Jesus: Sinless or Divine?

 

نشرت بواسطة: Waqar Akbar Cheema 2:24 PM في ahmad , aw , Awliya , bukhari , divine , hilya , Jesus , mary , Satan , sinless , tirmidhi , touch 1 تعليق واحد

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله وحده و الصلاة و السلام على من لا نبي بعده و على آله و أصحابه أجمعين

An analysis of the proofs used by Christian Missionaries and a clear exposition of the deception

by Waqar Akbar Cheema and Gabriel K. AbdulRahman AlRomaani

Missionaries such as Sam Shamoun, Silas and others have tried to prove from many Islamic sources that Jesus was the only one who never sinned and that even Islamic sources fail to mention even one sin against Jesus. They quote different ahadith, especially a famous one that is called the hadith of intercession in which only Jesus is said not to mention any sin (as opposed to the other prophets). We will look at the narrations in question and show the Islamic view on Jesus and sin, and finally we will show the selective citation by missionaries (which is an oft repeated technique) and show what the bible says about Jesus’ sins.

Narrated Abu Huraira: Some (cooked) meat was brought to Allah Apostle and the meat of a forearm was presented to him as he used to like it. He ate a morsel of it and said, "I will be the chief of all the people on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know the reason for it? Allah will gather all the human being of early generations as well as late generation on one plain so that the announcer will be able to make them all-hear his voice and the watcher will be able to see all of them. The sun will come so close to the people that they will suffer such distress and trouble as they will not be able to bear or stand. Then the people will say, 'Don't you see to what state you have reached? Won't you look for someone who can intercede for you with your Lord' Some people will say to some others, 'Go to Adam.'    …    [then] they will go to Jesus and say, 'O Jesus! You are Allah's Apostle and His Word which He sent to Mary, and a superior soul created by Him, and you talked to the people while still young in the cradle. Please intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see in what state we are?' Jesus will say. 'My Lord has today become angry as He has never become before nor will ever become thereafter. Jesus will not mention any sin, but will say, 'Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else; go to Muhammad.' So they will come to me and say, 'O Muhammad ! You are Allah's Apostle and the last of the prophets, and Allah forgave your early and late sins. (Please) intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see in what state we are?" The Prophet added, "Then I will go beneath Allah's Throne and fall in prostration before my Lord. And then Allah will guide me to such praises and glorification to Him as He has never guided anybody else before me. Then it will be said, 'O Muhammad Raise your head. Ask, and it will be granted. Intercede It (your intercession) will be accepted.' …. "[1]

The Missionaries mention this hadith to show that every prophet had a sin or mistake but Jesus does not mention any sin or even any issue, except saying Myself!. It is very important to not here that sins as mentioned in this hadith are not sins but small errors or things that are not even to be considered errors but out of the fear and awe of the prophets to show the severity of the day of judgment even a possibility of a mistake looks like a mountain of burden. The hadith is very well known in Muslim scholarship however the missionaries fail to quote the other hadith that is related to the topic to show that Jesus believes that he has made a mistake or he is scared because people took him for worship. The hadith goes as follows:

Abu Sa’id Khudri reported that Allah’s Messenger –may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him- said : I will be the chief of the children of Adam on the Day of Resurrection - no boast about it. And, in my hand will be the standard of praise (hamd) and this is no boast. There will be no Prophet that day, including Adam, but will be under my standard, and I will be the first for whom the earth will be split open (on resurrection) - and this is no boast. People will be terrified three times. They will come to Adam and say, “You are our father. So intercede for us with your Lord.” He will say, “I committed a sin for which I was sent down to the earth. But go to Noah. So, they will come to Noah and he will say. “I had prayed against the people of the earth (to be punished) and they were destroyed. But, go to Ibrahim.” They will come too Ibrahim and he will say, “I lied three times.” Allah’s Messenger –may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him- said: None of that was a lie except that he helped Allah’s religion with it. (Ibrahim will tell them.) “But, go to Musa.” So, they will come to Musa and he will say, “I had killed a soul. But go to Jesus.” They will go to Jesus. He will say, “I was worshiped besides Allah. But go to Muhammad.“ So, they will come to me and I will go with them.[2]

Scholars of Islam use comprehensive methodologies of looking at narrations, however missionaries use whims and desire based methodologies that serve their evil intentions towards attacking Islam. It is clear from the above hadith that Jesus will be in the same boat as the other prophets believing that maybe he has done a mistake that people took him as a god besides Allah, and that he is not worthy of the help that the people are seeking from him. In the end what the missionaries have to understand and fail to realize is that both narrations are meant to establish the status of Prophet Muhammad –may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him-, and to show that he is the one who will be granted the right of intercession by Allah on the Day of Judgment. The missionaries try to use a magic card trick where the audience is distracted from the main issue and directed towards a distraction so that the magician can do his trick. Missionaries are exposing their double standard by taking that he does not mention any sin (with regards to Jesus) statement and not paying attention to Intercede It (your intercession) will be accepted (with regards to Muhammad). This type of logic is like saying the statement I have two million dollars but I owe three means that I am rich. It is this type of logic which leads missionaries to believe in the trinity.

Let us now take a look of the issue in itself. If Jesus would be a prophet without sin, would that show that he is God or that he is somehow superior? The answer is NO. Christians try on many occasions to prove divinity through exclusivity or that because Jesus is the only one to be called or to have done something (such as virgin birth), he is God. In this case they try to say that Jesus is the only one without sin, therefore he is God. They fail to realize that there are all the angels (as Muslims believe) that have no sins and are created perfect to worship Allah. Looking at the Islamic texts we also see the hadith which explains not only why Jesus was never influenced by the devil to commit sins but why his mother is in the same boat:

The mother of Mary said:
"I place her and her progeny under Your shelter against Satan, the rejected."[3]

The Messenger of Allah -may Allah's peace and blessing be upon him said: 
"No child is given birth to, but the devil pricks it so that it weeps due to the pricking of the devil, except Maryam (Mary) and her son."[4]

Is Maryam God? No, of course not and nor is Jesus. Maryam’s mother prayed a prayer that was granted by God and her daughter and her progeny i.e Jesus were protected from Satan. It is also very important to mention here that just because no sin is ever mentioned for Jesus (flawed logic) does not mean he never sinned and therefore he is God, as the same could be applied for Mary.

It is also very important to notice that the missionary approach is lacking any understanding of Islamic sources and logic in the light of proof. Before we Turn The Tables on the missionaries and expose them, let us briefly show the Islamic stance on prophets and sins. It is agreed upon by all scholars that prophets never commit any major sins, but they can make small mistakes as they are human. The mistakes they make serve as big lessons for humanity. It is also important to understand that “ma’soom” or infallible in Islamic terms means infallible in delivering the message from God, and being protected from God in failing to achieve the purpose they were sent for.

It is also important here to quote a hadith from Musnad Ahmad which indicates that the only one who has never committed a sin is not Esa (Jesus) but Yahya or John the Baptist. The narration goes as follows:

"There has never been one from the offspring of Adam who did not err (qad akhta') or was inclined (hamma) to it except Yahya bin Zakariyya"[5]

Compared to the narrations about Jesus and Mary which imply that they did not have sin, or that they committed no sin, this narration says specifically that none of the progeny of Adam erred except Yahya. If we were to follow missionary logic and approach we could play day and night with such narrations and try to build whatever we want but that is not the case. The reality is that the narration is not fully authenticated by most scholars. The reality is that missionaries have no logic or sincere approach in this subject and that they can establish nothing but conjecture.

The prophets were always fearful and humble even though they did not do anything that could be termed a sin. This is the sign of true and ultimate piety[6], and this is the trait of a true believer who lives his or her life in a balance of love, fear and hope, not in a state of arrogance and comfort as if they deserve paradise. To highlight this point the following narration says:

It is narrated from Abu Huraira, he said the Messenger of Allah -may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said, "If my Lord was to judge me and Ibn Maryam (Jesus) even by the amount of the shadow between these two fingers, He would have punished us without being unjust."[7]

This narration kills any missionary attempt to claim divinity for Jesus –may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him- based on Islamic texts.

The Muslim has no problem in admitting that Jesus or Mary or John or anyone else for that reason is without sin, as this does not establish any proof for divinity for anyone with an ounce of intellect. As Allah created angels without sin, and perfect obedient creatures, He created others and selected them with special characteristics and all is by the will of Allah, not by the will of the creation, and all praise goes back to Allah not to the creation. And anyone who tries to twist Islamic texts and dupe people to believe that Muslims cannot show that Jesus sinned therefore he is God, let it be known that such people are lacking any real insight or intellect and only follow conjecture and doubts, which can never counter reason, proof and truth.

LET ME TURN THE TABLES!

When a Christian tries to use the argument that Jesus is God because Jesus was sinless we need to point out the fallacy of such an argument. Christian missionaries have been desperate to prove Jesus’ divinity, as there is categorically no unambiguous evidence of such in the Bible, and such Christian theology is ambiguous. Why is the Christian argument a fallacy and illogical argument? Can this litmus test be applied? Let us break the argument in a few points for the sake of simplicity:

There is no correlation between being sinless and being divine. Christians build the premise but it’s a false premise. We have already shown that there is no proof that Mary sinned, or John the Baptist or angels for that matter. The most one can say here is that Jesus was a sinless man.

There is no correlation between being sinless and being God. A God cannot be subjected to SIN standards; no matter what God does is never considered a sin. God ordered the killing of men, women and children[8] but that cannot be a sin. So the statement God is sinless does not even apply or make sense, as the two words could never be put together.

Now if one were to apply the true apparent meaning of the argument and that is – Jesus never committed a sin (killing, genocide, killing small children, killing animals etc.) and God never committed a sin (such as killing, genocide, killing children etc.) therefore Jesus is God, one would realize after reading a few chapters of the Bible that the first statement might be true, but the second is definitely false. God whipped out nations, killed children and infants, ordered massacres and genocides, destroyed lands and crops and much more. Is Jesus better than God?

Any objective reader who is looking for truth and applies any principle of reason can see the fallacy of the missionary attempt. It is with such futile attempts that these people fool people in poverty stricken lands such as Africa and India, converting them and leading them astray from Islam.

Indeed Allah knows the best!

---

[1] Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 4712

[2] Jami' Tirmidhi, Hadith 3148. Classified as Sahih by Albani

[3] Qur’an 3:36

[4] Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 3431

[5] Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 2294, narrated by Ibn Abbas.  Shaikh Ahmad Shakir classified it as Sahih

[6] Today Muslims try to follow that path and when asked by Christians (who think they are going to paradise for sure) DO YOU KNOW IF YOU WILL END UP IN PARADISE?  The Muslim responds NO I DON’T, ONLY ALLAH KNOWS, even though we know that anyone who says THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH will eventually enter paradise. 

[7] Hilya al-Awliya 8/132. Also quoted in Kanzul 'Ummal Hadith 5905

[8] The Bible, Book of Numbers Ch. 31

Jesus (PBUH) did not die according to Quran

 

نشرت بواسطة: Waqar Akbar Cheema 1:45 AM في Ahmadi , Answering Ahmadis , Ibn Abbas , Jesus , Life of Jesus , Mumeetuka , Mutawaffeeka , Qadiani , Quran , rafa , Tawaffa , tawaffi 17 تعليقات

Qadianis, also called Ahmadis, the followers of the religion founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed of Qadian, say that, Prophet Jesus (PBUH) died a natural death. And moreover these heathens try to prove their point from the Holy Quran, but all in vague. They can only deceive those people who don’t know the Quran in detail and the Arabic language. But Alhamdulillah Muslim scholars have done great work and have refuted their false propaganda in an irrefutable manner. All praise is to Allah.

MEANING OF 'MUTAWAFFEKA' & 'TAWAFFAITANI' IN QURAN 3:55 & 5:117.

Qadianis say that the word mutawaffeeka in Quran 3:55 and tawaffaitani in Quran 5:117 speak of the death of Prophet Jesus (PBUH) and they erroneously translate the verses as;

“Lo! God said:`O Jesus! Verily I shall cause thee to die, and shall exalt thee unto me...” (3:55)

"I said to them naught save as Thou didst command me: 'Serve God, my Lord and your Lord.'; and I was a witness of them so long as I was among them, but when Thou didst cause me to die Thou wast the Watcher over them. And Thou art Witness of all things.'” (5:117)

But this is wrong. I present the Islamic view point in detail in the following lines;

Correct Translation:

Quran 3:55 informs believers that Allah will “take back” Jesus (PBUH), protect him from the unbelievers, and raise him to His presence. Many great Islamic scholars and commentators have interpreted this verse to mean that Jesus (PBUH) did not die. As the verse states:

إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْقَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ فِيمَا كُنْتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ

“When Allah said: ‘O Isa , I am to take you in full (mutawaffeeka) and to raise you towards Myself, and to cleanse you of those who disbelieve, and to place those who follow you above those who disbelieve up to the Day of Doom. Then to Me is your return, whereupon I shall judge between you in that over which you have differed.’” (3:55)

The part requiring special consideration is the sentence; “I will take you back (mutawaffeeka) and raise you up to Me.”

And indeed Quran 5:117 also goes on the same lines.

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 عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ

"I have not said to them anything but what You have ordered me to say, that is, 'Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord‘ and I was a witness over them as long as I was with them. But when You recalled me (tawaffaitani), You were the One watching over them. You are a witness over everything." (5:117)

A close examination reveals a most important truth: The verb carries a sense that differs from what is normally meant by “to die.” The word translated into English as “to die” comes from the Arabic root waffaa derived from the verb tawaffaa, which does not imply death, but rather taking the soul, or surrender.

Meaning of tawaffa:

1-Linguistically:

Ibn Taymiyya said:

التوفى فى لغة العرب معناها القبض والاستيفاء وذالك ثلاثه انواع أحدها التوفى فى النوم والثانى توفى الموت والثالث وتوفى الروح والبدن جميعاٌ

"Al-tawaffa in the Arabic language means: to exact fully or take in full. It takes three forms; the first: to take in sleep; the second: to take in death; and the third: to take the body and soul all together." (Al-Jawab Al-Sahih 2/83)

In Kulliyat Abu Al-Baqa it is stated:

التوفى الاماته وقبض الروح وعليه استعمال العامه او الاستيفاء واخذ الحق وعليه استعمال البلغاء

"Tawaffa is putting to death and extracting the soul in common usage while in the classical usage it is 'taking in full’ and 'exacting the due right.'”

2-Quranic usage:

The Qur’an also reveals that taking a person’s soul does not always imply death. For instance, another verse uses tawaffaa to refer not to a person’s death, but to taking his or her soul while asleep:

اللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى الْأَنْفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِي لَمْ تَمُتْ فِي مَنَامِهَا فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِي قَضَى عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ الْأُخْرَى إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآَيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

"Allah fully takes away (yatawaffaa) the souls (of the people) at the time of their death (mawtiha), and (of) those who do not die (lam tamut), in their sleep. Then He withholds those on whom He had decreed death (al-mawt), and sends others back, up to an appointed term. Surely, in this, there are signs for a people who ponder." (Quran 39: 42)

The word here translated as “taking back” is the same as that used in Qur’an 3:55 and 5:117: tawaffaa. Since a person does not actually die during the night, the word yatawaffaa here refers not to death, but to taking the soul at night. If tawaffaa were being used in the sense of death, then that would mean that all people would be biologically dead during sleep. Thus, Jesus (PBUH) would have died every night of his life. Such an assertion is both irrational and illogical.

3-Explanation from Hadith:

Another instance in which sleep is regarded as a kind of death, but which does not refer to biological death, is the following Hadith:

عَنْ حُذَيْفَةَ بْنِ الْيَمَانِ قَالَ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِذَا أَوَى إِلَى فِرَاشِهِ قَالَ بِاسْمِكَ أَمُوتُ وَأَحْيَا وَإِذَا قَامَ قَالَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَحْيَانَا بَعْدَ مَا أَمَاتَنَا وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ

Narrated Huzaifa: When the Holy Prophet (PBUH) moved to his bed (to sleep) he would say; ‘All praise is for God, Who has made us alive after He made us die [sleep] (Al-hamdu li Allah illazi ahyana ba’da maa amatana; wa ilayhi al-nushoor).’ (Sahih Bukhari Hadith 5837)

No doubt, he used these wise words not to refer to biological death when one is asleep, but rather to a sleeping person’s soul being “taken.”

4-Jesus (PBUH) was given a kind of sleep:

Ibn Kathir, the famous Islamic scholar and commentator, used this Hadith, along with many other proofs in his commentary on Surah Al’-Imran, to explain that tawaffaa refers to sleep. In addition, he indicated the word’s meaning in other verses where it appears.

Ibn Kathir gave his opinion using a Hadith handed down by Ibn Abi Hatim: Ibn Abi Hatim says that: “My father told us …

عن الحسن أنه قال في قوله: { إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ } يعني وفاة المنام، رفعه الله في منامه

... from Hassan that the meaning of the verse ‘I will take you back…’ is this: Here it means that ‘I shall kill you with the death of sleep.' In other words, I shall cause you to sleep.’ So, Allah raised Jesus (PBUH) to the heavens while he was asleep." (Ibn Kathir 2/47)

Infact there is a Hadith which clarifies beyond all doubt. It goes as;

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لليهود:"إن عيسَى لم يمتْ، وإنه راجعٌ إليكم قبل يوم القيامة

Hasan (RA) narrated: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said to the Jews, 'Jesus has not died, he will return to you before the Doomsday.'" (Al-Tabari H.7133)

5-Antonym of Hayat (Life) in the Quran?

Further we know that in the Holy Quran only the word mawt (death) is used in contrast to hayat (life) e.g. See Quran 67:2, 25:3, 2:260, 30:19, 2:164, 16:45, 45:5, 3:49, 42:9. But not even once has the Quran used tawaffa against hayat. This is strong evidence that to the Author of the Quran tawaffa is not the opposite of hayat.

6-Views of leading learned scholars:

Islamic scholars agree that mutawaffeeka means that Jesus (PBUH) did not die, but that he was raised to Allah’s presence and will return to Earth. For example;

Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari, the famous commentator and scholar , stated that mutawaffeeka is used in the sense of “removing from Earth” and interpreted the verse in the following terms: "To me the soundest opinion is to take this word in the sense of 'to take into one’s possession', 'draw (away) from Earth.' In that case, the meaning of the verse is: 'I shall take you from Earth and into the heavens.' [This is] because of the multiple ways it has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) that Jesus son of Mary will descend, kill Anti-Christ (Dajjal)..." (Al-Tabari 3/51)

The great Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyya stated that Quran 3:55 indicates that Jesus (PBUH) did not die, but most likely experienced a kind of “sleep death.” He then wrote: “This verse is proof that the death of Jesus (pbuh) is not being referred to… The word al-tawaffa [the infinitive form of the word mutawafeeka used] in the verse requires the death of the soul without that of the body, or of both, but with the existence of another piece of evidence explaining the circumstances in this sense. The meaning may be the death of sleep (as in Qur’an 6:60). The words at the end of the verse, to the effect that: “I shall separate you purified from the unbelievers,” are also along these lines. Had Jesus’ (PBUH) body been separated from his soul, then his body would be in the ground, as with the other prophets.” (Majmu‘Fatawa 4/322-323)

So in the light of the Quran, Hadith and the views of learned scholars the meaning of mutawaffeeka is 'to take in full' i.e. with both body and soul.

7-Ibn Abbas's (RA) view on Mutawaffeeka:

Now coming to the view of the pious Companion Ibn Abbas, we see that many people often quote a saying of him to confuse the whole case. It is quoted in Sahih Bukhari without any chain,

وَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ { مُتَوَفِّيكَ } مُمِيتُكَ

Ibn Abbas (RA) said: "Mutawaffeeka is 'I'll cause you to die.'" (Sahih Bukhari 14/149)

The complete narration along with chain is found in Ibn kathir 2/47, Al-Tabari 6/457, Ibn Abi Hatim 3/14 Hadith 3630.

But we ought to consider other narrations of Ibn Abbas (RA) to understand his actual position on this issue. The following one clarifies his stand point;

عن ابن عباس في قوله { إني متوفيك ورافعك } يعني رافعك ثم متوفيك في آخر الزمان

Narrated Az-Zahaak from Ibn Abbas that the verse 'Inni Mutawaffeka wa rafiuka' means: "I will raise you to myself then I'll cause you to die near the End of Times." (Durr Al-Manthur 2/347)

It is enough to show that even according to Ibn Abbas' (RA) view Jesus (PBUH) is alive yet and the verse to him refers only to his death in the End of Times after his descent.

One may say how can the order be changed i.e. how can rafa (raising) precede tawaffa (death as per Ibn Abbas' view) while it is mentioned later according to the make up of the sentence. This is no problem as it’s common in Quran that something mentioned later in the sentence precedes what's mentioned before it. A perfect example is Quran 3:110.

كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ

"You are the best of the nations raised up for (the benefit of) men; you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in Allah."

One can see that belief in Allah comes first but its mentioned after the mention of enjoining what is right and forbidding the wrong.

Ibn Abbas (RA) believed in the physical ascension of Prophet Jesus (PBUH). This fact also refutes any notion of attributing Jesus' (PBUH) death to him.

عن ابن عباس قال: لما أراد الله أن يرفع عيسى إلى السماء خرج على أصحابه ...ورفع عيسى من رَوْزَنَة في البيت إلى السماء

Ibn Abbas said, "When Allah intended to raise Jesus (PBUH) to the heavens, he went to his companions,...Jesus (PBUH) ascended to heaven through an opening in the top of the house."
(Ibn Abi Hatim 4/431 Hadith 6266, Ibn Kathir 2/449. Ibn Kathir called it Sahih)

This detail is enough to maintain that even the opinion of Ibn Abbas (RA) in essence goes with the established opinion of other Sahaba and later Muslim generations.

And it'll be nothing less than sham and hypocrisy to take one narration of a person and reject the other for no reason.

TRUE MEANING OF ‘QAD KHALAT’ IN QURAN 3:144

Ahamadis (Qadianis) use the verse 3:144 to convey that all the Prophets before Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have died. They use it to suggest that even Prophet Jesus (PBUH) has died;

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ أَفَإِنْ مَاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انْقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمْ

‘And Muhammad is only a messenger — messengers have already passed away (qad khalat) before him. If, then, he dies or is killed, will you turn back upon your heels?’ [Translation by Qadianis](Quran 3: 144)

1-Meaning of ‘qad khalat’:

Here the actual Arabic word is 'qad khalat' which comes from the word 'khala'.

About 'khala' Raghib Isfahani says:

والخلو يستعمل في الزمان والمكان لكن لما تصور في الزمان المضى فسر أهل اللغة خلا الزمان بقولهم مضى الزمان وذهب

"Al-Khallu (the root of khala) is used for for both time and space and but as there is a nuance of the past in (its usage of) time so linguists take it to refer to the past." (Mufradaat al-Quran 1/158) .... and then he gives Quran 3:144 and 13:6 as its examples.

Thus he makes it clear that the verse does not refer to the death of the Prophets before Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It does not even deal with their being alive or dead rather it only refers to their fact of their having lived in the past.

2-Meaning of 'khala' for persons:

It’s also wrong to say that when used for persons the word khala means death for we read in the Quran:

وَإِنْ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خَلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ

‘...and there never were a people, without a Warner having lived (khala) among them (in the past)’ (Quran 35: 24)

Even according to the translation of Sher Ali Qadiani it reads as; ‘and there is no people to whom a Warner has not been sent.’

In this verse translating the word 'khala' as Qadianis say otherwise will certainly be absurd.

3-Its meaning in relation to Quran 5:75:

Quran 5:75 goes as:

مَا الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ

Some try to relate it to Quran 5:75 mistranslating it as:

“The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; surely, Messengers like unto him had indeed passed away before him.” [Qadiani Translation]

Infact to take this verse 5:75 to refer to death of all the prophets is erroneous because we know that while Jesus (PBUH) walked this Earth Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist) was alive. So the correct translation of this verse is as under;

“The Masih, son of Maryam, is no more than a Messenger. There have been messengers before him…”

Therefore the best translation of Quran 3: 144 is as done by Shaykh Taqi Usmani i.e.

‘And Muhammad is but a messenger, there have been messengers before him. So, if he dies or is killed, would you turn back on your heels?’

All the explanation above refutes the Qadiani position in favor of the Islamic creed.

INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST!