Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds! The best outcome will be for the righteous. Peace and blessings be upon the servant of Allah, His Messenger and the best of His creatures, Muhammad ibn `Abdullah and upon his family and Companions and whoever is guided by his guidance until the Day of Resurrection!
I received a query from Pakistan sent by brother Manzur Ahmad, head of the Arabic University, Ginyut, West Pakistan. He writes:
"What is the opinion of the respected scholars regarding Isa's life, bodily ascent to the heavens and descent from the heavens to the earth near the Day of Resurrection and the view that his descent is one of the signs of the Last Hour? What is the ruling on those who deny Isa's return near the Day of Resurrection, claiming that he was crucified, but did not die and immigrated to Kashmir in India where he lived long and died naturally? They also claim that he will not return as the Last Hour approaches, but one who bears spiritual similarity to him will appear. Please answer us, may Allah reward you!"
The answer: We seek help from Allah and in Him we trust. There is no might nor strength save in Allah.
Proofs from the Qur'an and the Sunnah affirm that `Isa, son of Mariam and the servant and Messenger of Allah, was raised, body and soul, to the heavens. He was neither murdered nor crucified. He will, at the end of time, descend to kill AlMasihulDajjal (the Antichrist), break the cross, kill the pig and abolish the Jizyah (poll tax required from nonMuslims living in an Islamic state). He will accept no religion but Islam. It is established that `Isa's coming will be a sign of the approaching Day of Resurrection.
Reliable Muslim scholars unanimously agreed on what we mentioned, but they dispute over the verb 'tawaffa' mentioned in the following Ayah: And (remember) when Allâh said: "O 'Isâ (Jesus)! I will take you and raise you to Myself"
The second view states that the term means 'taking back'. In his Tafsir (explanation/exegesis of the meanings of the Qur'an), Ibn Jarir favored and reported this view from a group of the Salaf (righteous predecessors).
The third view states that the term means 'taking the soul of one who is asleep'. The meaning is to take away the soul while one sleeps.
Those who claim that `Isa (peace be upon him) was murdered or crucified are refuted by the explicit Ayahs of the Qur'an. The claims that he was not raised to the heavens, immigrated to Kashmir where he lived long, died naturally, and that that he will not return as the Last Hour approaches; rather, a person who bears spiritual similarity to him will appear, are nothing but falsehood and great lies against Allah and the Prophet (peace be upon him).
It is true that `Isa (peace be upon him) has not descended until now, but he will in the future toward the Last Hour as the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated. Accordingly, the questioner and any others should know that uttering the above mentioned claims is lying against Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). These claims include that `Isa (peace be upon him) was murdered or crucified and immigrated to Kashmir where he died naturally and was not raised to the heavens, that he has already come or someone similar to him will appear, or that there is no prophet who will descend from the heavens. Whoever lies against Allah is considered a Kafir (disbeliever) and must be asked to offer Tawbah (Repentance to Allah) after clarifying the proofs from the Qur'an and Sunnah. If they perform Tawbah and return to the Truth, it is good; otherwise, he is to be sentenced to capital punishment.
but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them [the resemblance of 'Isâ (Jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man)], and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not [i.e. 'Isâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) ﻋﻠﻴﻬﻤﺎ ﺍﻟﺴﻼﻡ]: But Allâh raised him ['Isâ (Jesus)] up (with his body and soul) unto Himself (and he ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺍﻟﺴﻼﻡ is in the heavens). And Allâh is Ever AllPowerful, AllWise.
We hope that what we have mentioned will satisfy the questioner and present the truth. Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the universe. May His peace and blessings be upon His servant and messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family and Companions!