It is evident from verses 54-55 of Surah Aale Imran that the Israelites began to secretly conspire against Jesus (PBUH) in an attempt to crucify him under some false pretense. However, by the command of Allah, they were unable to do so. On this occasion, Allah comforted Jesus by saying that their plots hold no significance in front of His power. Allah would devise a plan that would render all their plots futile. Allah informed Jesus of this plan, saying:
[This is what happened] and the Israelites started to devise covert schemes [against him] and [in response] God also devised a hidden scheme and, in such scheming, God is the best. At that time when God said: “Jesus, I have decided to give you death and lift you up to Myself and I shall purify you from these who have disbelieved in you and shall grant your followers supremacy over these disbelievers until the Day of Judgement. Then to Me finally you shall all have to return. So, at that time, I shall give verdict on what you have been differing in. (3:54-55)
Allah assured Jesus of his protection through the words innī mutawaffīka wa rāfi‘uka ilayya, that is, ‘I have decided to give you death and lift you up to Myself’. Scholars interpret these words to mean the ascension of Jesus and his being alive in the heavens. The expression rāfi‘uka ilayya is understood as Allah raising Jesus alive to Himself, meaning that he is currently in the heavens with his physical body, alive. As for the phrase mutawaffīka preceding rāfi‘uka it is interpreted not as death but as taking Jesus (PBUH) wholly and safely into custody. Hence, the phrase mutawaffīka itself is an argument for the life of Jesus (PBUH) and using it to denote the death of Jesus is incorrect.
The earliest and the later generations of scholars have offered similar arguments for their preference for not taking the words innī mutawaffīka in the sense of giving death. Essentially, this is an argumentation originated from the early scholars, which has been adopted by those who came later. However, to explain this view, we have quoted the books of the modern scholars. The purpose is to adequately cover the material and to explain it in an uncomplicated manner.
The traditional scholars’ arguments are as follows: