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IV. The Four Imams of Jurisprudence


Of Imam Malik, one of the four imams of jurisprudence (fiqh), it is written:

"While most people believe that Jesus did not die, Malik said that he died."
(Majma al-Bahar, vol. i, p. 286)

And:

"In the ‘Utbiyya it is written that Malik said that Jesus, son of Mary, died."
(Ikmal al-ikmal, Sharh of Muslim, vol. i, p. 265)

V. Classical scholars and elders

1. Imam Ibn Hazm, Amawi Zahiri Qurtabi, writes:

"Jesus, peace be upon him, was neither killed nor crucified, but God caused him to die and then raised him. The Almighty has said: ‘They did not kill him or crucify him’; and ‘I will cause thee to die and exalt thee’; and ‘I (Jesus) was a witness of them so long as I was among them, but when Thou didst cause me to die Thou wert the Watcher over them’ and ‘Allah takes souls (yatawaffa) at the time of death’. Thus there are two kinds of wafat: sleep and death. Jesus in his words ‘When Thou didst cause me to die (falamma tawaffaita-ni)’ was not referring to sleep, but it is correct that by wafat he meant death."
(Mahalli fil-Fiqh, p. 23)

"Imam Ibn Hazm adopted the apparent significance of the verse, and believed in his (Jesus’) death."
(Jalalain, under verse 3:55)

2. Abul Hasan Ali Hajwairi, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, writes:

"The Messenger of God said that, on the night of the Mi‘raj, he saw Adam, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Jesus and Abraham, in the heavens. Assuredly it was their souls."
(Kashf al-Mahjub, Chapter al-Kalam fir-ruh, p. 204).

3. In his Quranic commentary, the Shaikh al-Akbar Muhayy-ud-Din Ibn Arabi writes:

"The raising (raf‘) of Jesus means that, at the time of separation, his soul was raised from the lower world to the higher world. And his being in the fourth heaven signifies that the source of his soul’s benefit is the spirituality of that sun’s sky which resembles the heart of the world, and towards that is his place of return. That spirituality is a light which illumines that heaven with its love, and the shining of the rays upon his soul is done by its stimulation. And as Jesus’ place of return is towards its real place of rest, and cannot attain its true development, his (Jesus’) descent in the latter days will be in a different body."
(Commentary upon verse ‘God raised him to Himself’, p. 65)

4. Taqi-ud-Din Abul-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abdul Hakim ibn Abdus-Salam, known as Imam Ibn Taimiyya, has written:

"God has informed, in regard to the Messiah, that he told people only to worship God, ‘my Lord and your Lord’; and he was a wittness of them so long as he was among them, but after his death (wafat) only God was the Watcher over them. So if some people have misreported him, or misinterpreted his words, or deliberately altered the religion he brought, the Messiah cannot be held responsible for it, for he was only a messenger whose duty was just the delivery of the message."
(Al-Jawwab as-Sahih li-man baddala din al-Masih, vol. ii, p. 280)

5. Shaikh al-Islam Shams-ud-Din Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, known as Hafiz Ibn Qayyim, wrote:

"As for what is related about the Messiah that he was raised up to heaven at the age of 33 years, there is no sound authority for this which one could turn to."
(Zad al-Ma‘ad, vol. i, p. 20)
And:
"With the exception of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, a person attains to heaven with his spirit only after death and separation from the body, so the spirits of all prophets went to heaven only after death and separation from the body." (ibid., p. 304)

6. Allama Juba’i is reported as saying:

"This verse shows that God caused Jesus to die (amata) and brought about his death (tawaffa-hu), and then raised him to himself."
(Commentary Majma‘ al-Bayan, vol. i, under verse falamma tawaffaita-ni)

7. Imam Asir-ud-Din Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Ali al-Andalasi, known as Abu Hayyan Nahwi, writes:

"This verse shows that God made Jesus die (tawaffa-hu wafat al-maut) before raising him."
(Bahr al-Muhit, vol. iv, p. 4)

8. Imam Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah, known as Allama Shokani, has written:

"It is said that this verse shows that God caused Jesus to die before raising him."
(Fath al-Qadir Qalmi, p. 4)

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