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The Return of Jesus in the Qur'an and the Hadith
“It must come as something of a
surprise to Christians to hear that the return of Jesus to earth is as
much a basic belief of the Muslims as it is ours. Once again the vast
majority of the Muslims of the world hold to this belief. As with the
ascension the Qur'an does not treat the subject at any length and, as
with so much of its teaching about Jesus, it is somewhat ambiguous.
The one passage invariably brought forth to justify the doctrine is
this one:
And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for
the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment): Therefore have no doubt about
the (Hour), but follow ye Me: this is a Straight Way. Surah 43.61
The key words in the original
Arabic are Wa innahuu la'ilmil-lissaa'ati which, literally
interpreted, mean only "And there is knowledge (ilm) of
the Hour (sa'ah)". Arberry thus translates it, viz.
"It is knowledge of the Hour", as does Pickthall:
"Verily there is knowledge of the Hour". At first sight
Yusuf Ali's interpretation in the quote above, to the effect that
Jesus himself is the sign of the Hour of Judgment to come, appears to
be broadly read into the text which would not otherwise yield it. A
well-known Christian writer, however, summarily discounts any
possibility that the text might refer to the second
coming of Jesus at the end of the age. He says on this point:
No eschatological interpretation
could possibly have been current in Arabia in reference to Jesus.
The Medinan verse 43:61: "And it/he will be a sign of the
Hour" may be translated: "Verily there is knowledge of the
Hour". Any idea of Jesus' future coming derives from subsequent
interpretation. (Trimingham, Christianity Among the Arabs in
Pre-Islamic Times, p. 267).
Another writer, however, accepts
that if the pronoun built into the word innahuu refers to
Jesus, then it may well be that this text is intended to allude to his
return to the earth towards the end of time.
It is also significant that
Christ is spoken of as a sign of the "Hour" (Sure
xliii.61) which would appear to be a reference to His second advent
(in which Muslims believe) if the pronoun refers back to Christ. (Sweetman,
Islam and Christian Theology, Part One, Vol. 1, p. 34).
Commenting on the same verse a
Muslim writer seeks support for the interpretation in favour of the
return of Jesus to earth in some of the expressed views of some of
Muhammad's own followers as they have been recorded in the traditions:
Distinguished Companions of the
Holy Prophet Sallallaho alaihe wasallam, such as Hazrat
Ibne-Abbas, Hazrat Hasan and Hazrat Qatawa have opined that there is
a specific allusion in the abovequoted wordings to the appearance of
Jesus Christ before the Last Day. (Alam, Nuzul-e-Esa: Descension
of Jesus Christ, p. 28).
In another place, referring to
the opinions of the early Muslim interpreters of the Qur'an, he says:
Another commentator, Ibne-Atya,
goes on to state that Moslem theologians are unanimous in holding
that Jesus Christ is physically alive at present in Heavens and is
destined to return to this world in the same condition towards the
approach of the Last Day. (Alam, Nuzul-e-Esa: Descension of Jesus
Christ, p. 37).
When the text is placed in its
context in the Surah there does appear to be much to support the
argument that it is Jesus himself who is spoken of as the knowledge or
sign of the Hour. The passage begins by saying that Muhammad's people
ridicule him when he seeks to hold up the son of Mary as an example
(Surah 43.57), goes on to quote their objection that their gods are
better than he (v.58), and asserts In huwa illa abdun -
"He was no more than a servant" - who was made an example to
the Children of Israel (v.59). Thereafter Jesus himself is quoted (w
.63-64) and, analysing the key verse in this context, it is hard to
see what else could be the "knowledge" or sign of the Hour
of Judgment if it is not Jesus himself, the subject of the whole
passage. Yusuf Ali has the following comment appended to the text:
This is understood to refer to
the second coming of Jesus in the Last Days just before the
Resurrection, when he will destroy the false doctrines that pass
under his name, and prepare the way for the universal acceptance of
Islam, the Gospel of Unity and Peace, the Straight Way of the
Qur'an. (Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an, p. 1337).
Another Muslim translator of the
Qur'an has a similar comment on this verse: "The reference is to
the second advent of Jesus" (Daryabadi, The Holy Qur'an,
Vol. 2, p. 493B). Going on from the Qur'an to the Hadith we find that
there are a wealth of traditions in support of the doctrine of the
return of Jesus to earth. There are no less than seventy in fact and
they are regarded as mutawatir, "universally
attested" traditions of unquestioned reliability. One reads:
Abu Huraira reported that the
Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: By Him in Whose
hand is my life, the son of Mary (may peace be upon him) will soon
descend among you as a just judge. He will break crosses kill swine
and abolish Jizya, and the wealth will pour forth to such an extent
that no one will accept it. (Sahih Muslim, Vol. 1, p. 92).
Another tradition states that
"spite, mutual hatred and jealousy against one another will
certainly disappear" during his reign when he returns (Sahih
Muslim, Vol. 1, p. 93) and in yet another tradition we read that
Surah 4.159, which teaches that "there is none of the People of
the Scriptures (Jews and Christians) but must believe in him before
his death", is also a proof that Jesus will return to earth to
receive the homage of all to whom the Scriptures have been given (Sahih
al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, p. 437). Throughout the various works in the
Sirat and Hadith literature we find similar traditions suppor tiny the
return of Jesus, another of which reads:
When Christ was raised (to the
heavens), he was thirty-two years and six months old. The period of
his prophethood lasted for thirty months. Allah raised him to heaven
with his body; he is still alive and will return to this world and
he will be a king of the whole earth and then he will die like other
living beings. (Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Vol. 1,
p. 47).
It is immediately
apparent that there are key differences between Christian and Muslim
beliefs regarding the return of Jesus but what is of great
significance is the very admission of this climactic event to come at
the end of time.”
http://answering-islam.org.uk/Gilchrist/Vol2/5a.html
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