Firstly let us make it clear that even if the ahadith did mention heavens, which they do not, it would still not prove Isa(as) is alive as we will show from the Quran what it means when something descends from heaven. The Qur’an states:
He it is Who shows you His Signs, and sends down provision for you from heaven; but none pays heed save he who turns to God.(Chapter 40 verse 14)
This ayah has also used heavens for the sending down of provisions and we do not deny this but it is of course not physical as no Muslim believes. Now let us move on to the narrations. There are many narrations today over 100 years after Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) which mention the word heavens or sky, but before we go to this let us teach the anti Ahmadis a lesson on ahadith. They always accuse Ahmadis of using daif hadith but when we look at their narrations they are far more daif then ours and contradict the Qur’an as well. Most of these are not even ahadith of the prophet Muhammad(saw) rather sayings attributed to the companions like Ibn Abbas(ra) which are not authentic at all. As for the ones attributed to the sahaba the main one is from tafsir ibn katheer attributed to Ibn Abbas(ra).
The first attributed statement to ibn Abbas(ra) which he did not say is :
Ibn Abbas said, “When Allah intended to raise ‘Eisa to the heavens, he went to his companions … and ‘Eisa ascended to the Heavens through an opening in the top of the house.”
Now I find it astonishing that the non Ahmadi Muslims have not at all posted the entire saying attributed to the great companion. This gives me the feeling that even they know such a saying as no basis from the Qur’an rather contradicts not just the book of Allah but also his attributes. Firstly Ibn Ishaq on the authority of a Christian convert who is not even narrated with his name has related a similar story but has given the name of the disciple and named him Sergus so this is israliyyat and is not from Islam. There are many contradictions within this narration itself as many have quoted the name tityanus as well. How can we accept such a saying? Now this also mocks at our creator. Firstly it tries to state that the Jews God forbid defeated Allah and his messenger and forced Allah to remove his prophet from his mission because he was unable to handle it. How can a sincere Muslim ever accept this? Secondly this tries to state that Isa(as) did not have faith in Allah and was too scared of the Jews. Was a prophet ever scared enough of his opponents where Allah had to remove his prophet from his mission? Never has this happened. Another important thing to note is that why would Allah let his prophet switch faces and let an innocent die? What was the fault of the innocent? This mocks at Allah as well. The final point refuting this false saying is that in Islam we know Allah has told us to not alter ourselves, how can you attribute it to Allah that he altered a person when this is forbidden in Islam?
Sergus is a name which appears in both Muslim and Christian Arabic accounts which mean an unnamed Christian person which further shows how fabricated this really is. There are many narrations presented by tabari all contradicting each other and all from israliyyat. Some say it was Judas who got the image of Jesus onto him and it was Judas who died. Tabari has given two traditions which support the first opinion of Judas but there is a second tradition where Jesus asked which one wants paradise for his soul today, and a faithful servant said he wants to who was crucified, while Jesus was raised. Then after this it was when tabari used 9 narrations for this second opinion. Clearly these narrations have no basis in Islam and also attack the character of Allah and the Quran. There is nor any proof of this face switch theory in the Qur’an or Ahadith.
Another statement the non Ahmadi Muslims quote often quote is that Imam Nasai had included it in his collection. They sadly do not narrate this story:
“His famous book known as Sunan al-Nasa’i which is taught around the world in every Islamic institute and which possesses a virtue of being one of the Kutub Sittah (the six books generally taught in hadith). In reality when the Imam had finished compiling Sunan Al-Kubra he presented to the governor of Ramalah so the governor asked him “Is it all sahih?” He replied in the negative, thus the governor suggested and requested that he compile another book and gather in there the Sahih Hadith.”
Many have sadly misinterpreted the verse of Surah Nisa which states they killed him not, nor crucified him, to mean someone else was put in his spot. Firstly, let us make it clear that the meaning of qatl according to Lisan-al-Arab: “He was slain, which means he died a blow or by stone or by poison or by any other means” Tajul Urus also states basically the same while Mufradat states: “The true meaning of qatl is to separate the soul from the body”. The meaning of salb is not to be put on the cross itself, rather it is to die on the cross. Many have confusions in regards to the English translation of this word since it is mostly translated as crucified. We should remember that this word is used many times in the Qur’an and always refers to dying upon where one is placed. The meaning of salb according to Lisan al Arab is : “Salb means death in a certain well-known manner” These famous dictionaries make it clear that salb refers to a type of death rather than simply being put on the cross.
Some other important questions for the non Ahmadi Muslims who raise this false theory of a face switch of Isa(as), is that if Isa(as) knew he would physically go to the heavens, which he clearly did not, why would he need one of his companions to get killed for no reason? Would the Jews be able to harm Jesus if he went to the heavens? If not, why would he need someone to take his image which is clearly against the Qur’an and the ahadith, and is a belief of a Christian sect? There is also another version of this same incident which states that one of the companion was a traitor and accepted thirty rupees as a bribe which made him tell the Romans where Isa(as). It was at that moment that the narration states Isa(as) was raised to heaven and that person became like Isa(as) in appearance. The same objections would come against this story as well. If someone else died on the cross who looked like Isa(as), this gives Jews the answer to Allah that our books say that one who dies on the cross is an accursed and you made us confused that he did die on the cross which made us believe he was a false prophet. This ideology is totally baseless and gives the Jews a question against Allah. How can a sincere Muslim accept such stories?
Now what’s interesting is that after he was told do make a book which is better and had more sahih ahadith, this hadith of the face switching is no where mentioned at all. This further proves that even Imam Nasai was aware that this hadith was not in reality authentic and in accordance with the Holy Qur’an.