28. A DESCRIPTION OF ‘EESA (PBUH)
Eesa’s Ascension to the Heaven, to the Protection of His Lord and Exposition of the Lies of the Jews and Christians, Who Claimed That He Was Crucified
Allah, Most High, says, {And they (the disbelievers) plotted (to kill ‘Eesa), but Allah planned too. And Allah is the Best of planners. And (remember) when Allah said, “O, ‘Eesa! I will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you (of the forged statement that ‘Eesa is Allah’s son) of those who disbelieve, and I will make those who follow you (Monotheists, who worship none but Allah) superior to those who disbelieve (in the Oneness of Allah, or disbelieve in some of His Messengers, e.g. Muhammad, ‘Eesa, Moosa, etc., or in His Holy Books, e.g. the Tawrah, the Injeel, the Qur’an) till the Day of Resurrection. Then you will return to Me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute.”} (Soorah Al ‘Imran 3:54, 55)
And He, Most High, says, {Because of their breaking the covenant, and of their rejecting the Ayat of Allah, and of their killing of the Prophets unjustly, and of their saying: “Our hearts are wrapped (with coverings, i.e. we do not understand what the Messengers say)” – nay, Allah has set a seal upon their hearts because of their disbelief, so they believe not but a little. And because of their (the Jews’) disbelief and uttering against Maryam a grave false charge (that she has committed illegal sexual intercourse); and because of their saying (in boast): “We killed the Messiah, ‘Eesa (‘Eesa), son of Maryam, the Messenger of Allah,” – but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of ‘Eesa (‘Eesa) was put over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely, they killed him not (i.e. ‘Eesa, son of Maryam). But Allah raised him (‘Eesa) up (with his body and soul) unto Himself (and he is in the heavens). And Allah is All-powerful, Most Wise. And there is none of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), but must believe in him (‘Eesa, son of Maryam, as only a Messenger of Allah and a human being]), before his (‘Eesa’s [‘Eesa’] or a Jew’s or a Christian’s death (at the time of the appearance of the Angel of Death). And on the Day of Resurrection, he (‘Eesa) will be a witness against them} (Soorah An-Nisa’ 4:155-159). Allah, Most High, informs us that He raised him up to the heaven after He had caused him to sleep, according to what has been authentically and decisively reported, saving him from those Jews who wished to harm him and complained of him to one of the disbelieving rulers of that time.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri and Muhammad Ibn shaq said that his name was Dawood Ibn Yoora and he ordered that ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) be killed and crucified. They surrounded him in an abode in Bait Al-Maqdis on a Friday evening/Saturday night. When the time for them to enter came, Allah cast his likeness onto the face of one his companions who was present with him, and He raised ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) from the skylight of that house to the heaven, while the people of the house looked on. They entered and found that young man upon whom Allah had cast his likeness. They took him, thinking that he was ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) and crucified him. They placed thorns on his head, in order to humiliate him. Most of the Christians, who had not witnessed what happened to ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him), accepted the Jews’ claim that they had crucified him and because of that, they went far astray. Allah, Most High, informs us in His Words: {And there is none of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), but must believe in him (‘Eesa, son of Maryam, as only a Messenger of Allah and a human being), before his (‘Eesa’s or a Jew’s or a Christian’s death) at the time of the appearance of the Angel of Death)} (Soorah An-Nisa’ 4:159). That is, after his descent to the earth at the end of time, before the Day of Resurrection. At that time, he will descend and kill the pigs and break the crosses; he will abrogate the jizyah and he will accept naught but Islam (i.e. submission to Allah, Alone, without partners), as we have made clear in the ahadeeth accompanying the explanation of this Noble Qur’anic Verse in Soorah An-Nisa’. And we shall relate this in detail in the Book of Trials and Battles, in the information pertaining to Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjal; and we shall also mention what has been related regarding the descent of Al-Maseeh Al-Mahdi (Peace be upon him) from the Owner of Power (Allah), to kill Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjal, the liar, who will call to misguidance and error.
And Ibn Abi Hatim narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) that he said, “When Allah intended to raise ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) up to the heaven, he came out to visit his companions and in the house he found twelve men, including Al-Hawariyyoon, i.e. he came out to them from an opening in the house and his head was dripping with water. He said, “Among you is the one who will deny me twelve times, after having believed in me.” Then he said, “Which of you will have my likeness cast upon him and be killed in my place, then he will be with me in my rank (in Paradise)?” On hearing this, a youth, who was among the youngest of them, stood up; but ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) said to him, “Sit down.” Then he repeated his request to them, and the young man stood up again, but he said to him once more, “Sit down.” Then he repeated his request to them for a third time and the young man stood up again and said, “I.” ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) then said, “Let it be you.” And so ‘Eesa’s likeness was cast upon him and ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) was raised up from a skylight in the house to the heaven. The pursuers from among the Jews arrived and they took the young man and killed him. Then they crucified him and one of them rejected him (i.e. ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him)) twelve times, after having believed in him. They split into three groups; one of them said, “Allah was among us for as long as He willed, then He ascended to the heaven.” These were the Jacobites. A second group said, “The son of Allah was among us for as long as he willed, then Allah raised him up to Him.” These were the Nestorians. The third group said, “Allah’s slave and His Messenger was among us for as long as He (Allah) willed and then Allah raised him up to Him.” These are the Muslims. But the two disbelieving groups prevailed over the Muslim group and they killed them. After that, Islam remained completely effaced until Allah sent Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him).” ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) said, “And that is the meaning of Allah’s Words: {So We gave power to those who believed against their enemies, and they became the uppermost.} (Soorah As-Saff 61:14) This chain of narrators is authentic up to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him), according to the conditions for acceptance stipulated by Muslim.
Ibn Ishaq said, “Among them there was another man, whose name was (Sergius) and he was concealed by the Christians; it was he on whom the appearance of ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) was placed and he was crucified in his place.” He said, “Some of the Christians claim that the one who was crucified in place of Maseeh (Peace be upon him) and on whom his likeness was cast Yoodus Zakariyya Yoota Judas Iscariot – and Allah knows better.”
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, “The age of ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) on the day when he was raised up to the heaven was thirty-four years.” And in the hadeeth it was stated that: “The people of Paradise will enter it wearing shabby clothes and hairless, wearing kohl on their eyes, and they will be aged thirty-three years.” In another hadeeth: “….on the birthday of ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) and with the good looks of Yoosuf (Peace be upon him).”
As for the hadeeth narrated by Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, in which it is stated that ‘A’ishah (may Allah be Pleased with her) used to say, “Fatimah informed me that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) told her that: “There was no Prophet who was succeeded by another Prophet except that the Prophet who came after him lived for half of his lifespan.” He also informed her that: “ ‘Eesa, the son of Maryam, lived for a hundred and twenty years, so I do not think that I will live beyond sixty years.” This is the wording of Al-Fasawi and it is ghareeb.
Al-Hafiz Ibn ‘Asakir said, “The truth is that ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) did not attain this age. Sufyan ibn ‘Uyainah narrated on the authority of ‘Amr Ibn Deenar, who reported on the authority of Yahya Ibn Ja‘dah that Fatimah said, “The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me, “ ‘Eesa, the son of Maryam, remained among the Children of Isra’eel for forty years.” But this is munqati‘. Jareer and Ath-Thawri reported on the authority of Al-A‘mash that Ibraheem said, “ ‘Eesa remained among his people for forty years.” And it is narrated on the authority of the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) that ‘Eesa (Peace be upon him) was raised up on the night of the twenty-second of Ramadan; and on the same night, ‘Ali died, five days after being stabbed.”
By Ibn Katheer
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