What is the meaning of Khalā (خلا)?

Introduction

Some non-Muslims falsely claim that the word Khalā can never mean death.

Khalā means to pass away. In the context of a human passing away, it only means the following:

• Passing away from this worldly life (i.e death or martyrdom)
• Passing away from a specific location, IF that location is mentioned

It is never used to describe flying physically towards heaven. In this article, we will prove our claim from the Quran, ahadith, and Arabic literature.

Pre-Islamic Poetry

Even before Islam, the Arabs used Khalā to describe the death of humans.

إذا سيد منا خلا قام سيد

When a leader among us passes away; another one stands [in his place]

[Qisas al-Arab, vol. 4, p. 103]

Arabic Lexicons

خلا فلان، أي: مات

So-and-so passed away i.e. he died.

[Lisan al-Arab]
[Tahdhib al-lughah]
[Al-Mu’jam al-Wasit]

Quranic Evidence

Allah Almighty defines Khalā of messengers in Surah Aal-e-Imran, verse 144 as death and martyrdom. He does not list flying to the heavens with a physical body as one of the meanings of Khalā.

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِہِ الرُّسُلُ ؕ اَفَا۠ئِنۡ مَّاتَ اَوۡ قُتِلَ انۡقَلَبۡتُمۡ عَلٰۤی اَعۡقَابِکُمۡ ؕ وَمَنۡ یَّنۡقَلِبۡ عَلٰی عَقِبَیۡہِ فَلَنۡ یَّضُرَّ اللّٰہَ شَیۡئًا ؕ وَسَیَجۡزِی اللّٰہُ الشّٰکِرِیۡنَ

And Muhammad is only a Messenger. Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him. If then he die or be slain, will you turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels shall not harm Allah at all. And Allah will certainly reward the grateful.

[Quran 3:144]

The same wording is used in Surah Al-Ma’idah, verse 75, where Allah Almighty proves that the prophets before Isa (AS) have died, i.e., they have died.

مَا الۡمَسِیۡحُ ابۡنُ مَرۡیَمَ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِہِ الرُّسُلُ ؕ وَاُمُّہٗ صِدِّیۡقَۃٌ ؕ کَانَا یَاۡکُلٰنِ الطَّعَامَ ؕ اُنۡظُرۡ کَیۡفَ نُبَیِّنُ لَہُمُ الۡاٰیٰتِ ثُمَّ انۡظُرۡ اَنّٰی یُؤۡفَکُوۡنَ

The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger; surely, Messengers like unto him had indeed passed away before him. And his mother was a truthful woman. They both used to eat food. See how We explain the Signs for their good, and see how they are turned away.

[Quran 5:75]

The verse not only says that Isa (AS) has died just like the prophets of the past but Allah also proves his death by saying that he used to eat food just like Maryam (AS). Since she does not eat food, neither does he. Thus, he has also died just like his mother.

There are numerous other verses that prove that Khalā does indeed mean to die. These verses are listed in another article, Khalat in the Holy Quran.

Hadith Literature

The Sahaba (RA) also understood Khalā similarly and agreed that the verse is indeed talking about the death of the prophets, including the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). This is evident from the following narration describing the events after the demise of the Prophet (SAW).

أَنَّ عَائِشَةَ، أَخْبَرَتْهُ أَنَّ أَبَا بَكْرٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَقْبَلَ عَلَى فَرَسٍ مِنْ مَسْكَنِهِ بِالسُّنْحِ حَتَّى نَزَلَ، فَدَخَلَ الْمَسْجِدَ فَلَمْ يُكَلِّمِ النَّاسَ حَتَّى دَخَلَ عَلَى عَائِشَةَ، فَتَيَمَّمَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهْوَ مُغَشًّى بِثَوْبِ حِبَرَةٍ، فَكَشَفَ عَنْ وَجْهِهِ ثُمَّ أَكَبَّ عَلَيْهِ فَقَبَّلَهُ وَبَكَى‏.‏ ثُمَّ قَالَ بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وَأُمِّي، وَاللَّهِ لاَ يَجْمَعُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ مَوْتَتَيْنِ، أَمَّا الْمَوْتَةُ الَّتِي كُتِبَتْ عَلَيْكَ فَقَدْ مُتَّهَا‏.‏ قَالَ الزُّهْرِيُّ وَحَدَّثَنِي أَبُو سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، أَنَّ أَبَا بَكْرٍ، خَرَجَ وَعُمَرُ يُكَلِّمُ النَّاسَ فَقَالَ اجْلِسْ يَا عُمَرُ، فَأَبَى عُمَرُ أَنْ يَجْلِسَ‏.‏ فَأَقْبَلَ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهِ وَتَرَكُوا عُمَرَ، فَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ أَمَّا بَعْدُ مَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ يَعْبُدُ مُحَمَّدًا صلى الله عليه وسلم فَإِنَّ مُحَمَّدًا قَدْ مَاتَ، وَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ حَىٌّ لاَ يَمُوتُ، قَالَ اللَّهُ ‏{‏وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلاَّ رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ‏}‏ إِلَى قَوْلِهِ ‏{‏الشَّاكِرِينَ‏}‏ وَقَالَ وَاللَّهِ لَكَأَنَّ النَّاسَ لَمْ يَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَنْزَلَ هَذِهِ الآيَةَ حَتَّى تَلاَهَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ، فَتَلَقَّاهَا مِنْهُ النَّاسُ كُلُّهُمْ فَمَا أَسْمَعُ بَشَرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ إِلاَّ يَتْلُوهَا‏.‏ فَأَخْبَرَنِي سَعِيدُ بْنُ الْمُسَيَّبِ أَنَّ عُمَرَ قَالَ وَاللَّهِ مَا هُوَ إِلاَّ أَنْ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا بَكْرٍ تَلاَهَا فَعَقِرْتُ حَتَّى مَا تُقِلُّنِي رِجْلاَىَ، وَحَتَّى أَهْوَيْتُ إِلَى الأَرْضِ حِينَ سَمِعْتُهُ تَلاَهَا أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَدْ مَاتَ‏.‏

Narrated `Aisha:

Abu Bakr came from his house at As-Sunh on a horse. He dismounted and entered the Mosque, but did not speak to the people till he entered upon `Aisha and went straight to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) who was covered with Hibra cloth (i.e. a kind of Yemenite cloth). He then uncovered the Prophet’s face and bowed over him and kissed him and wept, saying, “Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you. By Allah, Allah will never cause you to die twice. As for the death which was written for you, has come upon you.” Narrated Ibn `Abbas: Abu Bakr went out while `Umar bin Al-Khattab was talking to the people. Abu Bakr said, “Sit down, O `Umar!” But `Umar refused to sit down. So the people came to Abu Bakr and left `Umar. Abu Bakr said, “To proceed, if anyone amongst you used to worship Muhammad , then Muhammad is dead, but if (anyone of) you used to worship Allah, then Allah is Alive and shall never die. Allah said:–“Muhammad is no more than an Apostle, and indeed (many) apostles have passed away before him..(till the end of the Verse )……Allah will reward to those who are thankful.” (3.144) By Allah, it was as if the people never knew that Allah had revealed this Verse before till Abu Bakr recited it and all the people received it from him, and I heard everybody reciting it (then). Narrated Az-Zuhri: Sa`id bin Al-Musaiyab told me that `Umar said, “By Allah, when I heard Abu Bakr reciting it, my legs could not support me and I fell down at the very moment of hearing him reciting it, declaring that the Prophet (ﷺ) had died.”

[Sahih Bukhari 4452]

Umar (RA) is in shock and he claims that he will kill anyone who says that the Prophet (SAW) has died. Abu Bakr (RA) sees this and calms him and the other Muslims by reciting the Quran 3:144 verse which was quoted above.

Argument of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

This irrefutable argument has been written by the Promised Messiah (AS) in his numerous books. We will quote just one instance of it from Baraheen-e-Ahmadiyya where he eloquently dismantles the entire belief of the Anti-Ahmadis:

The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were very grief-stricken due to the demise of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Because of this state of grief, when Hadrat ‘Umar ra heard the words of some of the hypocrites, he said that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would return to the world and cut off the ears and noses of the hypocrites. Since this was an incorrect notion, Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddique first went to the house of Hadrat ‘A’ishah Siddiqah ra, lifted the sheet from the face of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, kissed his blessed forehead, and said: أَنْتَ طَيِّبٌ حَيًّا ومَيْتًا لَنْ يَجْمَعَ اللهُ عَلَيْكَ الْمَوْتَيْنِ إِلَّا مَوْتَتَكَ الْأُولَى

Meaning that: ‘You are holy, in your life and in your death. God will never subject you to two deaths. For you is only the first death.’ This was meant only to convey that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would not return to this world. He then gathered all the Companions ra in the Prophet’s Mosque—incidentally, on that day all the living Companions ra were present in Madinah—and after gathering them, Hadrat Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, climbed the pulpit and read the verse:

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِہِ الرُّسُلُ ؕ اَفَا۠ئِنۡ مَّاتَ اَوۡ قُتِلَ انۡقَلَبۡتُمۡ عَلٰۤی اَعۡقَابِکُمۡ ؕ

Meaning that: ‘The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,is but a Prophet, and all Prophets before him have passed away. So if the Holy Prophet,may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, too were to pass away or were killed, would you abandon the faith?’ [Surah Al-e-‘Imran, 3:145] This was the first ever ijma‘ [consensus] that took place among the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and it proves that all Prophets, including Hadrat ‘Isa, had passed away. To hold that the meaning of the word خلت [khalat] includes being raised to heaven alive is sheer obduracy, because looking at all the Arabic lexicons nowhere do we find that the word خلت [khalat] can also be used for going to heaven while still living. Moreover, God has Himself set forth the meaning of خلت [khalat] in the second sentence because He says افائن مات او قتل [if he passes away or is killed], thus confining the meaning of خلت [khalat] to two possibilities, that of dying a natural death or that of being killed. Otherwise, the explanation should have been:

افان مات او قتل او رفع الى السماء مع جسمه العنصرى

[If he were to die, or be killed, or raised bodily to heaven.]

It would have been contrary to eloquence to mention just two of the meanings that apply to خلت [khalat] and omit the third meaning, which is the one opponents allege it signifies. Moreover, the true purport of Hadrat Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, in reciting this verse was that the Holy Prophet,may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would not return to this world a second time, as he had also made clear when kissing the forehead of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Thus, our opponent must admit that Hadrat ‘Isa cannot return to this world in any case even if it were supposed that he is still alive. Or else the purpose of the argument would be defeated. This ijma‘ among the Companions is something that cannot be denied

[Baraheen-e-Ahmadiyya, vol. 5, pg. 502, footnote]

Conclusion

• Khalā means to pass away
• When used for humans, it only means to pass away from the worldly life, unless a location is given
• Allah defines this word in 3:144 and it has ONLY 2 meanings i.e. death or martyrdom
• There is no usage Khalā which proves that humans can pass away by physically fly to heaven
• Sahaba RA agree that 3:144 refers to the death of the prophets, including the death of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)