THE DEATH OF CHRIST AND THE SECOND COMING

THE DEATH OF CHRIST AND THE SECOND COMING OF THE MESSIAH

KEYWORDS Prophet A man of God, sent with a message there are ranks of Prophethood Jesus (as) Historically, a Jew, founder of Christianity Christ Messiah ‘the chosen one’ equivalent of Christ Greek Hebrew Isa (as) The Arabic name for Jesus, as mentioned in the Quran Mahdi In Islam, a reformer who is to appear in the latter days

WHO IS JESUS (AS)? Christianity: • Part of the Trinity, equivalent to God • Jesus, Lord, Light of the world etc. Judaism • False Messiah Muslims • Prophet of God • Alive in heaven Ahmadis - The Mosaic Messiah: • “There is no doubt that Hazrat Masih (peace be upon him) was a true prophet” (Arbain, No. 2, Roohani Khazain Vol 17)

WHY DOES IT MATTER? Muslims are waiting for BOTH the Mahdi and Messiah (Jesus as) “Claiming as I do, that I am the Promised Messiah and that I bear a resemblance to Hazrat Isa (as) may peace be upon him, . ” (Announcement of 27 th December 1898) “… Then, the spirit of Jesus was breath into me just as was done with Mary (as). . . I was made Jesus out of Mary by the revelation embodied in the last part of the fourth volume of Braheen-e-Ahmadiyya; and thus, I became Jesus, son of Mary. ” Kashti-i-Nuh, Roohani Khazain, Vol. 19, P. 50

JESUS CHRIST VS HAZRAT ISAAS – TAUGHT INCORRECTLY AT SCHOOL Christians do not believe in the Prophet ‘Isa (peace be upon him) They believe in someone called Jesus, who is not mentioned in the Qur’an, and assert that he claimed to be God and designated previous Prophets as robbers! They also assert that he vigorously denied the truth of our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and prophesied that only false Prophets would appear after him. The time of Jesus’ birth – Christmas has also been proven to be incorrect!

IS IT LOGICALLY POSSIBLY THAT JESUS IS ALIVE? If we were to assume that Jesus (as) ascended to heaven in his physical body then either that means: 1. He must have died in heaven because physical bodies are affected by the passage of time and must die. 2. Or he is still alive even after all these centuries (which is physically impossible according to science).

WHICH RELIGIOUS DUTIES REQUIRED OF A PROPHET WOULD JESUS (AS) BE UNABLE TO PERFORM WHILST ALIVE IN HEAVEN? In Chapter 19, verse 32 -33 of the Holy Quran, it is mentioned that Jesus (as) has said: ‘God has enjoined upon me Prayer and almsgiving throughout my life and has made me dutiful towards my mother as long as I live’.

WHY IT IS NECESSARY FOR JESUS (AS) TO DIE If we believe Jesus to be alive, that also means that we do not believe the fact that the Holy Prophet (saw) was the last Prophet to live! The Promised Messiah (as) says: But those who insist on bringing Jesus (peace be on him) back to the earth believe that he will return with the status of a Prophet and forty-five years Gabriel shall continue to convey Prophetic revelation to him. What room does this doctrine leave for the belief that Prophethood ended with the Holy Prophet (saw)? According to them it is Jesus who is the Khatam-ul-Anbiya’. [Tohfah-e-Golarhviyyah , Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 17, pp. 173 -174].

PROOF FROM THE HOLY QUR’AN Allah has promised us in the Holy Quran that those who are entered into heaven once will never be expelled. In Surah Hijr, chapter 15, verse 49, Allah says: ‘…Nor shall they ever be ejected therefrom’ So it is very surprising that so many believe and want to believe that Jesus (as) would come out of heaven and back to earth!

PROOF FROM THE HOLY QURAN 1. ‘Since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou hast been the Watcher over them. ’—Al-Ma’idah, 5: 118 2. ‘O Jesus, I will cause thee to die a natural death and will exalt thee to Myself. ’—Al-e-Imran, 3: 56 3. We granted not everlasting life to any human being before thee. ’—Al. Anbiya’, 21: 35 4. ‘And We did not give them bodies that ate no food, nor were they to live forever. ’—Al-Anbiya’, 21: 9

PROOF FROM THE HOLY QURAN When the Holy Prophet (saw) passed away, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) recited the following verses from the Quran: ”And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him. If then he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels shall not harm Allah at all. And Allah will certainly reward the grateful. ” Holy Qur’an, Chapter 3, verse 145

PROOF FROM THE BIBLE Christians also believe that Jesus entered heaven after his ascent. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tried to comfort a thief by saying: ‘You will enter heaven with me today. ’ Christians , just like Muslims, also believe that a person, however low his station, who is once admitted to heaven will not be expelled from there.

PROOF FROM THE BIBLE In the Bible, the bodily ascent to heaven has also been mentioned with regards to the Prophet Elias (as) Books in both the Old Testament and the New Testament state that he was raised to heaven and will descend back to death. With regards to the Prophet Elias (as), Jesus said that this prophecy of John coming back down to earth was fulfilled in the form of the son of Zachariah whose name was John. In the Gospels, Jesus is mentioned to have said: ‘John is Elias who was to come. Let him who will, accept. ’

PROOF FROM AHADITH Abu Huraira (ra): • God revealed to Jesus (as) thus: ‘ 0 Jesus! Keep on moving from one place to another’, go from one country to another lest thou shouldst be recognised and persecuted. Abdullah bin Umar (ra) reports: • The Holy Prophet (saw) said: ‘The people most favoured in the sight of God are the Ghareeb. ’ When asked, what was meant by the term Ghareeb, he replied ‘They are the people who, like Jesus, the Messiah, have to flee from their country to save their faith. ’

PROMISED MESSIAH (AS)

PROOFS • Promised Messiah • Jesus in India: His tomb in Kashmir • Christianity in India “…. Jesus did not die on the cross, nor did he go up to the heavens; nor should it be supposed that he would ever again come down to the earth. On the contrary, the fact of the matter is that he died at the age of 120 years at Srinagar, Kashmir, where his tomb is still to be found in the Khan Yar quarter” Jesus in India, page 14

WHAT IS THE SECOND COMING? Quran and Ahadith predict the second coming of Jesus (as) at the beginning of the 14 th century. This is metaphorical and means that in a time which will resemble the time in which Jesus (as) lived, a person that would resemble him, would come. Jesus (as) came to revive the religion of Moses (as) and remind the people of the teachings in the Torah. In the same way, the Promised Messiah (as) came to revive the Islam and remind people of the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet (saw) To remove any misunderstanding that Jesus (as) will himself return to earth, the Holy Prophet (saw) even said: Do not take him to be the son of Mary himself, rather: ‘He will be your Imam from among your own people. ’

DESCRIPTION OF THE MESSIAH Further proof that it is not Jesus (as) himself who is the ‘promised’ messiah can be found in the description of the two. The Holy Prophet, upon seeing Jesus (as) in a vision described him as: • Medium height • Rosy complexion • Curly hair • Broad chest The Holy Prophet describes the second promised Messiah as: • Wheatish complexion • Straight hair coming down to the ears Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Messiah himself said: ‘His [The Holy Prophet’s] description of the features of the second Messiah fits me exactly. Is the clear distinction between the features of the two not enough to prove that the first and the second Messiah are in fact two distinct personalities? ’ [Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 121 -125] & (Bukhari page 49)

TO CONCLUDE 1. Proof that Hazrat Isa (as) has passed away and will NOT return to Earth can be found everywhere, the Holy Quran, Hadith and the Bible! 2. Those people who are neither Christian nor Muslim, there is proof even for them because it is scientifically and logically impossible for Jesus to be alive for the last two thousand years. 3. The Promised Messiah (as) fulfills the prophecy of Jesus returning to Earth, this is what we call the ‘second coming of Jesus’. 4. Those who still await for Jesus (as) to return to Earth should look to the Promised Messiah (as) whose advent has correlated to every Ahadith and prophecy regarding the second coming, for example that it will be in the 14 th century!

QUIZ

WHAT IS THE ARABIC NAME FOR PROPHET JESUS (AS) IN THE QURAN? Hazrat Isa (as)

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF MESSIAH? The ‘Chosen’ one

WHAT IS THE GREEK EQUIVALENT OF THE HEBREW WORD ‘MESSIAH’? Christ

WHO IS THE ‘SECOND COMING’ OF JESUS (AS)? Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

WHAT KIND OF PROPHETS ARE HAZRAT ISA(AS) AND THE PROMISED MESSIAH (AS)? Ummati Nabi

WHAT ARE THE TWO LOGICAL PROOFS THAT REFUTE THAT JESUS (AS) MAY STILL BE IN HEAVEN? Died in heaven Living in heaven for 2000 years

IN WHICH SURAH OF THE QURAN, DOES ALLAH SAY THAT HE WILL NOT ‘EJECT’ THOSE WHO ENTER HEAVEN? Surah Al Hijr Verse 49

WHICH VERSE DID HAZRAT ABU BAKR (RA) RELATE TO HAZRAT UMAR (RA) ON THE DEMISE OF THE HOLY PROPHET (SAW)? Al Imran. “Verily all messengers before Muhammad (saw) have passed away.

CAN YOU RELATE ANY VERSE AS PROOF FROM THE HOLY QURAN ON THE DEMISE OF HAZRAT ISA (AS)? Surah Al Maida [5: 118] Al Imran [3: 56] Al Anbiya [21: 9&35]

WHICH PROPHET IS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE TO HAVE ASCENDED BODILY TO HEAVEN? Prophet Elias (as)

COMPLETE THE URDU VERSE

AT WHAT AGE DID HAZRAT ISA (AS) PASS AWAY? Approximately, 120 years

WHERE DO AHMADIS BELIEVE IS THE TOMB OF HAZRAT ISA (AS)? Kashmir Sri Nagar

WHOSE NAME IS ON THE TOMB? Yus Asaf