Al-Raf'
Definition
Al-raf' — the raising — refers to Allah's elevation of Isa to the heavens before or during the apparent crucifixion, established by the Quranic statement: 'They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them.' Ibn Kathir reviews the scholarly opinions about the mechanism — the dominant classical view being that another person was miraculously made to resemble Isa in appearance and was crucified in his place while Isa was raised to Allah in a state that transcends ordinary categories of living and dying. The raising preserved Isa for his promised return at the end of history, and Ibn Kathir treats the raising as both a divine act of protection and the beginning of Isa's unfinished prophetic chapter.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
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