Verse 159 states: Wa in min ahli al-kitābi illā layu’minanna bihī qabla mawtihī, wa yawma al-qiyāmati yakūnu ‘alayhim shahīdan (everyone from among these People of the Book shall definitely believe him [that is, Jesus] before his [that is, Jesus’s] death. And on the Day of Judgement he [that is, Jesus] will bear witness to them). Scholars identify the antecedent of the two objective pronouns (damīr mafūli) [hi, his] in the phrase la yuminanna bi hī qabla mawti hī,’ as referring to Jesus. It means: ‘Every person among the People of the Book will necessarily believe in Jesus before his, that is, Jesus’s death.’
This interpretation of the verse affirms that Jesus is alive. The argument is that according to the verse, the death of Jesus (PBUH) and the belief of the People of the Book in him are mutually binding. That is, Jesus’s death will occur only after these deniers will have faith in him. If his death were to occur at the time of being raised to Allah, then it was necessary that the Jews who conspired to kill him would have believed in him before that. Similarly, it also entailed that every Jew living since his ascension to Allah must have believed in him. It follows that the world would have been devoid of Jews for the past two thousand years. History testifies that neither of these events has occurred. If this has not happened, and certainly it has not, then it clearly means that Jesus (PBUH) is alive and has not yet died.
Some other scholars take the objective pronoun (damīr mafūli) [hi, his] in the phrase la yuminanna bi hī, to refer to Jesus and the objective pronoun hi in qabla mawti hī to refer to each individual from among the People of the Book. It means: ‘Every person among the People of the Book will necessarily believe in Jesus before his own death.’
This interpretation is understood to materialize such that every Jew, upon facing imminent death, will realize the truth of Jesus’s prophethood and will believe in him moments before dying.
Based on this interpretation, scholars argue that this verse corroborates and strengthens the Hadiths about the second coming of Jesus (PBUH). Combining the themes of the verse and the Hadiths confirms the veracity of the concept of Jesus (PBUH) being alive and descending near the Day of Judgment. This position is further strengthened by a statement of Abu Huraira, who presented this verse of Surah An-Nisa in support of the Hadiths about the second coming of Jesus. Mufti Muhammad Shafi Usmani, representing this position, writes:
The pronoun ‘hī’ in mawti hī, (‘his death’) refers to Jesus. The verse means that these People of the Book, although currently not believing in Jesus - the Jews outrightly deny his prophethood and label him, God forbid, as a liar and imposter, and the Christians claim to believe in him but some, in their ignorance, have gone so far as to believe, like the Jews, in his crucifixion, while others among them have exaggerated their belief to the extent of deeming him as God and the son of God. This verse of the Qur’an tells us that these people, though currently not having the sound belief in Jesus’s prophethood, will all come to believe in him correctly when he descends to this earth again near the Day of Judgment. Christians will all become Muslims with the correct belief, and those Jews who oppose him will be killed, and the rest will become Muslims. At that time, disbelief in all its forms will be eradicated from the world, and only Islam will reign supreme.
Abu Huraira (RA) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: ‘Jesus, the son of Maryam, will indeed descend as a just ruler. He will kill Dajjal and the pig, break the cross, and at that time, worship will be only for the Lord of the Worlds.’ After this, Abu Huraira said: ‘If you wish, read this verse of the Qur’an, which mentions this reality that ‘There will be no one among the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death.’ He said: ‘Before the death of Isa.’ And he repeated these words three times.
This interpretation by Abu Huraira (RA), a distinguished Companion, is established through authentic Hadith, in which qabla mawti hi, (‘before his death’) has been explained as the death of Jesus, clearly determining that the verse talks about the descent of Jesus near the Day of Judgment.
Thus, based on this interpretation, the verse conclusively establishes that Jesus has not yet died, but will die on this earth after the wisdoms associated with his descent near the Day of Judgment are realized…
In summary, when the words qabla mawti hī in the mentioned verse is read together with the authentic Hadith of Abu Huraira, it clearly establishes that Jesus is alive and will eventually dominate over the Jews after descending near the Day of Judgment. (Maāriful Qur’an 2/603-605)
The second interpretation invites the question: How can every individual of the People of the Book have the opportunity to appreciate the prophethood of Jesus (PBUH) and believe in him in the case of sudden death? In response to this question, statements of Abdullah b. Abbas (RA) are presented. In the referred sayings of Ibn Abbas, it is stated that every Jew will necessarily acknowledge Jesus’s prophethood moments before their death. Imam Jalal al-Din Suyuti mentions these statements of Ibn Abbas (RA) in his exegesis entitled Durr-e Munthūr:
قيل لابن عباس: أرأيت إن خر من فوق بيت قال: يتكلم به في الهواء فقيل: أرأيت إن ضرب عنق أحدهم قال: يتلجلج بها لسانه وأخرج ابن جرير عن ابن عباس قال: لو ضربت عنقه لم تخرج نفسه حتى يؤمن بعيسى.
Ibn Abbas (RA) was asked: What do you say if a Jew were to fall from a house? He replied: [Before hitting the ground], he will verbally express his belief in this matter while still in the air. It was asked: What if one of them (Jews) is beheaded? He said: He will quickly utter his belief with his tongue. Ibn Jarir [al-Tabari] has attributed to Ibn Abbas that if the neck of a Jew is severed, his soul does not leave his body until he believes in Jesus. (2/733)