An-Nisa 4:157–162

Commentary

In the verse يَا عِيسَىٰ إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَ‌افِعُكَ (Isa, I am to take you in full and lift you towards Me... 3:55) appearing in Surah 'Al-` Imran, Almighty Allah had made five promises in connection with foiling the Jewish plans against Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and protecting him from their hostile intentions. A detailed explanation of these has been given earlier on that occasion in Surah 'Al-` Imran. One of the promises made there was that the Jews will not be allowed to have their way with their intention to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Instead of that, Allah will lift him towards Him.

In the present verses (157-158) of Surah al-Nis-a', it has been made explicit that they did not kill nor crucify Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، rather, what actually happened was that they were deluded by resemblance.

How were the Jews 'deluded by resemblance?'

While explaining the words of the Qur'an: وَلَٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ (but they were deluded by resemblance), master exegete, Dahhak says: It so transpired that, following the intention of Jews to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) his disciples assembled at a given place. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) joined them there. It was Iblis who gave the address of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) to the execution squad standing ready for the mission. Four thousand men surrounded the suspected house. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) said to his disciples : 'Is one of you willing to go out and be killed and then be in Paradise with me?' One of them offered to do so. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) gave him his shirt and head-cover. Then, cast on him was the resemblance of Jesus and as soon as he came out, the Jews, believing him to be Jesus, caught him and crucified him, and Sayyidna ` Isa was lifted. (Qurtubi)

According to some reports, the Jews had sent a person known to Arabs as Teetlanoos to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . He did not find Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) in the house for he was already lifted by Allah towards Himself. So, when this person came out of the house, he had been made to resemble the looks of Sayyidna ` Isa . The Jews took him to be Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Thus, they took away their own man and killed him. (Mazhari)

There is room for whichever of the situations came to pass - the Holy Qur'an has not determined any particular situation. Therefore, Allah alone knows what really happened. However, this sentence of the Holy Qur'an seen with other exegetical reports does yield the common factor that the Jews and Christians were subjected to compelling delusion. The event as it took shape remained hidden from them, though they did advance all sorts of claims based on their conjectures which only landed them into mutual differences. This is what the Holy Qur'an points out to in the following words:

وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًا ﴿157﴾

And those who disputed in this matter are certainly in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it, but they follow whims.

It means that they do not have certitude based on any true knowledge. The diverse claims put forward by those who have differed in the case of Masih (علیہ السلام) are simply based on doubt and conjecture. The truth of the matter is that they certainly did not kill Masih (علیہ السلام) rather Allah lifted him towards Himself.

According to some other reports, when some of them woke up to what had happened, they said, We seem to have killed our own man, for the man we have put to death resembles Masih in face only but not in the rest of the body. Now, if this man we have killed is Masih (علیہ السلام) where, then, is our man? And if this is our man where, then, is Masih (علیہ السلام) ?'

Verse 158, part of which was referred to immediately earlier, ends at: وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا : (And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise) carrying a significant message. It means that the planning of Jews to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was insignificant as matched against the Power of Allah who has taken it upon Himself to protect Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Might and mastery are His domain. If materialists in their single-track isolation, remain incapable of understanding the reality of the 'lifting off of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، that is their own limitation. As for Allah, He is All-Wise - everything He does is based on wisdom and fitness to whatever end is desired.

Then comes the finale of the subject in verse 159 beginning with the words: وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ (And there is not one among the People of the Book but shall certainly believe in him { Jesus} before he { Jesus} dies, and on the Day of Doom, he shall be a witness against them). It means: Though, at this time, so blinded by malice and envy are these people that they are unable to see reality as it is, hold false ideas about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and, in addition to that, they are denying the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ yet, a time is to come when their eyes will open up and they will realize that all their notions about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ were totally false.

One explanation of this verse (159), which appears in Bay-an al-Qur'an by Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi, is that the pronoun in the Qur'anic word (mawtihi: his death) be attributed to the People of the Book. The verse, in that sense, would mean that those Jews, when they see a glimpse of Barzakh (the state between death and resurrection) moments before their death, they will readily believe in the prophethood of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) though, their believing at that point of time will be of no use to them, very much useless like the believing of Pharaoh which he did while drowning.

The second tafsir (explanation) which has been adopted by a large number of Sahabah and Tabi` in (the Companions and their Successors) and which also has the support of authentic Hadith maintains that the pronoun in the word 'mawtihi' refers back to Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and, in that light, the verse means that the People of the Book of this time, be they Jews or Christians, do not believe in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) in the real sense. The Jews just do not accept him as a prophet, rather, they accuse him of being, God forbid, a liar and imposter! As for the Christians, some of them despite claiming to believe in him, reached a level of ignorance which, like the Jews, led them to accept that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was crucified and killed. Then, there were others among them who, in their excess of belief, went out of the limits when they took him to be God and Son of God - but, says the verse of the Qur'an, though they do not believe in the prophethood of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) at this time as they should; but the time will come, close to the Day of Doom, when he will reappear on this earth and all Peoples of the Book will believe in him genuinely and authentically. All Christians will become Muslims holding true beliefs. The hostile among the Jews will be killed, the rest will become Muslims. That will be the time when Kufr will be banished from the world along with whatever forms it may have. Islam will finally reign supreme on the earth.

Reproduced below is a report from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ :

عن ابی ہریرہ ؓ عن النبی ﷺ أنہ قال : ابن مریم حکماً عدلاً فلیقتلن الدجال، ولیقتلن الخنزیر، ولیکسرن الصلیب و تکون السجدہ واحدۃ للہ رَبِّ العٰلمین ۔ ثمّ قال ابوہریرہ : واقرؤا ان شٔتم " وَاِن مِّن اَھلِ الکِتٰابِ اِلَّا لَیُؤمِنَنَّ بِھِ قبلَ مَوتِہِ قال ابوہریرہ : قبل موت عیسیٰ یعیدھا ثلث مَّرات۔

"The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: The son of Maryam shall definitely reappear as a just ruler. He will kill the Anti-Christ and the swine. He will break the Cross and worship shall be made for Allah alone, the one Lord of all the worlds. Then, Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ said: Read, if you wish, the verse of the Qur'an وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ (159) which mentions that not one person from out of the People of the Book will remain without having believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) before his death. Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ ، then, said with stress: 'Before the death of ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and he repeated it three times. (Qurtubi)

This Tafsir (explanation) of the verse under reference stands proved from a highly venerated Companion such as Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ on the added strength of sound chain of narrators.

This report establishes that the Qur'anic words: (before his death) mean 'before the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and which explicitly determines that this verse is related to the coming of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) close to the Qiyamah (Doomsday).

As based on this tafsir, this verse is a conclusive evidence that the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) has not yet come to pass. In fact, when he is sent down from the heaven close to Qiyamah and the wise considerations of Almighty Allah working behind his coming reach their ultimate fruition, it will be only then that his death will occur on this very earth.

This. is also supported by the following verse of Surah al-Zukhruf وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ فَلَا تَمْتَرُ‌نَّ بِهَا وَاتَّبِعُونِ ۚ (43:61): (that is, Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a sign of the .Doomsday. So, do not doubt it and listen to what I say.) A larger number of commentators has said that the pronoun in the Qur'anic word إِنَّهُ at this point refers back to Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and it means that Sayyidna ` Isa علیہ السلام is a sign of Qiyamah (Doomsday). From here we learn that this verse reports the coming of the Masih (علیہ السلام) ، that is, he will appear close to the Qiyamah and his appearance will be one of the signs of it.

Also worth attention is yet another reading of the Qur'-anic word (la'ilmun) in this verse (43:61) which is: لَعِلمُ (la` alamun). According to this reading the meaning becomes all the more clear because the word عَل (رح) م ('alam) with the fatha of lam means °sign or symbol.' The following tafsir of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ ends added support to this view: قال : خروج عیسیٰ (علیہ السلام) “ وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ ” عن ابن عباس ؓ فی قولہ (About the verse: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ - 43:61 - Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas عباس ؓ reported that it refers to Sayyidna ` Isa علیہ السلام who will come before the Qiyamah (Ibn Kathir)

In short, if we combine the statement: 'Qabla mawtihi' قبلَ مَوتہ (Before his death - 4:159) with the authentic hadith of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ and its explanation., the truth that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، is alive and that he will reappear close to the Doomsday and overcome the Jews stands proved conclusively. Similarly, this view also becomes certain through the words: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ : 'Surely, he (Sayyidna ` Isa) is a sign of the Doomsday,' as explained by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما .

The master commentator, Ibn Kathir, while explaining the verse: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ cited above, has said:

وقد توارت الاحادیث عن رسول اللہ ﷺ انہ اخبر بنزول عیسیٰ (علیہ السلام) قبل یوم القیامہ اماما عادلا (ابن کثیر)

"The sayings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ in this connection have been reported through tawatur (in an uninterrupted succession) that he has conveyed the tidings of the coming of Isa عیسیٰ علیہ in this world before the Day of Doom as a just ruler. (Ibn Kathir)

These narrations appearing in an uninterrupted succession (mutawatir) were collected by my teacher and a great servant of Islam, Maulana Muhammad Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri. These were more than a hundred in number. This humble writer compiled this collection in Arabic and it was published way back under the title: التصریح بما تواتر فی نزول المسیح as proposed by my 'respected teacher. Recently, a major Syrian scholar, Al-'lamah ` Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah has published from the city of Beirut a deluxe edition of this work with additional explanations and notes.

The belief in the coming of 'Isa (علیہ السلام) towards the later times is absolute and unanimous as held by the Muslims and the denier of which goes out of the pale of Islam

This subject has become clear enough from the discussion of verses in this part of the commentary. A more comprehensive treatment of the subject has already appeared in the commentary on Surah 'Al-` Imran which may be consulted. The discussions there also include answers to doubts raised by some so-called modernists of our time in order to hurt the credibility of this article of Muslim faith. Only Allah can guide whomsoever He wills.

Mentioned earlier through several verses were the wrongdoings of Jews and the punishment they would get for doing so. The present verses talk about some other vices of theirs and mention yet another kind of punishment as well. This punishment will, obviously, visit them on the Day of Judgment. But, right here in this present world, the outcome will be that they will find many things already lawful for

them made unlawful as a measure of punishment.

Commentary

In the Shari` ah brought by the Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustafa ﷺ there are some things too, known as Haram or unlawful, but these were forbidden because of one or the other physical or spiritual harm they bring. This was contrary to what happened with the Jews - the good things forbidden to them had no physical or spiritual harm in them, instead, these were forbidden to them as the punishment of their acts of transgression and disobedience.

The previous verses referred to Jews who adhered to their disbelief and obstinately continued practising what was blame-worthy. The present verse now cites those who were, no doubt, from among the People of the Book, but, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ came with his mission and they found in him, fully and unmistakably, all qualities the Last among Prophets was supposed to have according to the prophesies of their Scriptures, they believed in him - like Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Salam, Usayd and Tha'labah, may Allah be pleased with them all. The words of praise in this verse are for these blessed souls.

Commentary

The great reward promised to those referred to here is because of their qualities of faith and righteous deeds. As far as salvation as such is concerned that depends on the correction of essentials of doctrinal matters - of course, subject to the condition, that one's life ends with the blessing of faith ('Iman).