And they planned, and Allah also planned; and Allah is the Best of planners. When Allah said, ‘O Jesus, I will cause thee to die a natural death and will exalt thee to Myself, and will clear thee from the charges of those who disbelieve, and will place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve, until the Day of Resurrection; then to Me shall be your return, and I will judge between you concerning that wherein you differ.(Chapter 3 verses 55-56)
Allah in these ayahs has made four promises to Isa(as).
First Promise: إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَىٰ إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ
When Allah said O Jesus I Will Cause thee to die
The Jews wanted to kill Isa(as) and tried to even crucify him and take his life away because Deuteronomy 21:22,23 states that one who dies on the cross is an accursed. Allah replies to the plan of the Jews by saying they will not be able to kill Isa(As), Allah will cause him to die(meaning a natural death) not an accursed death on the cross
Second Promise:وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ
And will exalt thee to myself
Meaning Isa(as) will be exalted in the Presence of Allah and will be given spiritual raise and nearness to Allah (same type of Raf’a Allah rewards the believers with)
Third Promise:
وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ
And will clear thee from the charges of those who disbelieve.
This means that Allah will clear him of the charges which are the false charges from the enemies (I.e, legitimacy of birth, accursed death) and would show that he was indeed a true Prophet of Allah
Fourth Promise: وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْقَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ۖ
And will place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the day of resurrection
This basically means that precedence would be given to the followers of Isa(as) over the disbelievers till the day of judgment. (Muslims are of course included in the believers, as we are true followers of Isa(as))
The last three promises have already been fulfilled according to the Non Ahmadis but why do they ignore the first Promise which came first in the plan of Allah? Can they really accuse Allah of a failed plan God Forbid? It is sad to say that the first has been forgotten by Allah and he only completed the latter three promises. First comes his natural death and then come the rest of the promises.
Some non Ahmadis have tried to claim tawaffa does not mean death but this is totally unacceptable according to the Qur’an and Ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad(saw).
Hadhrat Ibn Abbas(ra) who is a companion whom the Prophet Muhammad(saw) prayed for that Oh Allah may He be taught the Qur’an has stated:
Hadhrat Ibn Abbas(ra) has made it clear that the mutawaffika here does indeed mean death and he is a companion of Allah who should be given much precedence over the scholars of today. He is a companion who’s knowledge of the Qur’an was prayed for by our Master Muhammad(saw).
Some sadly state that if this was revealed to Isa(as) in Jerusalem why was it fulfilled in Kashmir? Since it was revealed in Jerusalem it can only be fulfilled this. This is completely erroneous. In the Qur’an Allah states:
For him (the Messenger) is a succession of angels before him and behind him; they guard him by the command of Allah. Surely, Allah changes not the condition of a people until they change that which is in their hearts. And when Allah wishes to punish a people, there is no repelling it, nor have they any helper beside Him.(Chapter 13 Verse 12) This ayah was revealed in Mecca. Now if we take the interpretation of the others that the ayah has to be fulfilled where revealed, it would mean that Allah only helped Muhammad(saw) in Mecca but after he left Mecca, Allah left Muhammad(saw) and did not help him anymore. This interpretation would be completely incorrect. Just like this promise began from Mecca and was fulfilled till the day Muhammad(saw) died and Allah always supported him, just like that the Promise began from Jerusalem and stayed till Isa(as) died a natural death.
Non Ahmadis try to state that there is taqdim and takhir in Quran where Allah does not have to follow the order. Look : “Allah has brought you forth from your mothers‘wombs when you knew nothing, and He made for you ears, eyes and hearts, so that you may be grateful.” (Chapter 16 Verse 79)
Taqdim and Takhir is not true at all for such plans of Allah and they have misinterpreted this ayah completely. They try to state that Allah does not have to follow his plan. For this ayah it is clear that the plan of Allah would be followed as Allah makes it clear that there are four promises He will fulfill.
This verse is simply saying that right after we are born we haven’t received knowledge but in a row with our growth and development Allah blesses us with hearing, seeing and feeling. It is proven that the first thing we do learn is hearing, then seeing and feeling. For example when we are born the Adhan is said into our ears, hence hearing. This is not referring to our physical ears, eyes and hearts rather the abilities.
The verse is showing that God has endowed the child with faculties of sight, hearing and understanding so he might fulfill the reason of his creation. In this verse the faculties mentioned of hearing,seeing and understanding are mentioned in the order which they help a person acquire knowledge which is quote amazing as scientists have only recently discovered this.
Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah (ra) relates while describing the pilgrimage that the Holy Prophet said to “Start with what Allah starts with.” The Sunnah (more Hadith) of the Holy Prophet thus establishes that the order of the Holy Quran must be kept. (Muslim, Book 7 #2803 , Nisa’i #2965, Tirmidhî, #862, Abu Daud #1905, Ibn Mâjah #3074)
“You are the best of the nations raised up for (the benefit of) men; you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in Allah” is also quoted in trying to support taqdir and takhim but in reality all of this comes together you can’t be the nation of mankind without believing in Allah. The belief in Allah may be mentioned after but it comes up before anything to be one the best of mankind not at all is your point valid.
Some non Ahmadis also accidentally quote Imam Al Razi’s statement. He has said:
والمعنى : أني رافعك إليّ ومطهرك من الذين كفروا ومتوفيك بعد إنزالي إياك في الدنيا ، ومثله من التقديم والتأخير كثير في القرآن
“The meaning is; I will raise you unto me and will purify you from infidels and will cause you to die after I descend you in the word. And examples of advancing and retarding (taqdim and takhir) are numerous in the Qur’an.”(Tafsir Al-Kabir 4/227 under Qur’an 3:55)
The non Ahmadis try to state that first the rafa was to happen then the tawaffa. What they fail to understand is over here Imam Razi has used tawaffa for death. This statement actually supports the Ahmadi Muslims as mutawaffika is used as death but the imam has tried to state Allah will cause the rafa first which is against Allah’s plan. It is just a misunderstanding of the scholar as he knew tawaffa means death but was not sure why it is mentioned before the rafa, since he thought Isa(as) is alive. This reference is actually proving that mutawaffika further means death. The non Ahmadis will not be able to provide a plan of Allah where all promises or statements are fulfilled except the first one mentioned and there being a gap of over 2000 years. It is sad that they have only done this for this verse to save Isa(as) from a death which Allah has Already given him. Further on, Allah could have easily mentioned that I will raise you to the heavens then send you back in this ayah, but it is totally absent from such a statement as Qur’an is clear that Isa(as) has died.
This excuse the non Ahmadis use will never invalidate the plan of Allah who Used Mutawaffika first. All latter promises are fulfilled but Allah forgot to fulfill the first one according to the non Ahmadi Muslims? This is totally upsetting and cannot be accepted. We have challenged them many times to show us a single spot where Allah has stated a plan and everything is fulfilled but he leaves the first point mentioned and it has not happened. Is there ever such an ayah that claims something and then a gap comes of 2000 years all of a sudden? They have misunderstood what we mean when Allah follows his plan. They have tried to quote ayahs which state Isa(as) was revealed to and then further on state the ayah shows prophets who were before him, but name them after. This is not referring to the plan of Allah at all rather simply using و and stating other prophets who were revealed to. No plan is mentioned. We do not believe that و always means that the events had to have taken place in that order, but when a few incidents are mentioned it is understood that it is in chronological order, unless if there is strong evidence against that in the text itself. There is nothing which makes us need to change the order and there is no evidence that states Jesus(as) is alive, which is why our interpretation has to be taken as the correct one.
Now the order given by the Qur’an is that death would occur first and after this the raf’a would occur. After this would be the clearing of the charges against him, and lastly the dominance of the followers of Isa(as) over his opponents. If one was to change the order, where would mutawaffika be put? Would it be put between the exaltation and the clearing of the charges? This is totally baseless as it would mean that unless Isa(as) dies, the charges against him would not have taken place. If mutawaffika is placed between the clearing of the charges and the natural death of Isa(as), it would mean that unless Isa(as) dies his followers will never become dominant which is also wrong. If we put mutawaffika at the end the ayah would state that Jesus(as) would die after the day of resurrection. The truth is clear that mutawaffika was indeed that first promise fulfilled by our Creator.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas states: “In this verse, ‘I shall cause thee to die’ precedes ‘I shall exalt thee’, which shows that death occurred before exaltation. A further proof is that Allah the Glorious, has said: After thy death I shall place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve (i.e., the Jews), until the Day of Judgement. All Christians and Muslims agree that this prophecy had been fulfilled before the advent of Islam, inasmuch as God Almighty had subordinated the Jews to Christians and Muslims, and they have continued in that condition of subordination for centuries. The verse cannot be construed to mean that such subordination will take place after Jesus returns from heaven.” (Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 3, Page 330, 332)
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas also states: “In the idiom of the Holy Qur’an, the word Tawaffi has always been used in the connotation of death and taking possession of the soul. A minute study of Arabic prose and poetry—both ancient and modern—shows that wherever the expression Tawaffi is used for a human being, and the action is attributed to Allah the Glorious, Tawaffi invariably means death and taking possession of the soul. In this context, there is not a single instance, where this expression means anything other than taking possession of the soul. Those who are wont to refer to lexicons like Qamus, Sihah, Sarah, etc., have not found a single instance where, in the context that we have mentioned, any other connotation has been attributed to the expression Tawaffi. There is not the slightest indication of the possibility of any other connotation. Then I studied the books of Hadith to discover whether the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or his companions had on any occasion applied the expression Tawaffi to a human being in any other connotation than that of death and taking possession of the soul. I had to labour hard in this search. What I discovered on checking every page of the compilations of Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Tirmadhi, Ibn-e-Majah, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Darimi, Mu’atta’ and Sharh-us-Sunnah etc., was that the expression Tawaffi has been used three hundred and forty six times, and in no single instance has it been used, either by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or by his companions, to mean anything other than ‘death’, or ‘taking possession of the soul’. I have gone through these books with great care line by line, and I can say that on each and every occasion the expression Tawaffi has been used only in the connotation of death or taking possession of the soul. A careful perusal of these books also establishes that, from the moment of the Call and all through his life, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) never used the expression Tawaffi in any connotation other than death and taking possession of the soul…. Imam Muhammad Isma‘il Bukhari has made a fine point in his compilation which indicates that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used the expression Tawaffi at least seven thousand times between his Call and his death, and every time he used it in the connotation of death and taking possession of the soul. Seekers after truth should be grateful to Imam Bukhari for this information. (Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 3, Pages 583-585)