Treasure of Knowledge Part II - Is Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him) a Spirit or a Body?
Is Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him) a Spirit or a Body?
Tags: Hazrat `Isa, Maryam, ruhu'llah, martyr
Was Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him) raised to God in [this] elemental body (jism-i `unsuri) or only as soul, has remained a very complicated problem for the people of wisdom. Let us find the correct solution to this important question in the light of the wisdom of Qur'anic verses.
God says: “When the angels said: 'O Maryam! Surely Allah gives you glad tidings of a word from Him whose name is Messiah; `Isa son of Maryam'” (3:45).
The wisdom of this Qur'anic verse shows that the real existence of Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him) was first determined and completed in the form of a sacred and living word which is also called a spirit. This speaking word and living spirit was cast in Maryam (May peace be through her)'s ear as ism-i a`zam which was later embodied in human attire. Eventually in the last moments of its life, it [i.e., the speaking word and the living spirit] left the body and became as pure (mujarrad) as it was earlier.
In this connection we should also reflect deeply about the reality of existence which is of two kinds: mental and external, or apparent and hidden, or spiritual and physical, or true and additional, or luminous and dark etc., etc. For instance, the soul of a human being is his luminous existence and the body is his dark existence and its physical example is a tree and its shadow. Our body, being our dark existence, certainly resembles our luminous existence to a limited extent however, shadows cannot be completely identical to the things themselves. The shadow of a stone is not as solid and impenetrable as the stone itself; the shadow of a tree does not bear fruits; the shadow of a flower does not have any colour and fragrance and the shadow of clouds does not shower rain. The purport [of this discussion] is that the original things are different from their shadows. In the daytime, being attached to their original things, shadows have some light and some beauty as well but when the fountainhead of light disappears all these shadows are drowned in a dark sea and [thus] annihilated. This [dark] sea is the shadow of the earth which is called night. This same example is of a human body that until the light of soul is spread in it, its beauty and splendour exists, however as soon as the soul departs, its value vanishes and its components mix with the elements according to the order: “kullu shay'in yarji`u ila aslihi” i.e., everything returns to its origin.
A blessed saying of almighty God regarding Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him) is: “And when Allah said: 'O `Isa, I will take you away and cause you to ascend unto me and purify you of those who disbelieve'” (3:55).
This sacred saying of Almighty God clearly and explicitly mentions Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him)'s physical death and his spiritual ascension unto God. Moreover, when it is said: “They did not kill him nor did they crucify him” (4:157), it means that Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him), ruhu'llah, was in the form of a pure spirit and a miraculous word. A spirit and a word can neither be killed nor crucified. Why does this truth confound us in spite of the Qur'anic reality being very clear that: “And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord” (3:169).
God's command above clearly shows that from one aspect the martyrs are killed but from another aspect [they are] alive. This means that the martyrs (shuhada') are physically killed in God's path and spiritually are raised as living beings from this world to the hereafter. Thus it is evident that the word 'qatal' (to kill) is applicable [only] to the body and the word 'zindah' (alive) is applicable to the soul, as it is said in a hadith: “A mu'min does not die but travels from this transitory world (daru'l-fana') to the lasting abode (daru'l-baqa')”. Nonetheless this hadith does not mean that a mu'min does not die physically.
It is said in surah-yi Maryam (19:17): “Then We sent to her Our Spirit, and he appeared to her exactly like a perfect man”. Thus if a spirit and an angel can completely take on and appear in a human form, a Perfect Man can also become a spirit and an angel by leaving the elemental body (jism-i `unsuri). In this way the principle that the only means of manifestation in the physical world is through a body and the spiritual world can only be reached through a spirit is established. Just like Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him), whose celestial state was of a spirit and a pure word (kalimah), could not be manifested in [this] world without a body and similarly [he] could not be permanently sited in the heaven of spirituality without leaving the [physical] body.
Moreover, the wise Qur'an mentions regarding Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him): “And we gave `Isa, son of Maryam, clear miracles and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit” (2:87, 2:253).
The above Divine farman indicates the bestowal of two celestial things on Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him). The first is his miracles which were clear and explicit; the second is the Divine grace which he continued to acquire through the Holy Spirit hidden in his own personality. This is the reason the miracles are mentioned separately from the Divine help otherwise both of them would have been mentioned as one thing. Here another important thing is that his physical miracles remained [with him] for a fixed period of time, however, Divine help being a spiritual reality was accessible to him even when he was leaving the elemental body whereas the Jews thought that they were crucifying him. Nonetheless, due to Divine help he did not have any fear, grievance or pain and this is the meaning of God's universal spiritual help. Such help means that in fact Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him) lived on in the form of a pure spirit and a wisdom-filled word. Therefore, how could God's spirit and word be afraid and disheartened by being killed or crucified! How could a miraculous personality whose life, existence, realisation and feeling are in the form of a sacred spirit and a pure word be killed or crucified?
God says: “And they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so and most surely those who differ therein are only in doubt about it, they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure. Nay! Allah took him up to Himself” (4:157-158).
These Divine farmans show that according to God, Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him) was neither killed nor crucified, however, it appeared to the infidels as if they had succeeded in killing him by crucifying [him] and that he had not remained alive by any means. It means that God's special servant cannot be spiritually crucified, especially Hazrat `Isa (May peace be through him) who had the great rank of God's spirit (ruhu'llah). He was purely spiritual right from the start and as a perfect darwish he was corporeal only in name, his pure soul was raised from among the infidels by God as was His promise, and his blessed body, which was like a worn out attire of [his] soul, was given to the infidels so that they would be considered sinners according to the law. Shubbiha lahum (i.e., they are in doubt, 4:157) implies that every person's physical personality causes others to judge that he has merely the physical existence. Thus, the infidels after having captured `Isa (May peace be through him)'s body thought that he was only a body, however the real, spiritual and luminous `Isa (May peace be through him) was different and could never be crucified by those people. Thus `Isa (May peace be through him) was a spirit both at the beginning and at the end, which is why it is said that they [i.e., the infidels] were in doubt. It is not in the sense that they had uncertainty [regarding crucifying `Isa (May peace be through him)'s body] but according to Divine speech it means that they thought that what they did to `Isa (May peace be through him)'s body, they had done the same to his soul [which was impossible].
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