Website: www.aaiil.uk

Present-day relevance of the issue of the death, and no return, of Jesus

Friday Khutba by Dr Zahid Aziz, for Lahore Ahmadiyya UK, 1 May 2026

“The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger — messengers had indeed passed away before him. And his mother was a truthful woman. They both used to eat food. See how We make the messages clear to them, then see how they are turned away (from truth)!” — ch. 5, Al-Mā’idah, v. 75	مَا الۡمَسِیۡحُ ابۡنُ مَرۡیَمَ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِہِ الرُّسُلُ ؕ وَ اُمُّہٗ صِدِّیۡقَۃٌ ؕ کَانَا یَاۡکُلٰنِ الطَّعَامَ ؕ اُنۡظُرۡ کَیۡفَ نُبَیِّنُ لَہُمُ الۡاٰیٰتِ ثُمَّ انۡظُرۡ اَنّٰی یُؤۡفَکُوۡنَ ﴿۷۵﴾
“And Muhammad is but a messenger — messengers have already passed away before him. If then he dies or is killed, will you turn back upon your heels?  And he who turns back upon his heels will do no harm at all to Allah. And Allah will reward the grateful.” — ch. 3, Āl-i ‘Imrān, v. 144	وَ مَا مُحَمَّدٌ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِہِ الرُّسُلُ ؕ اَفَا۠ئِنۡ مَّاتَ اَوۡ قُتِلَ انۡقَلَبۡتُمۡ عَلٰۤی اَعۡقَابِکُمۡ ؕ وَ مَنۡ یَّنۡقَلِبۡ عَلٰی عَقِبَیۡہِ فَلَنۡ یَّضُرَّ اللّٰہَ شَیۡئًا ؕ وَ سَیَجۡزِی اللّٰہُ الشّٰکِرِیۡنَ ﴿۱۴۴﴾

The two verses I have recited are from among the several places in the Holy Quran which prove that Jesus — ‘Īsā, peace be upon him — had died at the end of his natural lifetime. The first verse clearly states that Jesus was one of the messengers of God and that messengers who had appeared before him had passed away from this world. The implication is that Jesus also passed away like them. This is reinforced by the words about Jesus and his mother that “they both used to eat food”. It is obvious and it does not need to be said about any humans that they used to eat food during their lives. The reason for saying it here is that, as no one can deny that Jesus used to eat food and he no longer eats food, he must therefore be dead. The second verse I recited further reinforces the conclusion that Jesus was already dead by the time the Holy Prophet Muhammad appeared in the world. It says the same about the Holy Prophet as the first verse said about Jesus: that he is only a messenger, and messengers have passed away before him. It then mentions death specifically by adding: “If then he dies or is killed…” This shows that the only way messengers pass away is by death, and just as this happened in case of the messengers before the Holy Prophet, the same is bound to happen in his case.

When both these verses say in identical words, “messengers have passed away before him”, qad khalat min qabli-hi-rusul in Arabic, the meaning is obviously that all messengers before them, without exception, passed away. If there was even one messenger before the Holy Prophet Muhammad who had not passed away, the Quran could not say that the Holy Prophet must necessarily die because he is only a messenger. People would respond that such and such a messenger has not died before him, so the Holy Prophet’s death is not a certainty.

Although the Holy Quran was absolutely clear that Jesus had died, yet when Christians in large numbers became Muslims several centuries ago they brought in with them the belief that Jesus was still alive in heaven and would return to this world in person. It became a widespread belief among Muslims also. The difference was that Christians held that Jesus died on the cross, but as he was not a mortal human being, after his dead body was removed from the cross he rose to life again on the third day after his death, and then ascended into heaven to sit on the right hand side of God. Muslims believed that he rose up to heaven without dying at all. But both Christians and Muslims believed that he would return to this world. Each believed that after his return he would establish a kingdom for them and rule over them.

Now, for centuries this belief didn’t matter much in practice; it was just like a story which doesn’t affect people’s lives. Then came the modern times, starting in the 1800s, when Christian missionaries spread all over the world, including most places where Muslims lived, and began to convert people to Christianity. In their preaching to Muslims, they found this belief of the Muslims to be a highly useful tool. They said to Muslims: You yourself believe that Jesus is alive with Allah in heaven and will return to this world, while your Prophet Muhammad died like a mortal human. This means Jesus is in an entirely higher and superior category to your Prophet, who will never return. By using this argument, they not only attracted many Muslims into Christianity but also put a much larger number of Muslims to embarrassment and shame about their own religion of Islam. Muslims were rendered speechless in facing Christian preachers.

It was at this time in the Indian subcontinent that the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, arose as a God-sent defender of Islam. Allah illuminated his mind to the fact that according to the Quran Jesus had died, as for example, clearly indicated in the two verses that I recited at the beginning. That same Jesus in person can never return to this world. After Hazrat Mirza sahib wrote books presenting this view in detail, with evidence, those Muslims who accepted him were able to repel and repulse the arguments about Jesus that were being used by Christian preachers to defeat the Muslims. As a result of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad proving from the Quran that Jesus was not alive in heaven, waiting to return to earth, many Muslims were saved from leaving Islam to become Christians.

Today, of course, even the many Muslims who believe that Jesus is still alive and will return, are no longer under any pressure on this belief from Christian preachers. Recently, someone said to me that this means that the work of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is no longer relevant for Muslims, because they are no longer facing any threat or  embarrassment on the basis of holding this belief. This person said that correcting the wrong belief about Jesus held by Muslims served a purpose a hundred years ago but it no longer serves any purpose because the issue has lost its importance.

I replied that belief in the return of Jesus is the biggest threat to world peace today and has brought the world to the brink of destruction at this very moment. I will now explain how. The biggest threat to world peace today are the conflicts in the Middle East, centred on Israel and Jerusalem. There are three religions involved in these conflicts: the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions. The followers of each of the three religions are awaiting the coming of a Messiah to establish his kingdom and lead them to victory. The Jews have long expected a Messiah to come, since long before the time of Jesus. When Jesus appeared among them, they rejected his claim to be the Messiah because he possessed no kingdom or rule, nor did he liberate them militarily and give them their own state. They are still expecting that Messiah to come, and many of them regard the founding of the state of Israel as a preliminary to his coming.

Christians, of course, accept Jesus as the Messiah, but believe that he is alive in heaven and will return and establish his rule with Jerusalem as his capital. The so-called evangelical Christians in the USA, who fervently support the state of Israel, believe that the founding of this state was a preparation by God for the second coming of Jesus, so that with Jews gathered in one place he may convert them to Christianity. This situation is very strange but it is true that the most staunch supporters of the state of Israel in the USA support it because they believe that this will facilitate Jesus to convert all the Jews there to Christianity. Their view is that the Jews rejected Jesus when he first appeared 2000 years ago, but are now destined to accept him as their head and king. The third group is, of course, Muslims. The vast majority of them are also looking forward to the return of Jesus, the prophet ‘Īsā, and they believe that he will wage war to make Islam triumphant in the world, especially over the Jews and Christians, and that he will even force people to convert to Islam.

There are, therefore, three religions in the world, whose followers, in general, today believe that the same Messiah will come in the world, arriving in the centre of that region in the Middle East, and the followers of each of the three groups believe that he will convert the other groups to their faith, make their faith the ruling one, and very little will be left of the other two groups. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad came to declare to the world that no such Messiah will come in the way that various people are expecting. He did not reject the prophecies that a Messiah will come, but said that people had misinterpreted those prophecies to satisfy their own material and worldly desires, that a Messiah will come and give them worldly power, rule and wealth over everyone else. He explained that the title ‘Messiah’ indicates that he will breathe spiritual life into spiritually-dead people, and that he will be a humble preacher, just like Jesus was, possessing no worldly power or position, nor seeking it. He claimed to be that Messiah who would breathe spiritual life into Muslims and would preach Islam only by persuasive arguments and presenting signs of its truth.

So the issue of the death of Jesus is as relevant today as it was in the time of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, perhaps even more relevant now. It is not merely a point of historical interest because it is connected with the belief that Jesus will come into this world again. If the Christian evangelicals of the USA could be persuaded that Jesus died, once and for all times, then they will have to abandon their belief that Israel was established by God Himself in preparation for welcoming Jesus back to earth, so that he can convert all Jews to Christianity.

If the general body of Muslims accepted that Jesus has died, then they will have to abandon their belief that he will return and force everyone to embrace Islam. Such a belief and expectation brings Islam into disrepute because it means that Islam will spread by force. If Muslims in general give up this belief in the way suggested by the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement they will realise that Islam will not be successful by any political or military means, but it will only succeed if Muslims awaken to a spiritual and moral life within themselves and present Islam to the world by reasoning and logical evidence, in a peaceful manner, and show by their own example of how a true Muslim behaves.

Let us pray that Allah enables followers of all religions, Muslims and non-Muslims, to give up these wrong ideas that their religion will win by God sending someone to establish its rule and power over all others, and that God favours them and is on their side regardless of their actions, ameen.

Website: www.aaiil.uk