بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
As for the return of ʿĪsā (عليه السلام) to the world in the end times, then this is an established fact and such a matter of our creed that its denial is kufr (disbelief).
There are numerous of books written on this topic, but we will suffice on a verse of the Qurʾān Majīd and one Prophetic ḥadīth. Both are found in a narration of the Ṣaḥīḥayn of Imām Bukhārī (رحمه الله) and Imām Muslim (رحمه الله). They narrated from Sayyidunā ʾAbū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) who reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“By the One in Whose Hand is my soul! Ibn Maryam shall surely soon descend among you, judging justly. He shall break the cross, kill the pig, abolish the jizyah, and wealth will be so bountiful that there will be none to accept it, and a single prostration to Allāh will be better than the whole world and whatever is in it.”
Then ʾAbū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) said, “Recite if you wish [the statement of Allāh]:
‘And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in him before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection, he will be against them a witness.’”
Collected by Bukhārī and Muslim.[1]
In the ḥadīth the Prophet ﷺ clearly stated that ʿĪsā (عليه السلام) will surely descend to this world.
The ḥādīths on this issue are mutawātir (widely transmitted). A mutawātir (widely transmitted) ḥadīth is that report whose transmitters were so numerous in each generation that ordinary experience would consider it impossible for all of them to conspire to circulate a lie.[2] The entire Qur’ān has been transmitted in this manner of tawātur.[3] Once the meaning of a Qur’ānic verse or mutawātir ḥadīth is clear, then rejecting it is an act of kufr.[4]
Imām Mufassir Ibn ʿAtīyah Al-Gharnātī Al-Andulūsī [5] Abul Ḥasan Āburī [6] Imām Al-Faqīh Abū Walīd Ibn Rushd[7], Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr [8], Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar [9], ʿAllāmah AbūʿAbdillāh Al-’Ubbī [10], Imām Shawkānī, the Muḥaddith Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar Al-Kattānī [11], Imām Muḥammad Zāhid Al-Kawtharī [12] and many others (رحمهم الله) have all deemed the ḥadīths regarding the descent ofʿĪsā (عليه السلام) to be mutawātir (widely transmitted). Therefore, whoever denies this is a kāfir.
As for the verse which the Ṣaḥābī Sayyidunā ʾAbū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) quoted to prove the descent of ʿĪsā (عليه السلام), then it means that all the people of the Book will believe in him when he descends to kill the Dajjāl which will occur before his death. In this (verse), it is also established that ʿĪsā (عليه السلام) did not die because all the people of the Book who will be present at that time will surely believe in him as Allāh informs us and His speech is truthful.
This is the opinion of the leader of the mufassirūn, ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما). (This is proven by) that which ʾImām Abū Jaʿfar ibn Jarīr (رحمه الله) narrated with his chain of transmission from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr from Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) concerning the verse, “And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in him before his death.” (Ibn ʿAbbās) explained, “Before the death of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (عليه السلام).”[13] Al-ʿAwfī narrated a similar statement from Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما).
With regards to His statement, “But that he will surely believe in him before his death,” Abū Mālik (رحمه الله) said, “That is at the time of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam’s (عليهما السلام) descent. There will be no one remaining from the People of the Book except that they will believe in him.”[14]
This is also the opinion of the ascetic (zāhīd), Ḥasan Baṣrī (رحمه الله). Imām Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Abī Hātim (رحمه الله) narrated in his Tafsīr from Juwayriyyah ibn Bashīr (رحمه الله), who said, “I heard a man say to Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī (رحمه الله), ‘O Abū Saʿīd, [what does] Allāh’s statement, ‘And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in him before his death,’ [mean]?’ He replied, ‘Before the death of ʿĪsā (عليه السلام). Verily Allāh raised ʿĪsā (عليه السلام) up to Him and He will send him before the Day of Qiyāmah (Resurrection) to such a place that all the saints and sinners will believe in him.’”[15]
This is also the opinion of the Imām Mufassir Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah,[16] Abdur Raḥmān ibn Zaid ibn Aslam[17] and several others (رحمهم الله).
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr (رحمه الله) commented in his Tafsīr, “This is the truth as we will explain further onwards with conclusive evidence, Allāh willing. In Him we trust and upon Him is our reliance.”[18]
This is what the Imām Mufassir Abū Jaʿfar Ibn Jarīr (رحمه الله) chose and affirmed in his Tafsīr. He remarked, “Nothing else is valid.”[19]
Therefore, since the descent of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam’s (عليه السلام) is proven from the Qurʾān and Sunnah without a shadow of a doubt, its denial will be kufr.
And Allāh Taʿālā knows best.
Ibn Suleman
5th Dhul Ḥijjah 1445/12th June 2024
Dārul ʾIftāʾ
Sirājul ʿUlūm Institute
Reviewed and concurred by:
Muftī Muhammad Mahdi (Guiding Stars Academy)
Muftī Reza Deonarine
Muftī Ayinda Ahmad
[1] Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī #3448, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim #155
[2] Sharḥun Nukhbah by Ibn Ḥajar Pg.37
[3] Mukhtaṣar Al-Jurjānī with Ẓafarul Amānī Pg.33 ’Uṣūlush Shāshī Pg.192
[4] ’Uṣūlush Shāshī Pg.194, Ikfārul Mulḥidīn by Imām Kashmīrī Pg.7 & 11
[5] Al-Muḥarral Wajīz Vol.1 Pg.444
[6] Fatḥul Bārī Vol.6 Pg.493
[7] Al-Ubbī on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim Vol.1 Pg.265, Naẓmul Mutanāthir Pg.229
[8] Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr Vol.4 Pg.363 The detailed references of each of these narrations can be sought there in the Mu’assisah Qurtubah’s Edition.
[9] Fatḥul Bārī Vol.6 Pg.493
[10] Al-Ubbī on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim Vol.1 Pg.265, Naẓmul Mutanāthir Pg.229
[11] Naẓmul Mutanāthir minal Ḥadīth Mutawātir Pg.229
[12] Naẓratun ʿĀbirah fi Mazaʿimi Man Yunkir Nuzūl ʿĪsā Qablal Ākhirah Pg.122
[13] Tafsīr Ibn Jarīr Vol.7 Pg.664
[14] Tafsīr Ibn Jarīr Vol.7 Pg.664-665
[15] Tafsīr Ibn Abī Hātim Vol.4 Pg.590-591 #4496, Also see: Tafsīr Ibn Jarīr Vol.7 Pg.665 Ḥasan Baṣrī (رحمه الله) said: “Before the death of ʿĪsā (عليه السلام). By Allāh he is alive with Allāh at this moment and when he descends, they will all believe in him.”
[16] Tafsīr Ibn Jarīr Vol.7 Pg.665
[17] Tafsīr Ibn Jarīr Vol.7 Pg.666
[18] Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr Vol.4 Pg.342
[19] Tafsīr Ibn Jarīr Vol.7 Pg.675