Chapter 5 verses 117-118

The Own Testimony of Isa عليه السلام In Regards to His Death (5:117-118)

وَإِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَٰهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ ۚ إِنْ كُنْتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ ۚ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَلَا أَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِكَ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ {117} مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَمَرْتَنِي بِهِ أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبَّكُمْ ۚ وَكُنْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا مَا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ ۖ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنْتَ أَنْتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَأَنْتَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ{118}

And when Allah will say, “O Jesus, son of Mary, didst thou say to men, ‘Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?’”, he will answer, “Holy art Thou. I could never say that to which I had no right. If I had said it, Thou wouldst have surely known it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind. It is only Thou Who art the Knower of hidden things.  “I said nothing to them except that which Thou didst command me — ‘Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.’ And I was a witness over them as long as I remained among them, but since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them; and Thou art Witness over all things. (Chapter 5 Verses 117-118)

These verses are a dialogue between Allah and Jesus^as on the Day of Judgment. Allah asks Isa^as whether it was his reasoning and teaching and that if he was the one who taught his followers to take himself and his mother as gods. Jesus^as responded to this by saying : “I was a witness over them as long as I remained among them”. This statement shows that Jesus^as is taking full responsibility for the people while he was alive and a guardian over them. He assures that as long as he was with the people and among them, they followed they right path and did not commit shirk, rather worshiped on God alone. The next statement of Isa^as is that he states that he cannot be blamed nor held responsible for what the people did and the misguidance they followed, after Allah caused him to die, since he was no longer among them to guide them. Isa^as explains this in the next statement where he states: since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them; and Thou art Witness over all things. It is obvious that in this context tawaffaitani can mean nothing other than death nor in any context can it mean anything other than death (unless sleep or night is mentioned) which will be proven.

These verses also conclude and lead to the conclusion that Isa^as would not return physically in the latter days as that would contradict the perfect book, the Holy Quran. If we do for arguments sake accept that Isa^as went into the heavens 2000 years ago and will return, then this statement In the Quran cannot be true as he claims Allah was a watcher after he left them and Allah alone. Either you say the Quran is creating a contradiction God forbid, or Isa^as is lying, or he has died. An open minded person after reading this verse would agree he has died. The Promised Messiah^as states in his book, The Will:

The  meaning [of this verse], in the context of the relevant  verses, is that on the Day of Judgment God will ask  ‘Isa^as,”Was it you yourself who taught your followers  ‘Believe in me and my mother as gods?’ “. To this he will reply, ‘As long as I remained among them I was witness over them and was their custodian, but after  You caused me to die, how could I know what the  heresy was with respect to which they had gone  astray!’ Now, if one desires one can take the verse to mean ‘When You caused me to die;’ or if one so desires, without abandoning one’s unjustified obduracy, one can take it to mean: ‘When You raised me to Heaven with my physical body.’ In any event, this verse proves that ‘Isa^as will not return to this world. For had he come again to this world and had he  [having returned to this world] broken the Cross, then  in that case it would not be possible that ‘Isa^as, who is a Prophet(as) of God, should tell such a blatantly plain  lie in the presence of God on the Day of Judgment  viz., ‘I have no knowledge whatsoever that after me  my people adopted a false creed and made me and my  mother gods’. Can a person who returns to this world  and lives in it for forty years and fights battles against  Christians, tell such detestable lie—i.e. ‘I am totally  ignorant of it all’—even though he is a Prophet? Thus the above verse prevents the return of ‘Isa^asbecause,  otherwise, he has to be taken for a liar. If he is in Heaven with his physical body and, as the above verse   elucidates, will not descend on the earth till the Day of Judgment, will he die in Heaven and will his grave  be in Heaven, while his dying in Heaven is  contradicted by the verse He said, “Therein you will live, and therein you will die, and from it you will be brought forth.”. Hence, all this proves that he [‘Isa^as] did not ascend to Heaven with his physical body but went to Heaven after having died. If to oppose the Book of God, when it has given an explicit verdict, is not a sin, then what else is sin? (The Will page 17-19)

If Isa^as was to return in the latter days here was the perfect time he could have mentioned it but yet he is even ignorant of the fact that he was worshipped. He would tell Allah that I was a watcher over them not only once before my tawaffa but once after it too.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw quoted this exact same verse in regards to the condition of his sahaba and even quoted Isa^as and falamma tawaffaitani as death. It is narrated:

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْوَلِيدِ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، أَخْبَرَنَا الْمُغِيرَةُ بْنُ النُّعْمَانِ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ سَعِيدَ بْنَ جُبَيْرٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ خَطَبَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ ‏”‏ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّكُمْ مَحْشُورُونَ إِلَى اللَّهِ حُفَاةً عُرَاةً غُرْلاً ـ ثُمَّ قَالَ ـ ‏{‏كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ وَعْدًا عَلَيْنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ‏}‏ إِلَى آخِرِ الآيَةِ ـ ثُمَّ قَالَ ـ أَلاَ وَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ الْخَلاَئِقِ يُكْسَى يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِبْرَاهِيمُ، أَلاَ وَإِنَّهُ يُجَاءُ بِرِجَالٍ مِنْ أُمَّتِي فَيُؤْخَذُ بِهِمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ، فَأَقُولُ يَا رَبِّ أُصَيْحَابِي‏.‏ فَيُقَالُ إِنَّكَ لاَ تَدْرِي مَا أَحْدَثُوا بَعْدَكَ‏.‏ فَأَقُولُ كَمَا قَالَ الْعَبْدُ الصَّالِحُ ‏{‏وَكُنْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا مَا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنْتَ أَنْتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ‏}‏ فَيُقَالُ إِنَّ هَؤُلاَءِ لَمْ يَزَالُوا مُرْتَدِّينَ عَلَى أَعْقَابِهِمْ مُنْذُ فَارَقْتَهُمْ ‏”‏‏.‏

Narrated Ibn `Abbas:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) delivered a sermon and said, “O people! You will be gathered before Allah barefooted, naked and not circumcised.” Then (quoting Qur’an) he said:– “As We began the first creation, We shall repeat it. A promise We have undertaken: Truly we shall do it..” (21.105) The Prophet (ﷺ) then said, “The first of the human beings to be dressed on the Day of Resurrection, will be Abraham. Lo! Some men from my followers will be brought and then (the angels) will drive them to the left side (Hell-Fire). I will say. ‘O my Lord! (They are) my companions!’ Then a reply will come (from Almighty), ‘You do not know what they did after you.’ I will say as the pious slave (the Prophet (ﷺ) Jesus) said: And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them. When You caused me to die. You were the Watcher over them and You are a Witness to all things.’ (5.118) Then it will be said, “These people have continued to be apostates since you left them.”(Sahih Bukhari Vol 6, Book 60, Hadith 149)

This further makes it clear that over here the word tawaffa means nothing other than death. Muhammad^saw has made it clear with this Hadith and if he^saw believed it to mean death, why should we even think of attributing a different meaning to it?

Now it is important to talk about the word tawaffa because the non Ahmadis do not really understand the meaning. The word tawaffa is from waw fa ya and is the infinitive of the verb tawaffa. Whenever this appears in the form which is known as Bab Tafa’ul and the subject is Allah or the angels and them applying to a verb that has a soul it always means death (unless night or sleep is mentioned). It is always death when used for human beings, and the only part it is not death is when night or sleep is mentioned in the verse. Tawaffa is used in Surah Al-Baqarah verse 241, Surah Al Baqarah verse 235, Al-e-‘Imran verse 194, Al-Nisa’ verse 16 and verse 98, Al-An‘am verse 62, Al-A‘raf verse 38, and 127, Ar-Ra‘d verse 41, Yunus verse 47, Yusuf verse 102 Al-Nahl verse 33 and 71, Al-Hajj verse 6, As-Sajdah verse 12, Az-Zumar verse 43, Al-Mu’min verse 68 and 78, Muhammad verse 28, Al-An‘am verse 61, Al-Anfal verse 51, Yunus verse 105. In every single spot it always infers death except for in 6:61 and 39:43 because sleep or night is mentioned.

In fact Allah Himself has told us when He causes tawaffa of a human being and that the tawaffa is only of the soul, rather than the body:

اللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى الْأَنْفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِي لَمْ تَمُتْ فِي مَنَامِهَا ۖ فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِي قَضَىٰ عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ الْأُخْرَىٰ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ {43}

Allah takes away the souls of human beings at the time of their death; and during their sleep of those also that are not yet dead. And then He retains those against which He has decreed death, and sends back the others till an appointed term. In that surely are Signs for a people who reflect.(Chapter 39 verse 43)

Here is a chart showing the usage of this word throughout the Qur’an and the context of it:

Now let us look at some Arabic dictionaries and see what they say about the word tawaffa:

In Lanes Lexicon, One of the most famous Arabic Dictionaries it is written:

Waw-Fa-Ya = to reach the end, keep ones promise, fulfil ones engagement, pay a debt, perform a promise. tawaffa – to die. wafaat – death.

Tawaffaa (prf 3rd. p. m. sing. V.): He causes to die.
Tawaffat (prf 3rd. p. f. sing. V.): They take away the soul.
Tawaffaitanii (prf. 2nd. p. m. sing. V.): You caused me to die.
Tatawaffaa (imp. 3rd.p.f.sing. V.): She causes to die.
Yatawaffaa (imp. 3rd. p. m. sing. V.): He causes to die.
Tawaffanii: Let me die; Let it be that I die.
Yutawaffaa (pp. 3rd. p. m. sing. V.): He has died.
Yutawaffauna (pip. 3rd. p. m. plu. V.): They die.
Mutawaffakka (ap-der. m. sing. V.): Cause you to die a natural death. (Lanes Lexicon, Volume 8, Page 311)

Furthermore, in a non Ahmadi dictionary of the Holy Qur’an it is stated:

In the famous Arabic dictionary named Qamus it is stated:

الوَفَاةُ الموت و تَوَفَّاهُ اللهُ قبض روحه

“Al wafatu means death and Tawaffahullahu means to subdue the soul, i.e. death.

In another famous Arabic dictionary called Tajul Urus, it is written:

توفاه الله اذا قبض نفسه

“Tawaffahullahu Azzawajjal means “when Allah subdues the soul, meaning causes death”

Hazrat Ibn Abbas^ra states:

عن ابن عباس قوله : ” إني متوفيك ” يقول : إني مميتك

“Mutawaffaka means we caused you to die.’”( Sahih Bukhari, Kitabut-Tafsir, Surah Al-Ma’idah, Under the verse Falamma tawaffaitani..)”

This clearly confirms what tawaffa means when used for a human being, and confirms that even when used for Isa^as it means death. This statement is from a great sahaba which we cannot ignore.
Even in the funeral prayer the Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw taught us to pray:

وعن أبي هريرة وأبي قتادة، وأبي إبراهيم الأشهلي عن أبيه -وأبوه صحابي- رضي الله عنهم، عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلمى الله عليه وسلم الله عليه وسلم الله عليه وسلم أنه صلى علي جنازة فقال‏:‏‏ “‏اللهم اغفر لحينا وميتنا، وصغيرنا وكبيرنا، وذكرنا وأنثانا، وشاهدنا وغائبنا‏.‏ اللهم من أحييته منا، فأحيه علي الإسلام، ومن توفيته منا، فتوفه علي الإيمان؛ اللهم لا تحرمنا أجره، ولا تفتنا بعده‏”‏ ‏‏(‏‏(‏رواه الترمذي‏)‏‏)‏
من رواية أبي هريرة وأبو هريرة صحيح والأشهلي، ورواه أبو داود من رواية أبي هريرة وأبي قتادة‏.‏ قال الحاكم‏:‏ حديث أبي هريرة صحيح علي شرط البخاري ومسلم، قال الترمذي‏:‏ قال البخاري‏:‏ أصح روايات هذا الحديث رواية الأشهلي‏.‏ قال البخاري‏:‏ وأصح شيء في الباب حديث عوف بن مالك‏.‏

Abu Hurairah, Abu Qatadah, and Abu Ibrahim Al-Ash-hali (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:The Prophet (ﷺ) offered a funeral prayer and said: “Allahummaghfir lihaiyina wa maiyitina, wa saghirina wa kabirina, wa dhakarina wa unthana, wa shahidina wa gha’ibina. Allahumma man ahyaiytahu minna, fa’ahyihi ‘alal-Islam, wa man tawaffaiytahu minna, fatawaffahu ‘alal-Iman. Allahumma la tahrimna ajrahu, wa la taftinna ba’dahu (O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, our present and our absent, our young and our old, our male and our female. O Allah, whosoever of us You keep alive, keep him alive (faithful) to Islam, and whosoever of us You cause to die, let him die having Iman. O Allah, do not deprive us of our reward (for being patient) and do not subject us to trials after his death.” (Sunan Abi Dawud #3201 and Jami` at-Tirmidhi #1024)

Some have tried claiming that when the word كَمَا is present it does not make the phrases the absolute same. The question would not be the exact same as the mother of the Prophet(saw) was not worshipped but the outcome is what is emphasized, and that is the wrongdoing of their followers after they had died. Tawaffa only occurs at death or sleep(when night or sleep is mentioned) are the non Ahmadis not aware that kama is used in durood shareef? Are we not asking for blessings from the same God and the same blessings? This has no basis behind it as when kama is used it shows the resemblance between two things and the Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw has made it clear that the resemblance is the exact same by quoting the exact same words of the ayah word for word. He could have changed them to show a resemblance but he showed that they are the exact same. Also in the Holy Qur’an we read:

إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ ۖ خَلَقَهُ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ {60}

Surely, the case of Jesus with Allah is like the case of Adam. He created him out of dust, then He said to him, ‘Be!,’ and he was.(Chapter 3 verse 60)

Now the word kama shows the resemblance between the two and the resemblance is the same “Be and He was”. The words stated after kama kala for Muhammad^saw are the exact same which Isa^as will say on the day of judgment. Nowhere does it state it would be similar rather it is word for word the exact same. After kama the exact same Arabic is used of the ayah which dictates the words of Isa^as on the day of Judgment. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) explained that kama does not change grammar or the meaning of Arabic words. The only difference between their tawaffa is that for Hazrat Isa (as), his followers began worshipping him and for the Prophet Muhammad (sa), his followers fell into other innovations.The Holy Prophet^saw made it clear that his words would be exactly the same. Whenever we look at the ahadith of the Holy Prophet^saw we see that when he used the words كَمَثَلِ he always explained the difference, but with the case of this hadith he states the exact same words.On top of this the word tawaffa has only two meanings according to the Qur’an when applied for human beings. Despite this, here are some of the ahadith using this word. For example a hadith states:

حَدَّثَنَا حُسَيْنُ بْنُ حُرَيْثٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا الْفَضْلُ، عَنْ جُعَيْدٍ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ سَمِعْتُ سَعْدًا ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏ “‏ لاَ يَكِيدُ أَهْلَ الْمَدِينَةِ أَحَدٌ إِلاَّ انْمَاعَ كَمَا يَنْمَاعُ الْمِلْحُ فِي الْمَاءِ ‏

Narrated Sa`d: I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, “None plots against the people of Medina but that he will be dissolved (destroyed) like the salt is dissolved in water.”(Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith #1877)

We see that the Prophet Muhammad^saw explained the relation clearly of the people who plotted against the people of Medina as being destroyed like salt is dissolved in water, but after using this word in the hadith which proves Isa^as has died, he quoted the exact verse word for word and this word. The Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw has also used the word to mean exact similarity as well which breaks the non Ahmadi argument further. It is narrated:

حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ لاَ أَدْرِي زَادَ أَوْ نَقَصَ ـ فَلَمَّا سَلَّمَ قِيلَ لَهُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، أَحَدَثَ فِي الصَّلاَةِ شَىْءٌ قَالَ ‏”‏ وَمَا ذَاكَ ‏”‏‏.‏ قَالُوا صَلَّيْتَ كَذَا وَكَذَا‏.‏ فَثَنَى رِجْلَيْهِ وَاسْتَقْبَلَ الْقِبْلَةَ، وَسَجَدَ سَجْدَتَيْنِ ثُمَّ سَلَّمَ، فَلَمَّا أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْنَا بِوَجْهِهِ قَالَ ‏”‏ إِنَّهُ لَوْ حَدَثَ فِي الصَّلاَةِ شَىْءٌ لَنَبَّأْتُكُمْ بِهِ، وَلَكِنْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ، أَنْسَى كَمَا تَنْسَوْنَ، فَإِذَا نَسِيتُ فَذَكِّرُونِي، وَإِذَا شَكَّ أَحَدُكُمْ فِي صَلاَتِهِ فَلْيَتَحَرَّى الصَّوَابَ، فَلْيُتِمَّ عَلَيْهِ ثُمَّ يُسَلِّمْ، ثُمَّ يَسْجُدْ سَجْدَتَيْنِ ‏”‏‏.‏

Narrated `Abdullah:The Prophet (ﷺ) prayed (and the sub-narrator Ibrahim said, “I do not know whether he prayed more or less than usual”), and when he had finished the prayers he was asked, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Has there been any change in the prayers?” He said, “What is it?’ The people said, “You have prayed so much and so much.” So the Prophet (ﷺ) bent his legs, faced the Qibla and performed two prostration’s (of Sahu) and finished his prayers with Taslim (by turning his face to right and left saying: ‘As-Salamu `Alaikum- Warahmat-ullah’). When he turned his face to us he said, “If there had been anything changed in the prayer, surely I would have informed you but I am a human being like you and liable to forget like you. So if I forget remind me and if anyone of you is doubtful about his prayer, he should follow what he thinks to be correct and complete his prayer accordingly and finish it and do two prostrations (of Sahu). (Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith #401)

In this hadith the Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw uses the same word of kama to show us that he forgets exactly like us which further shows that this word can also mean complete similarity as it does in the hadith of the death of Isa^as as the Prophet Muhammad^saw quotes the exact same words as Isaas would on qiyamah, according to the Qur’an, which proves his death.

Challenge by Ahmad^as:

He^as states: “If anyone can cite a single instance from the Holy Qur’an or Hadith, or from ancient or modern Arabic poetry and prose, that the word Tawaffa, when applied to a human being, God being the subject, has been used in any connotation other than death and taking possession of the soul, for instance, in the connotation of the taking the body, I bind myself on oath that I shall pay that person one thousand rupees in cash by selling some of my property and shall always hold him in high esteem as a great scholar of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith.”(Izalah-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, Volume 3, p. 603)

Furthermore, this is proven in Surah Yunus as well. Allah States:

وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ نَقُولُ لِلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا مَكَانَكُمْ أَنْتُمْ وَشُرَكَاؤُكُمْ ۚ فَزَيَّلْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ ۖ وَقَالَ شُرَكَاؤُهُمْ مَا كُنْتُمْ إِيَّانَا تَعْبُدُونَ {29} فَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ إِنْ كُنَّا عَنْ عِبَادَتِكُمْ لَغَافِلِينَ {30}

And remember the day when We shall gather them all together, then shall We say to those who ascribed partners to God, “Stand back in your places, you and your ‘partners’”. Then We shall separate them widely, one from another, and their ‘partners’ will say: ‘It was not us that you worshiped. ‘So Allah is now sufficient as a Witness between us and you. We were certainly unaware of your worship.’ (Chapter 10, Verses 29-30)

In these verses, it is clear that on the day of judgement all worshiped as a God will be separated from those who claimed to worship them. Then the ones worshiped will clearly claim that we were unaware of your worship. This further shows that on qiyamah Isa^as is completely unaware of the worship his followers did of him, which shows he did not return.

Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad^ra states:

“The verse speaks of those alleged “partners” whom people set up as equals to God without their knowledge or desire or sanction , e.g the angels or prophets or saints such as Rama, Jesus, etc. The next verse supports this inference in which it is clearly stated that these “partners” will call God to witness that they were utterly ignorant of the fact that they had been set up as equals to, or co-partners with him. The verse further points out that idolaters possessed no evidence for the allegation that the Prophets and saints of the past favoured their deification” (Five Volume Commentary, Chapter 10 Verses 29-30)