Selected Exegesis

God, the Exalted and Powerful, based on His might and wisdom, raised up the spirit and body of Jesus the Messiah to Himself while preserving his life.(21)

The apparent meaning of the verse “When God said, ‘O Jesus, I shall take your soul, and I shall raise you up toward Myself” (3:55) is the taking of the soul (tawaffī) of that personage; however, the term “taking of the soul” (tawaffī) is not explicit in meaning death, because sometimes tawaffī is also applied to the incomplete withdrawal of the soul from the body, namely sleep.(22) Based on this principle, it is difficult to be certain about the death of Jesus from the specific verse “When God said, ‘O Jesus, I shall take your soul, and I shall raise you up toward Myself” (3:55). Of course, death certainly exists for all human beings and is without exception(23) and the Messiah too, if he has not passed away, will certainly die one day;(24) however, his raising up toward God: “Rather God raised him up toward Himself” (4:158) does not mean natural death and passing away, but rather the contextual evidence in the verse indicates his raising up while alive:

1. The turning away from being killed and crucified with the word “rather” (bal). This turning away is not compatible with passing away and the ascension of his soul alone - which is involved in killing and crucifixion.

2. The unity of context in the pronouns referring back to that personage. If the pronoun in “raised him up” (rafaʿahu) refers back to his soul, the unity of context would be disrupted.

It should be said that raising up (rafʿ) in “Rather God raised him up toward Himself” (4:158) does not specifically mean ascending to heaven either, because in this sentence there is talk of “raising up and ascension and return to God” (rafʿ wa-ʿurūj wa-rujūʿ ilā Allāh) - not “raising up to heaven” (rafʿ ilā l-samāʾ) - and God appears both in heaven and on earth(25) and has no physical place or location such that Jesus the Messiah would have gone to heaven and to Him (God). Of course, the apparent meaning of some reports is his ascension to heaven and his descent from heaven at the time of the appearance of the Master of the Age (a.s.).(26)

Another possibility - which is also compatible with the aforementioned report - is the realization of the raising up of Jesus the Messiah toward God in the manner of occultation (ghayba) and being hidden from others, similar to the occultation of the Imam of the Age; that is, God has concealed his spirit and body while preserving his life from human sight, so he is alive and awaiting the appearance (ẓuhūr) and has existential (takwīnī) and individual responsibility but does not have the responsibility of prophethood (risāla) and leadership of society.