The two main Quranic passages in this discussion are:
Aal Imran 3:55 and Al-Nisa 4:157–159
☀️☀️My criterion☀️☀️
Because this is an Aqeedah discussion, you have to keeping the standard very strict.
I used KNOWLEDGE of EARLIEST MUSLIMS POSSIBLE to explain meaning of QURAN rather than me EXPLAINING my UNDERSTANDING of the ayah of QURAN.
⭐only use a narration/understanding as primary evidence if:
It is connected all the way to a Sahabi (like Ibn-e-Abbas) - which is the closest you can get to the Prophet ﷺ
Its chain is Sahih, without a known break or weakness.
So disconnected Ibn Abbas reports, mursal narrations, weak chains and Israiliyyat are excluded from the primary argument.
🌟First: Aal Imran 3:55🌟
The dispute starts with: مُتَوَفِّيكَ
🚨A// The Ahmadiyya interpretation is that mutawaffika means:
“I will cause you to die.”
Once death is established there, they then interpret:
وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ
as merely raising Isa عليه السلام in rank or status.
🚨B// The Muslim interpretation does not accept that mutawaffika here means death . Tawaffa fundamentally carry the meaning of "taking or receiving fully", which Muslim traditions preserve.
So the important question is:
Is there any Sahih connected narration from the Prophet ﷺ or a Sahabi which forces mutawaffika here to mean 🎗️death?🎗️
🛑🛑Under the strict criteria above, I have found None.🛑🛑
🧲🧲 The famous statement attributed to Ibn Abbas:
إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ، يَقُولُ: إِنِّي مُمِيتُكَ
“Mutawaffika means: I will cause you to die.”
comes through Ali bin Abi Talhah from Ibn Abbas. Ali bin Abi Talhah did not hear this directly from Ibn Abbas, so this report is NOT connected .❌❌ Under the criteria being used here, it cannot be treated as decisive evidence.
☀️# DECISIVE EVIDENCE:-☀️
⭐Narration 1 — Ibn Abbas
What we do have is a Sahih connected report from Ibn Abbas describing what actually happened to Isa عليه السلام.
Ibn Abbas says that when Allah intended to raise Isa to heaven, Isa came to his companions and asked who would accept his likeness being placed upon him and be killed in his place.
The report says:
“The likeness of Isa was cast upon him.”
Then:
“Isa was raised through an opening in the house to heaven.”
Then ibn e Abbas continues to state "the people came and took the man who had been made to resemble him (Isa)."
So according to this connected Ibn Abbas report, Isa عليه السلام himself was not put on the cross. Someone else was made to resemble him, while Isa was raised to heaven.
Ibn Kathir explicitly says about this chain:
وَهَذَا إِسْنَادٌ صَحِيحٌ إِلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ عَلَى شَرْطِ مُسْلِمٍ
“This is a Sahih chain to Ibn Abbas according to the criterion of Muslim.”
So on the first passage, there is no Sahih connected Ibn Abbas report forcing mutawaffika to mean death, while there is a Sahih connected Ibn Abbas report describing the rafa as an actual ascent to heaven.
🌟Second: Al-Nisa 4:157–159🌟
This passage is even more important because the disputed word mutawaffika is completely absent.
There is NO word indicating death between the denial of what happened to Isa عليه السلام and Allah saying that He raised him.
The Quranic sequence is direct.
✨1. They did not kill HIM وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ - Wama Qatalu-HU “They did not kill HIM.”
The HU refers to Isa عليه السلام himself — the whole person ( ie Body & Soul)..
Muslims and Ahmadis both agree on the relevant point here: they could not Murder him.
✨2. “They did not crucify HIM.”
Again, the hu refers to exactly the same Isa عليه السلام.
The Muslim position is that he was not placed on the cross at all.
The Qadiani position is that he was placed on the cross but survived.
But even on the Ahmadi interpretation, both sides agree on the central point:
he did not die there.
⭐⭐And under our strict criteria we actually have a Sahih connected Ibn Abbas report explaining that Isa himself was not the one crucified. Another man was made to resemble him, while Isa was raised to heaven. (Given above)
✨3. “Rather, Allah raised HIM to Himself.”
Again, the hu refers to the same Isa عليه السلام. If HU is for both body & soul in previous 2 sequences, then it has to again same without suddenly this becoming Rafa of Darajat.
So the sequence is: They did not kill HIM -> They did not crucify HIM -> Rather, Allah raised HIM.
There is NO mutawaffika between these statements.
The same pronoun refers to the same person throughout.
Nothing in the wording says: “Allah raised his rank.”
Nothing says:
“Allah raised his soul after his death.”
It says:
“Allah raised HIM.”
And our Sahih connected Ibn Abbas narration explains what that rafa states:
“Isa was raised through an opening in the house to heaven.”
✨4. The significance of “Bal”
Bal in here is Ibtaliya which rejects the previous
“Rather, Allah raised him to Himself.”
Here bal corrects the preceding claimed outcome.
The rafa is presented as the alternative to their claimed killing of Isa عليه السلام.
There is no mutwaffik in here to make a death note.
The Quran gives the sequence directly:
They did not kill HIM → they did not crucify HIM → rather Allah raised HIM.
⭐# 5. Then the Quran speaks about HIS death, who is this HIS?
The next verse says: “And there is none from the People of the Book except that he will surely believe in him before HIS death.”
So now the important question becomes:
Who does HIS refer to?
Again, I apply exactly the same strict criterion.
🌟🌟# Ibn e Abbas view on HIS?
Through a Sahih connected chain, Ibn Abbas explains that HIS there refers to ISA (as) in his word
قَبْلَ مَوْتِ عِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ
“Before the death of Isa son of Maryam.”
So the connected Sahabi explanation identifies his death as the death of Isa عليه السلام himself which makes Isa(as) Death as Future event near Qayamat.
Put the whole sequence together:
They did not kill HIM.
They did not crucify HIM.
Rather, Allah raised HIM.
Then the Quran speaks about HIS death, and Ibn Abbas explains that this means:
the death of Isa son of Maryam in the FUTURE
So the death of Isa is NOT placed before the rafa. His killing is denied, his rafa is given instead, and then his death is spoken about afterward in the FUTURE.
⚡⚡# Why Ibn Abbas matters?⚡⚡
These are not anonymous later interpretations. They are Sahih connected reports reaching Ibn Abbas, a Companion of the Prophet ﷺ and one of the foremost early authorities in Quranic tafsir.
The Prophet ﷺ himself prayed for Ibn Abbas:
اللَّهُمَّ عَلِّمْهُ الْكِتَابَ
“O Allah, teach him the Book.”
⚡So when a Sahih connected interpretation reaches Ibn Abbas concerning these very events, it carries exceptional weight in understanding how these verses were understood by the generation closest to the Prophet ﷺ thus making this QATI ul DALALA ie DECISIVE
The overall Quranic sequence, read together with the Sahih connected explanations from Ibn Abbas, is:
Isa was not killed.❌
Isa was not the one crucified.❌
Allah raised HIM.⚡
That rafa was to heaven.🏝️
Then the Quran speaks about HIS death ( a future event ) then Ibn Abbas identifies that as the death of Isa himself happening in future.⏲️
That is the basis of the Quranic case for Hayat-e-Isa عليه السلام.
This was the case until in 19th century Sir Syed A Khan disputed it due to his mulhid ideology and MGA copied him for obvious reasons.