3 May 1908

(Sunday, Lahore, at the residence of Dr. Sayyed Muhammad Husain Shah)

The Way of Recognizing God Almighty

During a conversation with an atheist, the Promised Messiah (as) said:

People have different dispositions. Some dispositions have the aptitude to accept the truth quickly. Then there are some who come to recognize the truth, but only after much delay. There are yet others in whom the ability to accept the truth, having been continuously suppressed, comes to be completely lost at some point in time.

It is true that God Almighty is Hidden beyond hidden and Concealed beyond concealed, but I do not believe that He is just an outline of an idea or concept. One who has a sincere desire, genuine passion, and heartfelt yearning to come to recognize God can benefit a great deal from the study of all the previous accounts and incidents [pertaining to him].

History can serve as a guide for such a person. History and all the accounts of our ancestors point to no other path than that God can be known by means of the wonders of His might and omnipotence that He manifests to the world through His revelations, inspirations, and discourses. There is no path more certain than this to get to know God. The people whom He selects and imparts a share of His cognizance are the ones bestowed the blessings of converse and communion.

There are only two options for the satiation and satisfaction of one who has the yearning: to be able to see or to be able to talk [with the Beloved]. Where it is not possible to see, conversation becomes its substitute and surrogate. A person born blind can get to know someone only through conversation.

Since Allah the Exalted is Infinite and His person is not something that can be beheld and witnessed like material things, He has made His converse, which is known as ilham [inspiration], wahi [revelation], and mukalamat [dialogues], as the surrogate for His audience. There are very few who are given an audience. Most find solace and satisfaction through the medium of conversation [with God].

Distinction of the Word of God

At this point the question arises as to how one is to know that the speech man is hearing is, in reality, the word of God and not that of someone else. So in this regard, one should remember that the word of God has Divine might, omnipotence, and grandeur accompanying it. Just as you can differentiate between the speech of an ordinary man and a king, in the same way the speech of that Best of Judges also has the royal majesty and authority by which one can identify that this speech is in reality that of the God of Glory and Honour and not that of anyone else.

Hallmarks of Recipients of Divine Revelation

The second mighty Sign of this distinction and differentiation is that the person whom God Almighty addresses, is not hollow either. Rather, Divine majesty is reflected in him as well, and he, too, is the seat of expression and manifestation of Divine attributes to some extent. He has those features. He enjoys a special distinction. He is bestowed the knowledge of heavenly sciences which cannot even be imagined or conceived by people with mundane thoughts. His prayers are accepted, and he is intimated about it. Extraordinary help and assistance is lent to his pursuits and just as God has dominance over everyone and no one can triumph against Him, such people also become dominant, victorious, and triumphant in the end, and are bestowed the success and fulfilment of their objectives.

In short, these are the Signs through which an intelligent person must inevitably acknowledge that this man is accepted in the Court of God and then it must also be conceded that God, indeed, exists.

I have also had occasion to meet and talk with such people who take the course of recognizing and identifying the Creator from [looking at] the creation and I have also tested this method myself, but beware that this approach is not satisfactory, it is incomplete. Through this approach one can never achieve such true cognizance and perfect conviction which can impact his practical life and conduct. At the most, one is convinced that there should be a God, but there is a world of difference between ‘there should be’ and ‘there is’.

Perfect Cognizance

The purpose of my discourse is to say that only such cognizance can be of benefit which can bring about a change in a person. If a person claims that he has eyesight and has the ability to see but provides no proof with this claim, and runs into walls as soon as he stands up, is his claim worthy of being accepted? Most certainly not!

The excellence of an attribute is what makes it useful. It is axiomatic that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Thus, to search for perfect cognizance is a requisite and this can only be attained by following the path that the Prophets introduced to the world.

One kind of an atheist is he who denies the existence of the Creator altogether and this group has existed from the earliest of times. Nevertheless, I say that even if it is assumed that there is no such person in the world, still every such individual who does not have perfect cognizance of God is also an atheist. Until one attains perfect cognizance there is nothing. Just as one grain of food cannot satisfy hunger and one drop of water cannot quench thirst, dry faith—unaccompanied by perfect cognizance together with all its essentials—cannot provide salvation. Just as a man cannot remain alive if he does not so much as see food at the time of hunger and water at the time of thirst, in the same way he too would die who just saw or ate one grain of food at the time of hunger and saw or even drank just one drop of water at the time of thirst. Thus, in exactly the same way, it is only perfect cognizance that can lead to salvation.

We see this even in the material world, that it is only perfect knowledge and understanding that has any effect. Even if a person were to encounter a lion or a wolf, he would not be frightened by them until he comes to believe for certain that the lion is indeed a lion or the wolf is indeed a wolf with all its qualities and characteristics. If a person believes a poisonous snake to only be a mouse, he would certainly not take any steps to avoid or stay away from it. However, the moment he comes to realize that it is a poisonous snake and its bite will signal his death, he will become frightened by it and will immediately flee from it.

The Doctrine of Atonement

Look, nafs-e-ammarah [the self that incites to evil] is always at work in a person. It is—like blood—in every vein and fibre, and every particle. The Christians have contrived an easy and convenient way. They offered up a person on the cross. And now any person who belongs to Christianity can do whatever he likes till the Day of Judgement; he will not be questioned at all—the blood of Christ has already atoned for all their sins.

These ignorant ones do not understand that if someone has a headache and another gets up and smashes his own head with a rock, how is that going to benefit the one who has the headache? I announce to you with full conviction that their Atonement and blood of Christ cannot provide them so much as the benefit that chicken soup affords when given to an ailing individual.

The conduct of their own priests who teach others is most precarious and dangerous. The Doctrine of Atonement has emboldened them [to commit sin]. Sin is a lethal poison. However, for a person who believes that the blood of Christ will suffice and belief in the Doctrine of Atonement is sufficient expiation for all his sins, how could he possibly perceive the poison of sin to be a poison?

Once a priest was apprehended for the crime of adultery. When he was asked about it in court, he said with great audacity and impudence that, ‘Hasn’t the blood of Christ sufficed for my sins?’ In short, their [Doctrine of] Atonement is the root cause of all evil.

In my view, no benefit can be gained until a person makes an effort to try and incline himself to bringing about a pious change in himself. To subdue nafs-e-ammarah is a rather weighty striving. It is due to the influence of this very nafs-e-ammarah that one is neither able to fulfil his obligations to God nor can he discharge his duties towards his fellow human beings.

The Right of God and the Right of Man

The Shariah has just two components. One is the right of God and the second is the right of man.

What is the right of God? It is to worship Him and to not include anyone else in His worship, and to remain occupied in the remembrance of Allah, to obey His commandments and to avoid His prohibitions, and to eschew all that is unlawful, etc.

The right of man, in summary, is not to be cruel to anyone, not to transgress against the rights of anyone where no such right exists, not to bear false witness, etc.

Now, both these matters are so difficult that all sins, crimes, and acts of disobedience on the one hand, and the principles of all virtues on the other, are encompassed within them. It is easy for everyone to say that he can safeguard himself against sin with his own strength, but man cannot disconnect himself from his own nature.

Human nature is not like the skirt of a garment that can be cut off if it becomes soiled. One’s nature is a part of his being from birth. It is ingrained in human nature that he is afraid of and eschews only those things that he is convinced will harm him or kill him. No one would have seen anyone use strychnine [a bitter and highly poisonous compound] while knowing it is strychnine, or pick up a snake knowing full well that it is a snake, or enter a village heedlessly where the plague is wreaking havoc.

What is the reason for this avoidance and caution? It is only that he is convinced that these things are fatal.

The Secret of Avoiding Sin

Thus, man can attain salvation from the disease of sin and transgression only when he becomes convinced that they pose a greater threat of harm and peril to him than a robber or a snake, and when the majesty, grandeur, and might of God remains in the forefront of his mind at all times. It is quite possible for man to discard his greed, avarice, and desires. For example, if a person suffering from diabetes is told by his physician that he must stop the use of sugar completely, it is seen that, in order to save his life, he does not even go near sweet things. So, this is also the case of spiritual greed and avarice, and selfish passions. If the grandeur of God and His glory are firmly established in a man’s heart, he will consider disobedience of God to be worse than eating fire or facing death. The degree to which a man’s knowledge of the power and authority of God increases, and the degree to which he becomes convinced that the punishment of disobeying Him is severe, it is to that same degree that he will eschew sin, disobedience, and insubordination.

Look, some people bring a death upon themselves long before their actual death. Who are the Akhyar, Abdal and Aqtab [titles for saintly people]? What extra things are there within them that set them apart? It is this same certainty of conviction! Certain and definitive knowledge compels one, necessarily and naturally, to do something. Conjectural knowledge with regard to God cannot suffice. Uncertainty cannot be of any benefit. It is only certainty of conviction that has effect. Certainty of knowledge about the attributes of God has greater impact than even fearsome lightening. It is only the impact of this certainty that makes such people [the Akhyar, Abdal and Aqtab] yield and surrender. Remember! The greater one’s conviction, the greater the likelihood he eschews sin.

There are many who appear to be avoiding sins or making such claims, but their case is like a boil filled with pus: it appears shiny and its shine and lustre seems to be even greater than the rest of the body, but its core is filled with pus and foul matter. Surely, the signs of being protected against sins must needs accompany their claims also.

Light, sunshine, and warmth testify to the fact that the sun is shining. With regard to a person who says that the sun is shining during the night, when the signs of the sun are not evident, would anyone consider such an individual’s statement to be trustworthy? Absolutely not—never! Thus, the same is the condition of those people who claim that they believe in Allah while they show no effect of this belief—in other words, the total aversion to sin—and the effects of this belief in the form of blessings, bounties, and support of God or true piety, righteousness, and purity are absent in them.

For man to totally shun all such deeds that are in contravention to the pleasure of God, that sin and disobedience to God should appear to him worse than eating fire, that the awe of any worldly glory and glamour in opposition to God should have no impact upon him, that he should consider everything besides God to be no more capable than a dead insect to benefit or harm anyone without the will of God, that all his movements and pauses and all his deeds should become subordinate to the will of God, that he should lose himself and become one with God—all these things are beyond the capability of man.

An Appointee of God Is Crucial in Cultivating an Atmosphere That Eradicates Sin

Man does not have the power to attain all these excellences, and to become completely free from all the ignoble traits. Therefore, it has been the practice of Allah the Exalted from the very beginning that He sends a human being as His appointee and manifests the wonders of His might at his hands. God accepts his prayers and informs him of it. God opens up the bounty of His converse and dialogue upon him. God manifests such extraordinary miracles and secrets of the unseen through him which people with base desires are incapable of. God manifests such lustrous and awe-inspiring events in his support that the hearts of the people, becoming filled with the light of cognizance and the pleasure of conviction, become as if they have seen God. Thus—by witnessing the majesty, might, dominion and awe of God—idolatry and all the foul and base desires, which give rise to all sins, are destroyed, and the majesty and grandeur of God comes to dominate their hearts. And in this way, He prepares a community of people with pious hearts.

The condition that destroys sin comes into being only thus, when God manifests His glory and awe to the world, and a dreadful manifestation visits the world showing His grandeur and dominion. Just as a terrifying thunderstorm that unleashes frightening thunder and blinding flashes [of lightning] in it, overwhelms and overawes the hearts, similarly, brandishing the awe-inspiring attributes of God during the time of His appointee succeeds in triggering a pious transformation in the world.

Look, if a person comes to you in a very ragged and wretched condition, you would not be swayed by him, even if, in reality, he was a king, and you would not give his coming any importance. In fact, if he tries to say something, you would not pay attention to him out of contempt. But if the same person comes with all his royal pomp and show, and kingly might and majesty, you would be compelled to receive him with honour. You would have to show respect and obeisance. And you would be obliged to pay attention to him and be prepared to carry out his commands. So the same is the case with the cognizance of God. When one does not even have the cognizance of God Almighty, how can he bring about the humility and submissiveness that is the very essence of worship? How true it is: آنان کہ عارف تر اند ترسان تر [‘The most knowledgeable are the most fearful’].

I have not told you all this in vain. On the contrary. God is present even now as He was in the times of the Vedas, the Torah, and the New Testament. And He still hears even now as He used to hear in the past ages, and He still speaks now as He used to speak in those ages. And it is to prove exactly this that I have come into the world.

The Reality of Sin

The Promised Messiah, peace be upon him, had delivered his address to this point when a question was asked that, ‘Some people consider something to be a sin while others from a different country or some people from the same country do not consider it to be a sin or consider it to be a virtue. What would be the basis to decide between them?’

The Promised Messiah (as) said:

It is clear from your statement that at least a controversy does exist. In this controversy lies victory for us. It does not behove a righteous and prudent person to follow controversial matters. For example, if a meal is placed before you, but then someone informs you that it may have some poison in it. Now you tell me, would you eat it? I do not believe that anyone who values his life would take even a single bite from it.

It is undoubtedly true that an atheist adopts an audacious attitude. However, he should not assume that this matter will cause him no harm, and that he has been spared. The fact is that, just as there is a set time for a tree to produce its fruit, similarly every poison has a set time for its effects to become manifest. Some poisons show their effects instantaneously; others take minutes or hours, and some have a delay of many days.

A wise person should look and see that so many hundreds of thousands of famous, renowned, exemplary, saintly Prophets and Messengers came into the world; what path did they establish in the world? Well! Let me ask you yourself: what do the members of civilized society think of theft, lying, adultery, etc.? You should realize that this difference of opinion itself indicates that those acts regarding which there is a difference of opinion are sins. The underlying disease is what needs to be cured. I contend that sin is such a thing that even a person who does not believe in the existence of God has a natural aversion to it. Thus, a man with a pure nature considers a sin to be a sin and loathes it instinctively even though a heavenly teaching may not have reached him.

Secondly, some things that are prohibited are so treated because they contravene the law and profound wisdom and their commission is harmful to the person committing them or to mankind in general. For example, adultery results in serious diseases like syphilis, gonorrhoea etc. for the adulterer and causes great suffering.

Therefore, it should be remembered that God has not prohibited sins because they could possibly harm Him, nor has He ordained piety because He thereby derives some benefit from it. Rather, it is His mercy that He has prohibited those things that are harmful to the very person committing them or are harmful for the society at large. And this is His great mercy, and because He is Pure and Holy, His purity and holiness demands that virtue should spread throughout the world. Otherwise, if man becomes unrestrained and commits evil and sin and things that are forbidden by the Shariah, he himself would be the one to suffer the afflictions that result. It would not cause any harm to God whatsoever.1

(At the residence of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din)

Arguments for the Death of Jesus, Peace Be Upon Him

Khalifah Rajab-ud-Din asked the Promised Messiah (as), ‘Some people ask about the proofs of the death of Jesus (as), that what are the proofs of his death?’

In reply to this, the Promised Messiah (as) delivered the following address:

The death of Jesus (as) is mentioned in the Holy Quran at many places. There are two kinds of verses which prove his death. Some verses are general and others are specific to Jesus (as). The following verse clearly and openly mentions the death of all the Prophets, peace be upon them, and Jesus (as) is included among them:

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِہِ الرُّسُلُ 2

The word خَلَتۡ [khalat—passed away] in Quranic idiom has never been used for someone who is living. It has always been applied to those who have died. The Companions of the Holy Prophet (sas) have also derived the same meaning. Thus, at the demise of the Holy Prophet (sas), Hazrat Umar (ra) drew his sword out of his love and devotion, and went out into the streets of Madinah vowing to kill anyone who would say that Muhammad (sas) had passed away. Upon hearing of this incident, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, came to the mosque and delivered a sermon from the pulpit in which he first recited this same verse:

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِہِ الرُّسُلُ ؕ اَفَا۠ئِنۡ مَّاتَ اَوۡ قُتِلَ انۡقَلَبۡتُمۡ عَلٰۤی اَعۡقَابِکُمۡ … الخ3

Upon hearing this verse, the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, broke down and wept bitterly, feeling as if the verse had just been revealed on that very day. Even Hazrat Umar (ra) who was in such a frenzy going around with his drawn sword believing that the Holy Prophet (sas) had not yet died, put down his sword after that sermon and never made any such statement thereafter.

Now, it is quite obvious that even if a single person from among the Companions (ra) had believed that Jesus (as) was living in Heaven with his physical body, why wouldn’t they have raised the objection, asking, ‘How is it possible that the Messenger sent to a small nation is yet alive, while our Prophet—who was sent by God for the entire world and all the generations to come till Doomsday with no exception—didn’t live for even seventy years? Accordingly, the silence of the Companions (ra) and their failure to object is clear proof that all the Companions (ra) believed that Jesus (as) had died like all the other Prophets. Not one of them believed that he was sitting on the right hand of God alive with his physical body. This was the very first ijma [consensus] in Islam.

The second verse which has been mentioned with specific reference to Jesus (as), is the statement of Jesus (as) himself that he will submit to God on the Day of Judgement, that:

فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّیْتَنِیْ کُنْتَ اَنْتَ الرَّقِیْبَ عَلَیْہِمْ ؕ وَ اَنْتَ عَلٰى کُلِّ شَیْءٍ شَہِیْدٌ4

in reply to this question by Allah the Exalted that: ‘O Jesus! Did you impart such an erroneous and misleading teaching to these people that they should take you and your mother as gods, and abandon the worship of the One and only God, the God of Honour and Glory?’

Jesus (as) will deny any knowledge of the transgression of the Christians and tender his excuse by saying that, ‘O my Lord! I only knew their condition as long as I lived among them. During that period, I only instructed them to worship the God who is the God of them and me—all of us—the One God. Then, when You caused me to die, You were the Guardian over them and the Knower of their condition—I have no knowledge of it.’

Now, there can only be two options: Either these people should concede that the Christians have not yet gone astray, and their Doctrine of Trinity and of God having taken unto Himself a Son etc. that they have adopted is pure Tauhid [the Oneness of God], and leads to the pleasure of God, and is in accord with the teaching of Jesus (as) which he acknowledges in his own words in the Holy Quran; or, they must admit that the Messiah of Nazareth, who was sent to the Lost Sheep of Israel, has died his natural death by the will of God after completing his assigned task—never to come back to this world—and that the one to come will be from among the followers of Muhammad (sas), who will be called ‘Messiah’ because of the similarity he would bear [to Jesus (as)] by way of his character, time of coming, and the work that he will accomplish.

It is obvious that the first option is totally incompatible with God, the Messenger of God, the Quran, and the teachings of the Quran. It is such that its acceptance razes the entire edifice of Islam. The second choice is in accordance with the will of God. It is factual and a true principle of Quranic teaching. And it is in this alone that the victory, success, truth, and manifestation of the superiority of Islam lies. Now it is up to them to choose which of these two paths they should follow.

I believe, based upon knowledge that—according to the Arabic lexicon or the Word of God, or His Messenger—the word تَوَفِّىْ [tawaffi—caused me to die] does not mean, ‘being raised together with the physical body’. A uniform standard should be applied universally across the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran has been sent down by the All-Knowing and All-Aware God with perfect knowledge and wisdom. There is no contradiction in it. Some verses explain others. If some need interpretation, others are categorical. When this same word [tawaffi] has also been used elsewhere with respect to other Prophets, it is never interpreted to mean anything other than death. So it is not known why Jesus (as) is given such a distinction. Haven’t they seen—even now—the [evil] consequences of bestowing this distinction upon Jesus (as)?

Look, these are the words that are clearly used about the Holy Prophet (sas):

اِمَّا نُرِیَنَّکَ بَعْضَ الَّذِیْ نَعِدُہُمْ اَوْ نَتَوَفَّیَنَّکَ5

Then, the same word تَوَفِّىْ has been used for Prophet Joseph (as) in the Holy Quran and it means nothing but death. Look:

تَوَفَّنِیْ مُسْلِمًا وَّ اَلْحِقْنِیْ بِالصّٰلِحِیْنَ6

This is a prayer of Joseph (as). So does it also mean, ‘O Allah! Raise me with my physical body to Heaven and join me with the righteous people of the past who are present alive in Heaven’? تَعٰلَی اللّٰہُ عَمَّا یَصِفُوۡنَ [Exalted be Allah far above all that which they attribute to Him!].

Then the word تَوَفِّىْ has been used in the account of the magicians that were summoned by Pharaoh against Moses, peace be upon him. As is said:

رَبَّنَاۤ اَفْرِغْ عَلَیْنَا صَبْرًا وَّ تَوَفَّنَا مُسْلِمِیْنَ7

Now, it behoves a Muslim to desist from challenging God and His Word. The Quran most certainly affirms the death of Jesus (as) and proves his having died through arguments and irrefutable proofs. Moreover, on the night of his Mi’raj [Spiritual Ascension], the Noble Messenger (sas) saw him among the Prophets who had died. Had Jesus been raised to Heaven alive with his physical body, what did he have in common with deceased Prophets? What could be the relationship between the living and the dead, and what could be the common denominator between them? There should have been a separate residence set aside for him.

قَدْ تَّبَیَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَیِّ 8

There is no confusion nor is there any room for doubt in this matter. Being a Muslim, is it wise to present something that is opposed to the Quran and contrary to Islam? One who believes in an ijma [consensus] on any matter in opposition to the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, is a liar. This indeed was also the belief of the sufis and some of the saintly people of this Ummah of the Best of Creation, that he [Jesus (as)] had died and that the Promised One would come from among the people of this Ummah itself.

Nevertheless, prejudice is such an affliction that they are unable to perceive despite seeing, and they fail to comprehend despite coming to know of it. They do not hear despite having ears. Alas! Prejudice and stubbornness have even deprived them of the ability to distinguish between what is wholesome for them and what is harmful to them. Four hundred million people believe a weak and helpless man to be God because of these very arguments that he is eternal and everlasting, that he is alive and present in Heaven with his body, that he created birds, and that he brought the dead to life. And these are the Muslims who sabotage their own cause and they themselves offer the Christians the knife with which to slaughter them and assist them in this dangerous form of idolatry of theirs for which, God Almighty has declared such wrath as this:

تَکَادُ السَّمٰوٰتُ یَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْہُ وَ تَنْشَقُّ الْاَرْضُ وَ تَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ ہَدًّا9

These so-called Muslims do not even realize that their very own children are being dissuaded from Islam by such of their own pronouncements, against which they have no defence. Would they but awaken from this slumber and recognize their friend from their foe, and their profit from their loss!

These foolish friends of Islam fail to understand that God is so Jealous for His Honour that He intends to uproot and eliminate these false beliefs. He will not tolerate such idolatrous beliefs even for one moment. Those who ponder and study the Holy Quran know quite well the variety of strategies God has employed to crush falsehood. You see, the Christians had imagined the fatherless birth of Jesus (as) to be the proof of his ‘Divinity’. God humiliated and frustrated them by presenting the birth of Adam (as) as a counter argument, thus proving the falsity of their claim:

اِنَّ مَثَلَ عِیْسٰى عِنْدَ اللّٰہِ کَمَثَلِ اٰدَم10

The Messiah (as) had no father but Adam (as) had neither father nor mother, and thus, holds greater right to ‘Divinity’ because here there was neither father nor mother—both were missing.

So remember it well, that if Jesus (as) had, in fact, risen to Heaven with his physical body, and God had accepted this argument of theirs, He would have also decimated this spurious argument by adducing some precedent. But God has rejected this argument by denying its factual basis and has responded by saying that he [Jesus (as)] has died, and thus, what meaning can his going [bodily] to Heaven have?

Remember well that had the will of God in reality been that Jesus (as) was alive in Heaven, He would most certainly have employed the tactic of providing a precedent to crush this argument in support of idolatry, and to crush the head of the monster of this falsehood. By not providing any precedent and repeatedly mentioning his death, God makes it very clear that he [Jesus (as)] had most certainly died and is not present [bodily] alive in Heaven. God has not accepted this argument of theirs at all; otherwise, He would have smashed the idol of Christianity again through mention of some precedent just as He had humiliated and frustrated them earlier by adducing a precedent. However, God did not do so in this instance.

The reason for this is, indeed, that God has refuted this argument of theirs by referring to his death. And this is, indeed, the true and real answer to their contention. It is not at all the intent of the Quran that Jesus (as) was taken up alive into Heaven. On the contrary, he had died like all the other Prophets.

It is strange to say that since he [Jesus (as)] was not killed, therefore, he climbed up to Heaven. Is it the case that everyone who is not murdered, necessarily goes to Heaven? If this were so, then one would have to accept that there are hundreds of thousands—indeed tens of millions—who will have to be believed alive in Heaven.

The real dispute of the Jews was that Jesus (as) was not raised spiritually. They wanted to prove that he was, God forbid, accursed and rejected. It was for this very reason that they emphasized having put Jesus (as) on the cross. They claimed to have killed him in that fashion in order to prove he had been a false prophet according to the verdict of their scripture. There was no dispute about bodily ascension. And since the Holy Quran is the judge and decisive word for settling the disputes with the Children of Israel, it answered that objection and false allegation which the Jews had put together to prove that Jesus (as) was accursed and false, by saying:

وَمَا قَتَلُوۡہُ یَقِیۡنًۢا ﴿۱۵۸﴾ۙ بَلۡ رَّفَعَہُ اللّٰہُ اِلَیۡہِ ؕ11

That is, the Jews did not kill Jesus (as)—as they presume—nor did they succeed in this way to substantiate their assertion that he was a false prophet. On the contrary, Allah the Exalted elevated him spiritually and saved him from such disgrace and misfortune. If it is only physical ascension that is the cause of salvation, holiness, nearness, and endearment to God, then all Prophets must be adjudged as false, and none can be considered having attained salvation, let alone being near and dear to God. (We seek refuge with Allah against this). Prejudice has rendered them of no use whatsoever.12