Allah is Al-Rafi (The Raiser)
Introduction
Anti-Ahmadis believe that Isa (AS) was raised to the heavens alive, with a physical body because of the following verse:
بَلۡ رَّفَعَہُ اللّٰہُ اِلَیۡہِ
On the contrary, Allah exalted him to Himself.
[Quran 4:158]
They believe since Allah raised him to Himself, it means Isa (AS) was physically flown to heaven with his physical body.
Although the verse does not say that Isa (AS) was raised to the heavens but for the purpose of this article, we will ignore that and explain how Allah raises humans. Does he raise humans by physically raising them i.e. flying them to the sky/heaven etc?
Explanation
One of the attributes/names of Allah is Al-Rafi (ٱلْرَّافِعُ). Al-Rafi is the one who raises and exalts.
How does Allah raise? Imam al-Ghazali explains it beautifully:
Al-Rafi
He is the One who abases the unbelievers by means of misfortune and the One who exalts the believers by means of good fortune. He exalts His elect by drawing them near to Him, and He abases His enemies by isolating them from Himself.
[Al-Maqsad Al-Asna, pg. 48]
![[Al-Maqsad Al-Asna, pg. 48]](https://whiteminaret.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/rafa-allahisalrafi-ghazali.png){kind=link}
So when Allah raises someone, it is in terms of bringing them spiritually closer. All believers are brought closer to Allah when Allah raises them. Raising of believers does not mean flying to the Arsh or Heaven.
This is how the Muslims, regardless of their sect, understand it as well. There is not a single usage of Rafa’ where Allah raises a human physically.