Nazul-e-Maseeh

 The word nuzul is used to signify/show just how significant and important the thing/person descending really is. Like cattle and clothing “descended”, they are all very important and significant for us. And most importantly, Muhammad saw, who also descended, was extremely significant for mankind. That is why the word Nuzul was used for the latter day Masih, to show our important and significant he would be for mankind.

When Sunnis say “there are so many Hadith of Isa “returning” , MAKE SURE TO STRESS THE POINT and call them out that there isn’t a single Hadith that says he will “return”, rather they all say descend. Muhammad saw chose the wording very carefully. Then we go on and explain the true meaning of descend.

Is nuzool’s default meaning “descend from the sky”? This is not true, as nuzool’s default meaning is to arrive and settle as seen in nuzul-lexicons. Allah has to specifically mention from the sky to say that something Is coming down from the sky If nuzool’s meaning by default was “descend from the sky”, why would Allah have to specifically mention “from the sky” after mentioning nuzool, if it was already a Given that nuzool means coming from the sky??

in many verses such as 8:12, Allah specifically mentions descend and from the sky after that. If Allah does not mention “from the sky” من السما nuzool does NOT mean coming down from the sky

The fact of the matter is that in the Ahadith about the nuzool of The Masih, not a SINGLE time is the word “ descend from the sky” mentioned

Rather, the Hadith about the Masih mention him descending amongst you (فيكم), which literally means he would come/arrive from amongst the Muslims

The very same words فيكم has been used for the previous prophets as well, yet not a single one of them came from heaven, rather they were all born from amongst their people, which is what the “amongst you” signifies.

Nazul in Quran

Allah has also used descend for the cattle:

In fact Allah has even used Nazul for the Holy Prophet Muhammad(Saw) which shows us that when Nazul is used on human beings it indeed refers to them being born on earth.

Allah states:

In fact everything from Allah descends:

Now we all know Muhammad(saw) was born on earth and also descended which makes it clear what descending really means. Why use nazul and attribute it to Isa(as) to mean that he would come from the skies, but not for Muhammad(saw), cattles, clothes, and everything else?

Now the next part in the Nazul of Isa Hadith [https://sunnah.com/bukhari/60/119] states “imamukum Minkum”. This is yet another proof in the same exact hadith that shows he would be an imam from amongst ourselves rather than from somewhere else. Qur’an has made it clear that Isa(as) was only sent for the children of Bani Israel rather than for mankind. Allah states:

Now we know that in Islam the successors would come from amongst us rather than from Bani Israel or any other nation:

حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ بُكَيْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ يُونُسَ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، مَوْلَى أَبِي قَتَادَةَ الأَنْصَارِيِّ أَنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ كَيْفَ أَنْتُمْ إِذَا نَزَلَ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ فِيكُمْ وَإِمَامُكُمْ مِنْكُمْ ‏”‏‏.‏ تَابَعَهُ عُقَيْلٌ وَالأَوْزَاعِيُّ‏.‏ Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said “How will you be when the son of Mary descends amongst you and is your imam among you.”(Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Hadith #658) [https://sunnah.com/bukhari/60/119]

This hadith makes it clear that he would be someone else and would be from amongst us

Nazul in Hadith

Nazul Lexicons

What will be presented is lexicons on the term نُزُوْل which is derived from the term نزل .

The term nazul has many different meanings it does not always mean to physically descend, it can mean to arrive, cattle, left or halt.

ALL LEXICONS USED ARE CLASSICAL AND CREDIBLE ARABIC LEXICONS

In his Lexicon, Edward William Lane has described how the term “نزول” can mean to settle, be stopped, descend, alight or sojourn from a place. Being alighted is when you descend from a train, bus or any sort of transport. Sojourn means to temporarily stay somewhere. Here is the Lexicon:

Here is another of example of how the term descend is used when milk descends from a Camel into its udder and similar examples to this. These are shed light on by Respected Edward William Lane in his lexicon:

In his lexicon, Habib Anthony Salmone has described how the term “نزل” is used. Here we see that it can mean to descent to fight, to bring down/give up, to fall, to come down etc.

The Hawramani Lexicon uses the same defintions for Nazul:

Nazul and Scholars

As early as 4th cent. AH, Muslims were split three ways on the nature of the Second Coming of Jesus (as), as historian al-Muṭahhar b. Ṭāhir al-Maqdisī (fl. 355 AH) noted in al-Bad’ wa-t-ta’rīkh. A part of the umma held that someone else would come in the likeness of Jesus (as).

In the 8th cent. AH, the historian Sirāj ad-Dīn ibn al-Wardī (d. 749 AH) reiterated precisely this tripartite division of Muslims in Kharīdat al-ʻajāʼib wa-farīdat al-gharāʼib, which suggests that this has remained the belief of a part of the ummah throughout the centuries.

Ibn Jahbal (d.733H) in a response to Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728H) explained how Arabs viewed Nazul.

To see the Prophetic proof for a man coming in the place of Isa(as) see the Matheel-e-Masih Article.