What is meant by death in the statement of 'Isa, "So when You took me, You were the Watcher over them"?
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Question:
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: In the statement of 'Isa (peace be upon him)[Al-Ma'idah 5:117], what is meant by death here? This is mentioned in the statement of Allah the Exalted: [Ali 'Imran 3:55] He said:
Answer:
What is meant by death here is the death of taking, meaning he was taken while alive and raised to the sky. So death means being taken while alive and raised to the sky. It is also said that it is the death of sleep, meaning he slept, sleep overtook him, and then he was raised. As for the death involving the separation of the soul from the body, this has not happened to 'Isa up to now. It will only happen after his descent (peace be upon him), after he descends to the earth, then he kills the Dajjal, then he rules with Islam, then he dies as others die,[An-Nisa 4:159]. This is in the end of time.
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: In the statement of 'Isa (peace be upon him)
but when You took me up, You were the Observer over them
فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنتَ أَنتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْindeed I will take you and raise you to Myself
إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّAnswer:
What is meant by death here is the death of taking, meaning he was taken while alive and raised to the sky. So death means being taken while alive and raised to the sky. It is also said that it is the death of sleep, meaning he slept, sleep overtook him, and then he was raised. As for the death involving the separation of the soul from the body, this has not happened to 'Isa up to now. It will only happen after his descent (peace be upon him), after he descends to the earth, then he kills the Dajjal, then he rules with Islam, then he dies as others die,
And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death
وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [276 /1350] ما المراد بالوفاة في قول عيسى "فلما توفيتني كنت أنت الرقيب عليهم"؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.