# Does the verse about Jesus speaking as a kahl prove he will return?

*What kahl means: maturity on earth according to al-Razi, and the late origin of the second-coming reading*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/icr0sv2urcu/s/3/
- Date: 2018-03-15 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: A response to Shadee Elmasry - Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (5:13–7:51)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCr0sV2UrcU&t=313s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/icr0sv2urcu/

**Topics:** The second coming of Jesus; Jesus in the Quran; Tafsir and verse study

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** No: kahl means mature adulthood from about thirty or forty, and al-Razi says Jesus reached that age on earth. The reading of the verse as the second coming first appeared with a scholar who died in the 280s AH, not among the salaf.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth holds that kahl in the verse means mature adulthood, which Jesus reached on earth as al-Razi states, and that the reading of the verse as a prophecy of his return originated with a scholar who died in the 280s AH and was unknown to the salaf.

**Evidence, his words at 6:58:** “who said that this verse could refer to Jesus coming back India his second coming before him nobody said that this wasn't how they understood the Quran” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCr0sV2UrcU&t=418s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says the critics' argument is that Jesus could only speak to people as a mature man if he returns, and answers that kahl can mean forty or thirty and onwards: it denotes the completeness of the body when youth is over, as scholars said beginning at thirty or forty, like 'middle age' with no set starting point. He cites a line of classical poetry for the usage and says Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, one of the heads of Ash'ari creed, states that Jesus reached kuhula on earth while he was here, which he contrasts with the claim that denying the return is kufr. He says all the commentaries record that the first person to read this verse as a reference to Jesus returning was a Naysaburi scholar whom he names indistinctly, who died in the 280s of the hijra, over two hundred years after the Prophet, and that none of the salaf understood the Quran this way. He says this is why scholarship has disappointed people and why he is up against such claims.

## Sources and names cited

- Isa (Jesus)
- kahl
- Quran 3:46 (he will speak to people in the cradle and as a kahl; the phrase also occurs in 5:110): https://quran.com/3/46
- Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
- al-Fadl ibn al-Husayn al-Bajali al-Naysaburi (d. 280s AH) [?]
- salaf

## Transcript (machine tier, 5:13–7:51)

[5:06] check this out they say Carol means an old man in hurry she hums I'm a bull at least had some decency to kind of rein it in a bit like he said oh it means about 40 years old what's his name Chad eleemosynary just went off and said it means an old man because I think in cloacal Arabic today they might use it as an old man well guess what this is an Inc local Arabic mate okay this is an Arabic and have you read any of the toughest here on this this opinion because what they're saying is that how can Jesus talk to people as a mature man that means he's gonna come back and talk to them as a mature man this is what they're trying to say well

[5:44] I've got news for you mate gal yes it can mean 40 years of age yes it can mean 30 years of age and onwards what does cattle mean in Arabic it means indle Kemal when your body has reached a it's complete state so the youth is now over you are a complete man and many Olimar said that begins at 30 some said it begins at 40 it doesn't matter it's not a set age it's like saying middle age it doesn't begin with a set age Cal is like when you've become Carmel okay that's what it means there's

[6:20] a the poem of Elijah that you die hakushin's I mean Jaco kaboom sheriff on the mahzarin be a mean empty Muktha hey Lou McDowell ooh what does that mean caramel so the this thing is known and what does Redeemer Rossi say Allah from the ancient classical Arabs now what does Dino Rossi say he says and he's one of the heads of a Sharia peda he says that we believe Jesus reached Corolla on earth when he was here that's Tina Rossi saying and they go see he says in the Quran anybody

[6:58] who denies he's a Kaffir you know then this is why scholarship has failed as people well I disappointing scholarship all of the tafseer mentioned that this that they accept and you know this opinion that they saying they actually mentioned the first person to say this opinion his name was father Lupino Hussein al bajillion me suppori he is from around / he dies in 280 something he Jerry so he's over 200 in so many years after the Prophet none of the self they mentioned this was the opinion of father lebbe no single bajillion isa puri who said that this verse could refer to Jesus coming

[7:36] back India his second coming before him nobody said that this wasn't how they understood the Quran for Dino Rossi these people themselves are saying look we believe Jesus reached Kahuna in this in this earth so look what so this is why it's discipline now you see what I'm up against you know it's amazing and they say these clear verses in the Quran things like look the verse of the Quran that says over the one what I mean alec is happy illallah you mean under be problem all

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment iCr0sV2UrcU/s/3. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/icr0sv2urcu/s/3/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.