Zaid bin Arqam (R.A) believed Isa (A.S) has died
Zaid bin Arqam (R.A) believed in the death of Isa (A.S)
Introduction
We have a hadith narrated by Zaid bin Arqam (R.A) that proves Isa (A.S) has died, which further shows that there are many Salaf who had similar beliefs. Other such people from the Salaf are Ibn Abbas (R.A), Ayesha (R.A), Fatima (R.A), and Ibn Umar (R.A). Although this hadith does not state the age of Isa (A.S) at the time of his death i.e 120, the rest of the hadith is similar and the meaning applies. For such other ahadith, read the comprehensive article here.
Below are the 2 Sahih/Hasan chains:
Hadith #1
حدثنا أبو بكر بن خلاد ، ثنا محمد بن العباس المؤدب ، ثنا عبيد بن إسحاق ثنا كامل أبو العلاء، حدثني حبيب بن أبي ثابت، عن يحيى بن جعدة، عن زيد بن أرقم قال : قال رسول الله ﷺ : ما بعث الله نبيا إلا عاش نصف ما عاش الذي كان قبله
“Verily, a Prophet was never sent except that he lived for half the lifespan of the Prophet who preceded him.”
![[Ma’arifat-ul-Sahaba, pg 1175]](/s/120-death-zaid-bin-arqam-marifatul-sahaba.png){kind=link}
Hadith #2
We have another chain in Tabrani:
حدثنا علي بن عبد العزيز ، ثنا أبو نعيم ، ثنا كامل أبو العلاء ، قال : سمعت حبيب بن أبي ثابت ، يحدث عن يحيى بن جعدة ، عن زيد بن أرقم ، قال : خرجنا مع رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – حتى انتهينا إلى غدير خم أمر بدوح فكسح في يوم ما أتى علينا يوم كان أشد حرا منه ، فحمد الله وأثنى عليه [ ص: 172 ] وقال : “ يا أيها الناس إنه لم يبعث نبي قط إلا عاش نصف ما عاش الذي كان قبله ، وإني أوشك أن أدعى فأجيب ، وإني تارك فيكم ما لن تضلوا بعده كتاب الله ” ثم قام وأخذ بيد علي – رضي الله عنه – فقال : ” يا أيها الناس من أولى بكم من أنفسكم ؟ ” قالوا : الله ورسوله أعلم ، قال من كنت مولاه فعلي مولاه
“Verily, a Prophet was never sent except that he lived for half the lifespan of the Prophet who preceded him.”
[Al Mu'jam Al Kabir Tabarani, 172, 4986]
Explanation
It shows that every prophet lives ATLEAST half of the age of the previous prophet. If Isa (A.S) is alive as of now, his age would be 2000 years. For Muhammad (S.A.W) to be a prophet of Allah, he has to live at least half of that i.e 1000 years.
Since he died at age 63/64, he is not a prophet of Allah as per the non-Ahmadi Muslims who believe Isa (A.S) is still alive, Nauthibillah.
Q1: Does every Prophet live half the age of the previous one?
Some people believe that every prophet HAS TO live exactly half the age of the previous prophet. For example:
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If Muhammad (S.A.W) – 60 years
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Then Isa (A.S) – 120 years
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And Yahya (A.S) – 240 years
And so on…
However, this is not a correct understanding of the hadith. The hadith only proves that Allah guarantees that the prophet lives at least half the age of the previous prophet. For example: If the Prophet before Isa (as) lived to let’s say 100 years, then his living to 120 still goes past 50.
Q2: Is there another explanation?
Another explanation is that this rule of half age of prophet is not a general rule but it only applies to Muhammad (S.A.W) and Isa (A.S) because such examples can be from ahadith.
This was said in regards to Prophet’s inheritance. Muhammad (S.A.W) says,
“Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said. ‘We (Apostles) do not bequeath anything to our heirs, but whatever we leave is to be given in charity.’ And by that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) meant himself.’ The group said, ‘(No doubt), he said so.‘ `Umar then faced `Ali and `Abbas and said, ‘Do you both know that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said that?’ They replied, ‘(No doubt), he said so.’”
Sahih al-Bukhari 5358
As seen from the above example, Sahabas quote a general principle stated by Muhammad (S.A.W), however, they know it only applied to himself because we have 2 prophets mentioned in Quran who had heirs.
1) Dawud (A.S)
“And Solomon was heir to David.”
2) Zakarya (A.S)
“This is an account of the mercy of thy Lord shown to His servant, Zachariah. When he called upon his Lord, crying in secret. He said, ‘My Lord, the bones have indeed waxed feeble in me, and the head glistens with hoariness but never, my Lord, have I been unblessed in my prayer to Thee; And I fear my relations after me, and my wife is barren. Grant me, therefore, a successor from Thyself, That he may be heir to me and heir to the House of Jacob. And make him, my Lord well-pleasing to Thee.’”
So now we know that prophets can leave the heirs and the statement of Muhammad (S.A.W) is not a general rule but it only applies to himself as agreed by the Sahabas (R.A) in the Bukhari narration.
Conclusion
These 2 narrations by Zaid bin Arqam (R.A) clearly prove that he believed in the death of Isa (A.S) just like other sahaba.