Did Abu Huraira (RA) believe Isa (AS) is alive?

Introduction

When Sunni Muslims cannot prove that Isa (A.S) is alive from the Holy Quran, Ahadith, or direct statements of Sahaba (R.A), they start doing taweel (interpretation) of an unambiguous narration of Abu Huraira (R.A) to prove he believed that Isa (A.S) was alive.

قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ، لَيُوشِكَنَّ أَنْ يَنْزِلَ فِيكُمُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ حَكَمًا عَدْلاً، فَيَكْسِرَ الصَّلِيبَ، وَيَقْتُلَ الْخِنْزِيرَ، وَيَضَعَ الْجِزْيَةَ، وَيَفِيضَ الْمَالُ حَتَّى لاَ يَقْبَلَهُ أَحَدٌ، حَتَّى تَكُونَ السَّجْدَةُ الْوَاحِدَةُ خَيْرًا مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَا فِيهَا ‏”‏‏.‏ ثُمَّ يَقُولُ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ وَاقْرَءُوا إِنْ شِئْتُمْ ‏{‏وَإِنْ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلاَّ لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا‏}‏‏.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, surely (Jesus,) the son of Mary will soon descend amongst you and will judge mankind justly (as a Just Ruler); he will break the Cross and kill the pigs and there will be no Jizya (i.e. taxation taken from non Muslims). Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it, and a single prostration to Allah (in prayer) will be better than the whole world and whatever is in it.”

Abu Huraira added “If you wish, you can recite (this verse of the Holy Book): — ‘And there is none Of the people of the Scriptures (Jews and Christians) But must believe in him (i.e Jesus as an Apostle of Allah and a human being) Before his death. And on the Day of Judgment He will be a witness Against them.” (4.159)

[Sahih al-Bukhari 3448]

In this hadith, the last part is used to show that Abu Huraira (R.A) believed that Isa (A.S) is alive. They say that the “believe in him” in the verse refers to the death of Isa (A.S). This means that since Ahl-e-Kitabis (People of the Book) have not accepted Isa (A.S) yet, he must be alive and they will accept him before he dies.

Firstly, this hadith is ambiguous. If this is the best evidence that Sunni Muslims can bring, then they need to reevaluate their beliefs. Abu Hurairah (R.A) does not once specify whose death is referred to in this verse. All he is saying is that the People of the Book will realize the falsehood of their beliefs before their deaths or through the exposition and refutation of Christianity by the latter-day Masih. Moreover, we know that Abu Huraira (R.A) was present in Medinah during the first Ijmah of Sahaba (R.A) at the death of Muhammad (S.A.W). But we do not have a single report, weak or strong, where he objects to the speech of Abu Bakr (R.A), where he mentions that all prophets before Muhammad (S.A.W) have died while quoting Quran 3:144. Therefore, this Sunni assertion/taweel (interpretation) holds absolutely no weight.

Secondly, this narrative does not fit the Quranic view. If this truly refers to the death of Isa (A.S), then 100s of generations of People of the Book have come and gone without believing Isa (A.S) or Islam. As such, this completely contradicts the 4:159 verse which says ALL People of the Book will believe.

Thirdly, the Quran says that it is impossible for all of the People of the Book to believe before the death of Isa (A.S) as there are multiple verses that show that the People of the Book shall disbelieve until the Day of Judgement itself. Similarly, we have ahadith proving the same. Read the article on these references here.

Fourthly, all People of the Book would not believe in Isa (A.S) before their death because according to the beliefs of Sunni Muslims themselves, Isa (A.S) will kill people for not converting to Islam. This belief is mentioned by Ibn Kathir in his Tafseer of verse 4:158-159 also.

‘Eesa ibn Maryam will descend there and then kill the pig, break the cross, and refuse to accept their Jizyah. But whosoever accepts Islam from them, it will be accepted from him; otherwise, he will be killed. The same ruling applies to all the disbelievers of that time.”

[Boof of the end. Great Trial and Tribulations, pg 151]

Imam Nawawi also says the same as quoted by the famous Sunni website.

“Rather he will not accept anything but Islam or death.”

Fifthly, the only way it refers to the death of Isa (A.S) would be if some people from each of the 10 tribes of Israel accepted him before he died. In this way, all of the Bani Israel would have believed in him in some sense. Furthermore, this means that he must have preached to all of these tribes after he survived the crucifixion. Hence, proves the Ahmadiyya Muslim view that he traveled east, looking for the remaining tribes of Israel and dying at the age of 120. However, even this interpretation is not as clear as it would have been if the death in the verse referred to the death of the Person of the Book rather than the death of Isa (A.S), as it wouldn’t include every single person among the People of the Book as the Quran implies. More explanation on the Tafseer of this verse here.

Sixthly, this taweel of the above statement goes against the view of

• The Holy Quran – 30 verses
• Mutawatir ahadith
• Ijmah of Sahaba (R.A) – specifically of the sahaba who are a greater authority like Ibn Abbas (R.A).
• Other Salaf-e-Saliheen

Seventhly, even if we had some clear narration of Abu Huraira (R.A) that said Isa (A.S) has not died yet, it would still be weak in comparison to the plethora of proofs we have provided, including the Ijmah of Sahaba (R.A) on the death of Isa (A.S). Even though he is known for his great memory but his ijtihad (independent reasoning) wasn’t the best. This is a common belief among Sunni scholars and is a fact that is known throughout history. For example in Usul ash-Shahi it is written: 

“The second category which exists among the narrators of Hadith is of those who are renowned for their remarkable memory and honesty, but cannot be relied upon for their Ijtihad or religious verdicts, such as, Abu Huraira ra and Anas Bin Malik ra”.

[Introduction to Usul ul-fiqh, pg. 122 – From Manual on Hanafi Fiqh]

“One of the disputes around Abu Hurairah is whether he was a faqih, i.e expert in Islamic law. This issue was brought into question especially by Hanafi jurists within the context of some narrations. Some Hanafi jurists like “Isa b. Abân explained the nonuse of Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf, Zufar and Muhammad b. Hasan the musarrah and ariyyah hadith which are in conflict with the main rule/qiyas as part of that the transmisser of these hadiths, Abu Hurairah was not a faqih.”

[The issue of Abu Huraira being a Faqih, pg 1]

Maulana Hakeem ul Ummat Noor-ud-Deen(RA) even confirmed that the Hanafis do not take Abu Huraira as a Faqih:

Ahadith-e-Abu Huraira and Hanafi

ابو ہریرہ کی احادیث کو اکثر حنفیوں نے رد کیا ہے ۔ ابو ہریرہ کی ایسی احادیث کو جوان کے مطلب کے خلاف ہوں حنفی لوگ نہیں مانتے اور ر ڈ کر دیتے ہیں ۔

(۱۲ستمبر ۱۹۰۸ء درس بخاری شریف)

(الحاکم جلد ۱۳ نمبر ۱۷ و ۱۸ مورخہ ۱۴،۷ مئی ۱۹۰۹ صفحه ۳۰۲)

Abu Hurairah’s Ahadith a lot of Hanafis rejected/refuted. Abu Hurayra’s ahadith which go against their meanings Hanafi people do not accept them and instead go on to refute/reject them.

[Al-Hakam May 14, 1909]

Can any honest person still hold the belief that Abu Huraira (R.A) believed that Isa (A.S) is alive? Why should anyone accept this weak view when all the sources are against it?

Conclusion

Thus, the above hadith does not in any way prove that Isa (A.S) is alive nor does it prove that Abu Huraira (R.A) held this view. Sunnis who quote this have to reconsider if they are doing this just to misguide people or do they really believe in these weak pieces of evidence.