A Discussion of the Narrations

1. The Matter of Jesus (a.s.) Becoming Unclear to People

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Faḍḍāl narrates from his father from Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Mūsā (a.s.) who said: … Indeed, the matter of none of God’s prophets and proofs became unclear to people except the matter of Jesus (a.s.) alone, because he was raised from the earth while alive, and his soul was taken between heaven and earth; then he was raised to heaven and his soul was returned to him, and this is [referenced in] His words: “When God said, ’O Jesus, I shall take you[r soul], and I shall raise you up toward Myself, and I shall clear you” (3:55) and God says, relating Jesus’s words on the Day of Resurrection: “And I was a witness to them so long as I was among them. But when You had taken me away, You Yourself were watchful over them, and You are witness to all things” (5:117).(585)

Note: According to this narration, the Messiah (a.s.) was raised to heaven while alive, his soul was taken between heaven and earth, and after his ascension to heaven his soul was returned to him. This meaning caused his matter to become unclear for people, though deriving this understanding from the two mentioned verses without the guidance of the Infallible (a.s.) is not easy.

2. The Story of the Mission, Death, and Ascension of the Messiah (a.s.)

From Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Rāfiʿ from his father who said: The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) said: … God sent Jesus son of Mary (a.s.) and entrusted him with light, knowledge, wisdom and all the sciences of the prophets before him, and added to him the Gospel, and sent him to Jerusalem to the Children of Israel to call them to His book and His wisdom and to faith in God and His messenger. But most of them refused, except to increase in transgression and disbelief. When they did not believe in him, he called upon his Lord and resolved upon it, and He transformed some of them into devils to show them a sign that they might take heed, but this only increased them in transgression and disbelief. So he came to Jerusalem and remained calling them and making them desire what is with God for thirty-three years, until the Jews sought him and claimed that they had tortured him and buried him alive in the earth, and some of them claimed that they had killed him and crucified him. But He did not give them authority over him, rather it was made to appear so to them. They were neither able to torture and bury him, nor to kill and crucify him, due to His words: “I shall take you[r soul], and I shall raise you up toward Myself, and I shall clear you of those who disbelieve” (3:55). They were not able to kill and crucify him, because if they had been able to do that, it would have contradicted His words: “Rather God raised him up toward Himself” (4:158), after He had taken his soul (a.s.). When He wanted to raise him, He revealed to him to entrust the light of God and His wisdom.(586)

From Ḥumrān ibn Aʿyan from Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.) who said: Jesus (a.s.) made a promise to his companions on the night God raised him up; they gathered around him in the evening and they were twelve men. He brought them into a house, then he came out to them from a spring in the corner of the house while shaking water from his head. He said: “God has revealed to me that He will raise me up to Him this hour and purify me from the Jews, so which of you will have my likeness cast upon him, and be killed and crucified, and be with me in my rank?” A young man among them said: “I will, O Spirit of God!” He said: “Then you are he.” Then Jesus (a.s.) said to them: “Indeed, among you is one who will deny me before morning with twelve denials.” A man among them said: “I am he, O Prophet of God!” Jesus (a.s.) said: “If you sense this in yourself, then you are he.” Then Jesus (a.s.) said to them: “Indeed, you will divide after me into three groups: two groups fabricating against God will be in the Fire, and one group following Shamʿūn, truthful before God, will be in Paradise.” Then God raised Jesus (a.s.) up to Him from the corner of the house while they were watching him. Then Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.) said: The Jews came seeking Jesus that night, and they seized the man to whom Jesus had said that he would deny him before morning with twelve denials, and they seized the young man upon whom the likeness of Jesus (a.s.) had been cast, and they killed and crucified him, and the one to whom Jesus had said he would deny him denied him with twelve denials before morning.(587)

Note: A. In the first narration, by citing the verse under discussion, it argues against the Jews’ claim of killing and crucifying the Messiah (a.s.), because if their claim were true, it would contradict the noble verse “Rather God raised him up toward Himself” (4:158).

B. The second narration speaks of the night when the Messiah (a.s.) ascended to heaven (which according to some narrations was the twenty-first night of the blessed month of Ramadan(588)) and explicitly states that one of his companions would be killed and crucified in his place, and another would deny him, and the Messiah (a.s.) tells his companions that after him they would divide into three groups: two groups would fabricate lies against God and their place would be in the Fire, and the group that follows Shamʿūn would be saved.

3. The Return of Jesus (a.s.) in the End Times

It is narrated from the Prophet (s.a.w.) that he said: “Indeed, Jesus son of Mary has not died, and he will return to you before the Day of Resurrection.”(589)

And it is authentically reported from him (s.a.w.) that he said: “How will you be when the son of Mary descends among you while your leader is from among you?.”(590)

From Abū Hurayra who said: I heard the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) saying: “God will certainly send down Jesus son of Mary as a just judge and a fair leader. He will break the cross, kill the swine, abolish the tax (jizya), and wealth will overflow until no one will accept it, and he will certainly travel to al-Rawḥāʾ(591) for pilgrimage or ʿumra, or both of them together.”(592)

From Abū ʿAbdallāh (a.s.) from al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī (a.s.): “…and his age was thirty-three years, then God raised him to heaven, and he will descend to earth in Damascus, and he is the one who will kill the Dajjāl.”(593)

Note: A. These narrations testify to Jesus (a.s.) being alive and his descent and return to earth in the end times, before the Day of Resurrection.

B. Upon examining the chains of transmission of these narrations, the result of the discussion will be different.