How will 'Isa (peace be upon him) descend in the last of time, when the Exalted said: "And peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised alive," and He said:

The questioner : Some scholars say regarding the descent of 'Isa (peace be upon him) or the hadith of the Dajjal that this is a weak hadith with no basis, because 'Isa (peace be upon him), meaning after the death of any person or creature on earth, will not return again until the Day of Resurrection; he will not return to earth a second time. They say this is a miracle, but miracles have ended and will not return. They cite a verse in which they say: to the end of the verse, meaning that the death of 'Isa has been realized. So how can he descend after his death?

The Shaykh : Yes, the answer, frankly, is that those who say this—the responsibility lies with the narrator, meaning you, the one transmitting it—these people from whom you are transmitting this are not scholars. Why? From where does the Muslim scholar take his knowledge? He says, "Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said," correct? After "Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said," we have nothing but "the pious predecessors said." How do we understand what Allah said in His Book and what His Prophet said in his hadith? We understand it as our pious predecessors did. Earlier, I reminded you that I mentioned the verse . So, is this statement you quoted from those people the path of the believers? Is it the path of the Salaf? Is it the path of the four Imams, the four, the five, the forty, as we mentioned, and so on, the scholars of the Muslims, may Allah be pleased with them? I say this is not the path of the believers. This is the path of one of two people: either a Muslim but ignorant, or a disbeliever infiltrated among the Muslims, wanting to infiltrate and corrupt the beliefs of the Muslims with a philosophy like the one you quoted. What is it? That Allah said: . Well, we say to this person: what does "I am taking you" mean? Does "taking" (wafat) in the Arabic language necessarily mean death? The answer is no, because "taking" (wafat) can mean sleep, correct?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh :

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : Yes, the verses in the Noble Qur'an explain one another. So the text of "taking" (wafat) does not mean death, and here the verse is explained by what follows it: . To whom is the address? To 'Isa. So let us proceed in the way of explanation: "I am taking you, O 'Isa." Who is 'Isa? With his soul and his body. "And raising you to Myself." To whom is the address? To 'Isa, meaning with your soul and your body, as the Exalted said in the verse of the Night Journey that Abu Bakr mentioned earlier, even if he was mistaken in that.
. Some of the old and modern exegetes said, "My brother, the Night Journey was with the soul, not the body." The scholars of knowledge responded to them by saying: . The servant is with his soul and his body. Likewise, 'Isa is with his soul and his body. So when He said to him: , meaning I am seizing you with your soul and your body, , meaning as you are, with your soul and your body. This clear, eloquent Arabic meaning is supported by mass-transmitted hadiths from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). In some of them, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) confirmed that this raising mentioned in the previous verse, "and raising you to Myself," has an ending: that this one who is honored by being raised with his body and soul will surely descend to judge with justice, break the cross, and kill the pig, to the end of the hadith. So 'Isa (peace be upon him) is alive in the sky and will descend to prove to these Christians who took him as a god besides Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) that he is a servant on one hand, and that Muhammad is better than him on the other hand, and that he will judge by His Shari'ah and be one of the individuals of His Ummah. Until another hadith came, and it is authentic, in which he said: .

The questioner : Well, excuse me, by Allah, a question...

The Shaykh : You want to be patient, you want to be patient.