IS ISA (JESUS) COMING AGAIN?

IS 'ISA (JESUS) COMING AGAIN? (PART 5) Finally, we base our rejection of the nuzul or the second coming of Isa (Jesus) on the following: 1.    the vital verse (43:61) only refers to 'Isa's messengership or personality as a sign of as-Sa'ah and not to any nuzul because it only says "innahu" and stops short of adding any word to this; we may compare this to the Qur'an's treatment of the advent or second coming of Ya'juj and Ma'juj as a sign of as-Sa'ah because the Qur'an expressly promises their re-appearance (21:96) even though they had been around before (18:94); the second coming of Ya'juj and Ma'juj is therefore an established portent of as-Sa'ah whereas 'Isa's nuzul is not; 2.    the analogous story of the second coming of Elijah offers a convincing resolution of the paradoxical nuzul of 'Isa as obtained in the hadith such that we now see the nuzul as a metaphorical victory of good over evil; 3.    the possible nuzul of 'Isa is paradoxical because it contradicts a fundamental tenet of Islam, namely, that Muhammad is the seal of prophethood (khatam an-nabiyyin, Qur'an 33:40); this principle disallows the advent of a new prophet or the re-appearance of an old one; this explains why any Muslim leader who claims prophethood after Muhammad (Mutanabbi) is treated like a rebel who has lapsed from faith; the Battle of Yamamah in 633 C.E. and the ostracization of the Ahmadiyyah by the world Muslim community over Ghulam Ahmad's (their leader) claim of prophethood are cases in point; several ahadith recorded by Bukhari also assert the finality of prophethood; M. S. Ahmad regards this prophethood as the essential article of faith in the Qur'an already perfected with the perfection and full maturity of religion (4:5) and for this Muhammad 'Abdu asks rhetorically, when one has sound training, does one need a mentor; or a guardian when one's mind is fully ripe? 4.    the possibility of the nuzul must necessitate a change in the status of 'Isa from a national prophet sent to his people (the israelites 3:49-51), just as Nuh (7:59; 71:1), Hud (7:65), Salih (7:73) Shu'ayb (7:85) and Musa (14:5) were sent to their people only, to a universal one thereby belying the Qur'an's assertion whereas Muhammad is the only prophet sent to the whole world (21:107; 34:28); Ibn Ishaq calls Muhammad "an evangelist to all men"; Ahmad Galwash understands the several emissaries dispatched by Muhammad to foreign kingdoms as a sign of the universality of his mission; to Ya'qub Khan the universality of Muhammad's message is "the cornerstone of Islam;" Muhammad 'Ali regards his message as "cosmopolitan" and his light as "universal" while Indian and Pakistani Muslims broaden his prophetic personality as well as category to include Rama, Krishna, Ramachandra, Budha and Confucius; 5.    the theory of crucifixion by substitution only explains 'Isa's escape without implying his nuzul; 6.    the argument that 'Isa's life or mission had been interrupted by the crucifixion and that the nuzul is necessary to enable him spend the remaining as well as to complete his mission is untenable because   (a)    the life span of each man is planned by Allah such that none can directly or indirectly delay his life (la yasta' khirun sa'atan) to last longer or hurry it to end earlier (wa la yastaqdimun) even for one hour (16:61); (b)    if the omnipotence of Allah is a foregone conclusion as stressed in the Qur'an (2:284; 3:29; 6:12-13; 6:65; 16:77-81, etc.) no design of Allah can be interrupted; no one, therefore, could have killed 'Isa thereby interrupting his life span; 7.    though there is evidence in the Qur'an for the raf' (i.e. the lifting of 'Isa to heaven: Qur'an 3:55) there is none there for the nuzul (i.e. his second coming); 8.    the raf' has elevated 'Isa's body to a celestial one unfit for burial on earth if he comes again and since his supposed coming necessitates dying again (not another raf') and being buried on earth (according to the hadith related by 'A'ishah) the idea must be a farce; 9.    the interpretation of the pronoun 'his' (haw) in 'his death'(mawtihi) to mean 'Isa's death after the nuzul is parochial since it must mean that only those Jews and Christians who are 'lucky' to be alive during the nuzul will believe in 'Isa in the true Islamic fashion; what of the trillions of Jews and Christians who must have lived and died before 'that time'; does this guarantee fairness? Can Allah be unfair? Finally, the idea of nuzul may have been imported into Islam because it is a basic Christian doctrine of the Parousia which teaches the Rapture or the coming of Jesus "for his own people" before coming with them "in triumph and glory." This will be followed by the Millenial Age which will be set up "on this earth" for one thousand years when the just will be resurrected and they will reign with Jesus; the question of the nuzul of 'Isa may be one of the clear differences between the Qur'an and the Bible for while the former makes no mention of it the latter cites it in eight different verses (I Thess. 4:16-17; Acts 1:11; Isaiah 45:23; Ezekiel 21:25-27; Acts 3:19; 1 John 2:28) and speaks of signs heralding the second coming (Mathew 24; Daniel 12:4; Ezekiel 36:37, etc). CONCLUDED. Professor Is-haq Akintola,  Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974        234-818-211-9714 Website: www.ishaqakintola.com Blog: drishaqakintola.blogspot.com Twitter:  ishaqakintola Facebook: facebook.com/ishaqakintola Twitter: ishaqakintola   I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered