not Muhammad, will return is, of course, another hint of the
Christian theology that underlies so much of what Islam
teaches about Christ.
But if He dies at the end of the age, how could He have
died long before, at the end of His earthly life? To avoid this
difficulty, some Muslim commentators suggest that He has
not yet actually died, but has been taken up to Heaven alive.
As we have seen, however, this is hard to defend in light of
the words of the Koran: Mutawaffeka (literally, ‘‘cause to
die’’) cannot mean ‘‘assumed to Heaven alive.’’ It always
refers to actual physical death. Elsewhere the Koran quotes
Allah saying to Jesus, ‘‘Therein [that is, on earth] shall you
live, and therein shall you die, and there from shall you be
raised’’ (Sura 7:25).
Muslims say that Jesus was assumed into Heaven
because Allah did not want Him to go through the pain and
suffering that the Jews prepared for Him. Allah’s Prophet
could not suffer defeat. However, even according to the
Koran, Allah allowed previous prophets to endure
persecutions and suffering, all of them dying at the hands of
the Jews (see Sura 2:61). Why should Jesus be spared such
sufferings if he too was a prophet?
40. I have heard that Muslims have a
high regard for Mary. Why is this?
Islam’s high regard for Mary is rooted in various texts of
the Koran, including the following: ‘‘Behold! the angels