‘Or thou have a house of gold or thou ascend up into heaven; and we will not believe in thy ascension until thou send down to us a book that we can read.’ Say, ‘Holy is my Lord! I am not but a man sent as a Messenger.’And nothing has prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them save that they said, ‘Has Allah sent a man as a Messenger?’ (Chapter 17 Verses 94-95)

This verse is so clear and beautiful that there should really be no misconception left of Jesus(as) going physically to the heavens. The unbelievers asked the Prophet Muhammad(saw) for a sign to prove his truthfulness and the sign they asked was for him to physically going to heaven but his reply is clear. He has shown us that it was not the habit of Allah to transport an earthly body to paradise by stating that Holy is my Lord, I am not but a man sent as a messenger.

If we accept that Isa(As) physically went to the heavens then the response of the Prophet(saw) would not be accepted rather the Christians and others who are against us can use this as a huge allegation. Secondly it would also mean Isa(As) is not a man nor a messenger so we should be careful by stating that Isa(as) is alive after all of this clear proof has been given to us by the Imam of the Age, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian.This Ayah has clearly shown us that Allah and the Prophet Muhammad(saw) are against a Physical Ascension.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as states:

This means that the wisdom of God Almighty does not permit the exhibition of such extraordinary signs in this world, since such exhibition would destroy the reality of faith in the unseen. How can that which was not permissible in the case of the Holy Prophet(sa), who was the best of Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), be permissible in the case of Jesus? It would be the height of disrespect to hold that a situation was not permissible in the case of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and yet accept it as permissible in the case of Jesus. No true Muslim can be guilty of such impertinence….

Our lord and master, the Seal of Prophets, has distinguished between the first Messiah and the second Messiah by declaring not only that the second Messiah would be a Muslim who is bound by the commandments of the Holy Qur’an, such as prayer and fasting etc., but he would be born in a Muslim home, would be the Imam of Muslims, would bring no new religion, would not claim any Prophethood apart from the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet(sa), but also has described the differences in features between the first and the second Messiah.

The features of the first Messiah as observed by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on the night of his spiritual ascent was: medium height, rosy complexion, curly hair and a broad chest. (See Sahih Bukhari, p.489.) But he described the features of the second Messiah as wheatish complexion and straight hair coming down to the ears (Bukhari.) Does this distinction in their features not clearly establish that the first Messiah and the second Messiah are distinct personages? The designation of both as son of Mary is a fine metaphor that has been employed to indicate resemblance in their temperaments and spiritual qualities”. (Taudih-e-Maram, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 3, Pages 51-59)