Popular Beliefs About the Ascension — Essence of Islam Vol. 3

14 Sep, 2026 Essence of Islam 0

Essence of Islam Book Cover by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

Introduction

In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 3), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Popular Beliefs About the Ascension, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 6: The Messiah and His Second Coming
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: The Messiah and His Second Coming | Next: Ahmadiyyah Belief About the Mahdi »

6 THE MESSIAH AND HIS
SECOND COMING I solemnly believe that Jesus (peace be upon him) is dead and is in the company of the departed ones. And why should I not believe this, when God Almighty has declared him dead in His Mighty Book, the Holy Qur’an. There is no mention anywhere in the Qur’an of his extraordinarily long life or of his second advent. Rather the Holy Qur’an declares him to be dead and says nothing more. I consider it an utterly false and vain notion that he is alive in his physical body and will appear in this world a second time. I believe this, not only on the basis of the revelations vouchsafed to me, but also because I know that it is opposed to the clear, conclusive and certain testimony of the Holy Qur’an.
[Asmani Faislah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, p. 315]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 169]

It is clear that Christians and the bulk of Muslims entertain the belief that Jesus (peace be upon him) ascended bodily to heaven. Both imagine that he is physically alive in heaven and will descend upon the earth sometime in the latter days. But there is one difference between the two doctrines. Christians believe that Jesusas died on the cross, came back to life, then ascended bodily to heaven and took his seat on the right hand of his Father and will descend to the earth to judge mankind in the latter days. They allege that Jesus is the God, the Creator and Master of the world, and that he will descend in glory at the end of the world to judge mankind. Then all those who have not accepted him or his mother as God will be seized and cast into hell where they will stay weeping and grinding their teeth. Muslims, on the one hand, allege that Jesusas was not crucified and did not die on the cross. He was not even nailed to the cross; rather, when he was apprehended by the Jews, an Angel of God carried him bodily to the second heaven where he abides alongside the Prophet Yahyaas or John.142 Muslims also believe that Jesusas was a revered Prophet of God and was neither God nor the son of God. They believe that he will descend in the latter days leaning upon two angels, near a minaret in Damascus, or at some other place, and that he and the Imam Muhammad Mahdi, who will have already appeared from among the descendants of Hadrat Fatima, will both join forces to slaughter all those who do not immediately accept Islam. In short, the Muslims who call themselves Ahl-e-Sunnah and also Ahl-e-Hadith, who are commonly known as Wahabis, say that the real purpose of the second advent of Jesusas is that, like the Mahadev of Hindus, he should destroy the greater part of the world. He will first warn people to become Muslims and if they resist he will put them to the sword….
As regards Christians, the Muslim divines assert that, when Jesusas descends from heaven, he will break all the crosses in the world and will mercilessly drown the whole world in blood….Though Jesusas will himself be a Mahdi, indeed he will be the principal Mahdi, yet he will not be the Khalifa because the Khalifa must be from among the Quraish. Muhammad Mahdi will be the Khalifa. According to them, both of them will together

The Messiah and his Second Coming 171 fill the earth with human blood and will cause bloodshed unparalleled in the annals of the world. They will start killing as soon as they appear, without any admonition and without manifesting any sign. They allege that Jesusas will be a counsellor or minister of Imam Muhammad Mahdi who will be the ruler, but Jesus will constantly incite the Mahdi to bloodshed as if to make up for his previous teachings: ‘Resist not evil, and, being smitten on one cheek, turn the other cheek as well.’ [Masih Hindustan Meiń, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 15, pp. 5-7].
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 169]

Have a Question?

Introduction