Can Isa (A.S) be resurrected before Qiyamah?
Introduction
Some non-Ahmadis who believe Isa (A.S) has died began believing that Isa (A.S) will be resurrected and sent by Allah for his second coming due to the ahadith of the descent of Isa (A.S). One such hadith is below:
By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, son of Mary (Jesus) will shortly descend amongst you people (Muslims) as a just ruler and will break the Cross and kill the pig and abolish the Jizya.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2222
1) Isa (A.S) cannot be resurrected before the Day of Judgement
Keeping in mind this hadith, non-Ahmadis say that since Isa (A.S) has to “return”, then somehow Isa (A.S) will be made alive and sent to earth. Unfortunately, this interpretation is completely against the Holy Quran and ahadith.
وَ السَّلٰمُ عَلَیَّ یَوۡمَ وُلِدۡتُّ وَ یَوۡمَ اَمُوۡتُ وَ یَوۡمَ اُبۡعَثُ حَیًّا
And peace was on me the day I was born, and peace there will be on me the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised up to life again.
[Quran 19:33]
In this verse, Allah is explaining the full lifecycle of Isa (A.S) in this verse i.e he will be born, he will die, and then he will be raised to life on the day of judgment. It clearly shows that Isa (A.S) will die once and will be raised to life only once. The verse clearly talks about a single “day”. It does not mention that there will be peace on him on the “days” he dies or the “days” he gets resurrected.
Moreover, the same exact wording is used for Yayha (A.S) and he only died once and will get resurrected once. This further proves that as Yahya (A.S) died once and will get resurrected once at Qiyamah, similarly will Isa (A.S) because of the similarity.
وَسَلٰمٌ عَلَیۡہِ یَوۡمَ وُلِدَ وَیَوۡمَ یَمُوۡتُ وَیَوۡمَ یُبۡعَثُ حَیًّ
And peace was on him the day he was born, and the day he died, and peace there will be on him the day he will be raised up to life again.
[Quran 19:15]
This verse is already explained in detail here. But these 2 verses should suffice in explaining why the resurrection of Isa (A.S) from the dead is against Quran.
2) No one can be resurrected before Qiyamah
Similar to the previous argument, this rule that the dead cannot be resurrected before the Qiyamah is not just for Isa (A.S) but a general rule. The following verses and ahadith are only a few of the many reasons to believe that.
Quran
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَآءَ أَحَدَهُمُ ٱلۡمَوۡتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ٱرۡجِعُونِ
لَعَلِّيٓ أَعۡمَلُ صَٰلِحٗا فِيمَا تَرَكۡتُۚ كَلَّآۚ إِنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَآئِلُهَاۖ وَمِن وَرَآئِهِم بَرۡزَخٌ إِلَىٰ يَوۡمِ يُبۡعَثُونَ
Until, when death comes to one of them, he says entreating, ‘My Lord, send me back, ‘That I may do righteous deeds in the life that I have left behind.’ Never, it is but a word that he utters. And behind them is a barrier until the day when they shall be raised again.
[Quran 23:99-100]
وَحَرَٰمٌ عَلَىٰ قَرۡيَةٍ أَهۡلَكۡنَٰهَآ أَنَّهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ
And it is an inviolable law for a township which We have destroyed that they shall not return.
[Quran 21:95]
These two verses clearly prove that it is not a rule of Allah to raise the dead before the Day of Judgement.
Ahadith
Muhammad (S.A.W) explains the Quran 21:95 verse that we quoted just above to show that the dead cannot be resurrected back.
يَقُولُ لَمَّا قُتِلَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَمْرِو بْنِ حَرَامٍ يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ” يَا جَابِرُ أَلاَ أُخْبِرُكَ مَا قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لأَبِيكَ ” . قُلْتُ بَلَى . قَالَ ” مَا كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ أَحَدًا إِلاَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ وَكَلَّمَ أَبَاكَ كِفَاحًا . فَقَالَ يَا عَبْدِي تَمَنَّ عَلَىَّ أُعْطِكَ . قَالَ يَا رَبِّ تُحْيِينِي فَأُقْتَلُ فِيكَ ثَانِيَةً . قَالَ إِنَّهُ سَبَقَ مِنِّي أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهَا لاَ يُرْجَعُونَ . قَالَ يَا رَبِّ فَأَبْلِغْ مَنْ وَرَائِي . فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ هَذِهِ الآيَةَ {وَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا} ” . الآيَةَ كُلَّهَا .
It was narrated from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah:
“When ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin Haram was killed, on the Day of Uhud, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘O Jabir, shall I not tell you what Allah said to your father?’ I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Allah does not speak to anyone except from behind a screen, but He spoke to your father face to face and said: “O My slave, ask Me and I shall give you.” He said: “O my Lord, bring me back to life so that I may be killed for Your sake a second time.” He said: “I have already decreed that they will not return (to the world after death).” He said: “O Lord, convey (the good news about my state) to those whom I have left behind.” So Allah revealed this Verse: ‘Think not of those as dead who are killed in the way of Allah.’”[3:169]
[Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3010]
The below hadith proves that if the resurrection was indeed possible before Qiyamah, then the best man to ever be born on this face of the earth i.e Muhammad (S.A.W), would have been granted his wish to be resurrected, not anyone else.
قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ “ وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَوْلاَ أَنَّ رِجَالاً مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لاَ تَطِيبُ أَنْفُسُهُمْ أَنْ يَتَخَلَّفُوا عَنِّي وَلاَ أَجِدُ مَا أَحْمِلُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ مَا تَخَلَّفْتُ عَنْ سَرِيَّةٍ تَغْزُو فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَوَدِدْتُ أَنِّي أُقْتَلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ أُحْيَا ثُمَّ أُقْتَلُ ثُمَّ أُحْيَا ثُمَّ أُقْتَلُ ثُمَّ أُحْيَا ثُمَّ أُقْتَلُ ”
Abu Hurairah said:
“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘By the One in Whose hand is my soul, were it not for the fact that there are some believing men who would not feel happy to stay behind (when I go out on a campaign) and I do not have the means to provide them with mounts (so that they cn join me), I would not have stayed behind from any campaign or battle in the cause of Allah. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, I wish that I could be killed in the cause of Allah, then brought back to life, then be killed, then be brought back to life, then be killed then be brought back to life, then be killed.‘”
[Sunan an-Nasa’i 3098]
3. Isa (A.S) cannot be sent back even if he is resurrected
Let’s assume that Isa (A.S) is resurrected, even though we proved that it is impossible from the lens of the Quran and Ahadith. Even then it is impossible for him to come back. Even more verses of the Holy Quran refute this. The clearest one is the following one:
And when Allah says, “O Jesus, son of Mary, didst thou say to men, ‘Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?’”, he will answer, “Holy art Thou. I could never say that to which I had no right. If I had said it, Thou wouldst have surely known it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind. It is only Thou Who art the Knower of hidden things.
“I said nothing to them except that which Thou didst command me—‘Worship Allah, my Lord, and your Lord.’ And I was a witness over them as long as I remained among them, but since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them; and Thou art Witness over all things.
[Quran 5:117]
These verses show that Isa (A.S) has died in the conversation between Isa (A.S) and Allah. Isa (A.S) denies knowing the condition of his people (i.e. Christians) on the Day of Judgement as seen from these words, “And I was a witness over them as long as I remained among them, but since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them; and Thou art Witness over all things”.
If he returns for his “2nd coming” as non-Ahmadis believe, then he will see the conditions of Christians worshiping him. Moreover, he will be killing those non-Muslims if they fail to convert to Islam as the Sunnis believe. Then how can Isa (A.S) deny on the Day of Judgement that he did not know whether his followers worshiped him?
Thus, the only reason Isa (A.S) will be unaware of the condition of his followers (i.e Christians) on the Day of Judgement is because he will not be coming back to earth for a second time. This verse clearly proves that the Latter-Day Messiah will not be Isa (A.S) of the Bani Israel but someone from among the Muslims as explained by the Hadith in Sahih Bukhari that the Messiah will be from among the Muslims.
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said “How will you be when the son of Mary descends amongst you and is your imam among you.”
[Sahih al-Bukhari 3449]
4. Resurrection is a big miracle but no mention in Quran or Ahadith
Even if assume for argument’s sake that Isa (A.S) will be resurrected, then where is the proof for it anywhere in the Quran or any statement of Muhammad (S.A.W) or his companions? The resurrection of a human being is a big miracle and if Isa (A.S) was supposed to be resurrected, then Allah should have mentioned such a big sign of Islam in His book or revealed it to Muhammad (S.A.W). Alas! we do not have either of these.
Refutation of Sunni misquotes
There is absolutely no need to entertain any questions or claims after the above proof from Quran and Ahadith.
- We have categorically proven that Isa (A.S) cannot be resurrected because of a very specific verse about him.
- We have proven that resurrection for no human is possible as this is the general rule.
- We have shown that even if the resurrection was possible, then Quran or Ahadith would have mentioned such a big miracle for the proof of Islam.
- We have shown that even if the resurrection was possible, Isa (A.S) cannot be sent back to this earth at all because Quran is clear about it.
But anyway, it is a good exercise to shut off stubborn people on all fronts so we will answer a bit more.
Verse 1
اَوۡ کَالَّذِیۡ مَرَّ عَلٰی قَرۡیَۃٍ وَّہِیَ خَاوِیَۃٌ عَلٰی عُرُوۡشِہَا ۚ قَالَ اَنّٰی یُحۡیٖ ہٰذِہِ اللّٰہُ بَعۡدَ مَوۡتِہَا ۚ فَاَمَاتَہُ اللّٰہُ مِائَۃَ عَامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَہٗ ؕ قَالَ کَمۡ لَبِثۡتَ ؕ قَالَ لَبِثۡتُ یَوۡمًا اَوۡ بَعۡضَ یَوۡمٍ ؕ قَالَ بَلۡ لَّبِثۡتَ مِائَۃَ عَامٍ فَانۡظُرۡ اِلٰی طَعَامِکَ وَشَرَابِکَ لَمۡ یَتَسَنَّہۡ ۚ وَانۡظُرۡ اِلٰی حِمَارِکَ وَلِنَجۡعَلَکَ اٰیَۃً لِّلنَّاسِ وَانۡظُرۡ اِلَی الۡعِظَامِ کَیۡفَ نُنۡشِزُہَا ثُمَّ نَکۡسُوۡہَا لَحۡمًا ؕ فَلَمَّا تَبَیَّنَ لَہٗ ۙ قَالَ اَعۡلَمُ اَنَّ اللّٰہَ عَلٰی کُلِّ شَیۡءٍ قَدِیۡرٌ
Or like him who passed by a town which had fallen down upon its roofs, and exclaimed, ‘When will Allah restore it to life after its destruction?’ Then Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He raised him, and said: ‘How long hast thou remained in this state?’ He answered, ‘I have remained a day or part of a day.’ He said: ‘Nay, thou hast remained in this state for a hundred years. Now look at thy food and thy drink; they have not rotted. And look at thy ass. And We have done this that We may make thee a Sign unto men. And look at the bones, how We set them and then clothe them with flesh.’ And when this became clear to him, he said, ‘I know that Allah has the power to do all that He wills.’
[Quran 2:259]
Non-Ahmadi Muslims use this verse to prove that since Allah can kill and raise Prophet Ezekiel (A.S), then so can he do to Isa (A.S).
Firstly, Isa (A.S) cannot be resurrected because of the multiple verses and ahadith quoted above.
Secondly, Prophet Ezekiel (A.S) did not die but he saw a vision of 100 years where the rebuilding of the city was shown to him and then Allah raised him from that sleep. There are multiple proofs of this:
- He asked a question about when a destroyed city will be restored. Killing and raising him is no answer to that question.
- His food and drink were not stale or rotten when he woke up. This proves that he did not actually die for 100 years.
- His donkey was alive when he woke up. This further proves that a donkey would not have stayed alive for 100 years.
Summary
- We have categorically proven that Isa (A.S) cannot be resurrected because he can only die and get resurrected once (i.e on Qiyamah).
- We have proven that resurrection is not possible for anyone as this is the general rule supported by numerous verses and ahadith.
- We have shown that even if the resurrection was possible, then Quran or Ahadith would have mentioned such a big miracle as proof of Islam.
- We have shown that even if the resurrection was possible, Isa (A.S) cannot be sent back to this earth at all because Quran is clear about it.
For those who are interested in learning about the correct way of interpreting the ahadith of the second coming of Isa (A.S), read this article. It explains how the messiah will descend as per the Holy Quran and Ahadith.