A Few Common Questions Around Jesus
1) If Muhammad was the seal of the prophets, then how can Jesus come back to kill Da’Jaal, if he comes back as a prophet then Muhammad cant be the last prophet?
Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah is ever Aware of all things. S. 33:40.
It's quite simple,
i) He was given prophet hood before Muhammad so technically he isn’t coming back as a new prophet, he is just a prophet from before.
ii) He is not teaching anything new nor is he teaching about the gospel, rather he is strengthening Muhammad’s words as Jesus himself will claim to be a Muslim and will perform Hajj and will follow Islam and the sunnah or Muhammad pbuh.
iii)Jesus is a prophet who has two jobs, his first job was to be a messenger, hence the gospel. And now his second job is to be the one who kills the Da Jaal.
iiii) To help understand this here is an analogy - if you are a doctor but retire at the age of 65years, you are still a doctor, but you are just not a practicing doctor. So in the same way Jesus is still honoured and is still a prophet and God has not stripped him of his prophet hood title nor demoted him, however he is a retired prophet in a sense, who is coming to do something else i.e. kill Da Jaal and bring peace to the world. Allah does how he wills, so it is possible for a prophet to come with a different ‘mission’. Another example, your brother is older than you, he all of a sudden disappears and people think he has died, after 50 years he returns from hiding, he is still your older brother, he is not a new brother, he is the same guy who just went missing. When he disappeared he was still your older brother, now that he has returned he Is still your older brother. His role has not changed. Likewise when Jesus returns he will still be a prophet, he isn’t bringing anything new, he has just returned to finish off a job i.e. kill Da Jaal.
2) Ahmedis use this verse of the Quran to say Jesus is dead:
"Muhammad is but a messenger; messengers (the like of whom) have passed away before him. If, then, he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heel?".
—Qur'an 3:144
i) We Muslims agree with this, Jesus will die, BUT just not yet. On his second coming when he does die he will be buried next to Muhammad.
ii) Allah with all his power CAN raise a man up without killing him. God can do anything, whether it makes sense to us or not. But what God cannot, or at least would not do is lie. God does not say in the Quran that he will never raise a living person, why question it when God raises Jesus.
iii) The sentence ‘messengers have passed away before him’ according to English grammar can be interpreted as a reference to ALL messengers before Muhammad OR SOME messengers. For example, if i say ‘before the existence of the western society people did drink alcohol’, this does not mean ALL the people before the western society drank alcohol, it means there were SOME people before who drank alcohol. Another example, if i say ‘before me people did get 100% in their exams’, this does not mean before me every single person had got 100%, it just means it was possible for some people to get 100%. If it was ALL people before me who got 100% in their exams then i would have to say ‘before me all/every person got 100% in their exams.’
In the above verse God is simply trying to tell mankind that just because Muhammad has died this does not mean Islam will die or stop, so don’t lose faith and turn away from religion.. Regardless, as we mentioned in the introduction, if we can prove Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is not a prophet, then we can prove all of these above view by Ahmadiyyas are clearly false, as they are the views of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
However, for sake of argument, you can believe Jesus died and will not return. You do not have to believe in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in order to believe Jesus died.
3) If Imam Mehdi and Jesus (pbuh) exist at the same time, who will be leading?
The holy Prophet said: A group of my Ummah will fight for the truth until near the day of judgment when Jesus, the son of Marry, will descend, and the leader of them will ask him to lead the prayer, but Jesus declines, saying: "No, Verily, among you Allah has made leaders for others and He has bestowed his bounty upon them.
Sahih Muslim
From the above verse we can see Jesus will be offered to lead the prayer (it is the usual practice that the leader of the ummah always leads the prayer), but Jesus will humbly refuse and say Allah has honoured the current leader Imam Mehdi so he should lead. Imam Mehdi will die after 7 years of rule, when he dies Jesus will be the leader and will rule for 40 years as per the sahih hadiths.
But the real questions is how does this impact our faith in Allah and the belief that Muhammad (pbuh) is the last messenger? If for the sake of argument we say Jesus (pbuh) will be in charge, does this prove or disprove that Mirza Ghulam Ahmed is correct? if we say Imam Mehdi will be in charge or both Jesus (pbuh) and imam mehdi will be charge, or neither, or if we say Jesus (pbuh) will not return, how will this prove Mirza Ghulam Ahmed is correct and a messiah, prophet, or imam mehdi?
Ahmedis core belief into this fact about Jesus (pbuh) not returning is from Mirza Ghulam Ahmed. So let’s talk about Mirza Ghulam Ahmed and see if his words are correct.
There are not enough hadiths regarding Imam Mehdi to sufficiently answer all the details, because Allah and his messenger only give information that is necessary. They have informed us Imam Mehdi will come, they have described what will be the criteria to recognise Imam Mehdi, what he will do. His height, and shoe size are all unneccesary. During the time of the prophets Surah Bakarah touches on this issue of questioning. Where Allah commands the Jews to sacrifice a cow, they were very hesitant, so they ask Allah, what type of cow, what colour, what size. They were trying to avoid Allah’s command by asking these questions which Allah dislikes. Similarly, it is nice to know, but just because there isnt a clear answer does not negate that hadith or statements. If we do not understand or we do not know, it means that WE DO NOT understand and WE DO NOT know and maybe it was never intended by Allah that WE DO NOT need to known.
4) How is it possible Jesus (pbuh) has remained in heaven for 2000 years?
Moses (pbuh) made a wooden stick turn into a living snake and eat the other objects, with Gods permission. Moses (pbuh) parted the sea, with Gods permission. Ibrahim (pbuh) was thrown into fire and it did not burn him, with Gods permission. Jesus (pbuh) brought to life the dead and healed the blind, with Gods permission. Jesus (pbuh) spoke as a baby, with Gods permission. Mary (pbuh) became pregnant without any male, with Gods permission. Muhammed (pbuh) split the moon, with Gods permission. Muhammed (pbuh) healed people, with Gods permission. Can your Lord who created the entire universe, commands every single atom, not keep someone alive in body and flesh and raise them alive for 2000 years. Surah Kahf Chapter 18 of the Quran, is the story of the men in the cave who slept for hundreds of years, yet they did not age a single day, nor die, can your Lord not raise Jesus (pbuh) to the heaven and keep him alive for his final job, to return and kill the da jaal?
5) Are all the Hadiths regarding the second coming of Jesus (pbuh) and the Da Jaal to be taken literally?
The Quran throughout uses many metaphors, those who do not believe are 'deaf, dumb and blind' this is one among many. Not all are to be taken literally. But the foundation of the sentence can be taken literally. I.e. Jesus (pbuh) will be sent down by Allah at the end of time. Nobody can know, all knowledge is with Allah, we do not know the exact method and ways whether he will or will not actually descend down on the wings of angels. For the Da Jaal maybe, it is that the words KAFIR will literally be on the Da Jaals forehead but only a true believer can see it but a weak, non believer or hypocrite cannot see this, this may be a gift from Allah to protect the true muslims. Maybe it is a metaphor, meaning Muslims will recognise him as the Da Jaal aka as a kafir, it will be so obvious it may as well be written on his forehead. Does it matter? Why do we question Allah so much about this issues which have no relevance? When the sahabah were told about the Da Jaal they didnt ask about these details except all they wanted to know was how to be safe from the da jaal. They all acknowledged him as a real living human being.
6) Verse form the Quran where Allah talks about the conversation He will have with Jesus (pbuh) on the day of judgement and Jesus sounded shocked, but why would he be if he returns and knows that people are worshipping him?
And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah ?'" He will say, "Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen. Quran 5:116
There is nothing in this verse to suggest Jesus (pbuh) was shocked?
Imagine we are now on day of Judgement, everyone will be accountable and asked to be witnesses and questioned. So Jesus (pbuh) will be questioned. So as per the verse Allah asks Jesus (pbuh) did you tell the people to worship Jesus (pbuh)? (Whilst Jesus (pbuh) came as a messenger with the Gospel) (Of course Allah knows the answers but to be just he will ask us all questions i.e. did we pray, why not etc). To this question Jesus (pbuh) replied in fear that Allah you know everything, i did not tell them to worship me, even if I did you would know this, and I do not know what you are thinking or know Allah. You know everything.
There is no shock in this sentence, just fear. Nothing in his grammar suggests he was surprised. He didnt say ' Allah, i had no idea, or i didnt know they were worshipping me'. And EVEN if he did say 'i had no idea they were worshipping me' this would still make sense because Allah is questioning Jesus (pbuh) about his first coming as a messenger, the second coming isnt being questioned because in the second coming Jesus (pbuh) destroyed the cross and nobody will worship him as a God (as per the hadith), so clearly Allah is questioning him about the first coming where people DID call him God, after Jesus left them.
7) A bloody Messiah, but there is no compulsion in religion?
He will break the cross, kill the pigs and abolish the jizyah....
Jesus (pbuh) will not literally go to every single cross and snap it in half.
The cross represents Jesus’ (pbuh) death, Christianity, and Jesus (pbuh) being God or his son. Breaking the cross is most LIKELY a metaphor for abolishing Christianity, he may most likely do this by telling the Christians 'I am Jesus (pbuh), i am not a God, and you must all follow Islam i.e. dont worship the cross, dont eat pork etc.
The Jizya was there to allow non-Muslims to live amongst Muslim lands, where by paying jizyah they would even be protected by the Muslims, not have to join the Muslims in battle, but this comes at a cost i.e. the Jizyah. When the jizyah is abolished it could mean that they will have to accept Islam or leave the land of the Muslims. Just as when Muhammad (pbuh) conquest Makkah it was commanded all non-Muslims must convert or leave. Nobody is forcing them to become Muslims, they are being asked to leave. Maybe by then it will be Muslims vs non-Muslims, those non-Muslims who maybe fought alongside the da jaal, so Jesus (pbuh) will ask them to convert or die for fighting the Muslims? We cannot say for sure, but just because we do not understand this hadith clearly, it does not mean that now it must be that Jesus (pbuh) is not returning and did actually die. Not being able to explain something does not abolish another fact. It may not back the fact that Jesus (pbuh) is returning but neither does it negate the fact that he is coming. What would negate the fact that Jesus (pbuh) is not coming would be for example a hadith that states 'Jesus (pbuh) will come and worship the cow', if this was a hadith then you can say it completely contradicts the other hadiths so they are all wrong.
It is common, a tleast my encounters with Ahmadis to ask these questions, yet the root of the questions, where they come from, the source, Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, the Ahmadis will avoid talking about. Question the source, and the rest of the answers will come to you.
If today I prove to you that Muhammad (pbuh) drank alcohol, was caught lieing etc would you then believe ANY of his hadiths? No. Likewise, look into Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, you will see how deep the rabbit hole takes you and may well be surprised from Mirzah Ghulam Ahmeds OWN books.