The Position of Jesus (pbuh) in the Hereafter

The Position of Jesus (pbuh) in the Hereafter

Article:

In one of his articles[1]

Mr. Jochen Katz has raised a question regarding the position of Jesus (pbuh),

according to the Qur’an, in the hereafter. Mr. Katz, in his introduction to the

article, writes:

Jesus is raised to Allah, [Surah 4:158], near stationed with him [Surah

3:45], worshiped by millions of Christians, yet Surah 21:98 says, that

all that are worshiped by men besides Allah will burn in Hell together with

those who worship them.

There is no doubt about the fact that, according to the Qur’an, Jesus (pbuh),

like the other prophets of God shall be blessed with the most elevated of ranks

among those who are successful in the hereafter. Thus, I agree, to a great

extent, with Mr. Katz’s interpretation of those verses, which expressly state

that Jesus (pbuh) shall be among the people of the highest of ranks in the

hereafter.

However, Mr. Katz feels that Al-Anbiyaa 21: 98 is contradictory to the

aforementioned belief regarding the elevated position of Jesus (pbuh) in the

hereafter. The verse states:

You and whatever you worship shall, surely, be the fuel of hellfire. You

shall all, indeed, come to it.

Mr. Katz writes:

The logic is clear, Jesus is not God [5:75], millions of Christians are

worshipping Jesus today and even the Qur’an acknowledges this [5:119],

therefore Jesus will be fuel for the Hell fire [21:98] together with the

Christians. This clearly contradicts the verses on Jesus’ special place near

to Allah [Sura 3:45; 4:158 and others].

Although, it apparently seems that Al-Anbiyaa 21: 98 implies that

those, who worship others besides God and the stones as well as the

personalities – which these stones denote – that are worshipped besides God,

shall all be thrown in the fires of hell. However, a close analysis of the

referred verse, in the light of the concept of justice as well as the general

principles of accountability given in the Qur’an raises a few questions

regarding this interpretation of the verse. For instance, the Qur’an clearly

states that on the Day of Judgment, a person shall only be rewarded or punished

for his own good or bad deeds, respectively. The Qur’an (Al-Najm 53: 36 –

39) says:

Has he not been informed about what was in the scriptures of Moses and of

Abraham, who fulfilled his covenant, that [on the Day of Judgment,] no one

shall bear the burden of another and that [on that day,] man shall have only

what he strived for.

According to the aforementioned as well as a number of other verses of the

Qur’an, on the Day of Judgment, one shall neither be made to bear the burden of

the sins of another person nor shall he be rewarded for the deeds of another

person. Keeping this general principle regarding the accountability and the

reward and punishment of the hereafter in perspective and then reconsidering the

implication of Al-Anbiyaa 21: 98, one feels that if a person is falsely

worshiped and is wrongfully elevated to the position of a god by his followers,

the wrongfulness lies in the actions and beliefs of the followers, not in that

of the person, who is so elevated. The only exception, of course, would be if

the person is worshiped by his followers, in accordance with his own teachings.

In such a case, the wrongfulness of the act of worshipping a false god, would be

shared by the worshippers as well as the worshiped. Under the circumstances, one

is obviously faced with the question as to why, according to Al-Anbiyaa

21: 98, would both the worshippers as well as the worshiped be thrown in

hellfire; in other words, why should the worshipped be punished for the acts of

the worshippers.

This, in my opinion, is precisely the question, which has led Mr. Katz to

consider Al-Anbiyaa 21: 98 to be contradictory to the other verses

referred to in his article as well as the general concept of justice stipulated

by the Qur’an, with reference to the accountability of the hereafter.

However, the stated question easily finds an answer if we interpret Al-Anbiyaa

21: 98 in the light of the basic principle given in Al-Najm 53: 36 – 39

(cited above). Thus, a Muslim mind restricts the warning entailed in Al-Anbiyaa

21: 98 to those false deities, who were worshiped by their followers, in

accordance with their own teachings. This would imply that if the false gods

mentioned in the verse had actually prompted their followers to worship them,

then they would (and should) share, with their followers, the painful punishment

of the hereafter. On the contrary, if these false gods had not preached

falsehood and had no part or contribution in being made false gods then,

obviously, they would not deserve (and, therefore, would not be made) to share

the painful punishment with their followers, Thus, the Qur’an has, in fact,

clarified that on the Day of Judgment, it would be ascertained whether or not a

particular personality, that was worshiped by his/her followers, did actually

preach this false worship or not. The Qur’an (Al-Furqaan 25: 17 – 19)

says:

And on that Day, We shall gather them [all] and whatever they worship

besides God, then He [i.e. God] will say [to those that were falsely

worshiped]: Did you lead these of my people astray or did they stray from the

right path themselves? They shall say: You are indeed clear of all wrong. It

was not our right to [teach others to] take any guardians besides You. And

[thus, it was not our teachings, which led them astray, but] actually you

blessed them and their forefathers with so much comfort [in life] that they

disregarded Your reminders [of the hereafter] and [thus] became a people

[bound to be] destroyed. Now [to the worshippers of false deities, God will

say:] ‘They have denied what you say [regarding their leading you astray]’.

Now, you shall neither be able to avert your doom nor shall you be helped [by

anyone]. And those of you who have committed this grave injustice We shall

cause him to taste an extreme punishment.

A similar dialogue is also reported to take place between God and Jesus (pbuh).

Al-Maaidah 5: 116 – 117 says:

And God shall say: O Jesus son of Mary, did you teach people: ‘Take me and

my mother to be two gods besides the One God?’ He would reply: ‘You are

absolutely clear of all wrong. I could never have claimed what I had no right

to. Had I said so, You would have known it. You know even that, which resides

is in my heart, while I do not know what resides in Your heart. Indeed, You

are the one, who knows all that is hidden [from others]. I did not say

anything to them except that, which You directed me to [say, which was]: ‘Worship

the One God, my Lord and your Lord.’ I bore witness upon them [of this fact]

as long as I remained with them. Then, when you finished my term. You were the

one watching over them. And You are indeed a witness on all things.

Thus, after their innocence is made known to their followers, all such false

deities shall get the great rewards awaiting them, if they deserve to. While, on

the other hand, all the worshippers of such false deities; the followers of

falsehood shall be led to meet their ultimate doom.

The Qur’an also tells us that with these idolaters, the stone images and

idols that they held as their gods shall also be thrown in the hellfire, adding

insult to their injury. Thus, the Qur’an (Al-Baqarah 2: 24) says:

And if you cannot do so – and surely, you shall never be able to do so –

then fear the [great] fire, of which these [rejecting] men and these

[worshipped] stones shall provide the fuel. [The fire] that is [specially]

prepared for these rejecters.

Then again in Al-Tehreem 66: 6, the Qur’an says:

Believers, save yourselves and your families from a great fire, the fuel of

which shall be these [rejecting] people and these [worshipped] stones.

Seen in the light of the foregoing explanation, it should be clear that ‘whatever

you worship’ referred to in Al-Anbiyaa 21: 98, who shall be thrown in the

great fire of hell, are:

1. Those who falsely preached their followers to worship them and, therefore,

   deserve to be punished; and

2. The stones and wooden images, which were falsely worshipped by people.

   This, as should be clear, would not be to punish these stone and wooden

   images, but to add insult to the injury of the worshippers.

Jesus (pbuh), in the company of the other prophets of God, shall be in the

everlasting bliss of Paradise.

I would ask Mr. Katz to kindly point out any inconsistency in the foregoing

explanation of the referred verses.

© Copyright February 2001. All

Rights Reserved with the Author