a difficult task. The religious scholars have been able to rubbish his claim on the basis of these very signs.
Jesus Christ is the prophet and messenger of God but when he arrives in the world for the leadership of the ummah of Hadhrat Muhammad (PBUH), he will assume the role of the caliph of the Prophet (PBUH). Nevertheless, he will not be stripped of the status of prophethood. As the denial of his prophethood was kufr earlier, it will be so then as well. If the Muslim ummah who believes in his prophethood on the basis of the verses of the Quran, does not recognise him upon his descent, may be guilty of denial. It was, therefore, necessary to give a detailed account of the circumstances of his descent and his attributes. (Ma’ariful Quran:2/80-81)
The upshot of the whole discussion is that the belief in the physical descent of Jesus Christ is not only testified by the Quran but the sacred hadiths as well. There are a number of verses that openly prove the belief in the second arrival of Christ in place. The detailed account of Christ in the Quran also speaks volumes of the wisdom that the ummah which is going to receive him on his second coming should know him well in advance so that there remains no doubt about him and no other person claims to be Christ. And if someone does claim to be Christ, the attributes mentioned in the Quran become repudiation in itself.
When the Quran is predicting the arrival of Christ and the words of the Prophet (PBUH) are prophesying his descent, to deny him or ridicule his impending descent or brand his arrival as symbolic requires a lot of courage and can be done only by a person who does not fear accountability in the Hereafter but likes to enjoy worldly praise for his so-called research.
(Translated from Urdu by Sohail Arshad)
Source: Hindustan Express Urdu Daily, New Delhi
4:59 AM
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