The Qur'an Regarding the Death of Jesus... 

In reading one of the responses that were written on Renaissance and Understanding Islam, there was the use of "mutawafik" as "death". However, according to Dr. Jamal Badawi and some others, this is not a correct translation for the following reasons:

1. "mutawafik" should not be translated as "death" since this is only how the current corrupted Arabic translates it.  In fact, in the classical days mutawafik would indicate "completed term" or "recalled". Thus, Jesus simply completed his term and then will return to die and be raised.

2. In Surah 4:159 = "And there is none of the People of the Book But must believe in him Before his death."  Is this not referring to Jesus according to the grammatical reasons and also because of the flow of the sentence.

3. Why does it say in 4:155-159 that "Allah raised him up".  It does not seem to make sense that Allah would raise a dead body up? Does not the dead body have to stay in the earth till the Day of Judgment?

Could you also consider the implications of the verse which states: (6:61) He is the Irresistibly Supreme over His servants, and He sets guardians over you. At length, when death approaches one of you, Our angels take his soul, and they never fail in their duty. The verb "tawaftho" is used for the angels taking the soul in this ayat I believe.

Salaam,

Adnan, USA

Reply

The implication of the word under consideration, as explained by Dr. Jamal Badawi and the other referred Muslim scholars is supported neither by the Qur’an, nor by any authentic source of the Arabic language.

The word ‘mutawaffik’ is the active participle (ism al-faa`il) for the noun ‘tawaffa’. Aqrab al-Mawaarid, one of the most authentic Arabic dictionaries has explained ‘tawaffa’ to imply:

• ‘To complete’, ‘to fulfill’ ‘to discharge completely’, ‘to realize completely’, ‘to finish’ etc., when the object of the verb are words like ‘promise’, ‘right’, ‘obligation’, ‘liability’, ‘loan’, ‘debt’ ‘number’ or ‘time period’ etc. Thus:

1. ‘tawaffait al-muddah’ (the object of the verb being ‘the time period’), it means, ‘I completed the term’; or

2. ‘tawaffa haqqahu’ (the object of the verb being ‘right’), it means, ‘he realized his right completely’; or

3. ‘tawaffa `adad al-qaum’ (the object of the verb being ‘number’) it means that ‘he counted the number of people completely’.

• ‘To cause death’, ‘to take away the soul’ etc., when the agent of the verb is God [or any other agent or cause of death, or death itself] and the object is a living thing (like man). Thus:

1. ‘tawaffa Allaho Zayedan’ (the active agent of the verb being ‘Allah’ and the object being a person) means, ‘God caused Zayed to die’[1].

2. ‘tawaffahu al-Ta`oon’ (the active agent being ‘plague’ – i.e. an agent or cause of death – and the object being a person) means, ‘The plague killed him’.

3. ‘tawaffathu al-maut’ (the active agent being ‘death’ and the object being a person) means, ‘death overtook him’[2].

4. ‘tawaffathu al-Malaaikah’ (the active agent being ‘angels’ – i.e. an agent of death – and the object being a person) means ‘The angels gave him death’[3].

• ‘To die’, when the verb occurs in its passive form, with the passive participle being a living being (like man). Thus, ‘tuwuffia Zayedun’ means ‘Zayed died’[4].

It should be quite clear from the above explanation that the meaning of the word ‘mutawaffik’ as described by Dr. Jamal Badawi and other Muslim scholars, who ascribe to the same opinion, is not very accurate.

You write:

In Surah 4:159 = "And there is none of the People of the Book But must believe in him Before his death."  Is this not referring to Jesus according to the grammatical reasons and also because of the flow of the sentence?

For an answer to this question, please refer to one of my previous responses to a similar question, titled ‘Regarding the Death and Return of Jesus (pbuh)’.

You write:

Why does it say in 4:155-159 that "Allah raised him up".  It does not seem to make sense that Allah would raise a dead body up? Does not the dead body have to stay in the earth till the Day of Judgment?

It seems that the referred words imply that after causing death to Jesus (pbuh), God took away his body as well. The reason for this exceptional treatment, in my opinion, was the exceptional circumstances surrounding Jesus (pbuh). Jesus (pbuh), as is well known, was surrounded by his rejecters, who had decided to kill him through crucifixion. Under these circumstances, if God had caused Jesus (pbuh) to die and had left his body at the place of his death, it was quite likely that his rejecters, in their frustration of not being able to inflict pain and torture on him, would have been disrespectful toward his body. Thus, God, on the basis of His infinite knowledge and wisdom, not only caused death upon Jesus (pbuh) but also decided to take away his body and thereby removed all chances of disgrace and molestation of the body of His messenger [rasu’l].

I hope this helps. In case any aspect of your question remains unanswered or inadequately answered, please feel free in writing back to me at your own convenience.

May the Almighty guide us all to the path of His liking.

My fondest regards to you and those around you.

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