“And indeed, it surely is a knowledge of the Hour. So do not be in doubt about it, and follow Me. This is the Path Straight.” (Qur’an 43:61)
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This text also has to be one of the most used and abused texts of the whole of the Qur’an. It is used to assert the so-called “2nd coming” of Christ Jesus. The fact that this is the ‘go to’ verse when anyone is trying to assert that the Qur’an affirms the “2nd coming” of Christ Jesus shows you just how weak their argument is.
Such people are better off using the ahadith to argue their position.
1st point.
Let us start off with a major problem and contradiction with this understanding.
Narrated Abu Hurairah:
That the Prophet (saw) said: “There are three, for which, when they appear, a soul will not benefit by its faith, if it did not believe before the Signs: Ad-Dajjal, the Beast, and the rising of the sun from its setting place” – or “from the west.”
Source: https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3072
The majority of Sunni Muslims believe that Jesus (as) is coming a second time. Those who believe this believe that he is coming after the Dajjal. Remember, according to the above hadith and many like it faith does not benefit a person anymore!
“Do they wait for anything except that the angels should come to them or your Lord should come or that there come some of the signs of your Lord? The Day that some of the signs of your Lord will come no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good. Say, “Wait. Indeed, we [also] are waiting.” (Qur’an 6:158)
It is very clear that when these signs happen, the faith and belief of those who came before will be rejected. Part of being a believer is to believe in the unseen.
“Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and donate from what We have provided for them.” (Qur’an 2:3)
Those signs spoken of in Qur’an 6:158 will be so clear that after their appearance will neither avail the unbeliever to repent of his unbelief nor the disobedient to forsake his disobedience.
So what would the point of Jesus (as) coming back and converting people to Islam (either by sword or by choice) when their belief counts for nothing any way?
2nd point.
Even if the verse was about Jesus is it ironclad evidence of his return?
Let us read the verse as:
“And indeed, he surely is a knowledge of the Hour. So do not be in doubt about it, and follow Me. This is the Path Straight.” (Qur’an 43:61)
Narrated Sahl bin Sa`d:
I saw Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) pointing with his index and middle fingers, saying. “The time of my Advent and the Hour are like these two fingers.”
Source: (https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4936)
Whosoever recites the Qur’an finds that the signs of the Hereafter have already taken place.
Allah says: “Do they then only wait for the Hour that it should come on them of a sudden? But already come some tokens thereof, and when it comes to them, how shall they have their reminder?” (Qur’an 47: 18).
The most important portents are sending the Prophets and Messengers.
“This is a Warner of the series of the Warners of old. The (hour) ever approaches draws nigh” (Qur’an 53: 56-57).
This means the fact that Jesus (as) has already come is a knowledge of the hour in the same way that the advent of Muhammed (saw) is a knowledge of the hour.
3rd point.
“Another verse that is cited to refer to the second coming of Jesus is Surah 43, verse number 61. So what does it say in the Arabic? (Shabir speaks Arabic). And the English translation – here, I will read first, then we will try to analyze it: “And his second coming is truly a sign for the hour. So have no doubt about it, and follow me. This is the straight path.” Now when it says “second coming” here in the English translation, the translator has used a half square bracket to insert the word “second” and mark it off as an insertion. But even without marking that word as an insertion, even the word “coming” is not there in the Arabic. There is nothing like (Shabir speaks Arabic) in the Arabic – “his coming” – it just says (Shabir speaks Arabic), which literally means “and he is” or “it is.” Now if it is understood to mean “it is,” then that is a reference to the Quran, which has been mentioned previously within the same context. So it (the Quran) will be a sign of the hour, or as it is also read alternatively, it will contain knowledge of the hour – that the Quran itself is knowledge of the hour, or knowledge personified, something like this. “-Dr. Shabir Ally.
“Only if it refers to “he” as a human person can it possibly refer to Jesus. But does it refer to his second coming? It may be just that it is referring to him as a fact because of some miracles pertaining to him or associated with him that he will become a sign, or he is a sign of the hour. By his performing these miracles, people can take heed from that and realize that God, who made it possible for Jesus to do all of these things, is able to bring about what is called the hour. So in short, we can say that there is no verse of the Quran that clearly indicates that Jesus, on whom be peace, is coming again. And apart from that, there is no future messianic figure that is mentioned in the Quran. The closest you have to a figure is Dabbat al Ard (a creature from the earth who will speak to people) or Ya’juj and Ma’juj. They are mentioned in the 18th chapter of the Quran and also in the 21st chapter of the Quran. But there is no future messianic figure in the Quran. Why? We will try to come back and analyze that. But I want to go forward to look at scriptures of the other Abrahamic faiths.” Dr. Shabir Ally.
The obvious. Ask anyone to point out to you the Arabic for ‘coming’ or ‘return’ The verse does not say “he will return.” If would say: “he is knowledge/sign.” The return is inferred from hadith, not from the above verse.
4th point.
Many translations interpolate their presuppostion and bias onto the text.
Note how the text is being translated from the Qur’an corpus.
http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=43&verse=61#(43:61:1)
Also, when you go to the following link: https://quran.com/43/61
Look how they translate it into English.
This is how they translate it into English for the unsuspecting reader:
“And indeed, Jesus will be [a sign for] knowledge of the Hour, so be not in doubt of it, and follow Me. This is a straight path.”
Yet when you click on the vocalization of the Arabic and how it is rendered, something eye-opening occurs.
Their own exact translation is “And indeed it“, yet the English they wedge in there “Jesus”.
So let’s take a look at some other disparate translations.We will use the following as a tool:
https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/43/61/default.htm
Muhammed Asad, Abdl Haleem & Mohamed Shafi translations have the “it” as the passage referring to the Qur’an.
Shabir Ahmed has ‘it’ as a reference to the Qur’an, but unlike Muhammed Asad and Abdul Haleem and Mohamed Shafi, he has the Qur’an talking about an “oncoming Revolution” rather than “the hour”.
Yusuf Ali’s Saudi version just goes all in!
“And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of).”
Prima Qur’an comments: So, according to that translation, not only is it Jesus, but he is a Sign as well!
Safi Kasas has Jesus in brackets but, unlike Yusuf Ali, he puts the [a sign] in brackets as well.
Abdul Hye goes all in with the second coming. “And he (Jesus) is a KNOWN SIGN.”
Dr. Munir Munshey gets carried away with: “In fact he, (and his fatherless birth) is a sign”
Then we have the Mustafa Khattab translation, really overselling it with their translation,
“And his ˹second˺ coming is truly a sign for the Hour. So have no doubt about it, and follow me. This is the Straight Path.”
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilah (another Saudi translation) have it as: “And he (Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) shall be a known sign.”
Dr. Mohammed Tahir ul Qadri takes a que from his Salafi opponents and follows their lead with: “And surely (when) he, (Isa[Jesus], descends from heaven), he will be a sign…”
Ali Unai just goes on a tangent: “Surely he (Jesus) (brought into the world without a father, and granted such miracles as reviving the dead) is a means to knowledge of the Last Hour.”
Hamid S. Aziz is more neutral, non-committal in translation:
“And most surely it is (the above events or the Quran or he, Jesus) is a sign of the knowledge of coming of the Hour (of Resurrection and Judgment). Therefore have no doubt about it and follow Me: this is the Straight Way.”
Muhammad Taqi Usmani has it as: (‘Isa)
Syed Vickar Ahamed has it as: “And (Isa)
Farook Malik has it as: He (Jesus)
Maududi has it as: “Verily he [i.e, Jesus)
Rashad Khalifa has a bizarre translation: “He is to serve as a marker for knowing the end of the world, so you can no longer harbor any doubt about it.”
The Monotheist group — taking a que from their former mentor and master, Rashad Khalifa, has it as “He” and this becomes “a lesson for the Hour”
Are those who think the verse is a reference to Jesus justified?
Well, if you look at the surrounding context of the verse, the immediate context is about Jesus.
The verses before:
“Jesus was not but a servant upon whom We bestowed favor, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel.And if We willed, We could have made [instead] of you angels succeeding [one another] on the earth.” (Qur’an 43:59-60)
As well as the text after.
“And when Jesus brought clear proofs, he said, “I have come to you with wisdom and to make clear to you some of that over which you differ, so fear Allah and obey me.” (Qur’an 43:63)
So this could be a reason why some have considered 43:61 to be about Jesus.
However, as you will see when we see the over-arching theme of Qur’an 43 as well as whom the immediate audience is, that justification will quickly disappear.
What about Arabic grammar?
A closer look at the Arabic text. “wa-innahu”, this is the 3rd person masculine singular object pronoun. We have third-person pronouns in English as well. We have object pronouns—me, you, him, her, it.
Secondly, the word “biha” is a 3rd person feminine singular personal pronoun. So this further clarifies how “wa-innahu” should be understood.
“And indeed, it surely is a knowledge of the Hour. So do not be in doubt about it, and follow Me. This is the Path Straight.” (Qur’an 43:61)
So, to support their claim, they would have to go against Arabic grammar!
5th point.
What is the overarching theme of Qur’an 43?
Do not just look at the verses immediately before or after. Read all the verses before and after.
Verses 43:2-5 are references concerning the Qur’an.
43:14 is a reference concerning the resurrection.
43:21 is a reference to the Qur’an.
43:31 is a reference to the Qur’an.
43:35 is a reference to the hereafter.
43:43-44 are both references to the Qur’an.
Yes, Allah spoke about Jesus (as) in the past tense. Just as Allah spoke about Moses (as) in the past tense. Allah spoke about Abraham (as) in the past tense.
Not only this but think about this. Who is the immediate audience of the Qur’an 43:61?
The immediate audience is the pagan Quresh. How is some “2nd coming” of Jesus supposed to be an argument for the oneness of Allah (swt), or the truth of the resurrection to that immediate audience?
What is more sensible?
Understanding A)
“And indeed, he (Jesus) surely is a knowledge of the Hour. So do not be in doubt about it(second coming of Jesus), and follow Me. This is the Path Straight.” (Qur’an 43:61)
How are you asking a group of pagan idolater Quresh to not be in doubt concerning it to believe in some second coming of Jesus (as) that they will never witness?
In what universe does this make sense?
Understanding B)
“And indeed, it surely is a knowledge of the Hour. So do not be in doubt about it, and follow Me. This is the Path Straight.” (Qur’an 43:61)
Or, are a group of pagan idolater Quresh being asked to believe in the Qur’an (it) with arguments about the hereafter and resurrection that they can ponder and believe in during their own lifetime?
Which of the two understandings of the verse above is more sensible?
Not only this, we still have to contend with the fact that, as per our other articles, Jesus(as) has died. That Muhammed (saw) is the last and final Prophet. The text of the Qur’an should be in harmony with one another. The supposition that the Qur’an supports the idea that Jesus (as)is not based upon solid evidence.
May Allah (swt) open the eyes of the people.
You may also wish to read:
May Allah Guide the Ummah.
May Allah Forgive the Ummah.
