108. In these verses (2:236, 2:237, 4:4, 4:24,25, 4:127, 5:5, 33:50, 60:10) of the Quran we find it requiring the groom to pay the dower to the bride on marriage.

The bride has all the right to demand a sizable amount as she deems fit, taking into consideration the future hardships she might face later, and she has all the right to treat the dower as exclusively belonging to her.

Women face more hardships in married life than men. There are chances of them being divorced after losing their youth and beauty. Taking into consideration all these aspects Islam gives them the right to decide on the dower money at their marriage. 

Amount of Mahar demanded by women can be as per their wishes, and no one has the right to fix the amount.

Since women fail to take cognizance of this right they end up as victims and have come to such a situation resulting in men demanding dowry from women in marriage.

Men have become shameless enough to demand dowry, rather they are duty bound to pay it. The commandment to give dower money to women is seen as more serious than demanding dowry from them, and any Muslim who sincerely understands this would dare not demand dowry. 

 Payment of dower money to women on marriage is more sensible and righteous, because women sacrifice more in married life, and suffer more. Hence payment of dower money to women renders justice.

After marriage the man lives along with his parents, but the woman younger in age leaves behind her parents to live in an entirely new environment. At least for this sacrifice men should pay them the dower money.

After marriage, the man does not make any sacrifices other than the family expenses, whereas the woman takes care of cooking, washing, maintenance, and in addition serving his relatives. Also, there are instances where she must bear the insults and torments of the husband’s mother. The men should pay them their dower money at least for such reasons. 

As a result of family life when a woman is on the family way the man stands to lose nothing, neither does he face any difficulty, nor does he carry any burden with him. It is the women who suffer more due to morning sickness and nausea, and neither can she eat, nor lead a normal life, facing difficulty in normal walking and sleeping etc. She reaches the threshold of death and comes back after delivering the baby. For this reason alone, paying her in millions will not suffice. 

After the delivery of the baby the father does nothing for it, breastfeeding and fostering, taking care of the baby by foregoing sleep and various other sacrifices are a burden on the mother. For these reasons also payment of dower money by men is the righteous deed that can be done.

Successive births leave the mother devoid of all her life’s pleasantness.

Hence anyone with humanity in them will never deny payment of dower money to women. 

There are numerous evil effects in the society because of men demanding dowry from girls, and people who support and encourage demanding of dowry from girls become active partners in perpetrating its evil consequences.

Because of the practice of demanding dowry from girls, those yearning for a married life at the age of 15 years do not get it even at the age of thirty.

For this reason, many girls elope and ultimately get cheated, and some find their place in brothels. And in such cases, those who demand dowry find a share in the sins committed and the consequent punishment there on. 

And because of this there are instances where girls elope with men of other faiths. 

And there are instances of girls committing suicide after coming to a decision they would never get married; the parents of the girls also kill themselves. Those who demand dowry are a part of all these sins. 

When a girl elopes from a family due to paucity of dowry the rest of the girls in the family are denied a married future. Even in such situations, the people who demand dowry find a definite position in the sins and the consequent punishment as a result.

People who know about the practice of demands for dowry and the resultant consequences kill their girl child on its birth, and some others do it after scanning in the initial stages. And even in these kinds of heinous sins those who demand dowry play a great role in being punished in the hereafter. 

People who demand dowry make a person go all round begging to make up the dowry money who otherwise lived a life with dignity. Almighty Allah would not leave unpunished the dowry mongers, responsible for such sins.

Since there is no outlet for feelings due to adolescence in some girls, they become mentally disturbed. Even in such cases the dowry mongers are jointly held responsible for the happenings.

The dowry mongers by their act reserve their places for punishments of various acts committed unknowingly or knowingly by them. If they had ever had the thought/fear in their mind that one day, they are answerable to Al-Mighty they would never venture to do such acts. 

Please refer to explanation point No;309 to know more on this topic.

107. Why did Islam allow men to have sex with slaves? 

In these verses (4:3, 4:24,25, 4:36, 16:71, 23:6, 24:31, 33:50, 33:52, 33:55, 70:30) the word “women whom your right hands possess” is used to refer to women slaves. 

In these verses it is said ‘one can run a family with women slaves even without getting married to them.’ 

Since there are no man or women slaves these days, it is better to understand the history behind theses verses. 

When a war breaks out between two countries those days the victorious take in prisoners of war of the vanquished which might include men and to a lesser extent women. 

There were no prisons in those days, like today, to hold them, maintain them, and feed them. Hence, they were handed over to people who took part in the war, they in turn employed them and fed them.

People who could not utilize them as employees sold them in slave markets in those days.

There is a question why Islam which decimated many social evils couldn’t do the same regarding slaves? Why did Islam in the first place accept it? 

We need to take into consideration many aspects while finding an answer to this. Though slaves were a result of wars they were immediately sold in slave markets and mostly remained with people who were their owners. 

If slavery were to be abolished suddenly, they (owners) stand to lose extensively. If the government compensates all the owners, it would be difficult to run the government, and if a law is promulgated without compensation it would result in a huge loss to the legal slave traders of the time.

And if Prophet Muhammad had ordered the release of slaves on payment of compensation from the government it would still end as a harm to them. 

And due to frequent wars being fought at that time, the announce of this nature from one side would result in Muslims remaining as slaves in other countries with the enemies being released immediately.

And a thought would pervade among the enemies that fighting Prophet Muhammad would not result in a big loss to them, and he would be the most affected of it. This is the reason why slavery was not immediately abolished. 

Unless and until a common decision was arrived at, an unilateral decision on the part of Prophet Muhammad alone would not be prudent. 

At the same time many arrangements were being made by Prophet Muhammad to abolish slavery such as: 

A) Prophet Muhammad encouraged the release of slaves as a remedy for having broken a promise made in the name of Allah or of having prematurely breaking a fast. 

B) Prophet Muhammad encouraged the release of slaves by letting them enter a contract with their owners for partial payment after their release.

C) Prophet Muhammad encouraged the release of slaves by bringing a law that said if a slave is released freely, the wealth of the slave would be inherited by his owner.

D) He also encouraged the release of slaves by announcing the best of the good deeds by a person is to release a slave. 

He brought down significantly the number of slaves in his lifetime. This information is in general about slaves and the Prophet's attitude towards them. Let us know about female slaves. Usually, the female slaves live in the houses of their owners. Their husbands either live in a different country, or they may not have husbands at all. At such situations these female slaves need to be protected from the prying eyes of other males, at the same time her bodily needs must be fulfilled.

Taking this factor into consideration their owners were allowed to live with them and in cases where the owners were more than one, only one is allowed to live together. At such instances when she (female slave) gives birth to a child, the newborn as well as the mother were decreed released by Islam. 

If such permissions like the owners taking custody and living with them were not allowed, and she enslaved with nobody to plead on her behalf in a foreign country, it would become impossible to avoid preying on her, or for that matter her own owner.

A thought ‘She is after all a slave’ would encourage others to take advantage of her for misbehaving. But when there is her owner in place of her husband it would deter any such advances by others. 

When she is living with a single owner as per Islamic norms, the child begotten will be treated as that of the owner and cannot be treated as prostitution. 

There is no other option than to allow this arrangement during the days of slavery. And since all over the world slavery is abolished this kind of practice cannot be allowed now.

And more over servant maids cannot be treated as slaves and they are not products to be bought by owners and change their owners at will. But this is not the case with the slaves where they cannot change owners at will. 

106. Is polygamy justified? 

This verse (4:3) of the Quran allows men to have four wives.

This is widely believed to be a great injustice towards women. But if keenly observed we could understand the justification behind the permission granted to do so. 

The permission so granted is not done in a way to encourage every man to marry four women nor it is commanded to do so. 

The verse says: 

If you fear justice will not be rendered by you in the case of orphans, you may marry women you adore in ones, twos, threes and fours.

Those who undertook the responsibility of looking after orphaned girls did so with the ulterior motive of usurping their properties.

This verse says if there is a fear of perpetrating injustices towards the orphaned girls then he can marry one, two, three or four of them. This permission is slated towards people who fear injustice from their part towards women. 

This must be understood first. 

And the reason for granting permission should also be understood.

People who point out polygamy is primarily an injustice towards the first wife cite her vulnerability. 

No doubt she is vulnerable. 

But the first wife does not become vulnerable or affected just because of a second wife, it could also happen if the husband decides to have a concubine without marriage.

This could have a more profound effect than the husband getting married a second time, by transmitting diseases from his illegal relationship with many women. 

Can these people who oppose second marriage stop legally the practice of men having concubines or for that matter prostitution. None of the countries in the world that oppose polygamy have in them a mechanism to stop either of these. 

When the wife of a person approaches the police with a complaint against him having a concubine, they don’t take cognizance of it, saying he has gone for a second marriage, and even after pursuing a court case she ultimately gets the same response.

This is the law of the land in India.

If the argument polygamy violates women’s rights, a law should be necessarily promulgated to make it a small crime rather than banning it completely. 

When there is no way to stop men from having concubines or resorting to prostitution, or for that matter impossible to deter immoral women from capturing husbands of other women, Islam says to get married to such women thereby giving them a legal status. 

Due to increase in instances of girls getting pregnant before marriage and being abandoned later, the Malaysian Hindus are demanding permission to practice polygamy. (Malaysia Nanban-Daily 05.01.2002.)

There are several justifications put forward in Islam for permitting polygamy. 

1.Girls of marriageable age are more in number than boys, because they are ready for marriage, almost 10 years ahead of males. 

2. The population of women is more than men. 

3.The death rate is less in the case of women. 

4. A sizable young husbands are killed in wars.

5.A good number of women get involved in prostitution, because they don’t get the opportunity lead a married life. 

6.The pathetic condition of huge increase in demand for dowry by men. 

7. Incidents of girl babies being buried alive and increase in feticide is a daily occurrence.

8.Increase in bachelors add to the deficit of males. 

9. Girls who realize parents are unable to make the kind of money demanded as dowry resort to decisions on their own and end up losing their chastity. 

10.Girls who commit suicide after concluding they will never get married. 

Islam allows polygamy taking into consideration all the above justifiable reasons. 

And because of the above reasons the number of people having illegal relationships with women will come down is a fact. 

And since having more than one wife involves a lot of responsibilities very few opt for polygamy. And there is no responsibility to be shouldered in having concubines or indulging in prostitution, ruining men.

Moreover, the chances of being self-afflicted by venereal diseases and transmitting the same to wives is more in such cases.

And, Islam does not command to practice polygamy, but permits it as a remedy to those in need.

There are several girls who are ready to be a second wife to men proves the fact polygamy is justified. 

There is demand by people that poly Andry should also be permitted just as polygamy. This demand is detestable and cannot be accepted.

The above cited reasons shown by us does not apply to women even in one case, and if polyandry is allowed in women there will be an increase in evil effects that can be pinpointed. Hence there is no reason to permit polyandry.

Rather it should be understood that permitting polyandry would result in disaster and evil. 

A single man when left alone for a year with a hundred girls can produce a hundred babies, can the same happen when a girl is left alone with a hundred men? 

We can easily identify the parents of a child when it is from a single man and ten girls. But when a girl is in a relationship with many men, we cannot pinpoint correctly the father of the child and only the mother is known.

Nothing more despicable can happen to a child. The descendants of such parents would face untold misery and psychological torture when they don’t know who fathered them.

When a man fathers four kids from four wives, he is burdened with the responsibility, and it is fixed on that person. He can be forced to maintain the kids. Can this maintenance be guaranteed by the many males who had relationships with the single female? 

If each male refuses to accept the child was born to him, what is the yardstick to pinpoint the male parenthood, wouldn’t the future of the child turn out to be a big question? 

Or for that matter if all the four men claim the male parenthood can the child be cut into four equal parts and shared by them.

If a person has many children all are recognized as his descendants and they have a rightful claim over his property and all matters, after his death. 

At the same time when any one of the many husbands dies her children will find it tough to inherit the properties left back by him. 

The result of a women having sex with many men ends in aids. The secretions from sex organs of a women meeting many men transmit viruses with venereal disease infecting everyone who come in contact with the woman. Women are more vulnerable to such infections as proven by scientific studies. Hence men get infected with these kinds of diseases on coming into contact with a woman having the same. 

But the doctors and the government here advertise the slogan ‘One woman for One man'. This is erroneous. It should be ‘One man for One woman’ In Arab countries there are more than one woman for a man. There is no prevalence of aids there. Hence if a man has more than one wife it does not result in aids, but when a wife has more than one husband it leads to aids. 

Women who have uncontrolled sex with many men are the source of aids disease and spreads it to men having sex with her. 

For this reason, polyandry cannot and should not be permitted. 

If a woman has many husbands, and if all of them want to have sex with her at the same time, the results would be disastrous even ending with murder etc. 

Hence there is no justification for allowing polyandry, but there are many staunch rationales for permitting polygamy. 

The National Commission for Women of India has been instituted to look after the welfare of women. This commission has recommended to accord the status and rights of a wife to women having illegal and immoral relationships with men. (Dina malar Oct 26/2009).

The National Council for Women has recommended payment of alimony to concubines. 

This commission has recommended alimony to be paid not only to legally wed wives but also to those women and children from them who were in immoral and illegal relation with the man.

There are no legal stipulations for women in India who are in an illegal relationship with men, and these women are looked upon as guilty of an illegal act.

As per IP Cr Act 125 (5) alimony cannot be paid to any women who are viewed as second or third wife of a man. The NCW of India has deliberated over this issue and without any legal basis recommends alimony for illegal wives and children born out of them.

And recommends maintenance for such women and legally wed wives so that they do not become destitute. (DinaMalar news Oct/26/2009)

NCW of India has recommended in other words what Islam has being saying about polygamy. These recommendations by the NCW demolish all misconceptions about polygamy. 

Here we need to bring into focus some of the Muslims misusing this grant.

Muslims who opt for a second marriage do it without informing the first wife. and they also consider it unnecessary. 

Since it involves the rights of the first wife, informing her is a must. 

When a man lives with a woman, he shares most of the time with her and spends mostly with her. All this is shared with another when there is a second marriage.

When there is a vulnerability on the part of the first wife a necessity automatically arises to inform her. 

She might also come to think as ‘I married you so that your entire attention would be on me, if half of the attention is diverted to another, I might as well consider no need to leave you’.

When informed about the second marriage she can assert her right. 

Due to the undisclosed second marriage the second wife also is affected because of the inability of the husband to share an equal number of days, hence the unfulfillment of his duties towards her. 

And both the wives will be affected when he dies without informing them about the second marriage. 

While the first wife and her kids are under the assumption that the entire property of the dead husband belongs to them, the second wife and her kids laying a parallel claim to the property would disappoint them to a great extent.

When the first wife is informed about the second marriage and if she decides not to continue with the husband, she has all the rights to do the same. 

When she insists that her husband should not marry anyone other than her, she cannot be considered as against the tenets of Islam. 

Hisham bin Muqeera wanted to give in his daughter’s hand in marriage to Ali (RA), Prophet Muhammad at that time strongly refused the proposal, by saying I wouldn’t permit, again I wouldn’t allow, again I wouldn’t allow, let Ali divorce my daughter and marry his (Hisham bin Muqeera’s) daughter.

(Hadith book Bukhari:5230.)

From this it could be understood that a woman has a right to refuse the request by a husband to marry another. 

105. Messengers bestowed with manuscripts and scriptures.

These three verses (3:184, 16:44, 35:25) say the messengers carried three things with them:

A) Evidence to prove they are messengers of God.

B) Manuscripts

C) Radiant scriptures. 

We need to ponder why it is said messengers brought with them manuscripts along with scriptures. 

We cannot allude to any other meaning to it other than that the scriptures were accompanied by explanations.

Please refer explanatory point Nos; 18, 36, 39, 50, 55, 56, 57, 60, 67, 72, 125, 127, 128, 132, 154, 164, 184, 244, 255, 256, 258, 286, 318, 350, 352, 358, 430 of this compilation, to know more about obeying the commandments of the Quran along with the guidance of Prophet Muhammad. 

104. The knowledge about the ‘hidden’ revealed to messengers by God.

In these verses (3:179, 72:26-27) the Quran says Allah will educate His messengers about the ‘hidden’ matters in this universe. People who misunderstand these verses believe the messengers are aware of all hidden matters in the multiverse. 

The fundamental of Islam is the belief only Allah is aware of all hidden matters in this multiverse, the angels, humans including prophets, jinn, have knowledge about the same.

The verses of the Quran 2:30,31,32,36, 3:44, 4:164, 5:109, 5:116, 5:117, 6:50, 6:58, 6:59, 7:20, 7:22, 7:27, 7:150, 7:187, 7:188, 9:114, 10:20, 11:31, 11:42, 11:46,47, 11:49, 11:69,70, 11:77, 11:81, 12:11-15, 12:66, 12:102, 15:53, 15:54, 15:62, 16:77, 20:67, 20:86, 20:115, 20:120,121, 27:20, 27:22, 27:65, 28:15, 31:34, 33:63, 34:3, 34:14, 37:104, 38:22-24, 42:17, 51:26, 79:42,43 talk about knowledge of hidden matters lying only with Allah.

And only in these two verses (3:179, 72:26-27) does the Quran mention the sharing of knowledge of the unknown, unseen, hidden, with the messengers. 

What do these two verses convey?

The message in verse (3:179) that God will impart knowledge to his messengers about the hidden is not a general one. 

During Prophet Muhammad’s time the hypocrites dressed as Muslims blended with them. 

This verse (3:179) talks about such hypocrites to be identified by Prophet Muhammad. In the beginning of the verse, we can find the phrase ‘God will not allow the Muslims and hypocrites to blend’ and only later we find the declaration that ‘Allah will impart the knowledge about the ‘hidden’ to His messengers. 

In the same way the verses 72:26,27 do not declare that God will teach the messengers about all hidden matters, rather about paradise, hell etc. that comes under the purview of basic beliefs in Islam. There is enough evidence in these verses to prove the same.

And Allah says in these verses about sending angels continuously to monitor the messengers delivering His commandments. 

The message conveyed in these verses is that God will educate the messengers regarding belief in the unseen (hidden) who in turn will deliver it to the people. 

The messages regarding the hidden, the unseen, taught by Allah to Prophet Muhammad were all delivered by him to the people. Since knowledge about the hidden, unseen was imparted to Prophet Muhammad by Allah specifically to be delivered to people. And he carried out the entrusted duty impeccably.

Hence God will impart knowledge (to the messengers about the unknown and unseen) necessary, such as the hereafter world, paradise, hellfire, life in the grave etc., and not all that He possesses. 

Since Prophet Muhammad has delivered to us all the knowledge without any alterations that was imparted by Al-Mighty to him, it is deemed we are also aware of the same.

Though the verses contain within them this message, some people force irrelevant viewpoints regarding these verses. There is nothing found in these verses to substantiate their argument. 

Other than this nothing has been imparted to anyone about the hidden/unknown. 

Please refer explanatory points 17, 41, 49, 79, 83, 100, 121, 122, 140, 141, 193, 213, 215, 245, 269, 298, 327, 397, 427, 471 to know more about the wrong arguments of people who worship shrines. 

103. The seamless blending of hypocrites. 

This verse (3:179) talks of hypocrites identified instantly.

During Prophet Muhammad’s time the hypocrites posed as Muslims and blended themselves with people by deceiving them and making it difficult to differentiate one from the other.

This verse (3:179) speaks about the exposure of hypocrites when they were ordered to go to the frontlines during war, which they refrained from exposing themselves.

Please refer to explanation point No;104

102. A bigger worry as a solution to a small one. 

This verse (3:153) of the Quran beautifully explains how to console those distraught with worries.

During the ‘Battle of Uhud’ Muslims were defeated resulting in a good number of loss of lives and wounded. Muslims were distraught to a great extent. As an antidote a rumor that Prophet Muhammad was killed started to spread. 

At this, the Muslims who were distraught already due to the defeat they faced in the war, got engrossed themselves in the aftereffects of this news though it turned out to be a false one. The only worry by the Muslims at that moment was the death of Prophet Muhammad. 

As if to alleviate this drawback and worry in them, they were fed with the news of Prophet Muhammad being alive that enthused them to rejuvenate with vigor, leading them to win the war. 

Now it has been found out this kind of action leads to relieving people psychologically at times of stress and strain. 

The Quran divulged this message (3:153) of psychological implications many centuries ago, before it could be figured out by scientists. 

And says ‘having missed your chance to victory and to alleviate your sufferings and worries, He (God) presented you with bigger worries’. This proves the Quran as the word of God. 

An artificial way of creating a bigger worry to alleviate mental sufferings, and illness of people is a solution for them to return to their normal sense. The bigger worry thus created occupies their mind and lets them forget the rest of their worries. If we could make them understand the bigger worry was an artificial one, they will come out of all their worries.

This verse explains with reasons the way psychologists handle this matter now. 

And says in the next verse how sleep given to them added to their comfort.

Creating an artificial bigger worry, creating sleep, and then getting rid of that bigger worry will result in peacefulness of mind. 

Such findings in the 20^th century after much research work only proves (the way Prophet Muhammad said 14 centuries ago to handle worries) Quran is the word of Al-Mighty God. 

This is yet another proof that the Quran is God’s word.

101. The message conveyed in the phrase ‘Many have passed away earlier’. 

This verse (3:144) of the Quran stresses the fact, though Prophet Muhammad is the only leader and guide for the entire Muslims all over the world, still he remains a messenger of Allah and not God himself.

This verse also says when Prophet Muhammad passes away from this world, Muslims should not turn away from his teachings and remain in the religion of Islam to continue not for the sake him (Prophet Muhammad) but in fear of God’s punishment and expectations of His rewards. 

We come to understand this verse was revealed to convey the above message. 

Nevertheless, people who believe Prophet Isa is dead provide this verse as evidence to drive home their point of view. 

This verse says messengers before Prophet Muhammad passed away. These people argue based on this verse they consider Prophet Isa as dead. 

They point out since messengers earlier to Prophet Muhammad are dead so will he, and say this reinforces their argument about Prophet Isa.

Majority of the comrades of Prophet Muhammad at that time did not accept the fact that Prophet Muhammad was dead. It was Abubakr Siddique who quoted this verse to bring the comrades back to their senses. 

We can see this history recorded in the (Hadith Book Bukhari: 1242,) and various other hadith books. They make use of these hadiths to strengthen their argument. 

They argue if Prophet Isa is not dead, the comrades at that time wouldn’t have accepted Abubakr's contention. And say the comrades at that time could have posed a counter, as why can’t Prophet Muhammad remain alive like Prophet Isa. A superficial look at this argument seems to be competent enough to contest the verse cited by Abubakr. But if we approach the Quran in the right manner, it can be understood their argument is totally false. We cannot come to a conclusion about a certain matter by analyzing just one verse of the Quran; it is not the appropriate way to do it.

We must look out for other verses regarding the same matter, whether there is an exception or additional information regarding the same and collate and then conclude. 

The exclusive grace of the Quran is we will find exceptions to its verses already revealed elsewhere. 

Generally, it goes without saying that man is created from a drop of sperm, but in other verses we find the first human Adam (AS) was created from clay, being an exception. 

Likewise, we see an exception in the creation of Adam’s (AS) female partner. 

In the same manner we see the exception in the birth of Prophet Isa. 

Similarly, we see an exception in various other verses to the phrase ‘Messengers have passed away earlier to Prophet Muhammad’ though it includes Prophet Isa. 

Verse 43:61 of the Quran says Prophet Isa stands as a sign of the advent of the last day.

When it is pointed out (Prophet Isa) stands as a sign of the coming of the last day of the world means he is not dead and cannot allude to any other meaning. Please refer to explanation point No;342 of this compilation. 

Verse 4:159 of the Quran says the ‘People of the Book’ will come to believe in Prophet Isa before his death.

If Prophet Isa is already dead such a proclamation would not have been made in the Quran that they will believe in him before he is dead. We have explained this verse in point No;134. 

Both these verses convey Prophet Isa is not dead. 

Hence it must be concluded (in conjunction with the two verses and the phrase ‘prophets earlier have passed away’) except Prophet Isa the rest have passed away.

Concluding this does not refute any verse of the Quran and at the same time brings out a collective message conveyed by these verses.

Similar to verse 3:144 of the Quran that says ‘Messengers earlier to Prophet Muhammad have passed away’ verse 5:75 also uses the same phrase to quote about Prophet Isa as, ‘son of Mariam Masih Isa is but a Prophet’, and messengers earlier to him have passed, his (Prophet Isa’s) mother was more pious, and the two of them were like any other mortals who ate and drank. Take note of how we present evidence and how they are being misguided. (The Holy Quran 5:75). 

In the same way verse 3:144 states about messengers earlier to Prophet Isa passing away, verse (5:75) talks about messengers earlier to Prophet Isa. When keenly observed this verse does not convey the death of Prophet Isa.

If for argument's sake we take Prophet Isa as dead, it would be simply said he is dead and gone, and not be mentioned as many passed away earlier to him. The Quran does not say he is dead but ‘many earlier to him went dead’.

When it is quoted as ‘many before him went dead’ necessarily means this person is not dead. 

When this phrase ‘Many messengers passed away before Prophet Muhammad’ was revealed, it is very well understood Prophet Muhammad was alive.

Similarly, we need to understand that Prophet Isa was alive when the verse ‘Messengers earlier to Prophet Isa passed away’ was revealed. 

Conceptualizing different meanings for phrases of two similar situations is not acceptable. 

Moreover, we need to understand the objective with which this verse about Prophet Isa was delivered. It was done to refute the status of ‘God’ being given to them (Maryam A.S, and Prophet Isa) by pinpointing both were mortals, who ate and drank like others to prove they did not possess any attributes of God. 

Though the evidence of ‘need to eat’ like other mortals by them is significant to refute possession of any attributes of God, much stronger is the claim that he is dead, totally refuting the concept of God.

Prophet Isa is a messenger, and he is dead can be the right answer, and not ‘Isa is God, he is dead.’

How can a belief ‘God is dead’ could be entertained?

Had Prophet Isa been dead, this would be the place where it must be pointed out. Look at the words God uses to refute the people who believed Prophet Isa as God. 

Allah says Isa is a messenger, and many have passed away earlier to him.

Allah the wisest and the most intelligent, the most immaculate would never use inappropriate words. Had Prophet Isa been dead He would never convey a message contradicting it. 

When Prophet Isa is dead would any wise person refrain from divulging it, and talk about people who have passed away earlier to him? 

While quoting messengers earlier to him (Prophet Isa) having passed away, Allah cites of him eating like other mortals while in this world and refutes any attributes of God in him. If he was dead Allah could cite it as evidence to refute him as God. 

Hence evidence put forth by people to prove Prophet Isa as dead only goes against them to strengthen that he is not yet dead. 

It is improper for them to draw a parallel with the behavior of some comrades of Prophet Muhammad at his death saying Prophet Muhammad could never die. There are several hadiths cited by comrades of Prophet Muhammad regarding the return of Prophet Isa in the last days. They also knew about verses 43:61, 4:159 of the Quran, and undoubtedly believed that Prophet Isa is alive and not dead. 

They believed that Prophet Muhammad also enjoyed a similar exception, and argued that Prophet Muhammad was not dead, and once it was clarified by Abubakr (RA) there is no such exception they accepted and changed their stance. 

No one would cite an universally known exception as evidence.

Hence verse 3:144 does not talk about the death of Prophet Isa and similarly verse 5:75 talks about the exception that Prophet Isa is not yet dead. 

Please refer to explanation point Nos 93, 133, 134, 151, 278, 342, 456 to know more about whether Prophet Isa is dead, or raised above alive, or will descend in the last days on to earth and then pass away.