Is Prophet Jesus one brought near to Allah or will he burn in hell?

A brief explanation of the doubt

In many verses of the Quran (Al Imran 54-55, Nisa 158), Prophet Jesus has been mentioned as an individual with a high status and who possesses a close position with Allah. In another verse in the Quran however (Al-Anbiya 98) it has been explained that all of the polytheists and those that they worshiped will burn in hell, therefore because Prophet Jesus is recognized as being God by many Christians and is worshiped by them, based on what is understood from the verse, he too will burn in hell.

A detailed explanation of the doubt

Contradictory verses

Verses in which the high rank of Prophet Jesus has been pointed at: Verse 45 of Al Imran: “When the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah gives you the good news of a Word from Him whose name is Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, distinguished in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near [to Allah].” This verse explicitly states that Prophet Jesus is distinguished in this world and the hereafter and is amongst those counted as being brought near to Allah. Other verses also point towards his high status. “When Allah said, ‘O Jesus, I shall take you[r soul], and I shall raise you up toward Myself, and I shall clear you of [the calumnies of] the faithless, and I shall set those who follow you above the faithless until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me will be your return, whereat I will judge between you concerning that about which you used to differ.” (Al Imran 55) “The Messiah would never disdain being a servant of Allah, nor would the angels brought near [to Him]. And whoever disdains His worship and is arrogant, He will gather them all toward Him.” (Nisa 172) “and for their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the apostle of Allah’ —though they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them. Indeed those who differ concerning him/it are surely in doubt about him/it: they do not have any knowledge of that beyond following conjectures, and certainly they did not kill him. (Nisa 157) Rather Allah raised him up toward Himself, and Allah is all-mighty, all-wise.” (Nisa 158) The verses whose outcome is the punishing of Prophet Jesus: Verse 98 of Anbiya: “Indeed you and what you worship besides Allah shall be fuel for hell, and you will come to it” In this verse it has been mentioned that the polytheists and what they worshiped will burn in hellfire. The meaning of the verse is general, in such a way that it encompasses all worshiped things, and no specific group or individual has been exempted from this group. In addition verse 17 of Ma’idah: and verses similar to that: ) gives us the conclusion that some thought Prophet Jesus was God and that he was someone worshiped by a group of people.

Reconciling the apparent contradiction

In chapter Al Imran verse 45, Prophet Jesus has been mentioned as a Prophet who has been distinguished in this world and the next and that he is from amongst those brought near to Allah. In chapter Nisa verse 98 however it has been explained that all of those things worshiped (of which Prophet Jesus is included in them) will burn in hell, therefore there is a contradiction between these two verses, because Prophet Jesus has been mentioned in the Quran both has an individual who has a high status and close position with Allah, and as a individual who has been worshiped and who will thus burn in hellfire in the afterlife.

A summarized response

The burning of those worshiped does not include everything that has been worshiped, rather the explicit statements of the Quran regarding his holy status and numerous indicators, exclude Prophet Jesus from being included in what is mentioned in 21:98, therefore there is no contradiction between 21:98 and the other verses.

A detailed response

Pre-requisite Introduction (The role of linguistic and non-linguistic indicators in speech)

Looking at linguistic indicators

In order to determine the precise meaning of a speech and to understand the intention of the speaker, there are a number of methods. In general, these methods are through paying attention to linguistic and non-linguistic indicators which surround the speech. What is meant by linguistic indicator is an indicator that has been explicitly mentioned in the speech. The mentioning of such an indicator is a cause of limiting and designating the meanings of words. For example; a father says to his son: “Obtain lamb meat from the butchers.” The word meat can be applied to a number of applications such as the meat of a lamb, cow, camel etc. Therefore the speaker added an indication to his speech, in order to show that what he meant in saying meat is not any type of meat.

A linguistic indicator can itself be mentioned in two different ways; in some cases it is mentioned within that same sentence or within the time frame of that same speech and in some cases it is not explicitly mentioned within the time frame of that speech rather it is possible that it was mentioned in the past or will be mentioned in the future. For example; In the past a father has told his son a number of times that I don’t eat any meat other than lamb meat. Now if today this individual tells his son: “Obtain meat from the butchers”, the son knows that he has to obtain lamb meat, even though there was no indication in the fathers speech; however due to the father explicitly stating in the past that he only eats lamb meat, that speech is an indicator that what he means by meat is lamb meat.

Looking at non-linguistic indicators

In some cases the indicator is not linguistic, in other words in some cases the speaker does not explicitly mention something due to the clarity of the indicator. The clarity of the indicator can be related to a number of issues. For example; An issue is self-evident amongst people due to its intellectual or customary clarity, or because of the judgement of culture and tradition, or due to other reasons. In such an environment, with consideration for this point that this indication is clear for everyone, the speaker no longer explicitly states the indication in his speech, and his not mentioning an indicator does not show a lack of considering that indication. For example; A father says to his son: “Obtain meat for lunch.” He doesn’t explicitly mention in his speech for him not to obtain meat that is past its date and rotten; because normally no one eats rotten meat that has past its date, and this issue in and of itself is a clear indicator, in such a way that the speaker does not see a need in emphasizing on it.

In general in order to determine the vastness and tightness of what the verse includes, three indications can be used.

The first response

Prophet Jesus is excluded from being included in Chapter 21 verse 98 from the indicator of the intellect. Every human knows oppression to be something despised and believes such an action should not be done by anyone. Now is burning Prophet Jesus in hell purely because a group of people - in contradiction to the divine teachings - took him as their God, not an act of oppression? Is not oppression from a God who is Just and Wise not something despised? This issue is a clear intellectual indicator that a Just and Wise God would not do such a despised thing. Therefore, when God says that all of the worshipped things will be burnt in hell, this is a clear intellectual indicator that Prophet Jesus is excluded from those. Therefore, considering the Justice and Wisdom of God we extract that the promise of Gods punishment in 21:98 does not include Prophet Jesus.

An example of customary indication: Suppose that in a class, all of the students except for one were not able to achieve the pass mark on their exams, the one student who passed got 100%. The teacher enters the class and says I will punish the whole class. In such a supposition, is the punishment of the teacher going to include the student who got 100%? It is clear that in such a supposition, the hardworking student has not had any short comings in order to be punished, therefore the punishment of the teacher would include all of the students except the hardworking student.

The second response

Prophet Jesus is excluded from the group in chapter 21 verse 98 based on a linguistic indication (The explicit statement of the Quran that one is not punished based on the sins of the others)

By paying attention to the issues mentioned in the introduction, in some cases the speaker delivers a speech which has the capacity to be an indication for the speech before or speech after it, therefore his speech should be explained and his intention understood in light of such indications. In the Quran, numerous verses have been revealed that have indications of Prophet Jesus being excluded from the group mentioned in 21:98.

In chapter Isra verse 15 Allah says: “and whoever goes astray, goes astray only to its detriment. No bearer shall bear another’s burden.” This verse implies that no one will be punished due to someone else’s sin. In fact other verses which have the same theme and are similar to this one exist, ) in such a way that a number of times such a theme has been explicitly mentioned in different places of the Quran. Now if we suppose that someone denies the judgement of the intellect as being an indicator (the first indicator that was mentioned), they cannot deny the explicit statement and emphasis of Allahs speech related to a non-sinner not being punished. Therefore these verses are very clear indications that in 21:98 refers to Allah punishing all of those worshipped things other than Prophet Jesus.

A customary example

A teacher in a class announces: “Whoever does not pass the exam will be punished and whoever passes will be rewarded.” After the exam only one person has done well enough to pass and the teacher says to the students: “I will punish everyone.” In such a supposition, the previous speech of the teacher is a clear indication that his meaning in punishing is punishing those who did not pass the exam.

The third response: A linguistic indicator (the explicit statement of Prophet Jesus’ high status)

In chapter 3 verse 45 Allah says: “When the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah gives you the good news of a Word from Him whose name is Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, distinguished in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near [to Allah].” Allah explicitly and with emphasis points towards and mentions the high status, station, and holiness of Prophet Jesus, and says that he is distinguished in both this world and the next and is from amongst those brought near to Allah. Other verses also point out his high station which were mentioned under the explanation of the first batch of verses which were apparently contradictory with chapter 3 verse 45. The numerous explicit statements and clear Quranic phrases regarding the status and high station of Prophet Jesus in both this life and the next, are clear indicators that Allah will burn all of those worshipped things other than Prophet Jesus.

A customary example

In a classroom, only one hardworking student existed, and the rest were weak. The teacher has praised the hardworking student multiple times because of his high grades and he has predicted a very bright future for him. One day however the teacher addresses all of the students and says: “With this amount of studying, all of you will fail”. Now a question arises: Will that hardworking student fail too? That hardworking student will not fail just like before; because the teacher has stated on multiple occasions the difference between him and the other students. Therefore this is a clear indication that the intended meaning of the teacher was all of the students that do not study.