# Did Ibn Ashur believe Jesus died?

*Ibn Ashur on 'inni mutawaffika': Jesus was given death*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/xttbk-ral6a/s/2/
- Date: 2021-02-02 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Messiah, Masri & Misquotations | Mufti Abu Layth (8:00–13:20)
- Status: a view quoted in order to be discussed, not a position held
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XttbK-raL6A&t=480s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/xttbk-ral6a/

**Topics:** The second coming of Jesus; Contested verses; Jesus in the Quran

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth shows that Ibn Ashur read 'inni mutawaffika' as real death, cited Imam Malik for it, and took texts calling Jesus alive as an honorific life like that of martyrs.

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth reads Ibn Ashur's commentary on the verse 'inni mutawaffika', which Ibn Ashur says apparently means 'I am giving you death', explaining that this is what the word means and that taking it as sleep would be a metaphor. Mufti shows Ibn Ashur adding that the verse in Surat al-Ma'ida, where Jesus speaks of a time after God took him, makes it even clearer, and that saying Jesus merely slept and was raised makes no sense. Mufti reads Ibn Ashur noting that some made other interpretations of how he was raised, and quoting Imam Malik in al-'Utbiyya that Jesus died, adding that the early scholars stayed silent about how it happened, which Ibn Ashur calls the successful approach. Mufti shows Ibn Ashur saying that texts describing Jesus as alive are better read as an honorific life, like the life of martyrs.

## Sources and names cited

- Ibn Ashur
- al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir (Ibn Ashur's tafsir)
- Isa (Jesus)
- Quran 3:55 (inni mutawaffika: I will take you / give you death): https://quran.com/3/55
- Quran 5:117 (when You took me, You were the watcher over them): https://quran.com/5/117
- Imam Malik
- al-'Utbiyya

## Transcript (machine tier, 8:00–13:20)

[7:59] all right so this is the verse that you can see uh is now to do the famous verse to do with inimo tawafika i am giving you death what does ibn ashur say what is this one he says as you can see there's the apparent reading of the quran is i'm giving you death it says and then he goes on and he justifies why because that's what death actually means and he goes on to say

[8:38] that so he says that is just a majesty you know people could say sleep is a like the sister of death he says yes but that's a metaphor and he goes on to say here uh let's just check if that is in the in the next one have i got the clip up there um

[9:14] right so anyway here i've got it right here he is saying if i just one momento if i just come back to here clearly he's saying he goes on to say this is page 108 that this shows the unknown waffle that he has to fear

[9:42] that the known death this is the death it's talking about and he says why because if you read in surah maidah it's even clearer because in surah maidah jesus is speaking that he had already been dead so he says and to say that jesus had just gone to sleep and was raised there is no meaning to this it doesn't even make sense so he goes on now this you can see here let me just bring it up

[10:19] he mentions so some people did this that wheel they did an interpretation to say it meant like this and it meant like that how did it happen how was he raised and what you know what are these interpretations so he says wasakata and you can see here it's quoted he says it is the waffat of death that jesus has

[10:55] this is the apparent reading of malik in the uttabiya and prior to that sentence he says you can see it here um just trying to see if it's in this one as well but here it he does mention that malik how did how was jesus killed he says

[11:22] that they sucker that they were quiet we don't know how they just remained silent they did not describe how this could have happened and he says and he says and that was that they were successful in that approach that that was the approach of success um and you can see here he quotes imam malik's quote that of jesus having an actual death so this is uh people's this is in all right that was here as well let me

[12:02] show that to you this is here imam malik and where i've put the red line that they stayed silent about how he died and that was the and if you move on this is ibn ashur still speaking uh real death once again quoting quoting it i've got it right there on the screen so you can read it um and he says that look

[12:44] if you have some text saying jesus is alive it's better to interpret those to mean a kind of life of honoring like the way we say uh martyrs are alive this is like a kind of a it's an honorific speak okay in saying that you know we don't call them dead we call them that they are living you know with god that's how we we say so he mentions that now

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment XttbK-raL6A/s/2. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/xttbk-ral6a/s/2/

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